2005 Toyota Matrix XR 4WD
Our hunt for a new car is finally over! After many months of scouring the internet and browsing the classifieds, we found our car.
Mind you, it was not an easy task. We had three basic requirements to fill. Firstly, it had to have at least 4 doors or else the insurance company would think we’re into street racing. Secondly, it had to use regular gas and be miserly on fuel. Third, it had to be a practical replacement for our 1991 Toyota Previa; the little van that could.
The first requirement was easy enough and that meant we were either looking at a hatchback or a sedan. The second meant it had to be a four-banger, but the third requirement was a little bit tougher.
Our 1991 Previa had a little under 390,000 kms on the clock. Sure, the turn signal solenoid had to be replaced, as did the muffler and the sliding door handle after an enthusiastic tug on the door that was frozen to the body.
The windows rattled, the suspension clunked over every bump and the air conditioning LED burned out but mysteriously, the a/c kept running.
You must be thinking, what a piece of junk! Not quite. Not once has this car stranded us anywhere, nor gotten a flat tire. Nothing broke that wasn’t easy to fix and impressively, it towed our Volvo from across the city in the dead of winter. You could drain all the fluids and I’m sure the car would still run.
To satisfy the third requirement meant our next car had to be Japanese. We drove a Nissan Versa, loved it, but just couldn’t afford it. A Mazda 3 was in our sights, but it didn’t have a proven reliability record. The Honda Fit was a decent choice but found the ride to be very harsh. We skipped passed the civic and corolla, both not having enough cargo space, and looked straight at a Toyota Matrix.
A Toyota with 50,000 kms will be just the same as a Toyota with 0 kms. They just never die. So, we searched for used Matrix’s on Autotrader and found something quite promising.
It was a silver 2005 Toyota Matrix XR 4WD. The price was right, had a full service history, and was all-wheel-drive to boot! Little did we know, this was just the tip of the iceberg.
This car had been imported from the US by a Canadian Toyota dealer and had traded owners only once while in Canada. Being a US-spec Matrix XR meant that it had a skirt kit and a 115-volt power plug (which are both very hard to find on used Canadian models). It also had the six speaker, six CD changer premium sound system. Just one test drive confirmed our suspicions, it was perfect.
After a bit of haggling we bought the car for just around $17,000, plus a cup of coffee.
The drive home was a somber one. We finally had a new car that was perfect in every way but on the other hand, we had traded in our van for mere dollars, only to hear that it was being sent to the crusher. Nevertheless, our Previa would have been proud to be replaced by a fellow Toyota. It’s the start to a new chapter of driving. Hello Matrix!
Tags: driving, matrix, Toyota Matrix, Toyota Matrix 4WD