CarComplaints.com Notes: The Toyota Matrix is the mechanical twin of the Pontiac Vibe.
Both models were a joint GM-Toyota venture, manufactured together at a NUMMI production facility in Fremont, CA. Only the heating & A/C systems are different.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
103,000 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The engine is stalling. I noticed this at least a month ago. It has happened at least 5 or 6 times in the last month. It first occurred when I started the vehicle in the parking lot at school. I drove maybe 5 or 6 feet less than 10 mph then the engine shut off in the middle of a turn. I had to put the car in park and restart the engine in the middle of driving. It did restart, but it jerked once or twice and kept going. The next day, I was able to start car and drive a little further, maybe a mile at about 30 mph. When I entered an entrance ramp on the freeway, the vehicle stalled in the middle of acceleration. I had to veer to the shoulder. I put the car in park, then restarted the engine. I was able to drive a few miles. Then, I had to slow down to exit on a ramp when it stalled again. I exited freeway. The vehicle completely stopped in the middle of the road. I pulled into a parking lot to compose myself because the cars behind me were honking and drivers upset that vehicle stalled without notice. The vehicle did cut off at a higher speed as well. I was driving on the freeway at about 50 mph when it turned off, but immediately turned back on within seconds. I was very concerned for safety with kids in the car.
The car was operated by mother who was in a parking lot about to finalize a full parking of it. All of a sudden, her words were "it shot off like a bullet" and she did not know what was happening. It felt like it was going 100 mph and she did everything under her control not to hit another vehicle or 3 pedestrians. The pedestrians saw what was happening and ran, one was hit, not seriously. Police and rescue were called. The johnston, Rhode Island police department impounded the car. The car will be inspected probably on June 26 by the ri department of motor vehicles enforcement division. They will determine whether the car is "fit" to drive or "unfit" to drive. It was a scary situation. The car is brand new. I am the owner of it, I bought it in December 2005, it had not yet been delivered to the dealers lot. I picked it up a week after initiating my purchase. It's a 2006 Toyota Matrix, all wheel drive.
- Johnston, RI, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Danville, VA, USA