Transmission Noise problems of the 2003 Toyota Matrix

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Matrix. The contact stated that while driving various speeds, there was an abnormal grinding noise when the vehicle was decelerating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician advised the contact that the transmission would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 97,700.

Excessive transmission noise in tranny and noise stop when clutch is push in.

Manual transmission failure in a 2003 Toyota Matrix. Mostly highway miles, maintained regularly at the dealer. Noticed a noise and took it to the dealer and they said everything was fine. A few thousand miles later, there was a high pitched whine out of fifth gear. Upon stopping and restarting, pretty much all the forward gears were grinding, popping, squealing. Repair at the dealer was quoted $2500 for a used transmission and $3200 for a new! about half the value of the car.

I recently noticed a strange extra noise in my transmission, noise is a low purring sound and at lower speeds in lower gears.

My 2003 Toyota Matrix has a manual transmission. A bearing in the transmission started to fail (noise) at 80,000 miles. This type of failure is common for both the Matrix and the pontiac vibe (identical car). Luckily I had it changed before any accident occurred. Neither Toyota nor gm are providing any customer support despite numerous complaints regarding the 2003 manual transmission.

After 200 mile round trip, noticed a grinding noise when accelerating. Took Matrix to dealer, who told us the bearings in the transmission were bad, and needed replaced. 2003 Matrix, 115,000 miles (mostly highway, we have a long commute to work) bearings replaced and clutch work done for $2063. When asked about this, was told "sometimes things break".

Grinding noise began, shortly thereafter the transmission failed. I've replaced the transmission twice already and cannot afford to replace it again. The car now sits as I continue to make payments on it.

2003 Toyota Matrix manual 5 speed transmission has completely come apart due to being built with bad throw out bearings. Loud rattling noise began 6 months ago even though the transmission and the entire vehicle has been maintained flawlessly. Two weeks ago, on March 9, 2009 my boyfriend was driving on the 15 freeway going north when the car began to make a horrible rattling noise. My boyfriend pulled the car over to safety off the freeway and took a look. He knew it was the tranny, he didn't need to see anything. . . The first clue was that it would not go into 1st or reverse gear at all. We had to get it to a place that we could park it legally, so he started it in second gear and the car wailed and whined and sounded like metal was breaking apart as the car literally limped it's way the entire short ride. Warranty good for 100,000 miles, but my car is out of warranty at 105,000 miles. Toyota will not acknowledge the fact that the entire 2003 Matrix line is experiencing this issue, and will not even do anything as a goodwill gesture. A brand new tranny from Toyota is $4000+/-, and the problem will most certainly happen again - as I have seen many, many people attest to. A rebuilt transmission is less $. . . Toyota needs to be held accountable for this. My car could have been involved in an accident due to this failure on the freeway, to say nothing of the fact that it's very scary and unsafe to leave your vehicle on the side of the road, as well as breaking down in the middle of the night.

Purchased used 2003 Matrix in oct 2005, paid for quality guard plus deluxe through Nissan dealership where I purchased the car to cover mechanical problems. By April 2006 it was missing gears and car just died. Took it to Toyota dealership after calling Nissan because I was pointed there. Toyota had it for 5 days fix it supposedly then November 10th, 2006 transmission gave up on it again needing it to be towed from friends place to home. Noises heard under the car before it stalled. They fixed problem before with remanufactured trans. But problem recurred. Being shuffled back & forth now that I am claiming for what I paid for with quality guard plus. Toyota don't have quality guard, Nissan does but my car is not a Nissan car. Should have called before they will cover anything such as towing and car rental. Too much red tape and hassles in asking to provide coverage I paid for and only one phone line 1-800-888-5245 that places you on hold for 30-50 minutes, talks to you briefly then place you on hold again.

Own a 2003 Toyota Matrix-1st owner of this car. This car was purchased with 9 miles in it. When it was first purchased within 2 days there was a noise coming from the transmission bearings. The vehicle was taken back to the Toyota dealer where purchased and the technicians said there was no noise. The noise never went away and the dealer just ignored it-never fixed it. Also, the back seat belt would get stuck for no reason, this was also brought to the attention of the dealer techs, but also "nothing was wrong" up to this date, the seat belts keep getting stuck and my kids use it that way. Another defective thing about this car were the sensor daylights, once the car was turned off, the lights automatically would go on and of course the next day the battery was dead. This was brought to the attention on the dealer and finally, they decided to fix something of this car. I was told that it was a defect from the manufacturer.