2008 TOYOTA MATRIX — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 37 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL (8 complaints · 21.6%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 6
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2007 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL appears in 8 of 37 owner complaints (21.6%) in this vehicle snapshot. VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 8 complaints, 21.6% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 8 · 21.6% · 2 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 5 complaints, 13.5% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 · 13.5% AIR BAGS: 4 complaints, 10.8% of reports AIR BAGS 4 · 10.8% · 2 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 4 complaints, 10.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 4 · 10.8% · 1 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 3 complaints, 8.1% of reports POWER TRAIN 3 · 8.1% STEERING: 3 complaints, 8.1% of reports STEERING 3 · 8.1% ENGINE: 2 complaints, 5.4% of reports ENGINE 2 · 5.4% VISIBILITY: 2 complaints, 5.4% of reports VISIBILITY 2 · 5.4% STRUCTURE: 1 complaints, 2.7% of reports STRUCTURE 1 · 2.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 13 complaints, 35.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 13 · 35.1% · 3 crash reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 8 21.6% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 13.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 4 10.8% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 4 10.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 3 8.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 3 8.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 2 5.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 2 5.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 1 2.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 13 35.1% 3 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 2008; the first recall shown was reported in Feb 2010. 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2010-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 2008 Jan 2020 Recall campaign 10V035000 ◆ Recall campaign 10V035000 Recall campaign 10V384000 ◆ Recall campaign 10V384000
  • Campaign 10V035000 was reported 706 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 2
2008-Q4 Owner reports 3
2010-Q1 Owner reports 9
2010-Q2 Owner reports 4
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 2
2011-Q3 Owner reports 2
2012-Q1 Owner reports 1
2013-Q1 Owner reports 1
2015-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 2
2016-Q1 Owner reports 2
2016-Q2 Owner reports 2
2016-Q3 Owner reports 1
2017-Q2 Owner reports 1
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2020-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 10V035000
Recall campaign 1 10V384000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 10V035000

    Report date
    Component:
    EQUIPMENT
    Consequence:
    THIS DOES NOT MEET THE STANDARD REQUIREMENTS.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL MAIL TO CONSUMERS THE CORRECTED LABEL OR THE CUSTOMER WILL HAVE THE OPTION FOR DEALERS TO INSTALL THE LABEL FREE OF CHARGE. DEALERS WILL ALSO CORRECT THE OWNER'S MANUAL. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 27, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT GULF STATES TOYOTA AT 713-580-3300.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 10V384000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THERE ARE A VARIETY OF WARNINGS AND CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEFECT. THE ENGINE WARNING LAMP COULD BE ILLUMINATED, HARSH SHIFTING COULD RESULT, THE ENGINE MAY NOT START, OR THE ENGINE COULD SHUT OFF WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN. AN ENGINE SHUTOFF WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN INCREASES THE RISK OF A CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE PRODUCTION NUMBER OF THE ECM AND REPLACE THE ECM IF NECESSARY. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. TOYOTA WILL MAIL AN INTERIM OWNER NOTIFICATION THE MIDDLE OF SEPTEMBER 2010 TO ADVISE OWNERS OF THIS DEFECT AND RECALL. THIS INTERIM NOTIFICATION WILL INFORM OWNERS THAT THEY WILL RECEIVE A FUTURE NOTIFICATION WHEN PARTS BECOME AVAILABLE TO HAVE THE FREE REMEDY PERFORMED ON THEIR VEHICLE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON NOVEMBER 29, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 37 complaints · page 1 of 2

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources