2003 Toyota Matrix XRS review from North America

The battery quit, abruptly, at about 50,000 miles.

It eats front tires since the accident, when a wild hog ran into me, did $7k damage, and ran off grumbling all the way.

This has been a superb car for me - I use it for a 60 mile daily commute across back-country roads, which means lots of potholes, some dirt and gravel stretches, no traffic and lots of animals to dodge.

I drove it quite aggressively and yet it treated me very well. It handles very well on dirt roads, it feels stable on gravel, it's cheap to keep. It has never been in the shop for anything major, only some preventative maintenance.

I keep the back seats down always to keep the car loaded with various equipment; I have even taken naps back there. I also put a small hitch on it and pull an 8-foot trailer or a 12-foot duck boat on occasion.

It is very comfortable to me because of a knee injury that requires me to sit up, like in a van. I can (and have) driven it 7 hours with only one break - and I am not a young guy anymore!

I'd get another in a flash if I could find power leather seats and some more creature comforts.