My dad is seriously considering buying a used 2006 Toyota Matrix AWD model. Just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with them on here. My family has been a Toyota family for years now so he feels good about it but I just wanted to see what others thought. So, besides being sinfully ugly, anyone have any input?
My friend has one. It’s pretty gutless, but a nice car none the less. He’s had it for a couple years now, and experienced no major problems that I know of.
Buy the pontiac Vibe version and save a boatload of cash for it being the SAME EXACT CAR…
If he ends up passing on this particular Matrix, then I’ll definitely encourage him to look at the Vibe. But he’s pretty close to buying this Matrix. It’s got some nice options (for him at least), miles are in the 30k range, and is all black, which he likes.
It’s a Corolla with cargo space and AWD. Seriously. I used to work at the Toyota plant in Cambridge where we made the Corolla and Matrix on the same line. And the Corolla has held it’s ground fairly well for a loooong time. It was actually funny to see how each model would fair so differently in the market. The Matrix would drag us down and the Corolla helped us be the most productive plant in North America. So as far as quality and reviews, you can usually use whatever they say about Corollas and apply it to the Matrix.
I think they’re good cars. Not as ugly as everyone makes them out to be, but certainly not the most stylish car on the road.
I wouldn’t pay the Toyota premium on used cars when the Pontiac Vibe is the exact same car cheaper.
Here are the 2 prices according to KBB for the car. I just selected the AWD version and left the options alone. Mileage is set to 35k for both.
EDIT: upon further inspection the Vibe comes with a roof rack standard too?
While the Vibe may be cheaper, you should also factor in resale value. Regardless of being built the same, the Toyota name will hold it’s value much longer than a company that no longer exists…
Both good points, but I think the Toyota loyalty will win this one. From the sounds of it, he’s pretty sold on it. The price is right and the options and miles are good. He’s taking it home for 24 hours to make sure though.
A couple members of my family have Matrix’s and Vibes…
None have the AWD version, the FWD seems to do fine in the snow (with good tires)…
My aunt drives a stripped Matrix with a stick, and it is a great car!
My uncle is a master tech, and he says that he expects to do nothing to the car in the first 100k besides book maintenance, and so far he has been right with the exception of a wheel bearing in the front.
I have been looking at one of these cars, and the Pontiac is not that much cheaper than the Toyota.
Looking at resale value on a used car is kind of silly in my opinion. Someone else already took the depreciation hit when buying it new. If you only keep it a few years and sell it, the Vibe would probably be worth less, but you already paid less. And as far as Toyota loyalty, you aren’t buying a new car, so Toyota doesn’t see a penny of your purchase, so what’s the point?
Well, he pulled the trigger on a 2006 Toyota Matrix XRS.
(Not the exact one shown here, but identical)
