the vynsane asylum

Well, for those of you not on what mabs calls Facebox, our car died yesterday. I was on the way to San Diego (two hours from home), and the transmission unexpectedly just sorta died. It still drives, but not well at all; I can get it to a dealer here for trade-in (and expect to get about $1,000-$1,500 for it, even with some minor body damage and the tranny issues), but not much further. I won't be able to get home to my lovely due-any-day-now wife until tonight, and, unfortunately, she'll have to make the drive back on Sunday so we can get a new car.

Since this comes at a bad time--she's about to go on maternity leave and will be getting only 75% of her pay for two months, and she makes the bulk of our income--we're not necessarily going to go with our ideal "small SUV with good mileage and a compact" combination. Sadly, we only had one car, and, though we were planning to get a second one after she goes back from maternity leave, I have a feeling that might be out of the question now. So, we're looking at one inexpensive car that gets good mileage and can comfortably hold two carseats. We're leaning toward Toyota, since we've had three now that lasted almost to 200,000 miles each before something happened that would cost more than the value of the car to fix (broken AC, smashed in a wreck, and, now, the shot transmission).

We're currently looking at the Toyota Matrix (earlier models looked like ass, but the new one looks decent) or the Scion XD (which is very similar, but cheaper and with better mileage--can't believe we're considering a Scion after how much we both disliked their initial "box" that vynnie is so fond of). I've talked with my dad and brother; they're both car people, and I apparently didn't get that gene, but they both say they've not seen any with serious problems come into their shops. And, though I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I find it a bit fishy that all these supposed problems happened with Toyota when the American carmarkers were in trouble and the government had bailed them out, despite no one I know ever having any serious Toyota issues, and later investigations basically coming to the conclusion that the acceleration issues were bullshit.

Anyone have any input one way or the other about either car? Or about the Scion division of Toyota in general (since we've not dealt with them before)?

anarky wrote:We're currently looking at the Toyota Matrix (earlier models looked like ass, but the new one looks decent) or the Scion XD (which is very similar, but cheaper and with better mileage--can't believe we're considering a Scion after how much we both disliked their initial "box" that vynnie is so fond of). I've talked with my dad and brother; they're both car people, and I apparently didn't get that gene, but they both say they've not seen any with serious problems come into their shops. And, though I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I find it a bit fishy that all these supposed problems happened with Toyota when the American carmarkers were in trouble and the government had bailed them out, despite no one I know ever having any serious Toyota issues, and later investigations basically coming to the conclusion that the acceleration issues were bullshit.

Anyone have any input one way or the other about either car? Or about the Scion division of Toyota in general (since we've not dealt with them before)?

i didn't like the first-gen XB - the new, rounder one is the one we have. before that i had the TC, so i'm probably the best resource in terms of knowing scion.

we carefully looked at both the matrix and XB when we decided to trade in the TC. we glanced at the XD. the the matrix and XD are quite small - the XD is REALLY small. you're going to have two carseats now. the amount of space in the XB is impressive. it's small from the outside, but REALLY roomy inside, with quite a lot of cargo space - it's almost like a mini SUV, or minivan in disguise. seriously, with two kids you need to consider interior space. it's also got a pretty peppy engine - you're not gonna run any 1/4 mile competitions or anything, but you're not going to feel like you're driving a shriner car, which is what the original XB felt like (i drove one while helping my wife's aunt with a dealer trade, from myrtle beach, SC to raleigh, NC).

on a side-note, the brakes thing was total BS. we would've heard of any major outcome, and it's all just kinda... gone away.

Vyn, seriously, thank you. We're both going off pictures online that I'm sure are doctored to make the cars seem roomier than they are, and if the car's going to definitely be too small for two kids, it's out, and there's no point in wasting my time or the dealer's time.

I've been stuck at my mother-in-law's house (AKA the least exciting place on Earth) for the last day. It's a pretty poor neighborhood; folks either have shitty old clunkers, or go for flashy cars, so I've not seen any Scions or Matrices cruising around. The price differential between the XD and XB is close to minimal, so that's a strong contender now.

Basically, I'm going to get a ride with my brother-in-law (the one who is married to my wife's sister and lives on the other side of town) from here this afternoon when he gets off and go to test drive some models at the Toyota dealership where we got the last car (the only local one that offers the special deal through Costco). (He's pretty tall, so he should be a good indication of how roomy the car is.) Then we're going to his place to wait for his wife to get off work, and she's driving me home, where she'll now be visiting for a few days. Then we're all coming down on Sunday to get the car; since Mrs A can't drive right now, everything's riding on my opinion of how the car drives. No pressure, eh?

When I bought my truck a few years ago, I did some research using http://autos.yahoo.com/ I thought it was pretty handy. The truck I got actually had a "special internet offer" price (or something like that). Anyway, you can search by category and price so you can find the equivalent from other makers. One of the guys I worked with had something similar to the Matrix, but I think it was a Mazda or something. It seemed like a decent vehicle. I'd ask him about it, but he moved to Texas a couple months ago.

the matrix we test-drove was a 2008, and whatever the newest model was at that time was a bit roomier. still, the XB won hands-down in comparison, but if you like the styling of the 2010 or 2011 (whatever's available now) matrix over the XB, it's probably a toss-up. they both have the same engine/transmission, i believe, so it's all about the aesthetics at that point. the higher center of gravity on the XB makes cornering a mite wobblier than in the TC or matrix, but it's not that big a deal.

also, we have the manual transmission, so that might make a difference in terms of pep. do you drive stick? does the missus? it might be worth it if you like to take control of the performance or gas mileage - you have more leeway in both respects with stick, depending on whether you speed-shift or granny-shift.

after seeing ran's post, i have to add that my brother in law has the mazda 5 and is happy with it, just to throw a complete curveball

Test drove an XB a little while ago and loved it. And, yes, we're going with manual. Aside from the $1,000 price difference and better gas mileage, I actually prefer it.

Unless some weirdo shit comes up, the XB it shall be. Oyes.