KnownCarProblemsHome › Toyota › Corolla Matrix › 2003
2003 Toyota Corolla Matrix Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 36 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Toyota Corolla Matrix, most often about the air bags (75% of complaints, typically around 115,000 miles). It is 5th of 10 Corolla Matrix model years by number of complaints and has 5 recalls.
Most common 2003 Toyota Corolla Matrix problems
Air bags
27 complaints · 75%Half of these problems showed up before 115,000 miles.
Dear NHTSA folks, ? The safety recall is dated january 27, of this year (2015) . ? I have waited five months, so far, for a remedy to this manufacturing defect. ? Going into the sixth month, we continue to be concerned for our safety each time we drive our matrix. Please help, for goodness sake, without further delay!…
There has been a recall on the front passenger airbag inflator module. Despite several notices and a federal reminder to have this fixed as a customer, Toyota as a company has no remedy as of yet. All paperwork states "any authorized Toyota dealer can inspect and, if necessary, replace the airbag inflator…
Electrical
4 complaints · 11%
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2003 Toyota Corolla Matrix recalls
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag assemblies with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began on january 29, 2018. Owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are g0r (zone b), and h0a (zone c), j0a (matrix zone a), j0a (matrix zone a), j0a (matrix zone a).
Full defect summary
On january 9, 2018, toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) notified NHTSA that they are recalling 14,585 model year 2010-2012 yaris vehicles ever registered in the states of alaska, arizona, arkansas, colorado, connecticut, delaware, district of columbia, idaho, illinois, indiana, iowa, kansas, kentucky, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, montana, nebraska, nevada, new hampshire, new jersey, new mexico, new york, north carolina, north dakota, ohio, oklahoma, oregon, pennsylvania, rhode island, south dakota, tennessee, utah, vermont, virginia, washington, west virginia, wisconsin, and wyoming. As of january 30, 2018, toyota is additionally recalling 3,347 model year 2010 pontiac vibe vehicles located in states listed above. Also included in this recall filing is 98,194 model year 2003-2008 toyota corolla matrix vehicles, located throughout the u.s.,
Air bags
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 2003-2004 corolla and corolla matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15v-043 and 15v-285 are under a do not drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac vibe owners will be notified by gm. Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag. The recall began on july 13, 2015. Toyota owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Pontiac owners may call 1-800-762-2737. Note: this recall supersedes recall 14v-312 in its entirety.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) notified the agency on may 13, 2015 that they are recalling certain model year 2004 sequoia vehicles manufactured august 18, 2003, to august 19, 2004, and 2003-2004 tundra vehicles manufactured march 18, 2003, to august 25, 2004. On june 16, 2015, toyota expanded the recall to include an additional 1,270,468 vehicles, including model year 2002-2003 and 2005-2007 sequoia, 2005-2006 tundra, 2003-2007 corolla, 2003-2007 corolla matrix, 2003-2007 pontiac vibe and 2002-2007 lexus sc vehicles. This is to address a safety defect in the passenger side frontal air bag inflator which may produce excessive internal pressure causing the inflator to rupture upon deployment of the air bag. This recall addresses both the passenger side frontal air bags that were originally installed in the vehicles, as well as replacement air bags that may have been ins
Air bags
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 2003-2004 corolla and corolla matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15v-043 and 15v-286 are under a do not drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac vibe owners will be notified by gm. Dealers will replace the passenger side front air bag, free of charge. Owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota began the recall on july 13, 2015. Pontiac vibe owners may contact gm at 1-800-762-2737. Gm began the recall on june 29, 2015. Note: this recacl
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) notified the agency on may 13, 2015, that they are recalling 2005-2007 lexus sc, toyota corolla, corolla matrix, sequoia, and pontiac vibe, and 2005-2006 toyota tundra vehicles that were originally sold, or ever registered, in florida, along the gulf coast, puerto rico, hawaii, the u.s. Virgin islands, guam, saipan and american samoa. On june 16, 2015 toyota expanded the recall to cover an additional 769,055 vehicles, including certain model year 2002-2004 lexus sc, toyota sequoia, 2003-2004 toyota corolla matrix, toyota corolla, pontiac vibe, and toyota tundra vehicles, as well the vehicles covered by the may 13, 2015 notification in the portions of georgia, alabama, louisiana, mississippi and texas that were not previously included. The inflators in the front passenger air bags are susceptible to rupture in the event of a crash necessit
Air bags: frontal
Risk: Inadvertent deployment of the air bags or the seat belt pretensioners increases the risk of an injury or crash.
Fix: Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac vibe owners will be notified by gm. Dealers will replace the air bag control module, free of charge. The recall began on august 24, 2015. Toyota owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Gm issued an interim notification to owners on march 27, 2015. The recall began on august 24, 2015. Pontiac owners may call 1-800-620-7668. Note: this recall supersedes recalls 13v-029 and 14v-147. Vehicles that had a noise filter installed as the remedy for one of those campaigns need to have the air bag control module replaced under this campaign.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 toyota corolla vehicles manufactured december 28, 2001, to may 2, 2004, 2003-2004 toyota corolla matrix vehicles manufactured january 6, 2002, to april 29, 2004, 2003-2004 avalon vehicles manufactured june 5, 2002, to december 20, 2004, and 2003-2004 pontiac vibe vehicles manufactured january 18, 2002, to april 27, 2004. Due to electrical noise, a component in the air bag control module may fail, causing the front air bags, side air bags, and/or seatbelt pretensioners to deploy inadvertently while the vehicle is being operated.
Air bags
Risk: Inadvertent deployment of the airbags or the seat belt pretensioners may increase the risk of injury and the possibility of a vehicle crash.
Fix: Toyota will re-notify their owners who have already had their vehicles repaired with a noise filter, but did not receive a new airbag control module, and general motors will re-notify theirs. Dealers previously installed a supplemental harness containing an electrical filter between the airbag control module and its wire harness, free of charge. Dealers will replace the airbag control module, free of charge. The recall began on march 13, 2013. The manufacturer has not yet provided a schedule for second notices. For more information, toyota owners may call 1-800-331-4331 and pontiac owners may
Full defect summary
Toyota is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 corolla and corolla matrix vehicles and 2003-2004 pontiac vibe vehicles. The supplemental restraint system (SRS) circuits are susceptible to internal shorting. The electrical short may create an abnormal current flow and increased heat which can damage the circuits. This could result in an inadvertent deployment of the front airbags and/or seat belt pretensioners.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture
Summary
From 2000 through 2017, takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("psan") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004l. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 blomquist report at www.NHTSA.gov/sites/NHTSA.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substa
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Questions about the 2003 Toyota Corolla Matrix
- What are the most common problems with the 2003 Toyota Corolla Matrix?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (27 complaints, typically around 115,000 miles); electrical (4 complaints).
- How many recalls does the 2003 Toyota Corolla Matrix have?
- 5 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from January 9, 2018 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2003 a bad year for the Toyota Corolla Matrix?
- It is 5th of 10 Corolla Matrix model years by number of complaints, with 36 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.