2002 TOYOTA CAMRY Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA CAMRY SOLARA. AFTER SHIFTING INTO REVERSE IN AN ATTEMPT TO BACK INTO HER DRIVEWAY, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED BACKWARD AT APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH WITHOUT DRIVER INTENT. SHE DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL BUT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT RESPOND. SHE THEN SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL AND THE VEHICLE CAME TO A STOP. AFTER SHIFTING THE VEHICLE BACK INTO DRIVE, AND REMOVING HER FOOT FROM THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE ABNORMALLY ACCELERATED AGAIN. SHE SHIFTED INTO REVERSE A SECOND TIME AND AGAIN, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED. SHE WAS ABLE TO PARK THE VEHICLE SUCCESSFULLY AND SHE IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED THE DEALER. THE DEALER ADVISED HER TO BRING THE VEHICLE IN TO BE DIAGNOSED AND ALSO STATED THAT THE FAILURE COULD BE A RESULT OF DRIVER ERROR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND SHE WAS INSTRUCTED TO TAKE THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED AT THE TIME OF THE COMPLAINT. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 34,000 AND THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 30,100.

I HAVE A 2002 CAMRY THAT I BOUGHT NEW AT SMITHTOWN TOYOTA AND I EXPERIENCED THE VERY SAME PROBLEM WITH MY BRAKES FROM 'DAY ONE' THAT HAS NOW BEEN IDENTIFIED ON THE PRIUS & LEXUS MODELS. I HAD THE BRAKES CHECKED QUITE A FEW TIMES BY SMITHTOWN TOYOTA & AGAIN BY RIVERHEAD TOYOTA WHEN I MOVED TO THE AREA IN AUGUST 2003 & WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE BRAKES. SINCE I WAS THE ONE DRIVING THE CAR, I THOUGHT THE EXPLANATION WAS A BIT CAVALIER SINCE MY BRAKES CONTINUED TO FAIL ON UNEVEN SURFACES. I WROTE TO THE DEALERSHIP & TOYOTA HEADQUARTERS NUMEROUS TIMES BUT WAS IGNORED (I HAVE COPIES OF MY CORRESPONDENCE). AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, I HAVE BECOME ADEPT AT HANDLING THE CAR WHEN THE BRAKES FAIL BUT I HAVE HAD SOME VERY CLOSE CALLS WHEN THE CAR KEEPS MOVING INTO INTERSECTIONS AFTER TRYING TO STOP. APPARENTLY, TOYOTA HAS MISDIAGNOSED MY PROBLEM FOR YEARS. I PAID $700 IN 2007 TO HAVE NEW 'BRAKE SENSORS' INSTALLED BUT THEY DID NOT FIX MY PROBLEM. I HAVE BEEN VERY LUCKY TO NOT HAVE HAD A SERIOUS ACCIDENT IN THE LAST 6+ YEARS! THE BRAKES ARE STILL GRABBING AND LOCKING ON ROUGH SURFACES YET TOYOTA HAS CONTINUED TO DENY THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM & THAT IT IS MORE WIDESPREAD THAN BEING ACKNOWLEDGED. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA CAMRY. WHILE THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 5 MPH AND ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A TURN THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED WITHOUT WARNING, THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO STOP THE ACCELERATION BY APPLYING EXTREME PRESSURE TO THE BRAKES. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALER AND THERE WERE NO PRIOR WARNINGS. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 20000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 28000. UPDATED 4/26/10 *CN THE CONSUMER STATED WHEN SHE PULLED FORWARD FROM HER PARKING SPACE, AND TURNED LEFT THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED. SHE STATED SHE BRAKED HARD AND WAS FINALLY ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE TO SLOW DOWN GRADUALLY. UPDATED 06/01/10.*JB

THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED FORWARD WHILE PULLING INTO THE DRIVEWAY AND CRASHED THROUGH THE GARAGE DOOR CRASHING INTO A REFRIGERATOR. THE CRASH ALSO DAMAGED A SEWER LINE AND MANY OTHER ITEMS IN THE GARAGE. THE GARAGE DOOR WAS DESTROYED. DAMAGE TO THE CAR WAS MORE THEN $5000 AND PROPERTY DAMAGE CLOSE TO THAT. THERE WERE NO INJURIES TO PEOPLE. THERE HAD BEEN NO ACCELERATION ISSUES WITH THIS CAR BEFORE THIS. WE BELIEVE IT MAY HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE SUDDEN ACCELERATION PROBLEMS THAT SOME TOYOTA'S HAVE BEEN HAVING. CRASH REPAIRS TO THE CAR AND THE HOUSE HAVE BEEN COMPLETED BUT NOTHING REGARDING THE POSSIBLE ACCELERATION ISSUE SINCE THE 2002 CAMRY HAS NOT BEEN RECALLED. *TR

THIS IS MY SECOND EVENT AND COMPLAINT CONCERNING A SUDDEN ACCELERATION INCIDENT WITH MY 2002 TOYOTA CAMRY. PLEASE REFERENCE MY FIRST COMPLAINT ODI #10312684. TODAY (3/8/2010) WHILE PULLING UP TO MY MAILBOX MY CAMRY LURCHED FORWARD AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. MY FOOT WAS NOT ON THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WHEN THIS HAPPENED. IT WAS ON THE BRAKE PEDAL BECAUSE I WAS STOPPING AT MY MAILBOX WHEN THIS OCCURRED. I IMMEDIATELY APPLIED ALL OF MY BODY WEIGHT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL AND WAS ABLE TO STOP THE CAR AFTER ABOUT 10 - 12 FEET. UPON STOPPING I IMMEDIATELY PLACED THE GEARSHIFT IN PARK AND TURNED THE KEY OFF. *TR

TWICE ON START-UP I HAD THE ENGINE RACE, SOUNDING LIKE A JET REVVING UP. LAST TIME WAS AS I PARKED IN THE GARAGE AFTER USING THE CAR IT REVVED UP SOUNDING AGAIN LIKE A JET STARTING UP. I THOUGHT SOMEONE OR SOME THING HAD COME UP BEHIND ME IN DRIVEWAY. DATES WERE APPROXIMATELY OCT. 2008 AND NOV. 2009. CAR HAS UNDER 45,000 ACTUAL MILES ON IT. *TR

LAST YEAR, 2009 ON DEC. 6TH, 10TH, AND 12TH, MY BRAKES FAILED AT VERY LOW SPEEDS AND COULD NOT STOP MY 2002 CAMRY XLE PURCHASED NEW AT THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP.. FINALLY STOPPED BY RUNNING INTO HEAVY BUSHES. CAR NEVER SPEEDED UP. TOOK TO DEALER WITH NO RESULTS. THEN TOOK TO A GARAGE, ENTIRE SYSTEM CHECKED. THEIR DIAGNOSIS WAS THE MASTER CYLINDER. THIS WAS REPLACED AND WORKED FINE FROM 12/23/09 TO 2/23/10. THEN ON THIS DATE I TURNED FROM THE STREET TO ENTER A RESTRAINT PARKING LOT. EVERYTHING WAS FINE AS I SLOWED TO TURN STRAIGHT INTO A PARKING. MY SPEED COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BUT 3 TO 4 MILES PER HOUR.THE BRAKES DID NOT STOP THE CAR AND I RAN INTO THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING. THE FOUR TIMES THIS HAPPENED WAS TWICE IN REVERSE AND TWICE GOING FORWARD . THE CAR NEVER ACCELERATED AT ANY OF THE FOUR TIMES. THE SPEED WAS ALWAYS UNDER 4 TO 5 MPH. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE TO MY HOME AND THE CAMRY HAS SET IN MY GARAGE SINCE THEN. *TR

SUDDEN ACCELERATION WHILE BACKING OUT OF DRIVEWAY. BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL BY INTENSIVE BRAKING AT THE TIME IT WAS THOUGHT TO BE AN ISOLATED INCIDENT - SO NO REMEDY WAS SOUGHT APROX. 5 MPH. 9-26-08 SUDDEN ACCELERATION AND BRAKE FAILURE WHEN PULLING OUT OF GAS STATION AND MAKING RIGHT HAND TURN WITHIN 100 FEET OF GAS STATION-FINALLY UNDER CONTROL WITHIN 12" OF HOME APROX. 15 MPH. DIAGNOSIS - ABS SENSOR FAILURE COMPLETE BRAKING SYSTEM REPLACED. 5-21-09 SUDDEN ACCELERATION AND BRAKE FAILURE WHILE TRYING TO SLOW DOWN FROM 5 MPH RESULTING IN CITATION BY MA STATE POLICE FOR DRIVING 87 MPH. COURT RECORDS AVAILABLE (I'VE NEVER HAD A CITATION EVER IN 45 YEARS OF DRIVING.) 8-31-09 SUDDEN ACCELERATION & BRAKE FAILURE APROX 15 MPH. BRAKE FAILURE - COMPLETELY NEW BRAKE SYSTEM INSTALLED. TOYOTA DOESN'T RETURN CALLS. DEALERSHIP SAYS IT'S NOT ON RECALL LIST SO THEY REFER ME TO TOYOTA. I HAVE LESS THAN 59,000 MILES ON THIS CAR IT IS A 2002. WE DO NOT DRIVE IT MUCH SINCE THE SECOND INCIDENT ON 9-26-08. UPDATED 04/28/10.*JB

WHILE ENTERING A PARKING STALL OUR PERFECTLY MAINTAINED 2002 TOYOTA CAMRY SEEMED TO GO FULL-THROTTLE AND TOSSED US OVER A CURB, A SIDEWALK, UNDER A STEEL HANDRAIL, AND DOWN A 15 FT ROCKERY, JUST MISSING TREES AND A BUILDING..TOTALING OUR CAR. WE WALKED AWAY SORE AND SHAKEN, BUT UNINJURED. THE INVESTIGATING OFFICER'S REPORT STATES "REAR TIRES LEAVING VISIBLE DRAG MARKS ON THE SIDEWALK" INDICATING THE BRAKES WERE ENGAGED. THIS SIDEWALK IS ATTACHED TO THE CURB SO THE BRAKES WERE ENGAGED DURING THE ENTIRE INCIDENT. THE CAR WAS TOTALED, AND $3800.00 DAMAGE WAS DONE TO THE APARTMENT COMPLEX PROPERTY. *TR

I OWN A TOYOTA CAMRY 2002 V6. LATE 2009, THE CAR STARTS TO BLOW LIGHT BLUE SMOKE EVERYTIME I START THE ENGINE. I CALLED HAMER TOYOTA ON MISSION HILLS, CA ABOUT THE PROBLEM. IWAS TOLD THAT THEY WILL CHECK THE ENGINE BUT IT WILL COST ME $95.00 TO OPEN THE CYLINDER HEAD. I INFORMED THE SERVICE MANAGER ABOUT THE RECALL FOR ENGINE SLUDGE PROBLEM BUT HE STILL INSIST THAT THERE IS A CHARGE TO OPEN THE CYLINDER HEAD. HE SAID THAT IF WHAT IS CAUSING THE SMOKE IS THE ENGINE SLUDGE, THEY WILL NOT CHARGE $95.00. AFTER LEAVING THE CAR FOR A FEW DAYS, THEY CALLED ME AND SAID THAT THE CAR'S ENGINE WAS SO CLEAN AND I TOOK GOOD CARE OF THE CAR. JUST WONDERING WHAT'S THE REASON WHY THE CAR IS EXHALING WHITE SMOKE UP TO NOW IF HE SAID THAT THE ENGINE IS CLEAN. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I CAN GO DIRECTLY TOYOTA TO FILE A COMPLAIN OR YOU CAN PUBLISH MY COMPLAIN ON YOUR WEBSITE. *TR