2003 Toyota Matrix brakes problems

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 Jul 19, 2012 · Brakes · 30,000 miles · MN

Parking brake doesn't hold vehicle on slope. Mechanic has fixed twice, but problem re-occurs in about two years. This is a safety issue since this is also the emergency brake and there is no warning when brake will start slipping again after repairs.

Filed Sep 9, 2011 · Brakes, Steering · 24,000 miles · VA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota matrix. The contact was driving 40 MPH when the brakes were applied and the vehicle spun around four times. The contact stated that the ground was dry and there were no road hazards. The contact merged onto the shoulder for about twenty minutes and then drove home. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was notified and a claim was filed. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 24,000. Updated 09/27/11 *bf the consumer stated she applied the brake very lightly and the vehicle went out of control. It appeared either the brake locked or the accelerator locked. Updated 09/30/11

Filed Oct 26, 2010 · Brakes · 60,000 miles · MO

I have replaced the master cylinder on my 2003 toyota matrix twice already and it's bad again. The brakes slip when I try to stop short and it's very dangerous. This car only has 60,000 miles on it.

Filed May 21, 2010 · Airbags, Brakes · 88,208 miles · CA · crash · 1 injury

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota matrix. While driving approximately 65 MPH, the brakes were applied and the vehicle failed to stop which resulted in a crash. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. The contact sustained unknown injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to by the insurance company. A representative with the manufacturer also inspected the vehicle and was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure and current mileages were 88,208.

Filed Mar 10, 2010 · Brakes · CO · crash

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 toyota matrix. While the vehicle was traveling approximately 25 MPH with the cruise control engaged the contact had applied the brakes and noticed that the vehicle would not stop moving causing the contact to crash into the vehicle in front of him. No one was injured and a police report was filed for the incident. The vehicle was towed to the dealership for body damage repairs. The failure and current mileages were not available.

Filed Apr 7, 2009 · Brakes · 41,230 miles · PA · fire

Front brake caliper / piston locked up under pressure. With 5miles and under highway speeds it created intense and immediate vibration and smoke. Sudden failure.

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 Dec 2, 2006 · Brakes · DE · crash

In 9/02 I was involved in an accident. While driving at 45 MPH on wet a road, I applied the brakes hard and did not stop before hitting the vehicle in front of me. There was adequate stopping distance & I know that our saturn wagon would have stopped on time. On 11/30/06, my husband was involved in an accident. While driving 65 MPH on a dry road he applied the brakes hard and did not stop before hitting the vehicle in front of him. He also had adequate stopping distance and he states that our previous saturn wagon or our subaru wagon would have stopped in time. I have never hit a vehicle while braking hard in a vehicle w/ ABS until the toyota matrix. We got one of the early matrix's in 7/2002. Now that this has happened to both of us, we wonder if the ABS was faulty on the early versions of the matrix.