general problems of the 2006 Toyota Matrix

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota corolla Matrix. The contact stated while driving 45 mph, the check engine warning light and the battery warning light illuminated, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and pull over on the side of the road safely where the vehicle shut off again and failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that the vehicle had experienced a similar failure as in NHTSA campaign number: 10v384000 (engine and engine cooling) and advised to take the vehicle to the dealer. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 200,025.

1. Had to change all automatic door locks at least twice at $400 a pop. 2. Had to replace all 4 coils to engine at a cost of $810. 53 3. Had to have my transmission rebuilt do it failing while of i295 on my way home from work. At a cost of 3631. 49 4. After transmission work had to have my transfer case internal sealed at a cost of $711. 55 when we bought this car at Toyota in December 2005, we were led to believe that this car was built longevity or for the long haul with only having to do routine maintance which I have kept up on every 5000 miles as recommended by Toyota. My biggest concern is the transmission cost. Firestone stated that Toyota recommends a transmission service every 50,000 miles but my maintance book says only do that if you either tow, off roading, or dirt roads for long period of the time. I did neither, so Toyota says no need to do service. I did contact Toyota advocate after I had my trasmission done at cottman transmission and they could not help me cause I went to an outside vendor. My car had only 148,745 miles. Toyota says they would not pay for transmission unless there is a recall. For my search on the internet there is documentation that Toyota knew there was a problem with the transmissions failing but did not want to do a recall but would only compensate if there is a recall. I just want to be heard and possibly compensated for some of my repairs that should not have happened. I bought this car because I wanted to keep it a long time and now it is costing me more than it is work.

My vehicle caught on fire in my driveway approximately 5-10 minutes after I returned home from from my job, which is 12 miles from my home. It was dark, and the only unusual thing I noticed was one of my headlights was out and the other seemed dim. I mentioned it to my husband and he said he'd replace the bulbs. Within minutes I heard sirens, but I wasn't in a room that faced the driveway and the fire department was already on scene when I realized the front end of my car was fully engulfed. The fire took approximately 20 minutes to fully extinguish and the heat damaged an adjacent vehicle. No one was injured and my home was not damaged. The car was stationary, parked and unoccupied when the fire broke out. The fire department determined the cause as mechanical and their report is pending. A police officer responded but did not file a report after ruling out criminal activity. I do not know what specifically caused the fire but the attached photos show the damage, including to the adjacent car.

Backed out of a parking space at a shopping center. Went about 50 yards and the engine revved like it was going 100 mph and then jumped forward. Slammed on the brakes and put the car in neutral and it went back to normal idling.

I purchased a used 2006 Toyota Matrix as is no warranty from a dealer in boise, idaho. The dealer told me, my daughter and her friend that although the car had 175,262 miles on it, he had replaced the engine with a 55,000 mile engine he bought from florida. Apparently the old engine had seized up with the previous owner. The dealer assured me that the car would last me a long time. However, after only six weeks of driving the car the engine quit and stranded me in traffic. I had the car towed to my trustworthy mechanics, who ran the diagnostic tests on the car. I took their repair estimate to the dealer. He towed the car, with my permission, to his mechanic. I have been researching recalls, and found that Toyota Matrix cars manufactured between 2005-2008 have been recalled for engine problems. I don't know if my car was ever recalled, or the problems fixed. My car has the exact same engine as the one in the recalls. Now I'm concerned that if the car does get fixed, it might malfunction again with me driving it, and cause an accident. The dealer won't pay for the repairs as idaho has no used car 'lemon' law. I am a senior citizen on a fixed income. I can make the car payments, but certainly can't pay to have the car repaired every time it breaks down, plus I feel there is a safety issue which concerns me since I live alone and have no one else to depend on for help.

I was on a steep hill at a stop sign. I had let go of the break to step on the gas because it was my turn to go and my car rolled backwards dramatically to the point where my tires where screeching for a few seconds till I was able to get off the steep hill. This is not the first time it has happened, I usually avoid streets that have a steep hill because this happens every time I'm on a steep hill. I've noticed this has happened for several years now.

Intermittently my 2006 Toyota Matrix xr suddenly slows down to about 20 miles per hour and would not respond to pressing gas pedal. When this happens I will have to pull up to the side and turn the engine off for couple of minutes and then start. Then it would be fine. It has happened on the highway and local roads. It could be dangerous if it happens right in the middle of highway. So far in the span of less than a year it has happened more than five times. We took the car to the dealer. They quoted "p2103: throttle actuator control motor circuit high" and will cost $1085 to fix it. I looked up the web and there were others with the same error code and replaced it but still experience the problem. After some research on the web I found that there was same symptom people experience but different error code that was covered by Toyota even when the warranty expired. I was hoping my problem gets covered, too but they insist not to cover it. If this problem is a result of wear and tear, I have no problem with it. But this is clearly a defects in the vehicle that should be fixed regardless of the warranty expired or not.

My 2006 Toyota Matrix completely stopped running while I was driving it to work to virginia from maryland on Feb. 18, 2010. I was unable to restart it and had to have it towed to my mechanic. Later that day, my mechanic called to inform me that it was a computer problem with the engine control module because he had not been able to start it again after he brought inside the service bay. He informed me that there was a technical service bulletin regarding the engine control- engine no start condition and that Toyota is responsible for the repair since it is still under warranty. I had to have it towed again to 355 Toyota and am waiting to hear from them regarding their diagnostic testing.

The ecu on my 2006 Toyota Matrix died suddenly, after the ecu failed the car to halt immediately. Luckily for me this did not happen on a freeway , in which case I would have been rear ended and possibly seriously injured. When my car was towed into the dealership , the tech at the service desk guessed that it was the ecu as he had seen quite a few of these fail. After tests they determined it was the ecu. The ecu was replaced by the dealer as it was under warranty.

While driving 25 mph the engine died. Power brakes and steering failed so stopping was difficult. The engine refused to start for about five minutes. Toyota replaced the electronic computer unit at no cost to me the next day.