One of each

[joatmon]

I recently helped my son purchase a used 2003 Matrix XR. here are mine and his side by sideI had never really taken a good look at the Matrix, since I chose the Vibe over the Matrix because I preferred the look of the VIbe, and the Toyota dealership near me is hyper pushy, which just sends me running. Now that I have had years to get used to the Matrix, I can handle the Matrix styling. Functionally, the windows in the rear definitely gives the Matrix better visibility out the rear corners.A Matrix holds its value better because of the market's worship of the Toyota badge. A similar 03, optioned out, will cost thousands more for the Toyota badging. The Vibe is a much better deal. Unless, like we did, you can find a dealer who mismarked a Matrix's price in their ads and then compell them to honor the advertised price.Shopping for used Vibes and Matrixes can be tough, there doesn't seem to be a lot of them on the market. Some of the better deals were too far away from us. Some interesting ones for sale in Ohio, but they were just too far away to consider going to check out, and I wouldn't buy one without checking it out first.Spent days on autorader.com, cars.com, craigslists, and finding dealers and used car lots and checking their web sites for used car inventory. Finding the same cars, and almost remembering what options each had, but not quite, so looking at the details again, seeing what made it undesirable again, feeling stupid for checking out the same listing ten times in the same day.I found one really good deal on an 03 Neptune two tone, but honestly, I was afraid it might be a certain 03 Neptune two tone, and just knowing that one is out there somewhere is enough to keep me from taking the remote chance that I might be buying that one. Some of the dealers I visited were really high pressure. Walk on the lot and three guys are right on you, shoving business cards at you, asking your name, phone number, saying we have this car you asked about but you really want to buy this other one that is one four thousand more, but it won't last long, so you better commit right this instant. We had found a 2004 Salsa monotone Vibe, had gone to see it, and it was beautiful. You salsa owners have a good color. It all looked good, the dealer had the car fax report showing only routine service, no accidents, no service for any major failures, low miles, immaculate, and I thought we had found the car to buy, but in checking it out, found the hatch didn't open. Something not right with the handle. Went back in to talk to the salesman, who said offhandedly, as if it was a trivial matter, that when the repaired all the damage to the tail gate, they must have forgotten to hook someting up. Have I mentioned that I hate car salespeople? Sorry to any salepeople genvibers, but you picked that occupation, not me, I don't have to like it. We had found the local Toyota dealer had a nice looking 04 Matrix, and the price was in the reasonable range (reasonable, meaning the range that most of the similar ones on the market were going for, but still a big chunk of money) That is when I learned that on the base Matrix, Toyota options a lot of things that come standard on the Vibe. If you are considering buying a used matrix (not a Matrix XR or XRS), then you better check, because it may not have the better center console lid, air conditioning, power exterior mirrors, the 110VAC power inverter, fog lights, probably other things as well. I am used to thinking of those things on all the Vibes, so it took me a while to realize when comparing vehicles I had to check if those things were there or not. They might be standard on a Matrix XR, they were on the XR that we bought. Also power windows/locks, alloys, sunroof and audio amp/tweeters, floor mats, cargo mats, and $2K less than the trix for sale at the local Toyota dealer. After all the searching, comparing, this one was a no brainer. There are undoubtedly much better deals out there, but none anywhere near me.The one we got was about 160 miles from my house, but it was worth the drive. The dealership had a ton of photos, I could see pretty much everything about the car I might check in person, except for a test drive, the color of certain fluids, and listening to the engine. I am not sure I would have takend the chance driving so far if it hadn't been so well documented. Another benefit was that they had an 03 Vibe with all the same options with 46K miles for the same price, and it was also well pohotographed. Figured if the Trix didn't pan out for some reason, the Vibe would have been a good alternative. And it would have, it was the best Vibe deal we had found, and we would have bought it if the trix didn't pan out.I probably wouldn't have noticed the one we got, except fot the bug in search engines. I live on a penninsula, and looking for cars 50 miles away turned up results that weere 50 miles away. Unfortunately, to go east 50 miles means driving two hours north to reach the bay bridge, then another hour and a half back down the delmarva on the other side of the Chesapeake. 50 miles, three and half hours.So I am relieved at being done with shopping for a car, and being able to buy one at a price I thought was reasonable. Now I just need to stop looking at prices. Tomorrow there will be ten better deals, I am better off never knowing about them.

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[WaveAction]

matrix looks good..alot of writing to read lol

[coldmm803]

way to go joat like wave said, thats a lot to read, i started and then scrolled down and said heck no...but maybe thats just cause i'm drunk and not bored enough (i'll finish reading it tomorrow/later)

[mac99d]

So is he going Turbo or Supercharged. lol

[808 Vibes]

Lucky kid! Quote, originally posted by joatmon »the Toyota dealership near me is hyper pushy, which just sends me running.I *believe* all the Toyota/Scion dealers here are owned by the same company-Servco=monopoly! They have their own car carrier trucks with "Toyota Hawaii" emblazoned on the doors, and hired Aerosmith for their private company party, while Aerosmith cancelled the public concert.

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »We had found a 2004 Salsa monotone Vibe, had gone to see it, and it was beautiful. You salsa owners have a good color. Thanks!I love it too.

[AKLGT]

good find! I'm sure you of all people are the uber bargain finder of cars!

[lovemyraffe]

Congrats on the new ride!

[ramenboy...]

hey joatcongrats on the find! my brother had an o5 trix awd for a short time, so we'd compare notes and argue which car looked better. i'm sure your son will enjoy the ride

[ToolGuy]

Nice! I am sure he will find it very useful and of course great on gas! Silver is a great color and I am glad my Jeep is silver. Silver just does not show the dirt to me.