2009 Toyota Matrix: jerking or lurching

Filed Mar 26, 2017 · Acceleration · 81,000 miles · FL · crash

My matrix 2009 has had intermittent sudden acceleration problems. I mention it at my regular maintenance check ups, but receive non-committal replies. I figure I must be losing it. Over the last 8 months or so, it got extreme: the car will lurch forward at different times: when I start up the car, idling at a light, or slowing to a stop. Today, sunday morning, as I was pulling into a parking spot at walmart, I began to brake slowly when the trans roared and lurched forward. It jumped the curb and plowed into the front end of the car facing me. At first, I thought I must have hit the gas - but no. My foot was still on the brake - all the way to the floor. I still owe money on this car. I ruined the front end of another car. I am a single mom of 2 and a teacher. I don't know how I am going to be able to handle this. I do not intend to repair this car. It is not safe. Thank god the other car was empty. This car could have killed someone. And, no: no tickets/accidents/ageism. Just a regular middle-age lady who bought a used car 4.5 years ago, took good care of it, and am now seriously stuck and stressed. So, thank you toyota. I saw on other blogs today that this is not an isolated incident, but a recurring problem. You have known about this for years, and have done nothing. Your company will cause innocent people to kill someone or themselves.

Filed May 23, 2010 · 22,700 miles · DE

My husband and I were on interstate 495 of the washington beltway sitting in a 3 mile backup where 5 lanes were merging into one. My foot was firmly on the brake leaving plenty of room from the car in front of me. All of a sudden I realized that the car was inching forward and the brake would not stop the acceleration. My husband realized what was happening and looked down and knew that my foot was firmly on the brake. All of a sudden, it just stopped as fast as it started. We came within inches of hitting the car in front of us. As I sat in that mess of a traffic jam and saw the amount of cell phones being used, it hit me. Did all these phones start that car to move? This matrix 2009 only has 22,700 miles on it but I will be taking it to the toyota dealership and toyota will be receiving a letter from me with the details. The recall work on the accelerator was done 2 months ago. I have also made a complaint to the dealership that the car seems to do something between 20 and 40 miles per hour when you are decelerating. I can't tell exactly what it is doing because it seems to jerk. The dealership put it on the computer and said nothing was wrong. It may be unrelated to the other problem but it is one more thing that I have noticed about this car. As a note, my husband and I have had toyotas forever and currently have a 2004 corolla and traded in the 2006 corolla for this matrix. We have never had any trouble whatsoever with our toyotas until now.

Filed Mar 5, 2010 · Acceleration · 28,213 miles · LA

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 toyota matrix. The contact stated that they never had an acceleration problem until after having the vehicle repaired. While pulling out of a parking space, and driving 10 MPH, the vehicle jerked forward and then settled down. The RPM jumped up and then went back down. The failure mileage was 28213 and the current mileage was 28500.

Filed Feb 28, 2010 · Acceleration · 11,100 miles · OH

I have a 2009 toyota matrix. I purchased it in november of 2008. In october of 2009 the car had roughly 7,000 miles on it. I experienced my first incident of unintended acceleration. I drove up a hill to a stop sign and as I braked the car lurched forward. I put both feet on the brake and put the car in neutral. I thought that I might have some how had my foot on the gas, so I did not think it was a serious concern. However, I had two more similar incidents in the following months. Both pulling up to stop signs. Both times I heard the engine start to accelerate and was able to control it. When I heard about the toyota recall I immediately called and had my car serviced. The toyota dealer did recall work on my brakes and gas pedal on february 10th, 2010. On february 26th, I was driving about 5 MPH in a parking area with my son. I put my foot on the brake and I felt the car push forward. I put my other foot on the brake as well. My son said "its doing it again mom!" I put it in neutral and we both heard the engine wind out like I had pushed the gas pedal to the floor. This obviously means the recall "fix" isn't working! I contacted my dealer and am getting a loaner car. I am very concerned what this means in terms of future safety and my monetary investment in this car.

Filed Feb 17, 2010 · Steering · 10,873 miles · AR

When you're driving the car unexpectedly pulls to the left or the right then when trying to correct the steering over corrects thus jerking the car in which ever direction you are trying to correct. This action occurs every day. We have taken the vehicle to two different dealership service departments, at one we were told the front tires were swapped and at the other they said they could not duplicate the problem and we were told that there was nothing wrong with the steering and that without a recall there was nothing they could or would do to fix the problem.