2003 Toyota Matrix Reviews, Pricing & Specs

i bought my 2003 toyota matrix off the showroom floor. its great. maintaning the car is too easy. the performance is soo good sometimes i think ive got corvette zr1 engine in it. ive got probably 5 speeding tickets now with my so called (family wagon) ive owned it since 2003 i am the only owner. the milage is at a mouth dropping 300,000km. amazingly i havent replaced much, nothing powertrain wise for sure. i just give it a oil change once in a while, tune it up, slap on some new brakes tires and windshield wipers and im ready to ride! for sure i would recommend this car to anyone and everyone. the other day i raced a nissan gtr r34 fully tuned and i was at most a cars length behind him. i use this car to drive to work and to go on trips with the family or just go out in the city, and at 300,000kms it still hasnt failed me.Aug 21, 2012

Pros: Good for roadtrips The fold down seats that converts to a flatbead Utilitarian vehicle Good for carrying fishing gear Never had a problem with this car Numerous aftermarket parts from namebrand vendors Looks more aggressive than the newer models Looks like a sporty wagon but drives like a sedan Drive well on snow Many storage compartments Rear window wipers Rear trunk door (both door and glass can open) Good gas mileage Good acceleration A fast car Cons: NoneJul 09, 2010

Performance wize: the car doesn't perform like a bmw, but for a car that gets great gas millage i love it. I wish i got the 4wd version with the XRS engine and a manual tranny. Build Quality: the quality of the build is pretty good there were some rattles that i had in my car before i installed a 1,500 dollar sound system, but now it rattles a lot more =) because of the bass. Appearance: the appearance of the car is fantastic i love the oem body kit i have on it, but i wish my matrix came with the bigger rims. Cost of Ownership: the cost of maintenance and gas are very cheap and its pretty easy to maintain this car. Fun Factor: the fun factor of my matrix isn't that fun because its FWD and Automatic, but I can still pull of some drifts with it. Overall I think the car is worth it. =)Jul 03, 2010

Clutch and tires wear a little fast, 28mpg, have had pulley/belt noise from day 1. It's quick, hardy, mechanically wonderful, has never left me stranded. Little plastic things have broken all over inside the car. Ground effex are thrashed from clearance issues. Interior is big enough to move anything and put in lots of extras. I love this car! It hugs the road and the handling is responsive. Glad I bought the XRS. I appreciate that while it lacks a little power, there are many things I can do to this car to make it faster.Nov 20, 2009

Awesome vehicle, 180hp 2ZZ-GE with Yamaha designed heads, 6speed, 40+mpg, Toyota quality. Same drivetrain as on the Celica GT-S. Although the gears are taller due to the larger diameter wheels/tires. Only weighs 2800lbs. Virtually no camber (excellent tire wear because of this), can feel at times like it will slip off the road (though it won't, with 215 tires it will produce .80g). This is especially noticeable with thinner tires (195's). Surprisingly low body roll. Thinner tires also make wheel spin on launch easy. Clutch a cross between newer German cars and 90's Japanese cars. Sits up high like a mini-van. 5'x4' cargo space when rear seats folded down. Engine is almost too quiet at lower rpm's. 6th gear is nice and high, allows for excellent highway mileage. Oil filter is nice and close to the drain plug. Spark plugs are easy to access. Metal Matrix Composite lined cylinder walls (thus the name) and forged internals make the engine extremely durable. 13 gallon tank makes cruising range about 500 miles. Seats and interior panels are very durable. Notes: The XRS is the only trim to have the 2ZZ-GE. 2004 and later models were equipped with smog pumps (takes off about 7hp)(TLEV to ULEV); The 2003 was the only year when the XRS could have had a slushbox.Jul 09, 2009

The acceleration is decent.On hot or warm days it takes a little while to get to above 45 mph.Easy handling.Dash board creaks a very little bit.Interior is very spacious and the exterior is very sporty.The only complaint I have is the front end that is very low to the ground.It gets scratched very easy from steep driveways.It does very well on the freeway but above average around town.It is a very fun car to drive.It's very zippy and quick.Oct 05, 2008

Altho the XRS is equipped with the same engine as a Lotus Exige, the weight of the Matrix cuts down the performances. If Toyota really wanted to make a sport version of this car, they should have kept the 4 wheels drive avaiable with the 180 hp engine / 6 speeds transmission. And still, the Rav-4 sport is now equipped with a 269 hp V6 engine. Add that in a Matrix and we would be talking about performances. Impreza and the likes would be put to shame. Still, this car is among the best value/quality car one can buy.Sep 16, 2008

Loved this car. A little bit on the slow side due to the weight from the All wheel drive system, an automatic gearbox, and lack of power. Was alot bigger inside that it seemed like from the outside. Another thing that didn't impress me that much was the gas mileage. I only managed to get about 23mpg. Otherwise, the car was pretty much perfect and flawless. I had no mechanical breakdowns or major problems with the car. I do want to add that I did modify the car. Modifications include: Hotchkis Lowering Springs, custom Celica shocks, Bomz Short Ram Air Intake, 6000k HIDs, Gutted Catalytic Converter, N1 Exhaust, JVC Headunit, 17in Reaction Orbits with Bridgestone Potenza G005 and other stuff. Totaling about $5,000 worth of modification and parts.Aug 14, 2008

This car is by no means a bad car, but one of the few things that it has going for it is its 4WD. Most of its other features are pretty standard on a car of its class. Mine is the standard, watered-down breed, and it barely has central locking. I have crank windows as well. Power is decent, I have a feeling the 2WD would be a little bit quicker to accelerate, but this one has the 120-something horses to power four wheels with no option of a manual transmission to make that acceleration even feel any quicker. I also notice a pretty big drop in my miles-per-gallon when I let the revs get up to even 4000 on a regular basis. This car gets 22 on average, and I have been trying extra-hard lately to save gas with prices over $4 now. I have been able to manage 24.5 MPG in a suburban driving situation. I say suburban because most of my driving is a city setting, but it's no 'downtown.' I hit the freeway every now and then, but not as daily commute to work and back, like most who consider their miles 'highway' would. The car's mousy exterior foreshadows Toyota's latest trend of making their cars look like they belong in the Pokédex (Yes, we're looking at you, Toyota Yaris.) I can still see the angles from the Celica they were building at the same time, but the styling on this car has become much rounder. It looks youthful. That isn't exactly what this car should look like, in my opinion. I think this car needs an edgier outside to make up for what it lacks under the hood. But at least Toyota aren't trying to hide anything. The car has pretty good interior quality. I read in a review of the Toyota Corolla that the car has a historically 'awkward' seating position, and this Corolla variant is no different. I will be honest, the car feels like you are sitting up quite high for the size of the car. And the seat's limited adjustment is no help to this issue, either. I only have a recline and forward-backward adjust to change my seating position. I don't know what was a normal offering for drivers' seating when this car was new, but I assume most were offered with some kind of height adjustment in the seat. Oh well, what can you ask of a base-model car? I can't speak much to the electrics on the inside of the car because I have none. I do have central locking, but that's due to the dealer alarm that we had the dealer leave on the car when it was purchased. No power windows, just the cranks. I had a friend who had never seen this kind of window before he got in my car. I simply told him it was 'retro' and that he needed to get out more. The radio is a little bit disappointing. This car was a joint effort with General Motors (which spawned the Pontiac Vibe) and it shares a lot of parts. The radio head unit is clearly in GM font, and it is one of my more prominent complaints in the car. It's probably just my unit, but whenever I play a CD and hit the brakes, the CD's rotations cause it to scrape against the innards of the player, making an attractive noise for any passenger that I may have to hear. I usually just scold it and laugh it off, but on the inside I am writing a note to myself never to purchase a car that is the lovechild of a one-night-stand between an American and an Asian. America is not something I want near my Japanese cars in the future. It's a shame the new Vibe is still brothers with the new Matrix. I thought Toyota would learn from that one. I feel like this review has a negative feel about it. I'm not trying to do that, the car is a good one. and I'm not unhappy owning it. My biggest gripe is that mine's not a manual and the car does not even come in a manual transmission. For its price, it offers pretty good value I'd say. It's the only car I've ever personally owned, but I have been in similar cars that seem to give you better value for money. Overall, a good car, though. Jun 27, 2008

I bought the car recently and don’t have enough experience with it to make any comments yet. Reviews are good, it seems to be a reliable car, we’ll see… One thing that you notice immediately when you drive this car is how high you sit above the ground. The roof is may be 10”-12” higher than majority of cars, seats are high too, it feels like you’re driving a very compact van. I don’t mind this feeling at all, I wasn’t looking for a sports car when I bought that thing. So far I’m happy with my choice.Apr 13, 2008

Had it since new, it's gotten me and my associated mass of stuff, military and personal, across Canada, and to 3 different homes. Plus the usual vacation spots with all the camping gear and room left over for friends. For it's rated 135HP, probably only puts that down now that I have a cold air intake and exhaust done, it's got some get up and go, but nothing truly exceptional. Still, the 5MT beats the slushbox anyday.Jan 04, 2008

I like cars that are functional first and no bigger than is necissary. The Matrix is exactly that, parking well and getting good MPG while remaining roomy inside both for kids and cargo. My only complaint is that the cool looking ground effects both dramatically limit ground clearence (I supose that is obvious, but it is more of a problem than I thought) and sometimes whistle at highway speeds. With hind-sight I would have gotten the Vibe which also has an integrated roof-rack.Nov 28, 2006