Looking for the 21st century Yugo – My Subaru Outback Sport is approaching 180,000 miles and I really need a new car soon. Gearbox contributor Seth Stevenson reviews the
cheapest cars on the market and falls in love with the Honda Fit. Right now, I’m leaning pretty heavily for the Toyota Matrix
aka Pontiac Vibe. Anybody have hearts or darts for the Matrix/Vibe? I’d love to get another Subaru but they stopped making bodies small enough to fit in my garage.
7 comments:
Viking:
Spend a little more and get a Mini Cooper. Much more fun and girls *love* it.
The Scion would be my 2nd choice.
- PrivateRadio
I think I'd second the Mini Cooper idea. For a time I drove a Matrix/Vibe prototype (a/k/a the Ford Focus Hatchback), and it was an all right car, but I hated the way it handled in the winter. I've heard that Coopers are little tanks with the right tires.
Um, excuse me... tyres.
I own a '06 Matrix XR and have driven in about 7k miles. So far there are no problems. It is not the most luxurious car, but it has been reliable so far and is able to carry what needs to be carried with good milage.
On the highway it easily maintains speed, but there is road noise. But then the car is fairly cheap.
It is also only about three-quarters of the MiniCooper price. Drove a ZipCar Mini from NYC to Washington once and have repeated the trip in my Matrix. Would much rather take the Matrix. The Mini is too small inside and provides a stiffer ride.
Scion Xa, 15K with cruise, 4 door, 34+ mpg avg with a lot of stop and go. Back and forth to work, 5x a week, its perfect.
I have a Vibe GT and I love it! American car, cheaper than Toyota (with the toyota transmission). GT gets 180 horse, red-lines at 9000rpm, and if you drive it right, has around 32-34mpg. The coolest part is that it's a six speed.
A friend and colleague bought a Vibe a little ago and she's totally in love with it. It's roomier inside than it looks, cheaper than the more or less identical Toyota, easy to handle, etc, etc, etc. Gas mileage isn't bad either.
I replaced my 1992 Honda Civic, a daily driver for 13 years, with 211,000 miles with a Toyota Camry a year and a half ago.
With 21k miles on the Camry all is well.
With the base 4 cyclinder and automatic transmission I get 29.5 mpg in rush hour traffic.
That is with the AC on.
I have had no issues with my Camry.
This is about 7 mpg less than the 35-38 mpg my Civic got but I wanted something more comfortable for the next several years.
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