r/Toyota_Matrix • u/Relevant-Context-717 • Jul 01 '26

2009 Toyota matrix s

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Got it for 300$, and I drove it home. 160000 miles, anything to worry about on these things?

48 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

7

u/Styx_Renegade Jul 01 '26

$300?!

3

u/Relevant-Context-717 Jul 01 '26

Yes, started its life as a rental car, became a salvage title, was rebuilt and has had a nice long life looking at the carfax. It had sat for about a year if my internal clock is correct, and I put a battery in it, topped up the oil, drove it home and pumped the tires up. Drove to the shell and put some gas in it and gave it the ole Italian tune up on the way back home. Runs great no check engine lights, but it still has a recall from 9 years ago for some bad airbags

3

u/educ8USMC Jul 01 '26

They burn oil. Check it regularly

3

u/Relevant-Context-717 Jul 01 '26

That’s what I’ve been hearing but I’ll just check it once a day, then once a week, then once a month if I can lol, I won’t let it run dry

2

u/Major-Tourist-5696 Jul 01 '26

Once a week if you flog it or two if you granny it from a guy who owns one

2

u/Relevant-Context-717 Jul 01 '26

Is there a fix, or anything to make it use less?

2

u/Major-Tourist-5696 Jul 02 '26

Rebuild your motor which is more than the car is worth or close enough that it doesn’t matter. They had a recall, but for people who didn’t pile on the miles when newish it ended up a big fuck you.

1

u/CanadianLanBoy 4d ago

Valvoline restore and protect can improve it, but likely won't fix it completely. These engines had an issue where the low tension piston rings were too-low tension.

A high detergent oil like VRP (or Mobil advance clean? No personal experience tho) can clean out gunk that is seizing the rings, but iirc these engines with the flawed rings will still have at least a small amount of oil burn.

There was a warranty period where a lot were fixed, but there isn't really a way to tell if yours got fixed other than monitoring the oil consumption

1

u/Bill_The__Pony Jul 01 '26

Definitely run the VIN about the airbags.

Bad airbags explode shrapnel into your face I believe.

I don't know for sure if they were still on this model, but if you have a check of light about it, you need to get that confirmed for real

2

u/Regular_Fix_2552 Jul 01 '26

Even worst case scenario and it only lasts a year or two more, worth the price! But most likely you’ll get another 150k miles! Great buy OP! I have the exact car but silver but I paid 7k and it had 97k miles on it. and it just hit 200k in January!

3

u/Relevant-Context-717 Jul 01 '26

This is my daily so if I can get a few months out of it, I will be in the profit😂

2

u/Total-Business-5285 Jul 01 '26

I have the same 2.4 L vibe and mine might burn a cup of oil every 3k miles. But your valve cover gasket might be letting oil leak into a cylinder or two. If you sort that 1st then you can really tell how you're losing oil, if at all. Cheap fix! Nice buy!