2004 TOYOTA COROLLA MATRIX Complaints

Car has over 290,000 miles, sole owner of car. Just learned the odometer will freeze at 299,999 miles based on issue known by Toyota for a few models. Odometer freeze was not disclosed even though Toyota has selectively repaired some cars odometers at no charge to customers or split costs with customers. Odometer freeze makes safe maintenance of car more difficult. Toyota apparently added a 9 year warranty extension because of its knowledge of problems but didn't notify owners. My 2004 vehicle would have been covered through 2013, but I was not given an opportunity to have the problem repaired under warranty. Toyota apparently knew this problem affected Corolla (up through 2008), Matrix & Vibe (1st generation) and 1st generation Prius cars. My car manual says that the odometer "shows the total distance the vehicle has been driven." My ability to continue safely using my car will be compromised when my odometer reaches 299,999 and Toyota chose not to warn and repair this defect which affects their customers, and our ability to safely operate our cars on the road. If I had known about the problem sooner I would have addressed it sooner. Toyota knew but chose to only address the issue on a case by case basis even though the cars were apparently designed with this defect which was hidden.

This safety problem pertains to all vehicles sold in the U.S., not only my make and model. I was horrified to learn that the crash ratings are inaccurate for most women and all short people, because they were developed only for average sized men. It should be no surprise that when collisions occur, more women than men are seriously injured. More women than men are injured when air bags deploy. More women than men are injured by their shoulder belts. I am afraid to purchase a new car, because the crash ratings that I have relied on in the past are unreliable for me as a short woman. I am very disappointed that my own government, to which I pay taxes, has been so misleading to the public on important safety issues. Please develop and implement collision ratings for various height groups. In the meantime, please include notices with crash ratings that explain which height ranges the ratings are most accurate for.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Corolla Matrix. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the air bag warning light illuminated. The contact called the dealer to inquire about a recall for the air bag and was informed there were 2 previous air bag recalls that were repaired in the past. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and advised the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer for a diagnostic test. The approximate failure mileage was 159,086.

I have been unable to have my dealer repair the recalls on this car despite repeated times calling up Toyota and dealing with Larry H Miller Toyota dealership. They refuse to give me a replacement car while they fix it and won't say how long it will take. I also discovered that there are no child seat anchors in the back. I was told this is unlawful given the date of this car's manufacture. I hope NHTSA will help force Toyota to fix these recalls and install car seat anchors and give em a replacement vehicle to drive to work and for children while they fix it.

A 205/55/R16 tire exploded when I was driving on the freeway at 9:15 am. I had driven less than 3 miles. The tire that exploded had less than 16,000 miles. I didn't run over an object or I would have also punctured my front tire too. At the time of the explosion I didn't know what happened, but heard a loud noise that I thought was from a car next to me. Once both cars moved ahead of me, I realized the loud noise was coming from under my car. I then was able to pull to the side of the freeway. Once I pulled over I saw the tire had exploded. I took photos of the tire and took both parts to the tire shop where my tires are under warranty. I had inspected my tires the prior Monday, two days prior and didn't see an issue with any of the tires. I've never had a tire blowout before. The tire shop threw the tire away even though I asked for a report of the incident to appropriate entities. The tire shop told me the tire was under inflated or that I hit a road hazard but couldn't prove that's what caused the explosion. Also the tire shop did not show me where a road hazard penetrated the tire. In the past if a tire had run over an object this tire shop would show me the object. I have 3 of the same tires on my car which I don't trust because my tire exploded without warning.

The contact owned a 2004 Toyota Matrix. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaigns: 08V162000 (Visibility), 15V043000 (Air Bags) and 15V285000 (Air Bags) and requested to be removed from the recall distribution list. The vehicle was destroyed several years ago. The contact stated that they have not owned the vehicle involved for many years.

My daughter was driving as usual when she went to apply the brakes about 5 car lengths back and the vehicle accelerated uncontrollably despite braking. Her foot was not on the accelerator, she does not have floor mats that would cause anything to hit the accelerator. This has happened on 5-6 occasions which almost resulted in an accident. She barely got stopped mere inches away from the car in front of her despite braking earlier than normal because she encountered this once already during her trip. No check engine codes, the brakes are good, the car idles high. That is really it. This is a serious issue that seemingly cannot be diagnosed. After doing research to see what the problem may be, I have seen countless complaints of a similar nature. My daughters life is invaluable. This needs to be addressed.

I JUST FOUND OUT THAT THE REAR SUSPENSION CROSS-MEMBER (PART # 51206-12190) IN MY 2004 TOYOTA MATRIX IS ABOUT TO FAIL DUE TO RUST. WHILE DOING SOMETHING ELSE MY MECHANIC HAPPENED TO NOTICE THE ISSUE. HE SHOWED ME THE PROBLEM AND SAID IT WOULD BE DANGEROUS TO DRIVE THE CAR. THE CAR HAS LOW MILEAGE FOR BEING 16 YEARS OLD (ABOUT 8K A YEAR). THIS CAR WAS BUILT IN CANADA AND SOLD IN NEW YORK STATE SO IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO TAKE MANY YEARS OF WET/WINTER ROAD CONDITIONS. IF MY CAR HAD 16K MILES PER YEAR IT WOULD ONLY BE 8 YEARS OLD. SHOULD A PART THAT HOLDS THE DIFFERENTIAL UP (NOT LET IT DROP TO THE ROAD) GO BAD IN EVEN 20 YEARS ON THE ROAD? I ONLY FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS PROBLEM BY CHANCE. OTHERWISE I COULD HAVE BEEN DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND POSSIBLY HAD A FATAL ACCIDENT DUE TO THE REAR PARTS OF THE DRIVE TRAIN DROPPING TO THE ROAD. THE CAR LOOKS FINE OTHERWISE. SO HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE WHO OWN THE SAME CAR THAT IS THE SAME AGE, OR NEWER OR A BIT OLDER, HAVE NO IDEA THAT THIS PROBLEM EXISTS? IF EVEN ONE OWNER OF THIS CAR HAS AN ACCIDENT CAUSED BY THIS PROBLEM AND IS HURT OR KILLED THAT WOULD BE VERY BAD! AND THAT PERSON COULD HAVE BEEN ME - BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN NO RECALL ISSUED INTENDED TO CHECK FOR THIS POTENTIAL FAILURE. I HAVE SPOKEN WITH TOYOTA ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND THEY TOLD ME I AM ON MY OWN, THAT THEY COULDN'T/WOULDN'T HELP ME. THE TWO PEOPLE I TALKED WITH NEVER SAID THAT THEY WOULD DO ANYTHING TO BE SURE OTHER TOYOTA MATRIX OWNERS WERE INFORMED ABOUT THIS POSSIBLE RUST ISSUE.

TAKATA RECALL TOYOTA IS ONLY REPLACING MY PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG, BUT THEY ARE REFUSING TO REPLACE THE DRIVER SIDE AIRBAG. BOTH AIRBAGS ARE TAKATA AIRBAGS. THEY ARE PUTTING MY LIFE AT RISK AND I NEED TO HAVE BOTH AIRBAGS REPLACED. PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN GET BOTH AIRBAGS REPLACED UNDER THE TAKATA RECALL. THIS IS MY CONTACT INFORMATION: EMAIL:[XXX] PHONE:[XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

TAKATA RECALL I TOOK MY CAR IN FOR THE RECALL AND WAS TOLD A FEW WEEKS LATER THAT IT WAS COMPLETE. WHEN I WENT TO PICK UP MY CAR, HE TOLD ME THAT IT WAS ONLY PARTIALLY DONE, BUT WAS "COMPLETELY SAFE". HE WENT ON TO EXPLAIN THAT THEY REPLACED THE ONE PART THAT CAUSED THE AIRBAGS TO DEPLOY, SO NOT TO WORRY ABOUT THE SAFETY ANYMORE. I JUST RECEIVED THE RECALL AGAIN SAYING THAT THE PARTS WERE AVAILABLE, AND THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO GET IT FIXED BECAUSE THE AIRBAGS ARE STILL NOT SAFE. I AM LIVID...I DRIVE THIS CAR DAILY, AND HAVE MY CHILDREN IN IT AS WELL. A YEAR AND A HALF LATER?!! COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.