In ’98 I bought my Matiz because the reviews suggested good performance, ie., driveability, speed, space, power, etc. It was a Santro or the Matiz. Advices suggested Santro, but I felt I wanted a Matiz and went for a base model SD.
I was happy, and still am. I have a Scorpio too, and on the highway, both perform well. Both leave everyone else behind. The Matiz is great for spurts and you need it or overtakings. It can hit around 100 on 4th, and into 5th at that point, you can reach upto 130 easily. But you need a stretch of course.
The car is sturdy, and I know for sure because the approach road to where I live in a rubber estate is all loose stones and gradients. I don’t drive it all that carefully either.
Problem nowadays is knocking in the steering parts and regular placements of bearings and struts. Maybe because of my driving. Could also be because you don’t get all that good service either, as there are no really good authorized service centres anymore. I don’t know if it s parts quality because I just drive it in for whatever repairs and then take it out and use it as I do always.Boot space is minmal. Sufficient for a couple with no kids. Good as a city car. Lots of spacial feel while driving. Gradients, etc with A/c is a pain, but you get used to toggling the A/c on and off.
I checked mileage a few times the first two years, but I always drive with A/c on, and like to drive fast. I do lots of gear shifting instead of using the brakes. Things like that are not mileage friendly, so I cannot speak about that.
If you are young and want fast pep, if you are female and want space and safety, if you are old and want reliability, if you are not that rich and want a good second hand car, the Matiz is a car I’d suggest.