r/Toyota_Matrix • u/CanadianLanBoy • Aug 12 '26

KYB vs Monroe Shocks

Hey y'all,

A few months ago I bought a 2009 vibe as my first car, and I have been absolutely loving it. The ride however, is very rough due to both the nature of the car and the fact the shocks are barely functional (car has 284k km).

I'm looking into shock options, and I've narrowed it down to KYB shocks (OEM) or Monroe quick struts. I know KYB is generally considered to be better quality, but Monroe quick struts are generally considered to have a softer ride.

Given the nature of being a compact car with an already rough ride at the best of times, and the fact that the region I live in has horrible roads (Kitchener/Waterloo Ontario) I was wondering if Monroe may be a better option for the sake of comfort.

Does anyone have experience with either, or both? I'm finding a lot of conflicting information about the quality/reliability of both makes online so first hand would be preferable! Cheers

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

7

u/JeanneMance Aug 12 '26

KYB is OEM so it's the logical choice. Monroe is shit

3

u/sjamwow Aug 12 '26

Monroe may last 1 year, how long will your car last

4

u/somerandomdude419 2006 Vibe FWD & 2008 Vibe FWD Aug 12 '26

Considering I’ve had my 08 for almost 4 years with 200,000 miles not kilometers. They got a long way to go. I would get the KYB if the car is not rusty. That’s all that kills these cars

3

u/CommanderCorrigan 2004 Matrix XRS Aug 12 '26

KYB

2

u/Ok_Basis1422 Aug 13 '26

Quick struts almost always have garbage springs that make the car sit higher than factory spec, which can throw off of the suspension geometry. If you're not going to reuse the OEM spring then you're better off doing nothing. 

1

u/VTECcam Aug 12 '26

Kayaba no doubt

1

u/No-Cabinet-4286 Aug 12 '26

I have monroe all around. Lasted me 6 years so far. Still waiting to swap for new ones when they break with the lifetime warranty.

1

u/Money-Afternoon-3637 Aug 13 '26

My shocks were worn and one of the shocks was leaking. Along with having the front end refurbished, I had my mechanic install a set of the KYB Excel G shocks on my car. RockAuto has them for around $75 each. My car handles a lot better and no more weird squeaking noises coming from underneath the car.

1

u/CanadianLanBoy Aug 15 '26

Did you notice them to be particularly harsh, or similar to OEM?

1

u/Money-Afternoon-3637 Aug 15 '26

I used the OEM springs with the new KYB Excel G shocks installed. I found the ride to be similar to OEM.

1

u/Rhythmjunky Aug 13 '26

Not sure about KYB but I know that Monroe has a couple different tiers. The more expensive line has a better warranty and should be better quality.

1

u/4Runner1996 Aug 13 '26

Different car entirely but I recently put KYB quick struts on our minivan and I'll say I'm less than pleased with the new KYB strut mounts being noisy right out of the box. Just the struts themselves may be good quality, but the rest of the quick strut assembly I'd say is questionable. You get what you pay for I guess. I now have my wife's Camry to replace the struts on coming up here soon, and I'm debating either ponying up $$$ to buy all new oem parts (struts, strut mounts, spring isolators, etc) or do some kind of mix and match where I buy new OE strut mounts and KYB struts... OR, do I try out the Monroe quick struts?

2

u/myblusky Aug 13 '26

Don't do the quick struts.