If you’re looking for a cheap, reliable car, choosing one with a manual transmission usually eliminates a lot of potential headaches. Automatics need care and feeding to keep them healthy, and you can never tell how well someone took care of one. With a manual, as long as it goes into all the gears and the clutch doesn’t slip, there’s not a whole lot that can go wrong. But convincing someone who isn’t a car person to choose a stickshift car is often an uphill battle. Nevertheless, we’re going to take a look at a couple of user-friendly manuals today that might fit the bill.
Yesterday was all about seating capacity, with two seven-passenger vehicles battling it out. I couldn’t tell from the comments how this one was going to go, but in the end, the Kia Sedona won by a pretty sizeable margin, despite having some confusion over its title status.
I think that’s the right answer. The first-generation Chrysler Pacifica is a neat car, but if someone needs capacity for cheap, it’s hard to recommend anything other than a good basic minivan. It’ll do everything you need it to, and shouldn’t cause you much trouble along the way.
Only once in all my years of friends coming to me for car advice have I convinced someone to buy a stickshift car instead of an automatic. The car was a Ford Escort wagon, and it served them well for a good long while. Many other friends have chosen cheap cars with automatics, because they either couldn’t or wouldn’t drive a manual, and without fail, the component that gave them problems was the transmission. Manuals are just more durable, and if you don’t have a lot to spend, you don’t have a lot to spend on repairs. So why not eliminate that particular failure point? Today we’re going to look at two wagons that are common, practical, known to be pretty reliable, and have three pedals on the floor. Let’s check them out.
2003 Subaru Outback – $2,495
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5-liter DOHC flat 4, five-speed manual, AWD
Location: Gladstone, OR
Odometer reading: 194,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Here it is, the unofficial official car of Portland, Oregon. They’re as common as Labradors, craft beers, and fledgling bands. Walk down the side streets of southeast Portland and, among all the old Crafstmans, you’ll see an Outback in roughly every third driveway, often parked next to a Toyota Prius. What you won’t find, however, are a lot of manual transmissions; like most cars in the past thirty years or so, if you wanted an Outback with a stick, you had to specifically seek it out.
The Outback is, of course, powered by Subaru’s trademark flat-four, a generally stout engine with the unfortunate habit of springing leaks from its head gaskets. It powers all four wheels all the time through a five-speed manual transmission. This one is approaching 200,000 miles, which probably means the head gaskets have already been replaced once. It’s being sold by a dealer, so don’t expect any maintenance records. Check for leaks on the underside of the heads, and make sure there’s no water in the oil, before signing any papers.
It looks nice inside; someone obviously took care of this car, and didn’t trash it. Even the back cargo area, where the dogs ride, looks good. The ad lists a whole bunch of options on the inside, but of course, since it’s a dealership,it doesn’t actually say how many of them still work. As always, push all the buttons on the test drive.
It’s remarkably clean outside, and it’s one of Subaru’s better color combinations. I personally prefer the dark green, but this pale green is nice too. It has the requisite Yakima bike rack already installed on the roof rails, so you’re good to go there. I have to think, as much of a demand for these cars as there is in the Pacific Northwest, that the only reason it’s so cheap is that it’s a manual.
2003 Toyota Matrix – $2,400
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter DOHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 228,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Some cars just inspire owners to keep them forever and ever. The Toyota Corolla, in its wagon form, seemed to be such a car. I remember more than one regular customer at the garage I worked at in Saint Paul bringing in a Corolla wagon they had bought new, and now had a ton of miles on it. When it finally did wear out, they replaced it with another Corolla wagon. I can only imagine the dismay those loyal owners felt during those couple of years after the Corolla wagon was discontinued, but before the introduction of the Matrix.
The Matrix is, in fact, a Corolla wagon; the official name is Toyota Corolla Matrix. It’s part of the “tall wagon” class of cars that became popular in the early 2000s, not quite a crossover, but significantly taller than a typical station wagon. It’s powered by Toyota’s 1.8-liter 1ZZ-FE four-cylinder, which is a reliable engine, but has a tendency to burn oil after a while. This one has reached well over 200,000 miles, which means someone was careful about keeping the oil level topped up; a new owner will have to do the same. It does run and drive well, though.
It looks good inside, with very little wear to show for its high mileage. The tree-shaped air freshener hanging from the mirror is a potential bad sign, though. Those things never actually remove funky odors from cars; they just add their own chemical weirdness to whatever melange is there already. Give it a good sniff and make sure it’s something you can live with.
It’s pretty clean outside, but there’s a little wrinkle in the left front fender, and some fake plastic vents (or something) stuck on both sides. I’ll never understand the appeal of those things. But at least they just stick on; a plastic scraper and some Goo-Gone will take care of them.
Stickshift cars are a hard sell among the general population; that’s why they’re disappearing. But if you’re willing to drive one, you’ll be rewarded with not only a better driving experience, but better reliability, and often a cheaper price of entry. If you had a friend looking for a good inexpensive car, which one of these would you try to talk them into?
Toyota. Who could ask for anything more?
Voted Outback…it is clean!
Whoever detailed the engine bay on the Outback did an amazing job!
The Outback! The Outback! That is just such a good looking car.
Too bad they’re not both a few years older, “the cars of the ’90s are alive in Portland…” is stuck in my head.
These are actually both really solid cars. I like the Subaru just because it’s a neat car, and for winter duties, but I already have an AWD van for that, so I’ll take the Toyota since the engine will probably run longer.
As somebody who lives where it can snow 7 months out of the year, I can confirm that AWD is highly overrated. The Toyota is a far better deal. All of the Subarus around me of this generation are mostly rusted away. Often dangerously so. I like Subarus fine, but an Outback won’t have nearly the utility per $ of the Matrix.
Also, the Outback is a styling package that doesn’t make it any more fun to drive.
We lived in Evergreen, CO. Snow tires on the Corolla made it up the mountain every time.
So much depends on the tires, especially nowadays with modern tire technology, to the point where FWD with snow tires will often do better than AWD with all-seasons so ideally one would always have snow tires regardless of whether it’s FWD or AWD during the winter months. Plus, there can be substantial differences between quality ($$) tires and cheap tires.
Not to mention driver skill levels…
Depends on how steep the roads are that you want to drive. I’ve been stopped many times on FWD Prius with winter tires where my Legacys with winter tires or high rated (Tire Rack winter tests) all seasons ultra high performance tires have no problem.
considering it is a manual, I am actually wondering why a more standard part time transfer case was not also part of the design language of these subies. seems like it would make for slightly better Fuel economy numbers in 2wd with the stick.
Low-range in regular cars stopped being a thing in the late ’80s. Subaru did it, so did Toyota and others. Too complex, too costly, nobody actually used it very often. Subaru wasn’t the only one to give up on that (Toyota was another).
For everyday highway use, a part-time system is terrible. It’s never activated when you need it unexpectedly and the rest of the time you are just hauling around dead weight.
Sure, it’s a fuel economy hit. But it’s not like Subaru’s lineup includes V8s or trucks.
I had an ’87 Subaru GL that had the old-school lever that allowed 2WD, 2WD, and 4WD low. I imagine the fact that it had well under 100hp forced them to find every method of saving power they could manage.
A week of boring silver auto appliances and you throw two manuals together. Both are semi-interesting as well.
If the Matrix were compared to anything earlier this week that would be the easy button, but the Subbie would make #5 for me and looks like a decent candidate. If nothing else, new rallycross car.
I had a Forester XT that was this generation of Subaru. It was such a great car that died out of nowhere with under 200k miles. That was my last Subaru, and I won’t recommend one to any who ask.
I currently have a Vibe. While not exactly compelling to drive it is wildly useful and makes me miss my Element less. I think it is a great car for a curated, if weird, collection. That 1ZZ will live forever; we gave away the wife’s Corolla with the same engine as it just wouldn’t die.
Damn that subbie is clean for the mileage if that was near me I would buy it for the fiance so she could learn stick better and she loves wagons.
Double Bs make me pronounce it sub-e, like subwoofer. No shame, do whatever you’re into.
Haha whoops meant subie*
(Looks outside at the Vibe I drove to work)
Yeah, gimme the Matrix.
Vibe Is Best Everytime, but by the transitive property the Matrix is also best.
Have you replaced the blend door actuator yet? The repair where you have to remove the dash? That’s a Vibe problem not found in the Matrix. So of the two I’d take a Matrix first.
But you can pry my Vibe from my cold, dead hands.
You don’t have to remove the dash. I’ve done it. It was a pain but it wasn’t more than a couple of hours. Should probably be faster if you unbolt the passenger seat so you can lie down on your back looking up under the dash.
I got the broken part out with no issue. But after two hours of cursing trying to get the new one in I gave up and removed the dashboard. Removal wasn’t a huge pain…had I done it first the whole job would have probably been two hours.
The trick is to unbolt and remove the passenger airbag, which gives you a helpful access hole.
Nope, 2 vibes havent done it yet.
Since I like Subies, gotta go Outback.
The Matrix was, like all Corollas, a decent Transportation Unit, but kind of dull overall. The Soob isn’t all that sporty either, but I’ve always found them nice to drive and okay looks-wise.
My guess is that both are nearing the end of their practical lives. I’ll check back at that point to see what Mark has to replace them with.
The Toyota will almost certianly last longer and have lower maintenance, but the AWD and general more usability of the Subie puts it over the top for me. I’ve also thought that this generation was one of the best looking Outbacks, but that’s just me. As a bonus, this one appears to have been well cared for which is a bonus.
Heart wants the Outback. Brain wants the Matrix.
The Toyota will last so much longer. There’s a reason it is a known issue that these cars’ odometers stop counting at 299,999. Same with their NUMMI cousin, the Pontiac Vibe.
Longevity isn’t always a value-add.
I’d say in a used car with 200k miles longevity is the only value.
When you need cheap transportation, longevity is the most important value-add.
I like the Subaru more. It’s better looking and more capable.
But my little brother bought an impreza wagon of this vintage and the 5-speed did not make up for having to remove the engine to get the heads off and replace the leaky head gaskets.
I am actually sort of amazed the Toyota is losing. at this mileage, neither are likely much more than a year or two from the grave. But I feel like the Toyota has a much better chance of outliving my prediction.
I’d rather my vehicle die having a good time, not a long time.
If you look closely at the listings, the Outback was clearly well cared for. Even discounting the dealers’ expert detailing. The Matrix has unrepaired fender bender damage, stained seats, and the listing has absolutely no details about the car. Both need a test drive but that Outback looks worth another 100k
A 200K Subaru or a 200K Toyota? Hahahaha. Oh wait you’re serious? Let me laugh harder HAHAHAHA!
Outback, based entirely on the interior design. I don’t like it when there’s open space next to a bucket seat like in the Toyota.
ooh yeah, agreed! That’s a sad trombone sound everytime
Both are good choices. These are proof you don’t need a $750 car payment to get basic transportation.
I went with the Subaru. I voted for it mostly out of preference, but it appears to be in slightly better condition (not that the Toyota is in bad shape).
750? you are behind the times, seems like the standard these days is a cool grand a month.
I was assuming people had common sense and were financing a Camry instead of a Lexus.
In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have assumed people had common sense.
That Outback has a $500 rebate if you sell those bike racks once you buy it. I’ll never understand why someone would just leave something like that up there on trade in. It would have taken what, 5 minutes to remove?
The tray style racks are pretty obsolete now with the prevalence of thru axles. I picked up three of them for $50 total, and that was almost five years ago.
I can’t tell what the rails are, but a lot of times those require fit kits for the specific car and are also hard to sell.
Maybe they got a truck and use a tailgate pad and didn’t want to play FB marketplace roulette to try to get them out of their garage.
Interesting, I know nothing about bike racks other than the fact that I’m always amazed at the prices of anything with Yakima or Thule on it. I know nice bikes are spendy as well. Not saying they’re not worth the cost. I’m just always amazed.
Matrix.
For the reason that I know they’re near-invincible; it would be a car I could pass to my kids even if they weren’t yet born.
My last car was a very similar 06 Outback with the 5 speed. I quite liked it, but I traded it in when the head gaskets blew at 130k. I miss driving it, so I voted for it. Even though the Matrix is probably the more reliable choice.
If I were buying for me, I’d have the Subaru. I could handle some minor repairs here and there. If it’s for someone else, the Matrix, because nothing will ever go wrong. I’ve got a friend who got one when he was in high school in ~2010. It’s still his daily driver and he’s never owned another car.
If the Matrix was properly maintained through its entire life, it could go another 100k miles.
Even if it wasn’t.
Yep, they are pretty forgiving on deferred maintenance except for oil level.
There is no wrong choice here, so I am going Subaru because that, to me, is the perfect modern wagon from a strictly design perspective. The Matrix feels marginally safer, but it doesn’t tug on the heart strings. That Outback, with the roof rack, the two tone paint, the stick, the AWD…my inner yuppie yearns for that. I’d feel guilty subjecting it to winters in New England, but that is why you get a monthly subscription to the car wash to get the salt off. It would give me the joy of a manual, something my Tiguan Wolfsburg Edition sorely lacks (otherwise, I do consider that car to be my third favorite car we’ve owned and close to perfect as far as family haulers go).
I doubt we’ll see a clear winner here. Looking forward to how it all shakes out!
Agreed, I like the Matrix. I like the size and the better MPG but there is no wrong answer today.
I wholeheartedly agree with that reasoning. The Matrix/Pontiac Vibe is a car that I wish had been around longer. I tried really hard to find a decent Vibe for sale when I was last used shopping, so I am definitely a fan.