New Recall Nightmare Looming: 1.2 Million Toyota Corolla and Matrix

A new troubling news regarding Toyota and its vehicles surfaced this week, as the Japanese carmaker notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) it is considering recalling 1.2 million Corolla and Matrix models, to fix flaws in their electronic system. The flaws under investigation may cause the possibly affected models to stall.

"Toyota has been investigating this issue and is now considering how to address our customer concerns," Toyota said in the notification, cited by the Free Press. "Based upon its analysis, Toyota does not believe that the alleged defect creates an unreasonable risk to safety."

According to Toyota, the problem affects 2005 through 2007 model-year Corolla and Matrix models. When the problem occurs, it always triggers a dashboard warning light.

The matter is currently under investigation by the NHTSA and Toyota, with the latter saying the problem affects some 0.8 percent of the models over 10 years. NHTSA has 26 complaints of Toyota Corolla and Matrix engines stalling.

The same problem may be experienced by the 2005-2007 Pontiac Vibe, the twin-sister car of the Matrix.

It is unclear at this point is this new problem will turn into a recall or not. Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons says his company "will be discussing our engine stall or shutdown philosophy and the entire issue with NHTSA in the future" and that it is "inappropriate for Toyota to speculate the outcome of this discussion at the moment."