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Happy Birthday to
Nov. 11th, 2006 11:59 amMy Matrix!
We picked it up new from the dealership on Veteran's Day 2005 (it had to be trucked in from Phoenix because 4WD versions are pretty scarce), and it's been a very reliable car. It has not required any dealer service, it averages 29 MPG, and it's done well in the snow and mud, such as what we've had. This year will be its big snow trial. It's also very comfortable for long-distance cruises. We do 500-600 miles a day on big drives, such as our regular drives to Phoenix or when we went to BlingFest! in Virginia this year (and hopefully next year!), the poodle also found it to be pretty comfy. At least we heard no complaints from her.
We replaced the stereo with one that has an auxiliary input, so we can listen to Russet's iPod or my laptop whilst cruising. And with a 12VDC jack in the center console storage compartment in addition to the one in the dash, we can have both a voltage inverter and my cell phone charger plugged in simultaneously.
One thing that I absolutely love about it, and it's more a function of New Mexico than anything else, is that it's cheap to register -- $45 for a year! My friend's 3-y/o Cavalier cost her $250ish in Phoenix.
One thing that I do not like is the size of the gas tank, it's just under 12 gallons. They had to use a smaller tank with the 4WD requirements for the rear wheels. But that's unavoidable, so that's really a quibble. With the higher mileage, I get the same range as I did in my Rodeos but with much cheaper fill ups. And we'll also be looking at getting a set of tires when we're in Phoenix the week after next, I've only managed to get my alignment checked two or three times when buying a car that's new to me, and pretty much every time that I haven't gotten it done quickly, I've had to replace the tires way too soon.
Another quibble is that the cruise control stick is on the steering wheel just in front of the steering column, so it's hard to adjust if you're going through corners. I'd much prefer it to be on the non-moving column to simplify that. Oh, and I forgot that the cruise control no longer regulates speed when I'm going down the mountain, but they claim that is not a defect and that all cruise controls do that (my Rodeo held speed going down the mountain here...)
Anyway, the Toyota Matrix gets a definite recommendation from me, and I'm sure the GM version, the Pontiac Vibe, is every bit as good. I don't know if we'll hit 30k in year 2, definitely a good chance of it. We'll see how it holds up for the next year.
We picked it up new from the dealership on Veteran's Day 2005 (it had to be trucked in from Phoenix because 4WD versions are pretty scarce), and it's been a very reliable car. It has not required any dealer service, it averages 29 MPG, and it's done well in the snow and mud, such as what we've had. This year will be its big snow trial. It's also very comfortable for long-distance cruises. We do 500-600 miles a day on big drives, such as our regular drives to Phoenix or when we went to BlingFest! in Virginia this year (and hopefully next year!), the poodle also found it to be pretty comfy. At least we heard no complaints from her.
We replaced the stereo with one that has an auxiliary input, so we can listen to Russet's iPod or my laptop whilst cruising. And with a 12VDC jack in the center console storage compartment in addition to the one in the dash, we can have both a voltage inverter and my cell phone charger plugged in simultaneously.
One thing that I absolutely love about it, and it's more a function of New Mexico than anything else, is that it's cheap to register -- $45 for a year! My friend's 3-y/o Cavalier cost her $250ish in Phoenix.
One thing that I do not like is the size of the gas tank, it's just under 12 gallons. They had to use a smaller tank with the 4WD requirements for the rear wheels. But that's unavoidable, so that's really a quibble. With the higher mileage, I get the same range as I did in my Rodeos but with much cheaper fill ups. And we'll also be looking at getting a set of tires when we're in Phoenix the week after next, I've only managed to get my alignment checked two or three times when buying a car that's new to me, and pretty much every time that I haven't gotten it done quickly, I've had to replace the tires way too soon.
Another quibble is that the cruise control stick is on the steering wheel just in front of the steering column, so it's hard to adjust if you're going through corners. I'd much prefer it to be on the non-moving column to simplify that. Oh, and I forgot that the cruise control no longer regulates speed when I'm going down the mountain, but they claim that is not a defect and that all cruise controls do that (my Rodeo held speed going down the mountain here...)
Anyway, the Toyota Matrix gets a definite recommendation from me, and I'm sure the GM version, the Pontiac Vibe, is every bit as good. I don't know if we'll hit 30k in year 2, definitely a good chance of it. We'll see how it holds up for the next year.
