The Missing Hubcap Club

Four years ago when I found myself in the new car market for the first time, I came across lots of makes and models, each with their own bells, whistles, advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately I settled on a Toyota Matrix (and no, not because I happen to love the movie by the same name). She was stylish, roomy, great on gas mileage, and most importantly a great deal less costly than other comparable cars.

Aside from a missing antenna (the fault of the stupid dealership and the beginning of another rant altogether), I drove off the lot a happy man, and stayed happy up until very recently. You see, I am now an official member of the missing hubcap club.

Why is this post-worthy? For starters, this is not the first time my car has mysteriously lost a hubcap. About a year and a half ago one popped off while I was driving unbeknownst to me until I noticed it missing after I parked. Luckily I hadn't gone far and after a short search I found it and kicked it back into place. No big deal, right?

A few weeks later the sister of a friend who also drove a Matrix told me the same exact thing had happened to her (she was also lucky and got hers back). After then, I noticed that almost every other Matrix I saw on the road either was missing a hubcap or had all four removed (presumably for consistency). I began to wonder if the random popping-off of hubcaps was a chronic problem of Matrixes (Matrices?) everywhere.

In fact it is. Although Toyota won't acknowledge any hubcap issues, plenty of other people write about how they are constantly losing their hubcaps. Interestingly, the people "in the know" who respond either claim the hubcaps are knockoffs and not originals or that the consumers should get them, and I quote, installed professionally. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when I buy a car from a dealership should the hubcaps not be originals and already installed by professionals? I know hubcaps are purely decorative and not terribly expensive (TLM has already offered to get me a new one), but shouldn't there be some kind of compensation for Matrix owners who fall victim to a problem Toyota secretly knows exists? Ridiculous.

All this didn't help me recently, however, when once again I returned to my car to notice only three hubcaps in place. Granted, one may have been taken by some karmically confused Matrix owner to whom the same thing occurred, but I suspect it was just a repeat of the first time and my hubcap is currently lying by some road in or around Boston, just wasting to be found so it can get its spin on again.

For now, I am a proud member of this missing hubcap club and I just may retire the remaining three hubcaps, drag racer stylee. Eh, what the hell.

That is until, of course, the fourth is found, in which case I will, um, "re-tire" them all...