Teach Me: Matrix/Vibe

Interested in an Auto/FWD model. Any maintenance/reliability concerns? Big changes/improvements/unimprovements over the years?

I know the later cars had the 2.4 and earlier cars had the 1.8. I'm betting it moves a whole lot better with the 2.4 (ignoring the GT/XRS), but I don't know that its a big concern for us. Looking for space/utlity, and low cost of operation. Prices for these are all over the place... looking to spend 4-5k. If reliability is rock solid, I'd trade some more miles for a newer model.

Was on the hunt for a big wagon (see big-wagon thread), but a driver ran a red light (this is a serious berkeleying problem here...) and put an end to our Prius tonight, accelerating our search for another car.

In reply to ProDarwin:

Sorry to hear about your Prius.

The only thing I know about them, is that I never see them with four hubcaps. Either they have alloys, or they have some number of hubcaps between zero and three. Just like a Corolla.

Good luck.

im no expert but we have several we service regularly at work all of them 1.8 cars. Theres an older man with just over 250k on his but its always been maintained and never abused.

The 2.4s had reeeeeeeally bad oil consumption issues, I'm not sure if it was ever fully addressed via recall or what, but it was a very talked-about issue while I was looking at them.

SlickDizzy wrote: The 2.4s had reeeeeeeally bad oil consumption issues, I'm not sure if it was ever fully addressed via recall or what, but it was a very talked-about issue while I was looking at them.

Interesting. Was this all years?

Is there a difference between the 1st and 2nd gen 1.8?

We have had an `09 GT Auto in our family since new. It's been a nice, reliable car and drives really well, but man, that interior. It's just not very pleasant to look at day after day. That might just be me, though.

From what I understand these are basically a rebadged Toyota RunX/Fielder, so they shiuld be available with a 2ZZ-GE which is a great engine apart from its unusually high fuel consumption. They benefit greatly from an aftermarket ECU.

In reply to ProDarwin:

The 1.8 base engine is different between 1st and 2nd gen. I have had good luck with my 1st gen 1.8/auto. It is not what i would call a refined engine. The valvetrain is noisy when it is first started when the temp is below 40f. The valvetrain uses shims to adjust the lash.

GameboyRMH wrote: so they shiuld be available with a 2ZZ-GE which is a great engine apart from its unusually high fuel consumption. They benefit greatly from an aftermarket ECU.

Yeah... zero interest in this. I would much prefer good mileage, and not a silly-geared 6 spd. This is purely an appliance.

Anyone cross shopped these with a Scion xB? Do they share a lot of components? Interested in the current gen xB.

My wife's 2005 Corolla simply does not break. I change the oil in it and rotate tires and that's pretty much it. Now that I think about it a little door on the dash broke that I was able to fix with super glue. Very easy to work on.

We're turning her car into the workhorse / tow vehicle once I sell the TDI. 1500# tow rating!

Mike wrote: In reply to ProDarwin: Sorry to hear about your Prius. The only thing I know about them, is that I never see them with four hubcaps. Either they have alloys, or they have some number of hubcaps between zero and three. Just like a Corolla. Good luck.

This is pretty spot on. My wife's car has lost 3 hubcaps in it's life and I got sick of buying them so I'm currently looking for a set of prius wheels for her. For a while she was driving around with 3 hubcaps until I found a different 15" corolla hubcap on the side of the road that's close enough until I find a set of wheels.

My GF has an '03 AWD XR with 135k miles. Great appliance, high 20s MPG, excellent with snow tires. I've driven it through snow deep enough (1.5 ft) that visibility was the only problem as it was coming over the hood. Totally gutless though. She loves it. Very cool looking wagon.

Yeah... zero interest in this. I would much prefer good mileage, and not a silly-geared 6 spd. This is purely an appliance.

If you're willing to downgrade from a Prius to a Matrix with no performance upshot i have to wonder if you've thought this through. What was wrong with the Prius that is actually right with the Matrix? They're basically the same car other than one of them getting 10 less mpg. For pure appliance purposes, it's a pure downgrade.

I bought my Prius for $4500.

Also, i drove a 6spd 2zz car an hour and a half ago and i didn't find the gearing to be 'silly'.

In fact, my dream commuter car that doesn't exist is a 2zz Prius hybrid that zings up to 7k when you floor it. A 2zz hooked to a cvt that kept it in lift 100% of the time while floored and did electric torque fill at low rpm sounds pretty amazing.

Vigo wrote: What was wrong with the Prius that is actually right with the Matrix? They're basically the same car other than one of them getting 10 less mpg. For pure appliance purposes, it's a pure downgrade.

A) We had a gen 1 Prius. Cargo space is the main advantage here. The Matrix has a LOT more. More than a 2nd gen as well, but not by as much.

B) Our gen 1 Prius is now a wrinkled ball of fail thanks to someone running a red light.

A Matrix with 100k miles on it here goes for about the same as a Gen II Prius with 200k. And all the interior wear and tear that goes with it. Given that we will probably be given a week at most to find a car, the hours we work, wife's MBA classes/pregnancy, etc. biding our time to wait for a good deal to pop up, or traveling to look at cars is out of the question. I have to deal with what is relatively local and currently available.

I'm not sure it matters though. There aren't a lot of examples of the Matrix/Vibe around, but looking closely at a Vibe in the parking lot today, I think we may be heading for something with a bigger cargo hold. Hence me asking about the xB, posting in the Mazda 5 thread, and discussing the VUE.

I almost bought an xB before I bought the 5. Mrs. DX is glad I went with the 5. She saw an xB at an auto show and hated it totally.

The 2nd gen VUE is actually a pretty nice buggy. My old man was deeply involved in the engineering of that vehicle.

Our gen 1 Prius is now a wrinkled ball of fail thanks to someone running a red light. A Matrix with 100k miles on it here goes for about the same as a Gen II Prius with 200k.

Ah, 1g Prius explains a lot, then. As for mileage, ours has 239k and change. It's one of the most reliable cars on the planet so i dont really care. It has original brake pads (original owner knew what the B on the shifter was for!), serpentine belt, water pump, etc. We found a one owner that had seat covers on the front seats for most of its life and doesn't seem to have had passengers in the back very often. Naturally now that my partner has gotten hold of it it's going downhill fast, which is fine because it was $4500.

I have owned mine since basically new only 13k when i bought it, now over 180k and have just replaced the chain tensioner, before that regular oil changes and one ac compressor. Mine is and automatic 2004, this is also my RallyX car, and regularly sees other abuse.