I definitely don't like the 2010 Matrix as much as my 2000 Camry

[guccimane]

so I've got a rental 2010 Matrix right now from Hertz and I gotta say it's nowhere near as good, in my opinion, as my 2000 Camry LE.

The one thing I will say is better is that the automatic lights come on instantly when the car is turned on in the darkness, whereas in my 2000 Camry it takes ~20 seconds-ish for them to 'realize' it's nighttime and come on automatically. (edit: is there a way to fix/improve this on my Camry's automatic lights? that'd be nice)

but the 2010 Matrix doesn't seem as 'user-serviceable' as my Camry. for example. plus, the instrument cluster is hidden in that, in my opinion, horrible design flaw that Toyota seems to think is cool (I mean how it's basically looking down a pipe to see the gauges). I think that's a terrible design decision for a more 'family-oriented' value brand like Toyota. I'd imagine having the instrument cluster designed like that would be horrible for parents teacher their kids to drive because you can't see any of the instruments if you're in the passenger seat, that is, if you wanted to monitor your child's driving. anyone else notice this?

plus, the Matrix has an ~11 gallon tank, my Camry has a ~17 or so gallon tank.

also the Matrix high-beams aren't that great compared to my Camry's high-beams. I know that is easily solvable, but as far as this car goes in its stock config, as far as I can tell, it doesn't touch my 2000 Camry.

on that note, is there much of an enthusiast community for the Toyota Matrix line? I can't imagine there's much aftermarket stuff you can do. the receiver looks like proprietary design to me that'd be hard to adapt to an aftermarket Pioneer/Alpine/whatever.

Thoughts?

[rebuy]

New does not mean improved.

With our congress trying to tell car makers how
to make cars for us, we all loose.


Q. What is the opposite of Progress? A. Congress

[arabianobsession]

Originally Posted by guccimane

so I've got a rental 2010 Matrix right now from Hertz and I gotta say it's nowhere near as good, in my opinion, as my 2000 Camry LE.

The one thing I will say is better is that the automatic lights come on instantly when the car is turned on in the darkness, whereas in my 2000 Camry it takes ~20 seconds-ish for them to 'realize' it's nighttime and come on automatically. (edit: is there a way to fix/improve this on my Camry's automatic lights? that'd be nice)

but the 2010 Matrix doesn't seem as 'user-serviceable' as my Camry. for example. plus, the instrument cluster is hidden in that, in my opinion, horrible design flaw that Toyota seems to think is cool (I mean how it's basically looking down a pipe to see the gauges). I think that's a terrible design decision for a more 'family-oriented' value brand like Toyota. I'd imagine having the instrument cluster designed like that would be horrible for parents teacher their kids to drive because you can't see any of the instruments if you're in the passenger seat, that is, if you wanted to monitor your child's driving. anyone else notice this?

plus, the Matrix has an ~11 gallon tank, my Camry has a ~17 or so gallon tank.

also the Matrix high-beams aren't that great compared to my Camry's high-beams. I know that is easily solvable, but as far as this car goes in its stock config, as far as I can tell, it doesn't touch my 2000 Camry.

on that note, is there much of an enthusiast community for the Toyota Matrix line? I can't imagine there's much aftermarket stuff you can do. the receiver looks like proprietary design to me that'd be hard to adapt to an aftermarket Pioneer/Alpine/whatever.

Thoughts?

1) The Camry has always had a rather large gas tank. My 2011 Camry has an 18.5 gallon tank, which is insane! Generally, I've found that smaller cars have smaller gas tanks. My 95 Mustang has a 15 gallon tank.

2) As for aftermarket stuff for the Matrix, there's more than you may think. The Matrix is basically a Corolla wagon (and it's also pretty much a Pontiac Vibe), so 95% of the aftermarket stuff for those cars will work on the Matrix as well. From what I've seen, the Gen 1 Matrix is more popular than the Gen 2, but each person has their preferences.