This car is my car. And by my car I don’t just mean that it suits me so perfectly it should be mine; I mean, I actually own one of these. Many of you may have read about my van woes (the engine died) and my dithering over whether to fix it or just give up and buy a new one. In the end, I decided to buy a new car and the one I chose was a brand-new 2010 Toyota Matrix in nautical blue (pictured below). It’s a fun, peppy car to drive, with a surprising amount of passenger and cargo room (for a small car) that occupies a niche all its own.
Model Tested: 2010 Toyota Matrix (with convenience package)
Key Competitors: • Pontiac Vibe • Hyundai Elantra Touring • Suzuki SX4 SportBack • Scion xB
Price: MSRP $16,665- $27,825
Urban Mom’s Rating:
Urban Mom Tester’s Topline: I love my car. As I said above, it’s peppy and fun to drive, and there’s ample head and leg room in both front and rear seats. The back cargo area is much more spacious than the cargo area of my van was (unless you removed one row of seats) and I absolutely adore taking my Matrix grocery shopping, because I can fit four (yes FOUR) SuperStore bins in the trunk. But I’ll be honest here: it’s not the car I dreamed of buying. Unfortunately, budgetary concerns stopped me short of the fully-loaded Toyota Prius of my dreams, and the Matrix is, in the end, a bit of a settle for me. I’d been used to leather interior with heated seats, JBL speakers and a V6 engine in my old vehicle. But for the money I had available, I think I got by far the best car I could afford. I test drove a few other affordable imports, notably the Nissan Versa, Honda Fit and Toyota’s own Yaris, but they all really felt more like toys to me than “real” cars, and the Matrix towered head-and-shoulders above them all. Luckily for me, I was in the market at a time when Toyota was prepared to deal and deal hard for car sales, and I was able to get a great value for my car-buying dollar (as well as a maintenance package and extended warranty thrown in).
Urban Kid Tester’s Topline: My daughters’ favourite feature in the 2010 Matrix is the front passenger seat air bag sensor. This senses the weight of the front passenger and turns the air bags off below a certain threshold, meaning that it’s (somewhat) safe for children to ride in the front seat (note: it’s still always safer for the kids to ride in the back seat). My older daughter often complains of carsickness when riding in the back of the Matrix, but I put this down to my manual transmission (saved me $1,000) and the responsiveness of the vehicle – it’s just not as smooth a ride as they were used to in our old van.
Exterior Features and Style: You just can’t beat the styling of the Toyota Matrix, in my opinion. Until very recently, this vehicle has occupied its own unique niche in the automotive market (with the exception of its twin car, the Pontiac Vibe). It’s a smaller car, but it’s got lots of room and it’s high enough to boast excellent sightlines. It’s a crossover, but it’s not a massive gas-guzzler wannabe SUV. It’s a hatchback, but it’s big enough to comfortably fit a family of four and all their gear. For the longest time, it was unique: it was just itself – a Matrix. You see them everywhere, because they fit a definite want in the market.
Interior Comfort and Style: For the money, this is a very comfortable car. The dark grey nylon upholstery in my Matrix is stain and spillproof (the kids spilled two full water bottles in my car within the first four days I had it), while also being comfortably smooth and actually good-looking in a sporty kind of way. Granted, there is no leather option on the Matrix, and I looooove me some leather upholstery, but heated seats are available as an affordable dealer installed option, and I think I may just do that before winter comes again. The dash styling is up-to-the minute, and Toyota’s unique dash-mounted gear shift is ergonomic and safer than traditional floor mounts.
Drive: I have a 5-speed manual transmission that is a joy to drive. The clutch is responsive and smooth, and the car has a peppy, sport-tuned feel when turning. The 1.8L 4 cylinder DOHC engine provides enough get-up-and-go, but having been used to driving a V6 engine, it’s taken a bit of adjustment to driving a car with a less powerful engine, especially on start-up from a red light. The best part of this engine is the fuel efficiency! I estimate I am getting twice — that’s right TWICE — the mileage from my Matrix than I did from my van. At 6.2L/100km (highway), I am saving tons of money with my new car. And a good thing, too. I’ve just started working as a substitute teacher so I’ve been driving all over town.
Bells and Whistles: My car has all the bells and whistles I need, but is missing a few I might want. Some key features I love are the aux jack where I can plug in my iPhone, handy rear cup holders and bottle holders in all 4 doors (somehow my kids are always bringing water into the car) and the very versatile cargo hold. The only things that are missing are things I chose not to pay for, although you can certainly get pretty much anything you want if you’re willing to pay for the right packages and accessories.
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