Scion showed off its iQ concept, which is billed as “personalized city transportation” aimed at young hipsters who are enjoying urban revitalization. Showing the car in New York was supposed to reflect this. Only one problem: those city folks probably don’t need or want a car.

Thing is, New York is a horrible place to own a car. It costs hundreds a month to park one in a garage. (Maybe garage owners would half the rates, since the iQ would only need half a space.) You could park a car on the street, but not too many young hipsters could afford both New York rents and the payments on a new car, never mind that you don’t really want to park a new car on any city street.

Driving in New York isn’t much fun, either. It took Mike Quincy and me almost an hour to go a mile at rush hour. New York restricts turns off of some cross streets, adding to the challenge. And going mano-a-mano with a bus or cab for an open spot is adventurous in a car like an iQ. These hassles factor against city cars’ advantages of taking up little road space and fitting into tiny parking spots.

Finally, a lot of those young hipsters move to the cities to enjoy the benefits of NOT owing a car. Mass transit works for the daily commute, or you can grab a cab (or walk) to go beyond where the subway stops. When you do need “personalized transportation,” you can grab a Zipcar or another rental and not have the payments and added expenses of car ownership.

So does the iQ really make sense for Gen Y New Yorkers? Forgetaboutit.

--Tom Mutchler

See Consumer Reports' coverage of the 2009 New York auto show.