Yahoo Autos 356-mile 2003 Toyota Matrix is an unlikely time capsule
If you could travel back to 2003 and buy a new car, what would it be? You're unexpectedly in luck if your answer is a Toyota Matrix: While very few of these hatchbacks were preserved, there's an example that has covered merely 356 miles currently listed on Cars & Bids.
According to the seller, this Matrix was purchased new by a retired teacher who got sick shortly after taking delivery. The car was reportedly parked in a climate-controlled garage for many years and evidently not driven much. Fast-forward to 2022 and we're looking at what's likely the nicest Matrix left. It's not perfect, there are a few scratches on the front end, but it otherwise looks just like it did nearly 20 years ago.
What are the odds of finding another first-generation Matrix (especially one from the first year of production) in this condition? These were cheap, cheerful hatchbacks that were mass produced and mass destroyed; by the time they reached their eighth owner (and/or their 200,000th mile) they tended to look like they'd survived "The Walking Dead" and smell like a sarcophagus. This one has been spared. Its Cosmic Blue Metallic paint shines, its cloth-upholstered seats are free of tears, and its engine bay looks just like it did in sales brochures.
