Toyota Matrix pulling problems

Filed Jan 23, 2014 · Tires · 34,000 miles · WA

I took my 2009 toyota into my local tire dealer to have it aligned. Mentioned that it was pulling to the left at highwayspeeds and kind of bobbling when I started up. Service man said it might be the tires, not the alignment. It was. The three original tires on the car, the original equipment not warranted, all showed tread separation. (he also said he'd "never seen this kind of problem on three tires at one time.)the steel belts were coming through the tread. The man said that driving on the tires might be dangerous, so I had to put new tires on it--not goodyear. The fourth tire, which I put on the car a couple of years ago (when the sidewall bubbled) was fine--plenty of tread, no signs of wear that might have come from poor maintenance. Note that your form only allows me to note one tire location. Three tires all showed the same problem. The service guy didn't know which location the good tire was on, so I can't tell you three specific locations for those three.

Filed May 4, 2012 · Steering · VA

2009 matrix xrs certified vehicle purchased with 33,000 miles around 2010, currently 48,000 miles and has 5 yr, 100,000 mile extended warranty. This vehicle is difficult to drive on the highway. The vehicle wanders into the left or right lanes and driver must fight to keep the vehicle in a straight line. The local chantilly toyota dealership denies the issue and any tsb. The steering on this vehicle is dangerous and warrants further review by ntsb if toyota continues to stonewall its customers regarding safety issues. I will follow up with toyota national.

Filed Mar 29, 2012 · 2,788 miles · NY

On april l9, 2008 with 2788 miles on my new car the front tire went soft and when taken to dunn tire they told me the tire was defective. I was naturally upset with so few miles but put a new one on which cost me $l61. A few weeks ago, my car was pulling to the right and the mechanic at monro muffler told me I had a "bad tire" and would have to replace both front tires ($408) I could not afford it and called goodyear who told me they would check it out and perhaps replace the tires. After two weeks I called again as nothing was done and I feel I am driving on unsafe tires as now it pulls to the left. My contention is that defective goodyear tires were on my car when purchased. They are eaglers-a sport tires. I do not know if goodyear will offer to replace them or not but feel there is a safety issue involved here and I should not be responsible for replacing 3 tires on a car that at the time of the last tirre check had l5,701 miles on it. I know goodyear recalled some of their tires but not sure if the ones on my car are included. Think not.

Filed Sep 14, 2010 · Steering · 26,500 miles · PA

Steering wheel pulls to the right/left. Purchased car used from toyota dealer noticed the steering pull during test drive. Dealer aligned car, but still pulls to the right & left.

Filed May 24, 2010 · Body · MI

2008 toyota matrix. Consumer states problem with design or manufacturer flaw. Consumer seeks repair cost*tgw while driving, there was a succession of loud noises followed by a huge bang. At the same time, the vehicle pulled to the right and rolled off the road into some bushes before coming to a stop. When the consumers wife exited the vehicle, she discovered a long piece of black plastic a foot wide lying behind the vehicle. Not knowing what it was, she placed it in the back of the vehicle and drove home. The consumer identified the large piece of plastic as the lining from the right front wheel well which had been torn completely away and was then run over by the vehicle. The consumer argued that the flimsy clip holding the lead edge of the liner to the body had failed, which allowed air to get under the liner which peeled all the way off after becoming entangled with the tire.

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.

Filed Feb 17, 2010 · Steering · 7,000 miles · WA · crash

Bought 2009 toyota matrix in sept. 2009... Have experienced both gas pedal issues and steering issues. Gas pedal issue has been "fixed". In regards to the steering issue, I have noticed that when I was driving at speeds over 35mph it does pull to the right and feels like the car is being pushed by wind, my daughter & husband also experienced this while driving the car. I did not report the steering issue to anyone because I did not know it was a defect, this is the first toyota I have owned and thought it was a toyota thing. Also, I was involved in an accident in nov. 2009 in the toyota matrix, I am unsure of whether the gas pedal issue may have played a role in that incident. I do not own this car now, I traded it in on another vehicle.

Filed Mar 22, 2005 · Suspension · 44,000 miles · IL

Prematurely the vehicle will get out of alignment. This would cause the steering wheel to pull to the left. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Steering · 17,000 miles · MD

After purchase, complained of "steering wander." not only did the dealer carmax toyota not fix the problem, but returned the car with the power steering malfunctioning. After several more trips to the dealer, they finally replaced the steering rack admitting problems with some units. Upon being informed that this made no difference, and without further retesting, carmax and toyota refuse to perform any more attempts at fixing either problem. So now I'm filing under maryland's lemon law because I'm stuck with a wandering car without full power steering. In addition, I had carmax change the oil at 300 miles. Subsequently, I changed the oil at 400 miles and was surprised to see that it was black as coal indicating piston blowby. I just changed the oil at 3000 miles and the oil is a black as coal, as if the engine had closer to 90,ooo miles on it.

Filed Jul 26, 2003 · Brakes · 20,000 miles · KY

Went to dealer twice;complained about brakes pulling right; told they couldn't reproduce problem and the brakes were just "adjusting"; today, failure in steering and brake pull almost caused wreck.