[TheGatekeeper]

I joined this site last week. Kind of odd I guess since I don't have a Compass. But as soon as I saw them over the summer I knew I wanted one. The problem is, right now I have a year and a bit left on my current lease of a Toyota Matrix.

The good news is I stopped in at my local dealer, in Cowansville Quebec. I told the sales rep right away that I was still in a lease. He still spent a good 45 minutes with me and gave me the keys and let me take thiers for a solo test drive. What a great car.

He did tell me to come back after winter and they should be able to buy out my lease with Toyota and get me into a Compass. This is the first car that my wife and I actually agree on and both want.

The only problem we have is deciding on the little things. I like the green in the sport model, but think black looks better on the limited edition. She wants the green. We aren't sure about the leather seats just because we have a 1 year old baby, but they sure are nice.

We will be getting a manual transmission but 4X4 is still an option. Although my Matrix is 2 wheel drive and it goes well in winter so I assume that the Compass would handle about the same. She really wants a sunroof. Besides that everything else is up in the air. I guess the biggest thing is what model, sport or unlimited.

Thankfully we have a couple of months to look things over Thanks for such a great website!

 

[Webmaster]

Welcome! I test drove the Matrix before buying the Compass. The Matrix is OK, but I had a few complaints.

I see you have a young child. I would recommend against buying the Compass in black then. Unless you don't mind the paint looking bad for years to come. I had a black truck before this and I wouldn't buy black again except on a show-quality vehicle. Plus, when you have kids, you don't have the time to really keep the black clean.

 

[TheGatekeeper]

I kind of agree with the comment on the black. It does show the dust and dirt more than any other. Before my Matrix, I had a black Sidekick Sport, it almost always looked dirty. But for the Compass Limited, I think it is the best colour. The black and chrome go so good together.

Just wondering, webmaster, you said you test drove a Matrix before settling on a Compass. What were your complaints? When I drove the Compasss I liked the seating height over my Matrix and it seemed to have more pep. Also it just felt more solid then my Toyota.

I still like my Toyota, but the Compass really won me over, but I was biased anyway.

 

[nevadaneil]

I bought a green sport 4X4 and Love it, on my 2nd tank of gas it got 26.7 mpg @ 70 mph. The security of awd is well worth the the difference in mpg. I would never get leather seats, to cold in winter And sticky in summer. Mine has the CVT II trans, it's great. The only minor complaint so far is with the heater, the dash/floor setting sends almost no heat to the floor. Other than that I've found nothing to complain about. You won't be dissapointed with a compass

 

[Webmaster]

The Matrix didn't have side airbags and the shifter was "clicky". Every time I shifted it made a noise, so that got annoying. I had one other complaint but I forget what it was.