2003 Toyota Matrix

Real Person #1: A chiropractor, early 30s, who is in our Plymouth building and who likes to check out some of the cars that we park outside his window.  The second day with the Matrix he was out the door, talking to me about it.  He said when he’d seen it the previous day he hopped on Toyota.com.  “This has the 180-hp engine and six-speed, right?”  Yes.  Turns out (1) he races motorcycles on weekends; (2) has a lease on an Infiniti G20 that is about to expire; (3) finds that the headroom (he’s over 6-ft.) and the quick cargo-carrying configuration (flip down the rear seats and get lots of space; flip down the front passenger’s seat for even more) is appealing.

Real Person #2: Neighbor.  Retired.  Probably doesn’t pay attention to those commercials that start with a cartoon Matrix, morph it into a real one, and then reverse it back to cartoon.  “Is that a new car?” she asked.  “I’ve never seen anything like it.”  Clearly, she’s in the wrong demographic.

Real Person #3: Woman with two kids, 6 and 4.  Interested. . .but thinks she’ll get another minivan when it is time to get new.

Real Person #4: Parking lot shuttle driver at Detroit Metro.  When dropping me off at it, he said, “It looks like that other car.”  Yes, I told him, it looks like the Pontiac Vibe, its genetic twin.  (The Matrix shares the same instrument cluster, which is, in my estimation, one of the weakest aspects of the car: the gages seem to be at the bottom of 16-ounce cans with chrome trim; the gages are illuminated with an annoying orange color—and while I admit that I’m in the wrong demographic, I find it hard to imagine that anyone any age would find that to be appealing.)  “No, not that car,” he replied.  And then he said what I’m sure that Toyota wouldn’t want to hear: “The Aztek.”