What a difference a grand makes. We’re doubling our price cap each day this week, trying to find the price point at which a car stops being a beater, and today’s cars are a definite step up from yesterday. They’re both products of the erstwhile New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc, also known as NUMMI, which means they’re both secretly Toyotas in disguise.
Yesterday we were looking at cars for a grand or less, and it wasn’t even a competition. The paint-challenged Chevy Lumina blew that Honda Accord out of the water. You all saw something by the Honda’s myriad of dashboard lights, but it sure wasn’t paradise.
Actually, for seven hundred bucks, that Lumina is a damn good deal. It looks like hell, but if the seller is being honest, it runs and drives just fine. And as many of you pointed out, Rust-Oleum is cheap.
But what if you can swing two thousand? Your choices open up drastically, as it turns out. I intentionally chose two more Midwest cars, because finding clean cars on the West Coast is almost too easy. These two aren’t perfect, but they’re pretty damn clean for the price. Let’s check them out.
2002 Chevrolet Prizm – $1,900
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Chicago, IL
Odometer reading: 125,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
This car, like the Geo Prizm and Chevy Nova before it, is basically just a Toyota Corolla with slightly different sheetmetal. Toyota sold a bunch of variations on the Corolla theme in Japan, so creating the Chevy and Geo versions was a simple matter of using one of those variations, in this case the Toyota Sprinter. It wasn’t built in Japan, though; like all Prizms and Novas, it came out of the NUMMI factory in Fremont, California, which is now a Tesla factory. This is the final year for the Prizm, and it’s a low-mileage one-owner car.
The Prizm has the same engine and drivetrain as its Corolla sibling, a Toyota 1.8 liter 1ZZ-FE four cylinder engine, and either a five-speed manual or a three- or four-speed automatic. This one is an automatic, and since it’s kind of a fancy model, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and assume it has the four-speed. It runs and drives well, but it does have a check engine light for a bad oxygen sensor.
It has power windows and locks, as well as a sunroof, fancy stuff for a Prizm. The driver’s seat looks a little grubby, possibly water-stained? Maybe someone left the sunroof open. Apart from that, it’s in decent shape, and the air conditioning works.
It does have a little rust in the corners, but it’s a Chicago car, so that’s to be expected. The back bumper is also scuffed up, and there are a few dings, which are also no surprise for a city car. And why are these things always silver? Did they come in other colors?
2009 Pontiac Vibe – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Lapeer, MI
Odometer reading: 198,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
After NUMMI stopped building Corollas and Prizms, it turned its attention to the Toyota Matrix wagon and its near-twin the Pontiac Vibe. The Matrix was pretty conservative, as you would expect from Toyota, but the Vibe was a bit more fun. This is the second-generation Vibe, in its second-to-last model year. This car, sadly, was to be Pontiac’s last vehicle. Not this particular one, though. I don’t think, anyway.
The Vibe and Matrix were still very heavily Corolla-based, and powered by Toyota engines. This one has a 1.8-liter engine and a four-speed automatic, not the most exciting drivetrain around, but it’s reliable and efficient. It’s closing in on 200,000 miles, and the seller drives it daily without trouble. It does have a noisy exhaust, but that’s not unusual for Michigan cars, I’m finding. The ABS and traction control warning lights are also on, which is likely the result of a bad wheel sensor.
It’s a little dirty inside, but it looks intact. The seller doesn’t give us much information to go on, so your guess is as good as mine concerning how much stuff actually works in here. I do wish sellers would be a little more verbose sometimes. There’s no reason to write a whole book about a car, but jeez, give us something.
It’s nice and shiny outside, and I don’t see any rust. There is a chunk missing from the plastic front bumper cover, but if it bothers you, you can probably find one in a junkyard to replace it. Will you find one in navy blue, though? Probably not.
To me, these two seem like decent little cars. Each of them needs something, but nothing that should stop you from driving them until you get around to fixing it. And neither one of them is going to embarrass you in a parking lot. A $2,000 car is probably more like a $2,500 car by the time you get everything whipped into shape, but that’s still a hell of a deal these days. Which way are you leaning?
A dated a woman who had a 2009 Vibe. At the time I was still driving my ‘99 SAAB 9-5 se daily. Her Pontiac was the car that made me realize how lucky I was to daily a SAAB. Driving that vibe was like riding a playskool filing cabinet down a back staircase built out of nothing more than high-grade noise, and low-grade regret, and nailed together with whatever was left after Pontiac finished building their own coffin…
Easily the most disappointing car I’ve ever encountered. To quote James May, “the only reason you would buy this car is because you haven’t tried any others”,
I’ll take the.. what was it? Corolla in a dunce cap? Yep. That’ll do fine.
My personal experience with the Vibe (aka Matrix) is as anecdotal as yours, but quite the opposite. I’ve driven (and ridden) in my buddy’s Toyota Matrix for hundreds of miles before he recently gifted it to his gardener. The Matrix and Vibe are the same car, except for paint colors and some plastic trim on the Vibe.
While it was by no means a luxury car, the Vibe/Matrix I’ve been in was decently screwed together and very durable. Sure, some of the dashboard plastics were cheap (normal for this price class in those days) and it was a bit loud on the freeway, but both he and I regret that he doesn’t have it anymore.
Some model(s) of the Vibe even came in this dark green metallic color that helped hide the ugly Pontiac ribbed plastic lower body cladding.
I’d vote Vibe over Corolla only because we had a 1st gen Vibe with the same powertrain. Both will be great first cars for a new driver but the beauty of the Vibe is the wagon like body and its ability to absolutely swallow luggage, college dorm room furniture, antiques,etc
If that vibe was within 100 miles of NYC I’d have bought it.
The Prizm was my default “I need a cheap car that I can rely on” recommendation for years. Pesky Toyota reliability with shitty GM resale value.
The Vibe was a rock solid Toyota… but the 2009 was not.Too much Pontiac seeped into the mix. I’d take the Prizm all day long over it, and with that oxygen sensor, probably a new Cat to go with it.
8th gen Corolla/Prizm with a sunroof for $2k? What a find, what a steal. Easy choice any day. Plus I prefer the taillight design of the Prizm over the Corolla.
Vibe is cool if practicality is a dub in your books. 2009 does mean it is the newer 2ZR over the 1ZZ, so kudos (and a bonus ~10ish HP) to you.
Vibe as it is the more practical ride. Also newer and safer. I’ll do the wheel sensors, vacuum it up and call it a day.
PS. the Matrix was never built at NUMMI and the Corolla did not stop production there until NUMMI was sold to Tesla and production moved to the brand new plant in MS.
Tough choice so went to a prism for lower weight better condition (less warning lights)
The Pontiac seems like a better vibe to me. Plus I have some experience with those cars and I kinda like them anyway.
The Vibe was a legitimately good car…reliable, practical and even fun to drive. The Prizm was just…. garbage.
The Vibe is probably the better bet and vehicle, and what I chose (also, it’s blue). I will remark that the Prism interior is shockingly, probably nicer though. The Vibe/Matrix/Corolla of this era had realllllly craptactular interiors. This was a weird dark period for Toyota interiors, they seemingly found inspiration from GM for these ones.
That said, still a great car.
Get the Vibe. Then get the vanity plate: RATOR.
Isn’t Vibe/Matrix the one where multiples of people found out the odometer only goes to 299,999?
With rust, age matters more than miles. Also cars from the 2000s were much better than their 1990s counterparts with factory corrosion resistance.
I think I want to try for the 299,999 club.
only the previous gen, this one will do north of 300K
An hour with an extractor machine and those seats are fine.
“Operational status: Runs and drives well”
“Yeah. That’s the ticket!”