Hyundai Matrix review: a nearly extinct people-mover still worth a look in Bahrain
2.7/5motorssouq Editorial Team
There is little practical reason to buy a Matrix in Bahrain today over a newer, better-supported compact crossover, but if one turns up cheap and mechanically sound, the tall-boy body genuinely delivers more headroom and boot space than its footprint suggests. Treat it as a bargain-basement curiosity, budget for parts that will mostly come from the aftermarket rather than a dealer, and inspect the air conditioning and suspension carefully — both show their age hard after this many Bahraini summers.
Pros
- Tall-boy body gives genuinely good headroom and visibility for its footprint
- Simple, conventional 1.8-litre engine and automatic were durable when new
- Split-folding rear seats add real practicality over sedans of its era
- Very cheap purchase price reflecting how forgotten the model is
Cons
- Discontinued since 2010 with parts increasingly sourced from the aftermarket only
- Interior plastics and air conditioning are typically tired after 15-plus Bahraini summers
- Genuinely rare on Bahraini roads, so finding a well-kept example takes patience
- No modern safety equipment beyond dual airbags and basic ABS
The Matrix arrived in the early 2000s with a tall-boy compact-MPV shape years before "crossover" became the industry's favourite word, and it never got much credit for being early. It shared its underpinnings with the Elantra of its era, which at least means the mechanical basics — a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine and a conventional automatic — are simple and were reasonably durable when new.
Practicality was always the point: a tall roofline gives genuinely good headroom front and rear, the upright seating position and large windows make it easy to see out of in tight Manama parking, and split-folding rear seats make it more useful for a hardware-store run than most sedans of its era.
Why it is now a curiosity rather than a choice
Hyundai discontinued the Matrix in 2010 without a direct successor, absorbing its practicality argument into later crossovers like the Tucson and, eventually, the Kona. Fifteen-plus years on, surviving Bahraini examples are genuinely rare, and Hyundai's own parts network has largely moved on — anything beyond consumables typically comes from the aftermarket or a breaker rather than a dealer shelf.
Age has taken its usual toll on cars that spent this long in Gulf heat: interior plastics fade and crack, air conditioning systems need attention more often than not, and rubber suspension components are typically well past due for replacement. None of this makes the car a bad one mechanically, but it does mean a pre-purchase inspection is not optional, and that this is a car for someone who wants a cheap, honest curiosity rather than a primary family vehicle.