2003 Toyota Matrix XR review from North America

The CD player does not work. Everytime I put a CD in it, it pops out with a "Check CD" error.

My wife and I thought of buying a hatchback for some time. We checked various models from different makes. We finally went for the Matrix. We tested drove three Matrix, the first one was an AWD model, the second was an XRS, and the last one was an XR. We found the AWD a bit too noisy. The XRS had more power, but we didn't want it because of poorer gas consumption.

Here are the pros and cons for our Matrix XR.

The pros:

It's roomy. Flipped down the backseats, the cargo area is quite incredible. The head and leg rooms are very good. Mind you, I am about 6'2" and find it comfortable.

Gas consumption is good. I drive about 65km (mixture of highway and city) a day with the Matrix. Gas consumption works out to be about 7.0L/100km.

Handling is very good. Cornering, picking up speed, stopping and all that are all reasonable. The size of the tires helps.

The features are sufficient. The Matrix comes with three models: base, XR, and XRS. There are also the differences in front wheel and AWD. The XR model has all the essentials, except the ABS, foglights, and sunroof.

The cons:

The dashboard is lit up all the time in red. To some people it may be really stylish, but too many others, it is down right annoying, especially during night time driving. My solution is to adjust the illumination down when I have to drive at night. Reading the dash is also sometimes difficult under strong sun light, especially when the light is coming from the back, and with the sunglasses on.

In general, I would recommend it to my friends, so long as they can stand the red illumination on the dash board.