Corolla Verso Mmt Problems

[Versomug]

Hi all

Just found this forum. Bought a Corolla Verso 1.8 T-spirit (petrol) with the MMT gearbox new in dec 2004. Loved the car - the look ,the space and it suited our family well. Found the 2 seats in the back very useful. was very happy ..... until one year later. In Dec 2005 me, my husband, our three kids and my mother were heading down the M4 in heavy traffic. We were doing about 70 in the fast lane when....lost all forward motion to the wheels and got the flashing "N" problem. Dont know how we did it but managed to coast accross the three lanes of traffic and just made it onto the hard shoulder before the car ground to a halt. That was the most frightening moment of my life (so far).

Car would not go forward backward - any where!! Tried everything, then took out key from ignition, locked car, unlocked and tried again and the "N" went away. (not sure if it was that or that some time had passed- that fixed it). So as car could now move decided to continue cautiously the rest of our (200mile) journey. Stayed in first lane the whole way !! When got to destination called Toyota assistance and an rac man came out the next day. He could not detect anything wrong but told us to take it to toyota dealer. then 6 months later it happened again , and then 2 month later again. Clutch, gearbox, ECU have all been replaced (some more than once) and finally some special grease had to be used (?) and then...all was fine....for over two years.....until...

Last night. Went to daughter's school parents evening. Returned to car. Drove 100ft to exit of car park. Went to pull out into main traffic and.... no power and flashing"N". Had to get kind man to push me to side of road as I was blocking car park exit! Car again stuck in neutral, Tried forward, reverse, manual settings - nothing - just a flashing "N" and an annoying beeping. Parked car (even when locked it has the "N" flashing inside). Went to school and called Toyota Assistance and arranged to get home. Tried one more time to see if it had cleared but it hadn't. An hour and a half later the breakdown truck arrived so went to meet it. unlocked the car and... of course it was working fine! Nasty "N" had disappeared and it would move! Truck took car to garage anyway just in case.

And now... just had a call from garage. Good news and bad news. Bad -There was a complete failure of the MMT gearbox system and that would mean a VERY pricey bill as all the parts woudl have to be changed (again). Good news, there was a recall on my car so it will be replaced free as part of that.

Will that fix it?? really thought that after two years of happy driving the problem had been sorted. Now - i'm not so confident of what the car will be like when I get it back (hopefully next tuesday).

This is all such a shame, have loved this car - apart from it almost killing me with its MMT gearbox. Will get a manual next time.

No one from the garage has ever accused me of not having the correct driving style and i would think it odd that I could drive badly for two years then 'well' for the next three until last night!! My problems have occured at high speed while cruising on a motorway in winter, at mid speed on A road in summer and low speed when pulling out (last night). So not that much in common apart from flashing "N" and inconvenience! Have to say that the Toyota garage have 'done something' each time this happens its just so far the 'fix' only lasts a limited time.

[marymac]

4 months ago I bought a 2005 Verso MMT after previously being very happy with an automatic Previa. Last week I experienced the same problem - sudden loss of power after pulling out of a junction in rush hour traffic! Took the RAC 2+1/2 hrs to come and then had to be towed to a local Toyota dealer. Turns out the toyota dealer I bought it from was aware of this type of problem from Nov 09 but had not notified us! All the work has been done under warranty but I could have beeen spared all the hassle of a breakdown.

[wrefay]

Hi Every Body

My Name is Walid Refay and i am from Egypt and i Bought Toyota Corolla 2009 with MMT and this car is assembled in South Africa and Toyota sold 7500 cars over two years 2008 & 2009 in Egypt and we here faced many of MMT problems and N error and i mean it many many times but after many owners here in Egypt met together and decided to complain in consumers protection corp. in Egypt and start meetings with Toyota Egypt and they tried to meet us individually but we refused and after many meetings, Consumers protection Corp forced Toyota Egypt to change the Clutch group and all parts with high quality stuff especially we found out that all the clutch group was made in South Africa and the new clutch will be mad in Japan and they advised that this high quality clutch is 10 times life of the old one and also they will give us more 3 years warrant on new clutch after installed and as a matter of fact that the car price is dramatically going down as Toyota announced in News paper that Toyota Corolla have some problems in MMT and this MMT components was not suitable to Egyptian market and they decided to change 7500 clutch with high quality one, so we decided to go to courts to get compensation for financial loss and if any one interesting to know more about our case, please contact me at wrefay@hotmail.com or on our forum www.nilemotors.com

Thanks and have a nice day.

Walid Refay

[PFP123]

Hi all

Just found this forum. Bought a Corolla Verso 1.8 T-spirit (petrol) with the MMT gearbox new in dec 2004. Loved the car - the look ,the space and it suited our family well. Found the 2 seats in the back very useful. was very happy ..... until one year later. In Dec 2005 me, my husband, our three kids and my mother were heading down the M4 in heavy traffic. We were doing about 70 in the fast lane when....lost all forward motion to the wheels and got the flashing "N" problem. Dont know how we did it but managed to coast accross the three lanes of traffic and just made it onto the hard shoulder before the car ground to a halt. That was the most frightening moment of my life (so far).

Car would not go forward backward - any where!! Tried everything, then took out key from ignition, locked car, unlocked and tried again and the "N" went away. (not sure if it was that or that some time had passed- that fixed it). So as car could now move decided to continue cautiously the rest of our (200mile) journey. Stayed in first lane the whole way !! When got to destination called Toyota assistance and an rac man came out the next day. He could not detect anything wrong but told us to take it to toyota dealer. then 6 months later it happened again , and then 2 month later again. Clutch, gearbox, ECU have all been replaced (some more than once) and finally some special grease had to be used (?) and then...all was fine....for over two years.....until...

Last night. Went to daughter's school parents evening. Returned to car. Drove 100ft to exit of car park. Went to pull out into main traffic and.... no power and flashing"N". Had to get kind man to push me to side of road as I was blocking car park exit! Car again stuck in neutral, Tried forward, reverse, manual settings - nothing - just a flashing "N" and an annoying beeping. Parked car (even when locked it has the "N" flashing inside). Went to school and called Toyota Assistance and arranged to get home. Tried one more time to see if it had cleared but it hadn't. An hour and a half later the breakdown truck arrived so went to meet it. unlocked the car and... of course it was working fine! Nasty "N" had disappeared and it would move! Truck took car to garage anyway just in case.

And now... just had a call from garage. Good news and bad news. Bad -There was a complete failure of the MMT gearbox system and that would mean a VERY pricey bill as all the parts woudl have to be changed (again). Good news, there was a recall on my car so it will be replaced free as part of that.

Will that fix it?? really thought that after two years of happy driving the problem had been sorted. Now - i'm not so confident of what the car will be like when I get it back (hopefully next tuesday).

This is all such a shame, have loved this car - apart from it almost killing me with its MMT gearbox. Will get a manual next time.

No one from the garage has ever accused me of not having the correct driving style and i would think it odd that I could drive badly for two years then 'well' for the next three until last night!! My problems have occured at high speed while cruising on a motorway in winter, at mid speed on A road in summer and low speed when pulling out (last night). So not that much in common apart from flashing "N" and inconvenience! Have to say that the Toyota garage have 'done something' each time this happens its just so far the 'fix' only lasts a limited time.

Hi,just had a recall on my Verso 55 plate for the dreaded "N" MMT fault, just wanted to know has yours been corrected without any other problems?

Mine is booked for this week and am wondering if its going to be worth it????

cheers,

[R Tang]

Hi Every one!

Just had a recall on the MMT re the buzzer coming on in slow traffic and warning lights coming on resulting gear poping to N and car coming to a hault.

Didn't we tell Toyota and VOSA back in 2006 that this is happening! What a waste of time taking the car in for the fifth time relating to this problem.

R

[silververso]

Hi all

Just found this forum. Bought a Corolla Verso 1.8 T-spirit (petrol) with the MMT gearbox new in dec 2004. Loved the car - the look ,the space and it suited our family well. Found the 2 seats in the back very useful. was very happy ..... until one year later. In Dec 2005 me, my husband, our three kids and my mother were heading down the M4 in heavy traffic. We were doing about 70 in the fast lane when....lost all forward motion to the wheels and got the flashing "N" problem. Dont know how we did it but managed to coast accross the three lanes of traffic and just made it onto the hard shoulder before the car ground to a halt. That was the most frightening moment of my life (so far).

Car would not go forward backward - any where!! Tried everything, then took out key from ignition, locked car, unlocked and tried again and the "N" went away. (not sure if it was that or that some time had passed- that fixed it). So as car could now move decided to continue cautiously the rest of our (200mile) journey. Stayed in first lane the whole way !! When got to destination called Toyota assistance and an rac man came out the next day. He could not detect anything wrong but told us to take it to toyota dealer. then 6 months later it happened again , and then 2 month later again. Clutch, gearbox, ECU have all been replaced (some more than once) and finally some special grease had to be used (?) and then...all was fine....for over two years.....until...

Last night. Went to daughter's school parents evening. Returned to car. Drove 100ft to exit of car park. Went to pull out into main traffic and.... no power and flashing"N". Had to get kind man to push me to side of road as I was blocking car park exit! Car again stuck in neutral, Tried forward, reverse, manual settings - nothing - just a flashing "N" and an annoying beeping. Parked car (even when locked it has the "N" flashing inside). Went to school and called Toyota Assistance and arranged to get home. Tried one more time to see if it had cleared but it hadn't. An hour and a half later the breakdown truck arrived so went to meet it. unlocked the car and... of course it was working fine! Nasty "N" had disappeared and it would move! Truck took car to garage anyway just in case.

And now... just had a call from garage. Good news and bad news. Bad -There was a complete failure of the MMT gearbox system and that would mean a VERY pricey bill as all the parts woudl have to be changed (again). Good news, there was a recall on my car so it will be replaced free as part of that.

Will that fix it?? really thought that after two years of happy driving the problem had been sorted. Now - i'm not so confident of what the car will be like when I get it back (hopefully next tuesday).

This is all such a shame, have loved this car - apart from it almost killing me with its MMT gearbox. Will get a manual next time.

No one from the garage has ever accused me of not having the correct driving style and i would think it odd that I could drive badly for two years then 'well' for the next three until last night!! My problems have occured at high speed while cruising on a motorway in winter, at mid speed on A road in summer and low speed when pulling out (last night). So not that much in common apart from flashing "N" and inconvenience! Have to say that the Toyota garage have 'done something' each time this happens its just so far the 'fix' only lasts a limited time.

Hi,just had a recall on my Verso 55 plate for the dreaded "N" MMT fault, just wanted to know has yours been corrected without any other problems?

Mine is booked for this week and am wondering if its going to be worth it????

cheers,

Hi guys i bought toyota verso 2005 plate with mmt i had the same problems N FAULT i took it to toyota dealer for diagnostic.The fault was actuator and ECU NEEDS TO BE REPLACE AT A COST OF MORE THAN 2000 POUNDS,it nearly gave me heart attack. Then i read your forum about the recall.I informed the dealer who said he had no information about any mmt gearbox recalls i told you need to contact toyota for information.I just need to know will this solve my "N" problems because i was really scared when I stopped on the motorway, i was lucky it was at night not much traffic i managed to park it on the side.PLEASE GUYS TELL ME THAT THIS WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM.( MARCH 2011 )

[Andrey Les]

We are about to buy 2.2 diesel autmatic/tiptronik, 2012, any suggestions, ideas????

[tdwuk]

I bought a 58 reg verso 3 weeks ago and I am slightly regretting it now, it had done 70k miles and it's a TSpirit so is decent. My wife hates the gearbox and after driving it at various times ine. cold morning and afternoon I notice how the cold weather affects it. I purchased 2 years warranty for £750 just in case and I have booked in a repair because I think the gearbox is faulty but not the N fault, it feels like stalling in traffic and grinds between E2-3.

Depending on how this repair goes I may have to sell it and get something else - with a standard auto gearbox!

[smokescreeen]

Hi Guys,

i am new to the Toyota owners club. I'm actually based in Dublin Ireland and I own a 1.8 petrol corolla verso with MMT gearbox which we bought about 3.5 years ago. We have been living abroad for the last two years and had our verso stored with friends. When we returned to Ireland our verso ran fine, after a good service. Then about two months ago I had my first experience of the dreaded N fault which has been explained on here on plenty of previous posts. I found this website to see if I could get any information on the subject as my local toyota dealer doesn't seem to know (or isn't telling me) - after to separate occasions in the garage he finally told me it needs a new clutch (but didn't sound too convinced about it himself). I have the car booked in for next Thursday, but I think I may give him a ring before hand and ask him to contact Toyota in Ireland first and see what they have to say about it , as its an expensive repair which I don't have the money for at the moment.

I'll keep you posted on how I get on....

[dragonstar]

hi, i have the same problem with my 06 corolla verso. The garage recalibrate the gear in January 2013 but after 3 months, it started to have this issue with gear shifting back to N. Though i can still use it after switching off and on the engine, i worry about my safety while driving this car. I brought it back to the garage and they said there are 3 issues related to this, it might be the computer, the clutch and another one i couldnt remember but he couldn't guarantee that if the computer (costing about Eur1000) will fix the issue. So i hold the repair and found this discussion in the web. I haven't figure out what to do but i emailed Toyota Ireland with a link from Toyota South Africa fixing verso with the same problem. I havent receive their reply but i think its better if you guys contact them too so they are aware that many verso owner is having this problem and will force them to do a re-call.

[Robdagnall]

Had to post this,as i read all the complaints about the mmt gearbox???

I wonder how many people are at fault here and not the actual gearbox?

Do people drive it like this information tells you it should be driven???

Heres the Definative driving method for the Multimode Manual Gearbox!!

Differences from an automatic car[edit]

A Multimode manual car has a clutch instead of a torque converter. As such, gear changes are noticeable, and the car rolls backwards when on an up-sloping incline.

• Creeping: A Multimode Manual Car creeps forward when the brake pedal is released and accelerator is not depressed, like an automatic car. This is achieved via partially engaging and slipping the clutch.
• Moving off from an incline: A MMT car rolls backwards when on an up-sloping incline, unlike an automatic car. To move off from an up-slopping incline, apply handbrake before depressing the accelerator slightly. Do not hold the car on an incline by depressing the accelerator pedal, as the slipping clutch will overheat and lead to clutch damage.
• Parking: Unlike an automatic car, the P gear is absent in a MMT car. The car should be parked in the following fashion. In an up-slopping incline, put the gear to M1, or E, apply handbrake, and switch off the engine. In a down-slopping incline, put the gear to R, apply handbrake, and switch off the engine. On level ground, put the gear to R, apply handbrake, and switch off the engine. R or E/M1 substitute the P function in a full automatic.
• Moving off from Park: The engine can only be started with the gear in N. To start, switch on the car to ON position (this releases the gear lock), depress brake pedal, put the gear to N (from either R or E/M1), and switch on the engine.
• L/1 and 2 gears in a full automatic: The MMT does not provide L/1 and 2 gears as in a full automatic. One action of the MMT system is that it detects the gradient of the slope that the car is situated in. On a down-slopping incline and if the brake pedal is depressed, it automatically selects a lower gear to produce engine brake, which has the equivalent effect of L and 2 gears in a full automatic. L and 2 can also be substituted with E1 and E2 (not available in Aygo) or M1 and M2 gears in a MMT car. To select E1 or E2, put the gear to E, and use + and - pedal flaps on the steering wheel to override the computer selection. E will change to E1/E2/E3/E4/E5/E6, depending on the gear selected. Downshift to E1 or E2 as appropriate to simulate L and 2 gears in a full automatic. To select M1 or M2, put the gear to M, and use M- gear to downshift the gear to M1 or M2.
• Kick-down: In E mode, the kick-down function in a full automatic can be similarly activated in an MMT car. Additionally, the kick-down function can be manually activated using the - pedal flap on the steering wheel in E mode. This overrides the computer setting and E changes to E1/E2/E3/E4/E5/E6. To stop the manual override under E mode, pull and hold the + flap on the steering wheel, until the E1/E2/E3/E4/E5/E6 changes back to E. Alternatively, wait for the next computer activated gear change.
• Reverse: The car reverses as in an automatic car. To reverse, depress brake pedal, and change the gear to R. Gradually lift off the brake pedal to allow the car to creep backwards. On a down-slopping incline, the creep function, simulated using the slipping clutch, is not sufficient to prevent the car from rolling forward. In this case, the car must not be held still using the accelerator pedal, as the excessive clutch slipping will lead to clutch damage. Handbrake should be instead applied, and the accelerator pedal should be depress slightly.
• Gear change: The gear change in MMT is noticeable, unlike in a full automatic car. Under E gear, the car will automatically change the gear depending on speed and gradientinformation. It is recommended that the accelerator pedal should be momentarily lifted off during gear change. A constant throttle can also be maintained on the accelerator, and gear change can still occur, although the car will feel noticeably more jerky during gear change than in a full automatic.

[Cyker]

To be fair, a lot of the issues people report are the gearbox; It's generally fine until it starts to wear out then it's hopeless, but I just found it couldn't respond quickly or smoothly enough unless you were driving super gently all the time. I certainly wouldn't trust it in an emergency!

Good post there tho', although with a caveat - I would NEVER leave the MMT in gear when parked up, even up a slope. We've had too many people in situations where they did that and then found that the gearbox wouldn't disengage when they turned it back on.

A car should be able to hold itself on the handbrake, but the old 'leave the steering wheels pointing to the kerb' trick will at least stop it rolling down the hill if the worst does happen.

The MMT just isn't very well designed - There is much more to clutch control than engaging and disengaging it, as anyone who's learned to drive a manual can tell you! There is a reason why clutch control is considered the trickiest part of learning to drive a manual!

[smooth]

Has anybody managed up to now to force Toyota to make recall? I'm having also problems with my car and I had to pay around 1.400 EUR for new actuator for which I don't know for how long it will work.

I wrote several e-mails to Toyota but with no success. I will try via phone.

Thanks for any feedback!

Cheers

[FROSTYBALLS]

The short answer is 'no'.

Toyota did issue a Customer Satisfaction Campaign for a specific fault in April 2009 for certain vehicles - http://www.toyota-tech.eu/toms_cabs/EN/9K3E-059.pdf

This campaign ended in April 2012.

However, if owners wish to report a possible safety defect to VOSA, here is the link: - https://www.gov.uk/report-vehicle-safety-defect

[smooth]

Thanks Frostyballs for a summary. I've tried complaining to Toyota Europe (Bruges), but they sent me back to my country Distributor who is continuing to ignore my complain.

Is there some kind of organisation like VOSA who has influence on each contry in EU? Since VOSA obviously did have sucess in UK, I hope that some kind of similar agency acting on EU level will have influence in Toyota business in my country who is also member of EU.

Cheers

[FROSTYBALLS]

Which country do you reside in?

[abuattah]

@wrefay, can i please get your assistance in getting full details of how your MMT problem was resolved. As i may likely get any assistance through you easily bcos I'm in Nigeria, Africa.

I just bought a fairly used Corolla verso 2006 model with the MMT gear shift and its not been up to a week it started the 'N' problem.

Your suggestions and guidance will be highly appreciated.

Abubakar( from Sokoto, Nigeria)

[abuattah]

:help2: The MMT gearbox has become a nightmare to me. I just bought a used Verso '06 model. it's not been five days, but i started experiencing the flashing N sign. My mechanic has for two weeks now being on the vehicle but nothing seems to be working well.

This i most confess has made me resent Toyota for this blunder (of a gear shift) .

[smooth]

In past few months, I've tried to put pressure on local Toyota dealer/service/ shop, Toyota representative in my country (distributor, Toyota European HQ as well as writing directly to Aiko Toyoda - no results.

1. Local Toyota dealer shop says that they have no power to solve this outside warranty (although problems were present since the first day of car usage). They say I didn't have luck in buying car, that this model is unfortunately worst product of Toyota.

2. National Toyota distributor don't care because they say that they did everything that they were obliged to do within warranty period.

3. Toyota European Headquarters says that customer relationship and problems are solved with the Toyota distributor in specific country, and that they don't have to do anything with it. They forwarded my inquiry to them.

4. CEO of Toyota (Akio Toyoda office), for whom I've heard solve similar problem to US customer, didn't reply on any of my two emails.

So, they wash their hands, not their fault, simply said - quote their words: "I didn't had luck buying this car". I'm so ****** of!! I didn't played lottery - I bought Toyota car!! Not Opel, not, Renault, not Tata.. I bought "safest car in class" from "respectable car manufacturer" which has serious transmission malfunction!! It's not spare part, it's vital part car!

I'll try to send more e-mail to other executives of Toyota... I see no other way since obviously everybody in Europe are ignoring me... They are obviously waiting for this car to be so old that it doesn't exist on the market anymore...

Good luck to everybody else and please write here your experience in solving this...

[Gonefishin]

Hi Smooth, What country are you from?

[Tsangmabob]

Hey im not a toyota owner but!!! my dad does. he drives a toyota corolla verso 1.8 petrol vvti 7 seat(dont know the rest). and he just had a problem today i wrote this is 11 july 2014. He bouht the car new in 2007 with full service history no problems until just 3 hrs ago. he driving home from county clane kildare to blanchardstown dublin. he was driving fine and saw this slow car so he over take and safely return to left lane and slowing down to watever the limits and the car seem to start beeping like the rear parking sensor speaker(on the side of passenger seat) but this beeping sound coming from the front. he let go the gas pedal and no beeping. he step and BEEP BEEP.........?? he even felt the car performence different like the car movin with oil or sumtin. he came home and tolded me all the problems he just had. i went out 2-3 hrs later open bonnet and the engine still warm ish.. i checked for leaks oil filter spark plugs brake fluids etc then to the dip stick and wat do u know low oil not even a drop. i drove my car honda to petrol station and bought 3L 10W40 oil and fill and he drove his car up and the the m50 and no more beeping sound.

After i read the upper posts about the mmt problem i quickly ask my dad about the flashing N stuff but he didnt realise it at the time. i think my dads car starting to have it soon. do u all agree ish?

[swells1000]

Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of technical advise on this issue please.

We are having problems at the moment with the car going into neutral unexpectedly. It seems to be worse on hot days - last Friday it stopped about 10 times! The original issue was fixed back in 2010 when Toyota recalled it but it seems to have come back again with a vengeance.

I read the Service bulletin aimed at diagnosing the original issue and it indicated that the Actuator rod nut should not move up and down between the fork. Mine does this when in Neutral. So, since the MMT-ECU was replaced in 2010 and the car has done about 88,000 miles (40,000 since 2010), how likely is it that I need a new clutch (and how expensive might this be?)?

Alternatively is there something I can do to adjust the pre-load on the actuator rod? I read a very old post on another site where a Yaris MMT owner "loosened the three bolts on the top of the actuator, pushed the actuator to rotate it anticlockwise and retightened the bolts WHILE pushing". The actuator in the Verso is easy to get to and has the three bolts. I just don't see quite how you can 'push the actuator'. Can anyone shed any light on this suggestion?

Thanks

[Roland77]

Hi all I am new to this website. I have parked toyota corolla verso 2008 for about one month but now it can not move forward or backwards as if the Handbrake is on despite the contrary. 

[Larrycares]

Any solution to it? 

[Jacqueline Smith]

Toyota Corolla Verso duel transmition 2008

Problems once again with automatic duel gearbox

very scary

Toyota Southport sorted at a cost of over £1000 about 3 years ago

same again now . They rebooted gear box or whatever they do. Same again failure the next day.

Got it home after switching on and off a number of times to be able to move it.

I paid myself for a low loader to take it this time as they said they could not move it

 

next day - on re failure-

They wanted me to drive it back to the dealership once again, was too scared to drive it myself. They sent a driver to drive it and it conked our for him once again on a busy road.

I am awaiting news but have been told that the cost will be massive if the further computor reboot doesn’t work and that there is no guarantee it will.

My husband also drives the car  on steering modifications and would not even be able to exit the car at all safely if this happens

There is obviously a fundamental problem with this gearbox which Toyota should be responsible for paying for over the life of a car which has been driven carefully and looked after.

Will not look to buy another Toyota again