<p>Oh, and when we shopped we were looking for AWD.</p>
<p>OP - the Nissan Versa is uncomfortable and noisy, also difficult to see out of the rear window due to the slope. I am a fan of anything Toyota.</p>
<p>Loving my smart car!</p>
<p>OP</p>
<p>First the caveat; in my former life I spent sixteen years in the automobile industry in management and as the owner of several dealerships the last of which I sold in 2004. I still have numerous friends and contacts in the industry and for obvious reasons still try to stay abreast of what is going on there.</p>
<p>I would be very wary of the Pontiac version of the Toyota Matrix because Pontiac is one of the brands that GM may have on the chopping block in order to satisfy the promises made when getting the Federal bail out. Service and parts could become an issue for someone who keeps their cars a long time.</p>
<p>[GM</a> Pondering Brand Cuts - BusinessWeek](<a href=“Businessweek - Bloomberg”>Businessweek - Bloomberg)</p>
<p>While Hyundais are far better cars than they were ten years ago, they are still not of the overall build quality of a Toyota or Honda. For someone who keeps their cars, stay with Honda or Toyota.</p>
<p>Both H and WildChild have WRXs. I can not for the life of me figure out what I was thinking when I agreed to that car for WildChild (it was a year old when we bought it used with 30000 miles on it). H’s is a 2003 and WC’s is a 2004. It was a stupid car for us to get our son, but he can be very persuasive and I did not realize it was a “performance car”. I was thinking “Subaru” and he and H were thinking “fast”. The cars have been great, but the tickets have been horrendous (WC, not H). Don’t even get me started…<br>
The kids take all the identification off the car, too. I didn’t realize that. The back is plain- doesn’t say WRX or Subaru or anything. Are the cops supposed to think it’s a family sedan?</p>
<p>MomofWildChild- My son pushed for the WRX. He jumped when I suggested a Suburu. I had no clue till we went to the Suburu dealer and the saleman who was in his 20’s laughed. He said NO WAY should you put a 17 yr old male behind the wheel of a WRX. One of my neighbors purchased a WRX for the 16 yr old son. I noticed a few months after that purchase the Dad was driving that car.
My son ended up with a used Volvo S60 Turbo. It goes plenty fast. Not what I was expecting.
Between husband and myself and kids we have owned 6 Toyotas, 2 Chevrolets, 1 Volvo and 1 BMW. While the BMW is the nicest car to drive the Toyotas (aside from my Sienna) have been the most reliable and seem to hold up to lots of wear.</p>
<p>MOWC, one reason my H got rid of his first WRX was that he kept getting stopped by the police, and he’s not a speeder. The officers were always surprised to find a middle-aged man at the wheel! He never got a ticket but he’d had enough. That huge spoiler on the back was too much of a magnet for the police, and he had a silver one, not even the eye-catching blue one. The new styling for the WRX STI is a little more conservative and he truly loves the car, plus it’s more practical being a hatchback.</p>
<p>We have 2 Hyundais. So reliable–I highly recommend them.</p>
<p>WildChild’s WRX is a silver sedan. H’s is a bright yellow hatchback. I have been tempted a couple of times to take the WRX away from my son and give it to his older sister and let him drive her 2000 Ford Focus (a decidely unsexy car).</p>
<p>Bought my D a used 2005 Hyundai Tibouron w/ about 20k miles on it about 18 months ago. I was surprised how inexpensive it was and it’s been really nice. She drives conservatively and I’m the one who zips around in it like a fool, lol. I can’t help it. It’s a lot of fun to drive. Nothing at all like a WRX though - that’s real power. Anyway, so far it’s been very reliable and I would recommend it as a fairly inexpensive small car. You can get a nice used one pretty cheap.</p>
<p>I had the same experiences with Honda vs Toyota salespeople many years ago. The Honda guys felt that you must want their vehicles at any price whereas the Toyota people would deal.</p>
<p>I have a 2003 blue WRX hatchback. It is fun to drive, but is happiest with premium gas and gets low gas mileage. I enjoy the car, but it certainly isn’t a good car for teenagers. So far, I’ve only gotten one speeding ticket. I’ve been pleasantly surprised that it has had no issues, and has only required regular maintenance. I’ve previously owned VW, Mazda and Toyota cars (all manual transmission). </p>
<p>If I were to be in the market for a new car, I’d be looking at the Mini. Still fun to drive, but better mileage.</p>
<p>eadad- thanks for the information. I own the Geo Prism which has been discontinued also. My mechanic only works on Toyota and he will work on my Geo because it is mostly Toyota parts. Before I would purchase the Vibe I would check with him.</p>
<p>tom,</p>
<p>Here is our though process leading to another Corolla-Matrix purchase (we also had a novice driver):</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Honda Civic/Hybrid - more money compared to a Corolla, snooty dealership</p></li>
<li><p>Honda Fit - cute, but puny and may not be as safe as even a slightly larger Civic/Corolla.</p></li>
<li><p>Nissan Versa - by the time you add the safety/other features it becomes as expensive as a Corolla.</p></li>
<li><p>Toyota Yaris - I liked it, but H said it looked like a bug; he did not like the sedan version either; not as safe as a Corolla</p></li>
<li><p>Pontiac Vibe - cheaper than a Matrix, fine versatility of a hatchback, but the colors on the lot were really ugly and depressing</p></li>
</ol>
<p>BB- without considering the available colors what would you say about the Vibe/Matrix.</p>
<p>Hyundai - One of the nice things about them is that their warranty is about the best in the business - 10 years/100K miles powertain and 5 years/60K miles bumper to bumper. The vehicles are also reasonably priced and rate very highly in quality surveys. We have a 2005 Tucson and it’s had no problems.</p>
<p>Anecdotes - For all you Toyota/Honda (and other) people - We’re still driving the 1998 Dodge Durango - it’s over 160K miles now. It runs fine and actually feels new to me. This doesn’t mean I think all Dodges are better than all Toyotas/Hondas - just an illustration to take anecdotes with a grain of salt including the one I just gave.</p>
<p>jym- I purchased a Corolla from a rental agency once and had great luck with it. I am considering that again. Which rental agency did you see the Mazda- it seems only Enterprise is selling in my area. I purchased the Toyota- a 1979 in 1980 for $4000 drove it for 15 years and sold it for $1200.</p>
<p>tom, I thought that on the inside, they were twins separated at birth! The outside design was somewhat different, and I thought the Vibe looked slightly better. But I’d be much more cautious to look at the Vibe due to the already mentioned uncertainties in the autoland.</p>
<p>The Consumer Report which arrived today covers the Honda Fit, Suzuki SX4, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, and Chevy Aveo.</p>
<p>D loves her Matrix, and the new one looks cool, much better than Vibe. I do not understand why.</p>