Good times give off good vibes. We like vibes, specifically those made by Pontiac. And therefore, by default, we like the Matrix. The movie? Eh, maybe the first one. But the Toyota Matrix, sister car to the Vibe, yeah, we like that, too. Why, you may ask? Because before the Vibe and Matrix came along, if you were in the new car market and wanted something reliable circa Y2K, all you really had to choose from was the Civic and Corolla. Sure, there was Subaru, but Martina Navratilova really screwed us with that one. ;> No, seriously the tasty WRX was just a little too out of price range, and repair costs on an Impreza wagon are greater than on the other two manufacturers. Plus, stylistically, except for the Forrester (which is also costly), they were kinda “meh.” Which leads us to the Mazda Protege 5 (now the Mazda 3), the only other 5 door, 5 passenger wagon promising economy, style, practicality and reliability—which will also be discussed on these pages more extensively. But Vibe and Matrix fans are truly great people, devoted and willing to share knowledge, photos and experiences. Heck, they’ve even met once a year since 2003, when the Vibe and Matrix made their debut!
When the idea for this site originated, we realized we are big fans of sport wagons, hot hatches, station wagons and wagons of steel, and we felt they, too, just couldn’t be ignored. Fans of any wagon in the US are in the minority, unless it’s called an SUV or Crossover, so we will band together in this matrix built on good vibes!