Owner complaints, recalls, fuel economy and safety ratings from public NHTSA and EPA data, updated Oct 17, 2026.
Fuel economy
22–29 mpgcombined; city 20–26, highway 26–32; every version of this model year
Five years of fuel
$11,200–$14,760U.S. average; Ohio $10,010–$13,190 at local prices; every version of this model year; fuel only, not other costs of owning it; 15,000 miles a year, at EIA fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026
Owners have filed 5 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Matrix. These are unverified owner reports, counted by the part of the car they name; one complaint can name several parts. Counts aren't adjusted for how many were sold, so they don't show how reliable a car is.
Complaints by part of the car
Part
Complaints
Crashes
Fires
Injuries
Air bags
4
0
0
0
Engine
1
0
0
0
Complaints by model year
Newer years have had less time to collect complaints, and counts aren't adjusted for sales, so a shorter bar doesn't mean a more reliable year.
NHTSA lists 1 recall campaign for the 2012 Matrix over its history. Campaigns are matched by model and year, so each one may apply to a given car, and its repair may already be done: check a VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup for the open recalls on that exact car.
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon, and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles. During certain crashes, the air bag electronic control unit (ECU) may malfunction, possibly disabling the deployment of the air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners.
Risk: In the event of a crash, air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners that do not deploy as intended may increase the risk of injury.
Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ECU and install a noise filter between the air bag control module and its wire harness, as necessary, free of charge. Owners were notified of the safety risk beginning March 2, 2020. A second letter notifying owners of the remedy repair will be mailed between March 16, 2020 and June 27, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 20TB03, 20TA03 and 20TA05.
Carmakers sent NHTSA 218 service bulletins and notices that cover the 2012 Matrix, the latest on Jan 7, 2026. They tell dealers how to fix known issues.
The parts they mention most: equipment (89), structure (31), engine and engine cooling (27), electrical system (23), engine (23).
NHTSA hasn't opened a defect investigation that covers this model year.
Maintenance
Oil
The owner's manual gives the oil and how often to change it. We show oil facts only once we've checked them against the manual, and we haven't yet for the 2012 Matrix.
EPA class: small station wagons. Each version EPA tested:
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Version
Engine
Transmission
Fuel
City / hwy / comb
Matrix Front-Wheel Drive
1.8 L, 4 cyl
Manual 5-spd
Regular Gasoline
26 / 32 / 29
Matrix Front-Wheel Drive
1.8 L, 4 cyl
Automatic 4-spd
Regular Gasoline
25 / 31 / 27
Matrix Front-Wheel Drive
2.4 L, 4 cyl
Manual 5-spd
Regular Gasoline
21 / 28 / 24
Matrix Front-Wheel Drive
2.4 L, 4 cyl
Automatic (S5)
Regular Gasoline
21 / 28 / 24
Matrix All-Wheel Drive
2.4 L, 4 cyl
Automatic 4-spd
Regular Gasoline
20 / 26 / 22
Sources and dates
U.S. EPA fuel economy data, file of Sep 29, 2026
NHTSA owner complaints, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA recalls, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA manufacturer communications, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA defect investigations, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings, file of Aug 7, 2026
U.S. Energy Information Administration, file of Oct 12, 2026
Fuel cost: EPA mpg with fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026 and electricity prices for Jul 2026. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Oct 2026). Complaints are unverified reports owners filed with NHTSA. About the data