Check a VIN

2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix problems

The most common problem on the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix is airbags, typically around 102,000 miles. Its complaint count is close to a typical Corolla Matrix model year.

Fewer complaintsAmong the best years of this model
Year score
76/100
Owner complaints
31
Recalls
4
Service bulletins
18
Worst area
Airbags

The worst 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix problems

Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.

  • Airbags
    23
  • Electrical
    3
  • Engine
    3
  • Body
    2
  • Brakes
    2

Problems by type

Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.

  • Airbags
    23
  • Electrical
    3
  • Engine
    3
  • Body
    2
  • Brakes
    2
  • Fuel system
    2
  • Acceleration
    1
  • Visibility
    1

Recalls 4

Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator moduleReported August 28, 2019 · 229,460 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2003-2008 Corolla, 2005-2008 Corolla Matrix, and Pontiac Vibe vehicles equipped with a front passenger air bag assembly replaced under a prior recall. The air bag may not unfold as designed during inflation under high temperature conditions, possibly resulting in the air bag not inflating properly.
Risk
An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.
Remedy
Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag assembly or sub-assembly, free of charge. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑888‑270‑9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall are K1Q and K0Q. Pontiac owners may contact GM customer service at 1‑800‑762‑2737. GM's number for this recall is N192273760.

Recall number 19V627000 · Recall details

Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator moduleReported January 9, 2018 · 116,126 vehicles affected
What is wrong
On January 9, 2018, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) notified the federal safety agency that they are recalling 14,585 model year 2010-2012 Yaris vehicles ever registered in the states of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. As of January 30, 2018, Toyota is additionally recalling 3,347 model year 2010 Pontiac Vibe vehicles located in states listed above. Also included in this recall filing is 98,194 model year 2003-2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix vehicles, located throughout the U.S., that previously received a “like-for-like” interim air bag inflator replacement. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
Risk
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag assemblies with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began on January 29, 2018. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑800‑331‑4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are G0R (Zone B), and H0A (Zone C), J0A (Matrix Zone A), J0A (Matrix Zone A), J0A (Matrix Zone A).

Recall number 18V025000 · Recall details

Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator moduleReported March 3, 2016 · 147,242 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2008-2010 Lexus SC vehicles manufactured August 3, 2007, to July 30, 2010, 2008 Toyota Corolla vehicles manufactured May 25, 2007, to December 21, 2007, 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix vehicles manufactured June 1, 2007, to December 18, 2007, and 2008 Pontiac Vibe vehicles manufactured June 1, 2007, to January 2, 2008. This is to address a safety defect in the passenger side frontal air bag inflator which may produce excessive internal pressure causing the inflator to rupture upon deployment of the air bag. This recall addresses both the passenger side frontal air bags that were originally installed in the vehicles, as well as replacement air bags that may have been installed as replacement service parts. A replacement air bag may have been installed, as one example, if a vehicle had been in a crash necessitating the replacement of the passenger side frontal air bag.
Risk
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
The recall began on March 25, 2016 for Toyota and Lexus vehicle owners. The recall began on June 23, 2016 for GM owners. The respective dealers will either replace the front passenger air bag inflator or the entire front passenger air bag assembly depending on the model. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑800‑331‑4331, or Pontiac customer service at 1‑800‑762‑2737. This recall expands recall 15V‑285.

Recall number 16V127000 · Recall details

Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator moduleReported March 2, 2016 · 71,163 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2008-2010 Lexus SC vehicles manufactured August 3, 2007, to July 30, 2010, 2008 Toyota Corolla vehicles manufactured June 1, 2007, to December 21, 2007, 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix vehicles manufactured June 1, 2007, to December 18, 2007, and 2008 Pontiac Vibe vehicles manufactured June 1, 2007, to January 2, 2008 that were originally sold, or ever registered, in Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The affected vehicles have a passenger side frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture upon its deployment.
Risk
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy
The recall began on March 25, 2016 for Toyota and Lexus vehicle owners. The recall began on June 8, 2016 for GM owners. The respective dealers will either replace the front passenger air bag inflator or the entire front passenger air bag assembly depending on the model. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑800‑331‑4331, or Pontiac customer service at 1‑800‑762‑2737. This recall expands recall 15V‑286.

Recall number 16V128000 · Recall details

See all 4 recalls for the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix

Defect investigations

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator RuptureOpened September 17, 2021, still open

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 Blomquist Report at all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substance that traps and holds moisture) in US vehicles are under recall. These "non-desiccated" inflators either have been or are required to be replaced.In some cases, the remedy part for these recalled inflators was, or will be, an inflator using either propellant 2004 or 2004L that does contain a desiccant. None of these "desiccated" remedy parts (which were installed in older model year vehicles) are currently under recall for a degradation concern. Certain subsets of desiccated PSAN inflators using propellant 2004 for use as original equipment, however, have been recalled for a degradation concern. All Takata inflators produced with propellant 2004L contain desiccant, and none of these desiccated inflators using propellant 2004L are under recall for a degradation concern. There have been no reported field ruptures in any non-recalled desiccated PSAN inflators.It is understood that desiccants fully saturate at some threshold, at which point any additional moisture will not be captured. This means the degradation process observed in non-desiccated inflators using propellant 2004 may also occur in non-recalled desiccated inflators using propellant 2004, assuming additional moisture enters the inflator and high temperature cycling occurs. Based on available information, desiccant saturation can occur within the first five years in the worst environments, and the time required for full saturation is affected by multiple factors. While no present safety risk has been identified, further work is needed to evaluate the future risk of non-recalled desiccated inflators using propellant 2004.Three entities -- Takata (now known as TK Global), the Independent Testing Coalition, and Exponent -- have been studying the long-term behavior of Takata desiccated PSAN inflators using propellant 2004L (as well as 2004) in the presence of moisture and temperature cycling. The research efforts, which include development of predictive modeling techniques and field sample analysis, are ongoing. To date, none of the researchers have identified field evidence showing that propellant 2004L is undergoing a degradation process that leads to aggressive deployment and potential rupture. However, the time in service of such inflators remains short compared to that of the inflators using propellant 2004. Further study is needed to assess the long-term safety of desiccated inflators using propellant 2004L.The Office of Defects Investigation is opening this investigation to examine whether a safety defect related to propellant degradation exists in non-recalled desiccated PSAN frontal inflators manufactured by Takata. This investigation will require extensive information on Takata production processes and surveys of inflators in the field. Lists of recall actions that may have used desiccated PSAN inflators as remedy parts, as well as the makes and models originally manufactured with them, is available with the downloadable version of this document (see -- note this information is subject to change/revision as the investigation proceeds). This investigation does not supersede EA15-001, which remains open.

EA21002

Engine StallOpened August 18, 2010, closed September 16, 2010

On August 26, 2010, Toyota submitted a Defect Information Report to the federal safety agency regarding problems with Engine Control Modules that could result in engine stall while driving in certain model year (MY) 2005 through 2008 Toyota Corolla, Corolla Matrix and Pontiac Vibe vehicles equipped with the 1ZZ-FE engine and two-wheel drive and manufactured between April 19, 2004 and January 2, 2008.Toyota's report indicated that cracks may develop at certain solder point or on varistors on the ECMs.According to Toyota, such cracks generally resulted in engine warning lamp illumination, harsh shifting or engine no-start.In some cases, if the cracking occurs on particular solder points or varistors, the engine could stop while the vehicle is being driven.Toyota will notify owners of subject vehicles that they should return their vehicles to a Toyota or Pontiac dealer.Dealers will be instructed to inspect the production number of the ECM for each vehicle and replace the ECM if necessary.On November 30, 2009, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE09-054) to investigate alleged engine stall while driving in model year (MY) 2006 Toyota Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles.In its response to ODI's information request, submitted on March 2, 2010, Toyota indicated that it had identified two possible conditions with ECMs used in MY 2005 through 2007 Toyota Corolla and Matrix vehicles:1) cracks forming between the IC and the board caused by an improperly cured conformal coating applied to the circuit boards after the soldering process is completed; and 2) cracks occurring in a variable resistor (varistor) due to overheating.During the manufacturing process a glass coating is created on the surface of the varistor.Between March and August 2010, Toyota began collecting ECMs from the field to further investigate failure modes that may result in engine stall.Toyota also conducted durability testing on ECMs collected from in-use vehicles to assess whether the problems may be a continuing trend. In addition, they conducted durability testing in order to assess whether this problem was a continuing trend.Toyota found that 4 of 32 collected ECMs malfunctioned after thermal shock testing.Toyota also confirmed that cracking could develop at solder points on the ECM circuit board that could lead to engine stall while driving and that this trend was likely to continue.The manufacturer failure data in this resume is limited to MY 2005 through 2007 Toyota Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles.Based on Toyota's recall, this Engineering analysis has been closed.

EA10006

Technical service bulletins for the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix 18

Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.

See all 18 bulletins for the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix

What 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix owners say

Most recent owner complaints, unedited.

Filed Dec 14, 2024 · NV

The seller of this vehicle rolled back the odometer to 135,000 when the carfax reports in April of 2024 the car was at 200,000 miles

Filed Dec 6, 2022 · Airbags · NH

Unable to get remedy in a timely manner for air bag recall. Part has been unavailable for over a month and dealer has delayed ordering of part by two weeks. Dealer providing recall service is IRA Toyota of Danvers in Massachusetts

Filed Dec 28, 2020 · Airbags, Body · 184,000 miles · TX · crash

Someone pulled out in front of me and I hit them with the front of my car. I was driving 40 miles an hour on a city street. It crashed in the front end, radiator, fenders and hood. The airbags did not deploy. I had been sent a recall notice and scheduled an appointment at a local toyota dealer immediately. The crash happened two weeks before the appointment. This is a known problem with the manufacturer. The federal safety agency recall no. 19v‑627

Filed Jun 22, 2020 · Airbags · 223,000 miles · FL

My 2008 toyota matrix was under recall since I was notified in october 2019. At that time I was told that my car was not safe to drive and I was provided with a rental car. My car was repaired with the toyota air bag remedy on june 11, 2020 but it seems that the remedy has caused the cover to pop up and a crease is forming across the middle of the airbag cover. Also, the passenger airbag indicator light says off when a passenger seat is occupied. The passenger indicator light worked properly when I last drove my car in october of 2019.

Filed Apr 30, 2020 · Airbags · SC

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota corolla matrix. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 19v627000 (air bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. Toyota of greer (13770 e wade hampton blvd, greer, sc 29651) was contacted and confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed the part was not available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available.

Filed Apr 3, 2020 · Airbags · AZ

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota corolla matrix. The contact was alerted through emissions that the vehicle was included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 19v627000 (air bags). The contact was referred to the federal safety agency and the VIN tool confirmed the VIN was included. However, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer nor the dealer were made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available.

Filed Mar 11, 2020 · Airbags · VA

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota corolla matrix. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 19v627000 (air bags), however, the part needed for the repair was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. Koons arlington toyota located at (4045 lee hwy, arlington, va 22207, (703) 522-6000) was contacted and it was confirmed that the remedy part was not available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available.

Filed Feb 14, 2020 · Airbags · SC

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota matrix. The contact received a notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 19v627000 (air bags) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact contacted florence toyota 2300 w palmetto st, florence, sc 29501 and was informed that the parts was not yet available. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. The VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Filed Dec 20, 2019 · Airbags · MD

Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2008 toyota corolla matrix. The contact received a recall notice for the federal safety agency campaign number: 19v627000 (air bags). The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact called jim coleman toyota (10400 auto park ave, bethesda, md 20817, (301) 469-7100) and was informed that the parts were not available. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and did not assist. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available.*dt

Filed Dec 17, 2019 · Airbags · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota corolla matrix. The contact received a recall notification in the mail for the federal safety agency campaign number: 19v627000 (air bags). The contact spoke with joe myers toyota (19010 northwest fwy, houston, tx 77065, (281) 973-5306) and was informed that the part was not available for the repair. The manufacturer was not notified. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available.

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Questions about the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix

Is the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix reliable?

Owners have filed 31 complaints about the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix, close to a typical Corolla Matrix model year.

What is the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix year score?

The 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix scores 76 out of 100 (average). The score compares it with the other model years of the Toyota Corolla Matrix: 75 is a typical year, 50 means twice the usual complaints, and serious complaints and recalls lower it.

What is the most common problem with the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix?

Airbags, with 23 complaints, typically around 102,000 miles. Next is electrical (3).

How many recalls does the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix have?

4 recalls, covering air bags.

Was there a recall on the 2008 Toyota Corolla Matrix airbags?

Yes, 4 recalls: 19V627000, 18V025000, 16V127000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.

What year does the Toyota Corolla Matrix have bad airbags?

The Toyota Corolla Matrix model years with the most airbags complaints are 2005 (72 complaints), 2006 (42 complaints) and 2009 (40 complaints).

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