My Toyota Died
 

My 2006 Toyota Matrix just suddenly died today.

it all started with me going slow up the driveway, and it suddenly stalled.. it's not even a manual, it's an automatic.

then i got it to start working immediately without having any check engine lights or warning lights. after, i lightly tapped my gas pedal along the small streets and then BOOM, it stalled again and the check engine light came on. I managed to drive to my gf's house.. and when i switched into reverse gear, the engine made a big knocking sound. i was kind of afraid, so i shut it off.

after that, the car wouldn't start at all until 5 mins later. i managed to drive it down to toyota in richmond, trying to keep the car rolling. But at slow speed like <10km/h, it just stalls.

now the car is sitting in the toyota lot waiting for the service guys to take a look at it tommorow morning. I just did my regular oil change in March, and it is not due until August. How could my 2 year old car just stalls like that? let alone a damn corolla engine that is practically BULLET-PROOF!?

Is this covered warranty? (i didn't buy any extra)
this is really disappointed since my last corolla did not fail me once.

anyone can explain what might be the causes?

Your Toyota ate a cat.

I think you have 3 or 5 year powertrain warranty right?

engine oil?

water in your gas tank....

it could be for the stalling part... but it doesnt explain the banging noise when he put it in reverse... a wild guess would be something is wrong with ur tourque converter... but thats a wild wild guess...

i call BS

[youtube]zZ0ornkQwnc[/youtube]

Could be a sensor....

hahaha nice commercial.. :p how long u been waitin to use that 1 haha

prolly needs a computer... take it into your local dealer (or ur favourite dealer) and get it taken care of... just tell them the symptoms... i'm not surprised if it needs an ECM...

one in a million...

Jeeze, you drove it despite having the problems? Get a BCAA membership and have it towed next time.

ding ding ding ding ding!
we have a winner!


the guy said my computer is fucked up and needs to be replaced.. the ECM = ECU?

at least it's under warranty, but it surely pissing me off cuz i have to bus to SFU today!!! FUCK!

i do have one. but i wanted the car fixed asap so i drove it anyways.

um... nto sure if its related my Uncle just got himself a 07 Toyota Camry it's a se v6 auto, it was about 2 months in and the car stalled. It didnt start. So he got it towed to toyota which they said the engine seized up, that he'll need a new one. My uncle complained like no tomorrow to get a 08 camry......

toyota is failing

who gives a fuck, a tow takes 20 minutes to get to your car.. it could have been something mechanical and you would have further messed up your car.

^^^^
yea, should be smarter next time. well, i hope there won't be a next toyota failure.

did he get a new camry then? my mom was saying the same thing. if the car needs a new engine, then i can get a new car instead???

I really doubt you'd get a new car. I guess if you had continuous problems with the vehicle, you may be able to convince them for a new car, but this is just a warranty issue. They'll fix it and send you on your way.

LOL

<^>(>_____<)<^> king kong aint got shit on me message length!!!

North American cannot make cars properly...

My family has owned six Toyota in the past years. The Japanese built ones have way less problem than the ones made in this continent.

^^^^

Couldn't agree more, I had a 2000 Celica GT and my sister had a Corolla... Celica made in Japan, Corolla made in North America.... ZERO issues on Celica, tonnes with Corolla and they share a lot of components ie: drivetrain etc.

so.. they replaced my ECU under "warranty"

i asked the service advisor what caused my car's ECU to fail
he answered "well, it just failed and we have to replace it"
i said "umm.. i drove a corolla for 4 years and this matrix for 2 years, they have the same engine, i have never got this before"
he: "i have a 04 matrix too, and i have never heard of the ECU failing as well"

*silence*

sigh.

so i never got a clear answer as to what happened... anyone know how much would a job like ECU replacement cost?

Shit happens man, I wouldn't let this one little inconvenience swear off on Toyotas. One in a million computers break, you were one of the unlucky guys I guess. Maybe a solar flare hit your ECU and messed it up. Or maybe the computer didn't like the scent of your air freshener and decided to commit suicide.

As for how much the job costs, it would depend on how long it took the auto-tech to isolate the problem. Probably an hour or two for diagnosis, and another hour for replacing the computer. The computer probably retails at some insane price like 600bux from Toyota I bet.

you know whats a bitch to replace?? the wiring harness.. you know whats worse.. finding out it's the wrong harness and the right harness is totally seperate.. and whats worse is that having the wrong harness 50% installed.. and waiting 2 days for the right harness to show up :D

my diesel transmission cost vw 6800 bucks :o