2003 Toyota Matrix: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed Jul 31, 2015 · Acceleration, Brakes · 300,000 miles · MA · crash

I was slowly pulling into my garage (in the basement of my house), gradually braking as I had done many times before. I was stopping the vehicle in its usual position when the engine suddenly began racing and the car accelerated forward. It struck some shelves I had against the wall of the garage, crumpling both the shelves and the front of the car's hood. Everything happened so fast at that point that I am not sure just what happened, but I ended up with the car stopped up against the garage wall and the car in park. I believe I threw it into neutral, then applied the brake since it was still moving, then tried to back up, and finally put it into park. The car was declared a total loss by my insurance company. I experienced the same problem of sudden acceleration when stopping several times previously, but none of those incidents caused any damage. In each of those situations I was able to get the car into neutral, stop it with the brake, and continue on my way. In this instance there was not enough space ahead of me to do that successfully. I know that a number of incidents of unintended acceleration of a toyota matrix have already been reported for a number of different model years.

Filed Oct 2, 2014 · Brakes, Engine · 182,000 miles · MD

I was approaching a stop light and all of a sudden the engine started to accelerate; this has never happened before. I pressed on the brake as hard as I could but the brake wouldn't go all the way down and it was very stiff. Since I was going slow I was able to get the car to stop but the engine was revving as if I had the gas pedal to the floor. I decided to put the car in neutral so it wouldn't accelerate while I was at the stop light (the whole time the engine is revving to its max and the brake was stiff; I also used the hand brake. When the light turned red I placed the car in drive since I had to move and the car wanted to take off so I kept my foot planted on the brake this was at full strength. I was able to get the car into a parking lot and then home an hour later. I was driving the car locally so I was about one mile from home. I have never seen a car do this in my life. I did call toyota about it and they said it wasn't sudden acceleration and said what do you want from toyota which I thought was extremely rude. I feel if I was going faster say on the highway I would have lost control of the vehicle.

Filed Mar 26, 2010 · Acceleration · 91,000 miles · OH

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 toyota matrix. The contact stated the rpms suddenly increased while the vehicle was in park and would move forward even when the brakes are being appied. The contact took the vehicle to a dealership to have it inspected and the dealer informed the contact that the idle was low. In 2007, the sales dealer told the contact they would lower the idle but she is not sure if that repair was performed. Her concern was that the vehicle could possibly lunge forward and cause a crash. The failure mileage was approximately 91,000. Updated 5/10/10 *cn the consumer stated since the vehicle was purchased, it has lurched forward about once a week or more. Occassionally, when the vehicle was started, the engine would rev extremely high. Updated 06/11/10.

Filed Mar 7, 2010 · Acceleration · OH

I have had four instances of sudden acceleration in a 2003 toyota matrix xrs over a period of 8 years. In each instance, I was pulling into a carport at a slow speed with my foot on the brake when the engine suddenly accelerated despite the fact that my foot was on the brake, not the gas pedal. In all instances, I was able to press hard on the brake and come to a stop. After the second incident, I took the car into my toyota dealer and told them what had happened twice. They checked out the car and said nothing was wrong with it. I have had two other incidents since then. I live in a retirement community and have told the authorities here that if I ever drive the car through the carport wall it will be due to sudden acceleration of my matrix. The incidents are wide-spread -- perhaps every two years. So it is a little hard to get toyota to pay any attention to the complaint. Please check the electronics -- it is obviously not mechanical. I have given the date of the last incident below.

Filed Feb 16, 2010 · Acceleration · OH

Tl* the contact has a 2003 toyota matrix. The contact stated that the vehicle had been having periodic accelelration problems since 2008. The contact stated the sudden acceleration has only happened when the contact is trying to slow down., while driving at any speed. This failure had been happening more over the past two years. The failure mileage was unknown. The current mileage is 86504.

Filed Feb 21, 2009 · Brakes · 44,000 miles · WA

Driving car and it had unintended acceleration, 2 times. First time it did not stop when brakes were applied. Second time brakes were hit and car quite accelerating.

Filed Jul 15, 2004 · Acceleration, Engine · 11,450 miles · TN · crash · 1 injury

I took the matrix in twice shortly after I bought it because the car would unexpectedly lunge forward while at a complete stop. I also complained that the brakes felt "loose" and did not "catch" as they should. I was advised both times by the service manager that they could not duplicate the problem and that nothing abnormal was found with car. While I was beginning to look into "lemon laws", in september of last year I was at a stop light with the brake pedal fully engaged. Due to my previous experiences with the car lunging forward, I would keep several feet between me and the car in front of me to avoid an accident. This time the car not only lunged forward, but it was like the accelerator stuck-I had my foot on the brake but could not stop the car after it lunged forward and I hit a car that was in front of me at the light. My car did not stop until I was almost parallel with the other car on the passenger side! I have had the case looked at by toyota, and their legal department has advised that nothing is wrong with the car-their only explanation is that the vehicle operates to "normal" specifications. They have advised that the car will lunge forward while the air conditioner is as when the AC compressor cycles, it increases the engine RPM and the vehicle will move forward. My air conditioner was not on at the time of this accident, however.

Filed Jul 1, 2004 · Acceleration · 6,500 miles · VT

While driving the vehicle accelerated without warning. As a result the consumer had to dodge a vehicle and drove into a corn field. The cause has not been determined. Please provide additional information.

Filed Apr 8, 2004 · Acceleration · 8,000 miles · TN · 9 injuries

Whenever vehicle was at a stop signal and without warning vehicle surged forward. Consumer's foot was on the brakes when surging occurred. This problem occurred several times since ownership of the vehicle. *ak

Filed Aug 1, 2003 · Acceleration, Body · NJ

While traveling on the highway and without prior warning, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. *ak the consumer was unable to read the dashboard lights when the sun was extremely bright. *ts

Filed Jul 31, 2002 · Acceleration · CA

While air conditioner is running and normal braking vehicle will surge forward. Due to an increase in rpms. Please provide any further information.