The 2010 Matrix is a 4-door, 5-passenger wagon, available in 7 trims, ranging from the Base 5-Spd MT to the XRS 4-Spd AT. A little slow on the get up and go but that is a trade off to get better gas mileage. To me the price was a little high for a small car. I feel that you cant go wrong if you want a small car and good gas mileage plus a great reliable car. Looks are not bad either. I have the AWD and I will never go back to a two wheel drive car againUpon introduction, the Base 5-Spd MT is equipped with a standard 1.8-liter, I4, 132-horsepower engine that achieves 26-mpg in the city and 32-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard. The XRS 4-Spd AT is equipped with a standard 2.4-liter, I4, 158-horsepower engine that achieves 21-mpg in the city and 29-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard.
For the price, I think it's the best car on the market. By that I mean you need to compare ACTUAL ownership prices. I leased the Matrix for less than I would've paid for most other cars that were up to $4,000 cheaper. That's because the residual value after 3 years is over 57%. Most cars under $20k have residuals between 40% ~ 50%. My "wishlist" would include: illumnated window switches, rigid removeable trunk cover (the one supplied is a joke), average/instant mpg displayed in trip computer, cargo floor mat that covers the back of the rear seats (so the floor is fully covered when the back seats are folded flat).
The car has some bad blind spots. One of the blind spots is in the front where the window frame/roof supports are extra thick so that when you're looking across the car when trying to pull out you have about 10-15% of your field of vision removed. It's enough for a car to get in there if you're not paying close attention. I had someone cross the street at a perfect angle to where I could not see her and nearly hit her until the car turned just enough to see her.
