Three problems related to engine stall have been reported for the 2009 Toyota Matrix. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Multiple episodes of engine stall without warning. Instrument panel goes black and complete loss of power. A few times it sputtered and bucked before it stalled. Have had it in to Toyota twice now. The first time they were able to replicate the malfunction and said it was a loose fuse. I picked up the car and it stalled again while driving another 4 times. In the middle of a busy intersection with my toddler grandson in the back seat. Another time I was coming out of a dark tunnel with a blind turn doing approx 55mph and only by the grace of god did somebody not plow into the back of me. It could have been deadly. The car is back in the Toyota dealership and has been there for 4 weeks. The service department says they can't perform any repairs if they are unable to replicate the malfunction. I am left wondering if the 2005-2008 recalls for this very issues should indeed be expanded to include the 2009 as well.
On humid mornings, engine occasionally misses on start up then clears. Engine stalled with no warning and almost caused a rear end collision when it suddenly lost power on acceleration onto busy road. Next morning engine would not start until later in day after warming up. It started with extreme miss then cleared. The 08 Matrix has an ecm recall for same reason however no notice was received for the 09 model manufactured on 5/08.
2009 Toyota Matrix with 1. 8 l engine stalls at intersections. Dealer very resistant to admitting to the problem, but allegedly "reset" control module, resulting in less frequency of occurrence. Potentially very dangerous situation as not possible to predict when stall will occur and more likely in intersections. Stalling occurred numerous times, especially from 8000 to 10000 miles. Vehicle currently at approximately 19000 miles and has occasional stalls.