Car shopping soon...advice?

[Jolt]

About my history - I have lived all over this county in all types of conditions. When I learned to drive, it was in the snow before there was front wheel drive. I've owned 4WD, AWD, FrontWD and rearWD cars and driven all of them in the snow and ice. First of all, not all FWD is created equal. And AWD isn't going to help you if it doesn't have the necessary clearance. Thirdly, a reasonably heavy front wheel drive car might be all you'll ever need unless you move to the mountains or the country where plowing is sporatic at best. Even then, chains rock.


I did drive a 2010 Matrix while ours was in for routine maintneance and it sucked. Visibilty was poor, the inside felt 'plasticky', and handling was lousy. If you do still consider a Matrix, opt for an older one. The new ones are lacking in my opinion.

As far as a reasonably heavy FWD car being good enough, that does make sense. I had a 1992 Chevy Lumina (hand-me-down from my parents) before getting the Corolla, and that car did really well in the snow b/c it was kind of big and heavy. However, I'm not excited about the idea of going back to a car that size--it's awkward in tight spaces and for one person a big car just doesn't make a lot of sense. Thanks for the info on the Matrix; I would be looking at the older ones since those would be the ones in my price range. I wonder if handling on new Toyotas in general isn't very good...I had a rental for the first day after my accident and it was a very new Camry. I did NOT like the feel of that car...didn't even feel connected to the road, which was especially scary given the experience I had just had. Not sure if it was just because it is a bigger car than I am used to or what, but I was not impressed at all!

[Irulan]

I also had a horrible experience with a Subaru. Granted, it was a long time ago, but I had problem after mechanical problem. I had the car for 15 months, traded it for a Volvo station wagon, which I had for almost 10 years.

Every brand has its lemons.I am sure there could be a whole multi page thread on the "cars we love to hate" discussion....

[OakLeaf]

Are they offering AWD on the Matrix again? They weren't a few years ago when I was looking at new ones.

My '07 Prius handles very well considering its size. Haven't driven one of the new ones. It's got all the electronic geegaws that really help in rain, gravel, bumpy surfaces, etc. It's just no good on snow or ice.

I'm wondering if visibility isn't an issue in all newer cars, the result of the side curtain air bags? The #1 thing I hate about my Prius is the visibility. The stupid pillars/airbags - especially the left one - completely cover a large portion of the driver's field of vision. I've read that there's no requirement for a car to have a windshield at ALL, let alone how much you can see out of it. Regulations are better for helmets...

[Irulan]

Are they offering AWD on the Matrix again? They weren't a few years ago when I was looking at new ones.

My '07 Prius handles very well considering its size. Haven't driven one of the new ones. It's got all the electronic geegaws that really help in rain, gravel, bumpy surfaces, etc. It's just no good on snow or ice.

I'm wondering if visibility isn't an issue in all newer cars, the result of the side curtain air bags? The #1 thing I hate about my Prius is the visibility. The stupid pillars/airbags - especially the left one - completely cover a large portion of the driver's field of vision. I've read that there's no requirement for a car to have a windshield at ALL, let alone how much you can see out of it. Regulations are better for helmets...

Matrix offered it in 08 when I was looking, don't know about other years.
And yes to the poor visibility. That was one main reason that the Pruis was taken off my list right away. But so many of the cars and suv's have that round back shape now. Good rear visibility was one thing that was really important to me and a lot of cars got off my list right away because of the lack of it. Back up cameras are not a substitute. Oakleaf - you know what backed into me the other day? A Prius!! My car is small enough that yup, it didnt' show up in the Prius rear window when you looked out....

[GLC1968]

Are they offering AWD on the Matrix again? They weren't a few years ago when I was looking at new ones.

My '07 Prius handles very well considering its size. Haven't driven one of the new ones. It's got all the electronic geegaws that really help in rain, gravel, bumpy surfaces, etc. It's just no good on snow or ice.

I'm wondering if visibility isn't an issue in all newer cars, the result of the side curtain air bags? The #1 thing I hate about my Prius is the visibility. The stupid pillars/airbags - especially the left one - completely cover a large portion of the driver's field of vision. I've read that there's no requirement for a car to have a windshield at ALL, let alone how much you can see out of it. Regulations are better for helmets...

Actually, the visibility problem on the new Matrix is due to the change they made in the rear configuration. The new ones have a larger solid part between the rear window and the rear side windows and it sucks. Oh, and the rear window on the new ones don't have a 'hatch' opening glass option like ours does and I love that feature!

The Prius visibilty issue was with the front, more than the back (in my opinion). I hated those HUGE solid areas around the windshield (I don't know the technical name of them!). If they were huge due to the side curtain air bags, then Toyota needs to take a lesson from the MINI design handbook. The MINI has the same airbags and the foward visiblity was much, much better.

Jolt - a car doesn't have to be big to be heavy! My 2004 MINI was surprizingly heavy for it's tiny size and it had fantastic traction! The DSC helped, of course...but even acceleration was good without snow tires. I was really impressed with it, actually. I'm thinking that they may have lightened up the newer models though in order to get better gas mileage. It might be worth investigating as that was a fantastic car for one person (or two). I wish I hadn't traded it in. I really, really regret it.

[OakLeaf]

you know what backed into me the other day? A Prius!!

(I think ... you okay and your car repairable??)

I don't have an issue with the rear visibility per se - I can actually see more out of the hatch than I can with most cars, but there's something about it that's different and took a little getting used to. The front visibility, OTOH ... I have to practically stick my head out the window to see around a left hand curve. Passing on a two-lane, forget about it, I can't see whether there's anything in the oncoming lane.

But that backup camera. I've read where they want to make them mandatory, and I think they should be banned. The camera makes it really tempting to look at the stupid screen and not at where you're going. I try to ignore the thing. But I think it could easily cause a crash.

I learned a little trick: put the car in reverse, then adjust the temperature, and the camera screen won't come back after the climate screen clears.

[Aquila]

My friends and I up here joke that Subaru is the official car of professional women in the upper midwest. I love mine, though I've managed to slide on occasion despite the AWD. (I'm not the most skilled winter driver.)

But, one of my friends has a tiny Suzuki and it's also a great car, and packs their bikes and kayaks really well, and does fine in snow, too.

[Crankin]

Yea, Subarus are really popular here, too.
Probably the reason I didn't get one.

[Irulan]

Funny Subaru story. Remember when they only came in Lego colors?

Anyway one of my good friends used to have a green wagon ( pre out back) Her DH went to the supermarket, came back to A green wagon, saw a business card for a plastic surgeon on the seat and just freaked out. Then he tried to open the door with the key, wrong car.

[indysteel]

My husband had to drive my car in the snow today and declared afterwards that he's getting me snow tires! Yay! I get really anxious when I have to drive in bad weather. Anything that helps me be and feel safer is a win. It wasn't a big deal when I lived a mile from work. I would just walk when it was bad out. Now that I'm almost 30 miles away, it's a big deal.

[GLC1968]

Funny Subaru story. Remember when they only came in Lego colors?

Anyway one of my good friends used to have a green wagon ( pre out back) Her DH went to the supermarket, came back to A green wagon, saw a business card for a plastic surgeon on the seat and just freaked out. Then he tried to open the door with the key, wrong car.

Heh - I just did this at the gym/pool last week. I came out and walked up to what I thought was my Matrix (ours is the light metallic blue color and there are TONS of them out there in that color). My key fob wasn't working and I was about to put my key in the door when I noticed a child seat in the backseat. Huh? Then I realized I was one row over from where my car was.

[zoom-zoom]

Heh - I just did this at the gym/pool last week. I came out and walked up to what I thought was my Matrix (ours is the light metallic blue color and there are TONS of them out there in that color). My key fob wasn't working and I was about to put my key in the door when I noticed a child seat in the backseat. Huh? Then I realized I was one row over from where my car was.

Ha, one I used my key fob on my last car and the trunk of a car in the next row opened...different make and model, even!

I've not had any problems walking up to a car like mine. We have the only Mazda 3 hatchback in Copper Red in our entire county, as far as I know. My last car was a Ford Escort, but it was a dark periwinkle sort of color, so not common. I avoid too-common colors for this very reason.

[OakLeaf]

... one of my more embarrassing moments was when I'd rented a car - I don't even remember why, since we were home - I went to the post office and when I came back out, I couldn't get into the car. I might've even called the rental agency. Then I turned around and my identical rental car was behind me.

[Jolt]

Surprisingly I only recall one time when I tried to get into the wrong car...red Corollas are everywhere so there were plenty of opportunities for it to happen. Maybe it's because I had a few stuffed animals in the back window that made it easy to pick mine out in the parking lot.

[emily_in_nc]

I came out of REI once and started freaking out b/c someone had hit my Honda Element and left a big scratch on the driver's side door and hadn't left a note or anything. And then my key wouldn't work!

Sheepishly, I then noticed my vehicle parked one row over.