Owners' Reviews

This car has been a huge disappointment in MPG.. Advertised as 31 Hwy and 28 City (?) and the best we have done in almost 6 years is 28 on the Hwy (steady 70 mph) and about 22 around town. Wears out front tires way too fast (14K miles!), or maybe it was the Continentals that it came with. Other brands seem to do a better (about 20K miles which still isn't good). We also had a Mercedes E320 V6 up until last year that had almost twice the HP, torque, and weight and gave better mileage than the Matrix, 24 around town and 30-32 on the Hwy... Both numbers OVER the estimate for that car. And it was a LOT more comfortable.. Also more expensive and not as reliable, so it had to go. The Matirx AC system has needed an almost annual refill of refrigerant which has gotten really expensive. Mechanic can't find a leak, probably because it's too small. As someone else noted, the rear brake light is near impossible to replace and I've found that the rear wiper is a real hassle too; one mechanic who tried mangled the new blade getting it installed.

Air conditioning went out at 80K. Screwy panel illumination when turning on heater, takes about three minutes for lamps to illuminate panel completely. Changing top center rear brake lamp is almost undo-able, almost forcing one to take to dealer to replace lamp in order not to break plastic bezel. Same can be said the cabin overhead lamp. Car emits rich gassy fumes upon start up. Car is suppose to get 29MPG, it's closer to 24. Not very good MPG for a small car for city driving. Pros: Very flexible in payload to carry items like Xmas trees, bikes, rugs, and water heaters.