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(Just kidding...!)
Darn it, I can't even get 25 mpg going downhill in neutral with a backside breeze and the engine off... And I've got 2 wheel drive..
I am generally happy with the VIBE but it really does need at least 10 more hp and 20 more ft.lbs of torque. It struggled a little in the Smokies, hunted in & out of overdrive a lot. We were carrying about 500 pounds of "stuff" on the trip up. It was a little better coming home with a lighter load. All in all it's a great little car for the money. Rock steady and very quiet @ 80 mph and not the least tiresome. Ran 750 miles in one day and really felt like I could have gone another 200 with no problem.
HUD :)
Still averaging around 31 mpg in town here (FWD auto).
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Anyone have information on the benefits of synthetic oil?
A couple months ago I thought about getting a new car and I decided that I really liked the look of the Vibe over the Matrix. But now I'm starting to see more Matrix's on the road and I actually think I'm starting to like its looks better now. If I didn't know better, I'd say that Toyota made subtle "Vibe" like styling changes to the Matrix over the last few months, but I know thats silly.
I guess maybe familiarity breeds contentment?
HUD :)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I myself chose the Vibe because I prefer its styling over that of the Matrix and because I like the added roofrack. But I'd say the Matrix out numbers the Vibe by maybe 10 to 1. Which is good for me because I don't like having a car thats too popular. Kinda makes ya not feel special anymore. lol
Question: What is the name of the Matrix/Vibe thing they are building in Fremont, CA, for export to Japan? It was mentioned in this forum long ago, but I can't remember when or where.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Picked up my Matrix today and less than 5 miles from the dealer got a rock chip in the windshield. My first mod will be to install rocket launchers so that I can destroy gravel trucks.
Revka
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Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
Revka
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Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
It does seem like guys are in the minority in the 'Trix, though, from what I have seen...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Have a great weekend all... pretty sure I will
Sueshe
Mine is an 04 and doesn't say Corolla on it anywhere. However, the sticker described the car as "Corolla Matrix 4- Door XRS 2WD CUV." When the car was introduced last year I saw some reviewers commenting that Toyota was calling it a CUV or Crossover Utility Vehicle. But I never saw anything from Toyota that said that until I bought mine and looked at the sticker. The brochure doesn't use the CUV or Corolla terms anywhere.
But I guess it wasn't a huge secret that matrix was basically a corolla hatchback or wagon (depending on your perspective) was it?! :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
My ins. co. also had same issue calling my '03 a Corolla Matrix even when there was no reference to Corolla anywhere in the brochure of the car. May have helped get me a *cheap* ins premium at $500/yr in So Cal.
Demographics are truly all over the place. I see many older folks driving the Trix around town here. A few are driven my ladies, most others are young punks ... ehm... guys like me. hehehehe...
HUD :)
There is so much platform sharing going on within and between manufacturers not very many cars are "pure" original designs from the ground up.
Does the sticker for the Sienna van call it the Camry Sienna?
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
As a matter of fact my roomie got his 04 Matrix two weeks after I got my 04 Vibe and it was on the sticker as big as day "Corolla Matrix". It shocked my roomie (whose not a car buff like myself) but it meant only good things to be because I knew my Vibe and his Trix had reliability riding behind them.
What people seem to forget is that The Vibe/Matrix is the same deal Toyota and GM had with the Corolla/Nova-Geo-Prism if I remember correctly.
Vibe/Matrix are just modern wagon versions.
BTAIM, a Vibe/Trix is a good car to have and should be a reliable vehicle for many years. Congrats on your new purchase.
Last tank (today) 21.7 mpg.
Time to get rid of this turkey. Anybody want to buy a slightly used (3500 miles) silver Matrix, sports package, sun roof, Viper security system?
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Mine was a year old a week ago Friday.
May be my last new Toyota...drove a Civic SI today - was most impressed by engine pick-up and rattle-freedness!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
b. You might want to look at the relative reliability of the Civic before you jump. It's no Toyota. Then again, some say the Matrix isn't either...
Wipers are a wear item. Have you changed them at all in a year or is it the wiper motors you are having a problem with?
Was the SI new? Most new cars are pretty good about "rattlefreeness".
As to the wipers, I was referring to the motor, not the blades.
Yup, the SI was new...only things the SI owners here at Edmunds have had problems with seem to be weak hand brake (I always park in gear anyway) and oil consumption at 1 quart/3K, which I expect in any Honda.
Nothing the Matrix has done gives me any indication that its mechanical reliability will be anything less than all the millions of corollas that have gone before it, and I very much appreciate that. But one can also be niggled to death by minor repairs like these wipers and broken trim or latches, and really at 20K I would hope NOT to have stuff like that yet. I hardly even use that console-top storage compartment...
...on the plus side, I am finding as some others have mentioned that the Continental tires give a good ride while seeming to have great longevity...extrapolating from current wear, I would think I would be able to get 50K out of 'em, no sweat.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
HUD :)
I have not driven the Sunfire with the ecotec, but I have driven the cavalier extensively with the previous engine, and I can say with much assuredness that between those two, I picked right! There are two components to any car, how well it is designed, and then how well the design is executed. For me, the problem with sunfire/cav was its design, whereas the problems I have had with the Matrix have all been in the execution...and again, thank goodness the mechanical reliability has been there as I expected when I bought it.
yeah, the thing I was referring to was the upper armrest thingy...there is the deep compartment down below where I keep all my CDs, and then there is the shallow storage on top of that. The hinge of the lid to the shallow storage has broken, and will have to be replaced, as now when I open it the door swings over and rubs against the seat.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
NUMMI employees are NOT solely GM employees.
Thanks!
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Nippon: Don't get me wrong I in no way think that the Sunfire / Cav. combo can even come near the design and execution of the Vibe / Matrix. But it does seem strange that the GM "twins" having been born @ one of GM's worst assembly plants have far fewer problems, in my case anyway, than the so highly acclaimed Toyota quality. I have also noticed that Hyundai's fit and finish has pulled equal to and in the case of the three Sonatas we have in our fleet exceeded that of whati see in the Camry. I am anxious to get a gander at the 2004 Suzuki "Verona" which is a Daewoo clone I think. From what I saw of the Daewoo stuff it did not have half bad fit & finish. Daewoo was more a victim of poor marketing / management than being poor cars. Still see a lot of them on the road.
HUD :)
the only Daewoo I ever drove was a test drive in a Nubira, which was definitely a second-rate car at the time. But, that was several years ago.
I am already seeing ads in print for the new Suzuki sedan...will be interested to see what it looks like in person.
I am usually someone who keeps cars for a while, out past 100K, but if the Matrix continues to have these little problems with minor broken stuff and more rattles over the next few years, this might be the first one I trade sooner...
...I am glad that it is still fun to drive at least...a year of driving has not worn off the fun! :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Other than the twilight sensor, which was replaced and now seems to work very nicely, I haven't experienced problems like those reported by nippononly on our '03 4WD Matrix. My wife is the primary driver, but I tend to drive it at least once a week. I find the door to the little vertical compartment near the floor (underneath where the radio is) to be a bit of a pain -- that's where I keep my glasses case when I'm driving. But we don't have any rattles, or other things that other Matrix owners have experienced.
I bought new Honda station wagons in 1977 and 1979, and a friend has always had Hondas up until a year ago. Our experience has been that they are very reliable but that you start having to put a good bit of money into them after about 90K miles, and getting Honda to take care of things under warrenty or shortly thereafter has not been pleasant. I'd hesitate to buy another Honda at this point.
Brent