Toyota Matrix Tire/Wheel Questions

moos · March 2007

Check out the Attorney Generals office where you live for info on the Lemon Law and see if you fall in the range. There appears to be no "fix" for the rear wheel alignment or they wouldn't have put a new rear end in my car and the problem is still there... the last thing they wanted to do was put Michelins on the car and my husband told them they were nuts cause the tires won't affect the alignment. There is without a doubt a MAJOR design flaw in this design and that's why the Vibe has the same problem. I am in the process of going forward with the lemon law in NY and will let you guys know the outcome...by the way I went through the Dispute Resolution that Toyota requires in NY prior to the Lemon Law and they rejected us because they said that the warranty calls for 12 months or 20k miles on alignments and they told me it was now at 23k so I didn't qualify...so I told them that we first brought it in at 16k and they have yet figured out how to fix it...she still tried to tell me that they have only 1 repair on this and then your done...WHAT a bunch of S**T! yeah, 1 repair on alignment providing they CAN align it.... Can't wait til NY arbitrator hears this....I've been this route with the Ford Probe years ago and after so many problems with the Probe, Ford stopped making them, just like Toyota is probably phasing this out! That would explain the Toyota Blade that's coming out in '08 to replace the Matrix....I guess lightening does stike twice, 2 lemons in 1 lifetime....Good luck to all us Trix owners may we all stand STRONG and maybe they'll fix this crap.

brianb4 · March 2007

Just curious how widespread this problem is. Anyone out there gotten more than 40k from their tires? I've been reading this thread since I recently purchased an '07 Matrix. Albeit I only have 7k on the car, I have notices no unusual tire wear ... yet.

jaqfire · March 2007

Your car Should be covered up to the 12K mile/1 year mark for Free, Front End Alignment...They lied to you.
My tires got loud at about 8K miles...after meticulus care. They ended up putting a set at 14+++K miles...kept saying Nothing was wrong with car...must be the "way you drive" then, their ctatement that the Matrix is agressive on tires.
Was it their R&D folks didn't/couldn't/incapable of doing their proper job assignment? The design should have caught any flaw(s) pertaining to anything as mundane as improper tire wear...especially with so few miles on any of them. The style/sass of the car, I love but, the rest of it...well, we won't say those words. The handling is not what you would expect from Toyota...again, back to the tire/suspension/whatever is So Wrong. The interior left a few thing to be desired. I appreciate I can haul "stuff" in it amd not look like a delivery vehicle.

Sorry we have to "do" their testing for them.
Linda

disappointed15 · March 2007

I have a 2006 AWD Matrix that I purchased in May 2006. I just took my car in last week to complain about the noisy ride. They said my tires were chopping. I only have 19,000 miles on the car and the problem is in both the front and rear tires. They said they couldn't do anything about the tires --that I would have to contact the tire company directly. They said that they might have been able to help me if I had bought my car from them but wouldn't because I had purchased the car from another dealer. This after having done business with them for over 20 years and after having purchased 2 previous cars from them! In addition to this, they had to replace the rear brake rotors at 10,000 miles and I've had to bring them in 2 times since to have them adjusted because they are making noise. What can I do? Do I have a lemon? What are the lemon laws like in Virginia? I'm afraid to drive the car after reading about the accident someone had.

nippononly · March 2007

I had a Matrix before, WITH the Continentals, and it had no uneven tire wear or alignment issues at 23K miles when I sold it.

Long story, I have a new Matrix now, at 1500 miles so far, no funny signs yet but this time I got the Eagles.

These tires aren't the greatest anyway, I doubt you would see much more than 40K miles from them regardless.

jenny541 · March 2007

I'm wondering this too! I am looking into buying the 2007 Matrix, but I'd like to know if anyone is having problems with them :confuse:

jhershman · March 2007

Grrrr. :mad: Last time I took my Matrix in for scheduled service, I asked about the tires. I got the runaround by the service "writer/typer" about "rotating" and "normal wear". I guess he thought I was some dumb girl who didn't know anything about cars! I was about to research tires and figure out what to buy when I found this site! My "trix" is due for service again...now I'm at 24K miles, with really bad tires, and getting ticked off that they let me drive away with faulty tires!!!

So, you wizened "trix" owners...How can I go and get free new tires, and an alignment at the dealer???
:confuse:

Thanks! Jill

gasman1 · March 2007

If only I were the wizened wizard... Hopefully, someone else will have the answer to your question. IMO it's to late for free tires/alignment unless Toyota were to issue a TSB or recall. I'm not in the car or tire business.

However, I do have advice for all in purchasing their next new vehicle. It's rare for most manufacturers to place premium tires on their vehicles. They build vehicles with the cheapest tires they can get away with. Therefore, I recommend replacement of OEM tires within the first 100 miles of new car ownership. You can get the safest, most responsive, longest lasting tires for your vehicle.

Most tire dealers will provide a trade-in allowance of $25 to $50 per tire (depends on the tire quality). When doing this, take the life-time rotation, balance, and road hazard which normally cost around $10 to $15 per tire. Go with name brand premium tires. Tire Rack has super information to determine which tires are best for any given vehicle.

My personal suggestion is the Goodyear Triple Tread line. I have them on our Highlander, my daughter's Pontiac G6, and may also get them for our Matrix. They are a much better tire than the Michelin HydroEdge tires that replaced the Matrix OEM tires.

Good luck on finding a wizard to answer that question. Welcome to the board! You're sure to find our that you've already found the BEST site for vehicle information and people.

moos · March 2007

Just a not...look back on my posts then go to the pontiac vibe section.This is NOT a tire problem it is a design flaw. They can't align the rear and that is what is happening I have had 4 sets of tires...the Continentals it came with , a se of Yokohomas then they put in a new rear beam, then another set of Yokohama's and then my snows. ALL 4 sets are wearing on the inside tread. They then told us that we should put on Michelins because they have a special additive that makes them not wear like this...yeah and I speak BS too when necessary!!! Anyway I have 3 different rear whell alignment shop printouts and Toyota's and none of them are in alignment. the toe and the camber is out on the rear which the last place said is something they've seen a lot of with this car. They just can't seem to either fix the jig that makes the rear beam or they aren't welding it properly but it is NOT the tires or the fact that you didn't rotate them etc....it's the car , that's why the Vibe has the same problem , it's the same chassis. I am going to Arbitration with them next week and then on to the lemon law, should we not reach an agreement about them taking back this problem child! By the way when they put the car on the lift for the last alignment check (not Toyota but the alignment shop) they found the transfer case was leaking too.....I have 25k mi on it! What a mess. Good luck to all of us (it's a shame because I get 34 mpg nd it actually is fun to drive if it didn't keep blowing through tires and pulling to the right all the time) They have been trying to jerk us around since the problem came to our attention at 16k miles. :lemon: :mad: :lemon:

natasha2 · March 2007

I also have a 2005 Matrix XR FWD, with 30k and very bad tire wear (cupping). Dealer told me that there is nothing that can be done and offered to sell me some new tires. Please let me know what happens with your arbitration!

ashnohgrim · March 2007

I'm still trying to grasp the scope of this problem...is this occuring on all Matrix/Vibes? Or is it a select few that have this issue? I would have thought if this was a problem on all Matrix/Vibes that there would have been some sort of recall by now...I'm considering purchasing a used 2006 Matrix, but won't if it sounds like this is an issue on every Matrix.....forget it.

jaqfire · March 2007

Hey Gasman....I had a feeling it was Something related to the way the car is being built/designed. It's just ridiculus for So Many tires to be tearing off all these Matrix. I love the look/style of it but, that sure doesn't keep tires on. I am about ready to sell it...not even 18K on it yet, on 2nd set of tires and due for another rotate/oil service in days. No other problems with mine...yet. Yeah, Toyota's R&D Team sure dropped the ball on this car. Inforce lemon law would be my alternative to having to keep buying tires for the life of the car. Sad.

moos · March 2007

Well, the attorney gen of NY says I don't qualify for lemon law (mileage) but they told me I have other avenues. If you problem started within the 12 month/20k miles on alignment you may be able to sue in court over this. Look up the Magnuson-Moss Act. under breach of warranty we may have a leg. The women at the AG office said I have other avenues but she couldn't tell me what they were so I did 2 days research (thank you google) and found a leg to stand on. Arbitration is tomorrow and if we can get them to give us a credit against another toyota this is the route we will take...a long time to get into court and then about 3 sets of tires...LOLOLOL. Anyway the snow tires on my car are cupping too 1k miles on them, and when we put it on the lift to check them we found the transfer case is leaking and the clutch know is making noises from the oil from the transfer case dripping in it...I swear you can't make this stuff up! I guess this car is just not ment to be and that is why it is being replaced with the Blade in '08. Good luck to all us Trixies!

moos · March 2007

Well, the AG of NY says I don't qualify for lemon law (mileage) but they told me I have other avenues. If your problem started within the 12 month/20k miles on alignment you may be able to sue in court over this. Look up the Magnuson-Moss Act. under breach of warranty we may have a leg. The women at the AG office said I have other avenues but she couldn't tell me what they were so I did 2 days research (thank you google) and found a leg to stand on. Arbitration is tomorrow and if we can get them to give us a credit against another toyota this is the route we will take...(too long of a time to get into court and then about 3 sets of tires...LOLOLOL.) Anyway the snow tires on my car are cupping too, 1k miles on them, and when we put it on the lift to check them we found the transfer case is leaking and the clutch now is making noises from the oil from the transfer case dripping in it...I swear you can't make this stuff up! I guess this car is just not meant to be and that is why it is being replaced with the Blade in '08. Good luck to all us Trixies! :sick:

natasha2 · March 2007

Hey Moos - please let us know what happens at court.
I need to replace my tires and need ADVICE on where to buy them. Should I get them at the dealership (at extra cost), so that there is a record of it (and of regular rotations), in case I'm going to have to go to court on this later? Or, should I buy a very good pair + warranty at a tire store. Would the warranty cover a new pair, if they continue to cup?

The whole issue makes me mad, since I thought I could trust Toyota. It's back to a Honda for me next time!

mtx52 · March 2007

I have a 2004 Matrix basic model. I bought it in West Virginia
in 2003. It had the Goodyear RSA tires as original equipment.
I had them replaced at 54,000 miles with some tread still on.
I replaced them with Yokohama triple tread tires and they have
about 10,000 miles on them with no problems.
I always ran all my tires 2psi less than the tire maximum stated on their sidewalls and always get good life.
My Matrix is front drive 5 speed manual base model. I rotated front to back at about 25,000 miles to put the good back tires on front.
I have had none of the problems others had and my independant tire shop alignments shown good.

natasha2 · March 2007

Thanks mtx52 for your comment! It's a relief to here that someone has not had such a bad experience. Also, good advice about the air presure. I love my Matrix and am going to give it another try with some better tires (but ones with a long tread wear, just in case)!

rocky101 · March 2007

It appears that I have solved our problem with extreme tire wear on our 2006 Matrix!! Our car had similar tire wear problems to those widely reported on this and other websites. A new set of Continentals were destroyed by misalignment in less than 15,000 miles. The tires were rotated four times, realigned and checked by a Toyota Dealership, but Toyota was unable or unwilling to correct the problem.

Our 2006 Matrix was purchased new in December of 2005, the first new vehicle we have been able to afford in 25 years because of kids and jobs and other financial situations. We test drove other comparable models, but settled on the Toyota because of reputation, reliability, fit and finish and fuel economy.

The abnormal tire wear was apparent the first time the tires were rotated at 5,000 miles. I then kept closer track and rotated the tires more often. I was unable to compensate for the uneven wear with just rotation.

Dealer service is a pretty big problem for us because the nearest acceptable Toyota dealer is 180 round trip miles away. This usually means a whole day off work.

We did take the Matrix to the Toyota dealership in Ridgecrest, CA for a check and alignment in November 2006 with 11,000 total miles. The result was the tires wore faster than before. Following the service, the vibration in the steering became pretty severe, the car pulled left up the crown of the road, the HOWL from the tires became much louder than the wind noise, and travel at speeds greater than 65 MPH became pretty scary. This, in a "new" car!

Then at 15,000 miles, the front tires are on wear bars and the back tires are severely cupped on the inside edges, as other drivers have reported. Time to buy new tires. But why ruin a new set with the same alignment problem? Time to solve/resolve the tire wear problem. Do I take another day off work, travel 180 miles and still not get the Toyota warranty problem resolved? No.

I purchased a new set of Yokohama Avid V4S and had them mounted and balanced.

I decided to take the Matrix to the local garage where I have had a long standing relationship with the owner, a place where I have worked on my own cars. I was employed as a mechanic for a number of years in my past life. I still do the greater part of the work on our current our fleet of 6. John put the Matrix on the Bear Alignment rack and the misalignment is glaring.

The camber showed -1º on the left and -3/4 º on the right. The toe was found at 3/8" out on the right and 1/4" out on the left. The camber specs are something like -1/4 º and toe IN at 1/8". No wonder the tires were wearing on the inside edges. The alignment is way off. But, Toyota does not build the front end with adjustable camber, only adjustable toe. The cars are built on a computer controlled jig and the "factory" camber setting is supposed to be close enough to prevent tire wear. Camber adjustment is not possible as the car is assembled. Refer to Wikipedia for an explanation for camber and toe adjustments.

To accomplish camber adjustment, a Moog "Magna-Cam" camber kit is required to tip the tires inward at the bottom. These consist of a couple of eccentric bolts with corresponding sleeves to replace the top anchor bolt of the McPherson strut / spindle assembly. The parts are available online for about $12.50 each, two required for the front.

The camber and toe are now set to factory spec.

A funny thing happed. The car tracks straight down the road and there is no longer "plowing" in the curves and pushing in straight line driving. There is a different feel driving down the highway - a little lighter throttle is required to maintain the same speed as previously, and the tire noise blends with the wind noise. I think this is how the car is supposed to drive.

Time will tell if the tire wear problem is truly solved and if there is a fuel consumption benefit to the correct alignment on the front end. But, right now the car feels pretty good.

My greatest disappointment is with Toyota, which refuses to acknowledge the "problem" and correct it. I contacted them on three different occasions and was told it is a tire defect, check with Continental. A $16,000 car with a pretty much worthless warranty. I do plan to file a claim with Toyota but do not expect any satisfaction. I bet Toyota engineers can figure out the tire wear solution if others can.

I believe Toyota is reluctant to recall a bunch of cars because of the great expense of doing so. How many other owners have been disappointed with their Matrix, when $25.00 worth of parts and an hour or two on the alignment rack will solve the tire wear problem? Too bad the factory did not install the adjustable camber bolts and dial in the front end before selling the cars.

I wish you all good luck in your quest to solve tire wear problems. It now appears that I have solved mine.
Rocky

caliberchic · April 2007

Thank you for sharing that with us! It is very helpful information!

moos · April 2007

All I can say is ....HOLY SH** WE WON!!!!!

I still can't believe it ...the arbitrator say the same thing we have been saying all along....tooo many repair attempts and 3 alignment shops saying it is out of alignment.

I'm glad some of you have found a fix for this but we tried everything and still pulls to the right and out of alignment.

I thought for sure we were goners since the arbitrator pulled up in a Toyota but I guess they are fair and impartial. (Kind of hard to not see it...you could look at it and see how the tires were sitting)

I hope that Toyota starts listening and realizing that this is their Vega...remember that stinker!

I will probably buy a RAV 4 after reading all the posts about them...don't like the CRV and out of all the cars on the road only really liked the Matrix.

For anyone who has documented evidence that they brought this to the dealer BEFORE the 1yr/20k mile warranty on alignments and the can show it was not fixed I would suggest that you take a shot with the process Toyota has laid out and maybe if enough people go into Dispute Settlement Toyoat will finally realize this and fix these once and for all. It should not be up to the owner of a new car to have to fix it, when it is supposed to come out of the factory in perfect working order.

Good luck to all,
Moos

caliberchic · April 2007

So are they buying your car back? What happens now?

moos · April 2007

Yes, they will be buying it back with a mileage allowance deduction....it has 26k on it but they can only charge for 16k. I HOPE that Toyota will eventually see the error of their ways with tis alignment issue and fix these cars...except the fix might not work either.

Now the ? is what to buy.....either the Rav4 or the Forrester so I'm on the other Forums trying to decide. Once burned twice shy I guess.

I hope everyone can get things worked out with Toyota. I spoke to the shop who checked the alignment for me the last time and he said he had a Matrix in the shop right then and it was in the same shape as mine....

the sad thing is I went through this about 18 years ago with a Ford Probe...got the same runaround from them as Toyota so I guess all automakers are the same.

I'll keep following this forum as I am interested to see how all of you make out...shame because I LOVE this car as far as gas mileage, fun to drive (when it isn't fighting to go to the right) but it just EATS tires and is just not fixable.

I know they are coming out with the Blade in 08 maybe it will be the end of the Trix...though I read somewhere they might make it bigger, better not til they fix this issue.

caliberchic · April 2007

Well I know you can gather lots of info about the Forrester in the Subbie forums. The crew there is great!

quaestus · April 2007

I have explored many other possible new car models, yet despite the horrible sales people at Toyota and all that I have read above, I still may go ahead on a 2007 Matrix.

Anyone out there with a 2007 care to share? :confuse:

brianb4 · April 2007

I bought a 2007 XR Automatic last September. After reading about the tire issue I've been checking the tires closely but have noticed no unusual wear at 7k miles. I love the car for running around town but was a little surprised at the actual gas mileage (around 24 city and 28 highway).

nippononly · April 2007

I have only 2500 miles on mine, XR 5 speed, but no unusual tire wear or noises so far, and it is a nice tight little car to drive. And with the stick I am averaging 34 mpg.

sciconf · April 2007

I am investigating a used car.

Can someone do me a CarFax pls?

acura07 at sbcglobal Dot net

62hawk · May 2007

Our 05 Matrix has 16,900 all city miles. All four tires are badly worn and need replacing now.

Car has been completely checked out by the dealer----everything is OK----alignment, suspension, etc.

Dealer also admits that they have had numerous premature tire wear complaints on Matrix.

topcat105 · May 2007

I have a 2005 Matrix 4WD XR. At 20,300 miles heard rumble at all speeds - orig. Conti. tires all worn on inner tread (nearest center of car - negative camber). Dealer did alignment last summer - said "needed slight toe adjustment on rear wheels only - not enough to cause tire uneven wear". - Hah!!
Blamed tires....
Spoke w/ dealer again last week - requested new tires and alignment. Told him of history of common problems reported on this website. Said he's speak w/ Toyota rep. about getting new tires.
Stay tuned...

alisonjo2786 · May 2007

We have a Matrix in Upstate NY with tire wear problems and unfortunately we didn't rotate ever 5,000 miles at the beginning with our all-seasons, and it shouldn't matter because every tire expert we've gone to says the chopping of our tires has nothing to do with rotation (for one thing, it happened on all four tires before we rotated it the first time!).

BUT we did rotate our snow tires on time, and they're all worn badly just like the all seasons ("cupping" "chopped" "uneven" were a few of the words used to describe this wear).

Same as everyone else, a horrible loud noise accompanied the tire wear, and Toyota has been a *** to deal with. Had the alignment checked, alignment is officially fine.

Summary: This is NOT a tire problem, this is NOT an alignment problem, this is a CAR problem. Has anyone had any success with Toyota on this?

Thanks,
Alison

venture222 · May 2007

General question:
I notice that Toyota warns that low profile tires on new Corollas and Matrix's can have low life - they say less than 24,000 miles.
The standard Corolla tires are 185/65 15 or 195/65 15 and they warn about the 195/55 16's. On the Matrix the standards are 205/55 16's and they warn about low mileage on 215/50 17's.
It's strange that the 55's are a problem on the Corolla's but standard on the Matrix. I guess it's really not strange - the folks that want to dress their cars have been suffering with tire problems from low profile tires for a long time.
Has anyone tried retrofitting the 185/65 15's wheels and tires from a Corolla to a Matrix?
Noell

cklho818 · June 2007

My girlfriend just had her 2005 Matrix XRS serviced for oil change and tire/brake check this past weekend at our friend's shop. Our friend noticed the abnormal tire wear at the inner side of the 3 tires except the rear-right one. He explained that alignment is not the cause (we've had the dealer checked the alignment before). He suggested us to take the car back to the dealer and ask for explanation.
The car has only 22,500 miles on it. The first time we notice there's a slight steer pull to the left. We had our shop checked and the Toyota dealer checked the alignment last year and both said alignments are okay.

Anyways, we've booked an appointment with dealer this coming weekend to see how it goes. So far I see a lot of postings regarding similar problem but Toyota is ignoring as if there aren't enough cases to warrant a recall. :sick:

dgornstein · June 2007

I've had my new '07 for about 1500 miles and haven't had a problem yet. Though there probably aren't enough miles to see it, there's no abnormal wear on my tires. There's also no pull either to the left or right; the alignment seems perfect.

Still, after reading all of this, i'm going to keep a close eye on it, get the tires rotated every 5000 miles per dealer recommendation, and keep all of my paperwork, just in case I have to go yell at my dealer in another 20,000 miles.

Here's hoping that they got the problem fixed for the '07's. Has anyone with an '07 experienced this problem yet?

brianb4 · June 2007

I also have a 2007 XRS with around 7,000 miles. No tire wear or pulling problems yet.

barg · June 2007

the 2007 matrix will probably not have any tire wear issues since they are not available in 4wd. most of us having problems are on the 4wd models.2006 was the last year with the 4wd option,and in my opinion toyota quit making the 4wd because of all the tire problems with it. but the problem is toyota will never acknowledge this engineering flaw and will keep on making excuses and blaming the vehicle owners for improper tire rotation.the fact of this matter is these 4wd vehicles will always wear out the tires prematurley no matter how there rotated or how often.get rid of your 4wd matrix's or get used to replacing tires every 15,000 to 20,000 miles

dgornstein · June 2007

Great to know. Thanks!

ar79 · June 2007

I have an 06 Matrix that also has the abnormal tire wear. I bought it one year ago and have 15500 miles on it. I took it in a couple months ago after my dad noticed the wear problem. I've always known the car to have a pull on the steering wheel but assumed that the alignment was fine since I never hit any curbs and the car was new. They said my alignment was far off due to something I did - not true. Now the tires are rigid and it sounds like I drive a truck -tremendous amount of noise at all speeds.

We have been calling the complaint line and are trying to arrange a meeting with a representative to have this looked at. My dad noticed the back rear tire has more of a camber than the others (you can tell just by looking at it that the tire is angled) We are demanding new tires since they are completely worn - but new tires will be no good if this problem is not fixed first.

nippononly · June 2007

There IS no '07 XRS! It went away after '06, as did the AWD models. You must either have an '06 XRS that you bought in '07, or an '07 XR, I would think.

My '07 XR is at 5000 miles, no funny tire wear to speak of, nor alignment or steering issues. I plan on doing tire rotations every 10K miles just as I always have with all my Toyotas. And my tires are the Eagles, not the Continentals, which makes me less worried about the whole thing. I have been noting tire brand every time I read one of the posts about tire wear, and the tire is always the Continental, not the Goodyear. My fingers remain crossed......

brianb4 · June 2007

My mistake. My Matrix is an '07 XR not XRS. It was also equipped with the Goodyear Eagles. At 8,400 miles, no sign of abnormal were.

cklho818 · June 2007

Hi all,

For all of you who are experiencing the same cupping/ abnormal tire wear on you Toyota Matrix, I suggest we take this to the next step by filing a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration. The Administration needs to receive enough filings before they will act and look into this matter for us, Matrix owners. Wheel and tire problems are very serious for every single one of us out there who are still driving the car.

Here's the link:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

capriracer · June 2007

I think you will find that the National Highway and Traffic SAFETY Administration will think tire wear issues aren't safety issues.

I suggest you try the Federal Trade Commision. They deal with breach of warranty and related issues, and this is probably closer to that, and they may be more receptive.

camryvibe · June 2007

Just another note that not everyone is experiencing this problem. We have two '06 Pontiac Vibes, one with 23000 miles and one with 5000. Both have the original Goodyear tires and neither is showing any abnormal signs of wear. I don't routinely rotate tires since I prefer to be able to quickly detect signs of misalignment. The older of our two Vibes is showing some normal wear on the front tires, but it's even across the tread and has never had any problems with vibration, excessive tire noise, or pulling to one side. I plan to rotate the tires on that car this fall to even out the tread wear between the front and back, but at the moment all four tires have plenty of tread depth.

I also know someone with an older Pontiac Vibe who got about 40,000 miles on the original Continentals and has now put another 100,000 on a set of BFG tires.

It's disturbing to see so many reports of tire problems and even more to hear that Toyota/Pontiac and their dealers aren't addressing the problems effectively. Proper alignment shouldn't be that difficult to achieve and even if the suspension design doesn't include easy adjustment mechanisms there are alternate approaches using shims or eccentric bolts/washers. Seems like a little more effort in satisfying customers would pay off in goodwill and future vehicle purchases and recommendations.

nippononly · June 2007

"Seems like a little more effort in satisfying customers would pay off in goodwill and future vehicle purchases and recommendations."

But alas, that is something a great many dealers, especially the big corporate ones, will not put in: any extra effort.

hidingbackward · June 2007

I check the car forums on edmunds from time to time and noticed on the Corolla forum that people were having excessive tire wear/pulling with the Matrix.
Thought I might be able to offer some insight. I used to own a 2006 Corolla S bought brand new from dealer in NOV '05. From day 1 I had a strong pull of car to left - so severe that my car wouldn't track straight no matter road condition. I took it into my dealer and they did a tire rotation and alignment with the excuse "this sometimes happens to cars when they get off the truck". This is how the story ends: After taking my car 4 times to the dealer I purchased the car from (with not fixing the problem), dealing with Toyota Customer Service, taking my car to another Toyota dealer 3 times and the car still pulling, going on test drives with the dealer service manager and dealership manager and them seeing the problem but not knowing how to fix it and again dealing with Toyota Customer Service who was no help and basically told me to do arbitration or Lemon Law. Although the dealers recognized my car had a pulling problem they weren't able to identify it - checking tires, suspension, alignment, etc, with no solution. After the stress, anger and time I spent taking my car to dealers and not wanting to go through another headache, I ended up trading in the Corolla with 5,000 miles on it for a VW Rabbit. Fortunately, I didn't lose any money on the deal and happy to report that my VW is great

Whats most disappointing is I bought my Corolla b/c of Toyota history of reliability. I was so disgusted how Toyota Corp. treatment me and my car issue that getting rid of it was the only solution. Bottom line: Don't always believe the hype; just b/c a car company is known for its reliability doesn't mean that they will have any customer service after you drive the car off the lot.

laurakk25 · June 2007

Any luck with the dealer?

I'm having a similar problem with my 06 FWD Matrix. A friend noticed a noise and I had a mechanic i know look at it and said it was no doubt the tire wear. I only have 15,500 on my car.

I had a dealer tech drive it and said he thought it was the wheel bearings. The service people at the dealer would NOT even acknowledge the possibility that the car might be wearing the tires abnormally - so I am going to the regional headquarters. Hopefully - they will be more helpful.

I bought a toyota because of the reputation...so much for that.

doug61 · July 2007

Rocky:

I showed your solution to my mechanic at the local Shell station & he agreed that this was the way to go. One of his employees has an XRS with 17" wheels which he can't keep in tires. The mechanic also mentioned this was a common problem on Camry & Solara as well so Toyota really has a serious mess on their hands. This is just poor engineering coupled with lousy production quality control.

He estimated 1-2 hours @ $85/hr to install the camber adjustment bolts & do the alignment. Note this was front end only. So for something like $200-$250 the problem is fixable. What was your cost in Ridgecrest?

Thanks.

Doug

noanchovies · July 2007

I have an '07 Matrix XR. I took it to the local Jeep dealer (much closer to my house and my friend says they are great) for it's first oil change/tire rotation (at 7,000 miles oops). They showed me that my rear right wheel was not aligned correctly. Negative camber. They told me to call Toyota dealer and have it checked. So I took it in and they said it was out of alignment and that they fixed it. I asked them if I took it back to Jeep and put it up on the lift would it really be fixed and asked him about all the problems other Matrix owners were having. He said that was just a few cars. So, I plan on taking it back to Jeep for my next oil change to check it out. I haven't noticed any uneven wear--yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

topcat105 · August 2007

UPDATE:
Since my initial post, I contacted Toyota HQ in Calif. - (800) 331-4331.
My '05 Matrix AWD had 29k miles on it. I opened a file regarding the premature tire wear on the OE Continentals and pushed them, along with help from the dealership, to get their District Service Mgr. involved. The DSM authorized the dealer to do another 4 wheel alignment, and inspect and document the worn tires. Even told him about this forum, which, of course, he minimized. But, he did eventually agree to have Toyota Corporate pay for two tires, and the dealership owner graciously agreed to pay for the other two. After they were installed (Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S - rated #2 by Consumer Reports), there was a pronounced shimmy in the steering wheel at highway speeds. Brought the car back, and the shop foreman diagnosed it as worn front brake rotors, and replaced them....
So far, so good, but I'm gonna watch the treadwear like a hawk....

surprisecapn · August 2007

Our 2005 Matrix has over 50,000 miles on the original Goodyear Eagle RS tires. We have driven on dirt Forest Service mountain roads and many miles on the Interstate highways. We have no abnormal wear. I am replacing the tires this week with Michelin Hydroedge.

penyok · August 2007

Rocky101
Will this repair void the balance of the warranty? Is there afix for the back? I have a 2006 matrix xr fwd with 14000miles on it and have the same problem as the other folks. The dealer says continental tires are problem, but they say it is alignment problem. Thanks for your info and help.
penyok

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