My 2003 matrix had 140,000 miles on it when the transaxle failed. The car never made any noise or acted differently when driving it just all of a sudden started grinding while I was on the highway. The best price I could get for a rebuilt tranny was $2200. It’s ridiculous that Toyota hasn’t issued a recall and won’t even tell me if the new parts have been redesigned due to the failure. I have seen so many others on forums who have had the same problem.
Recalls are generally limited to emission or safety issues, not wear and tear things.
The Toyota owners manual states that the transmission oil should be changed every 30k miles or 24 months, whichever comes first.
Have you read the owners manual and/or changed the transmission oil as stated?