This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The car was bought brand new. This is the history of the 1999 Camry (problem: Engine light comes on each time): 1/24/2007 Goodyear auto--replaced charcoal canister and control valve $549.19 7/12/2007 Goodyear auto--replaced purge valve $134.24; charcoal canister replaced under warranty 11/8/2008 Toyota dealership--replaced charcoal canister and purge valve (Toyota says they still have to charge for this repair, even though it was replaced earlier) $656.75 2/9/09 Toyota dealership--replaced control valve--$142.34 in summary, charcoal canister was replaced 3 times, purge valve replaced 2 times, control valve replaced 2 times--all in a span of 2 years. Toyota service representative justifies it by saying it is a "revised" part.
Regulator/motor on both rear power windows are broken, (windows will roll-up) plus, both handles on front windows are broken. To open door, one must roll window down and open door from the outside.
On March 9, 2007 the Toyota Camry erupted into a fire during my normal driving. On Nov 28, 2006, I repaired my vehicle at Toyota authorized service statin, fitzgerald Toyota, M for changing water pump and timing belt. My odo meter reading was around 93.213 miles and within 800 miles (close to 94100) the vehicle met with fire accident. Repeated letter Toyota corporation is being ignored and Toyota service station is yet to reply back my letter.
The radiator was empty, and here were traces of antifreeze on the inspection plug on the timing over. As I explained upon our intial meeting, this indicated that there was a definite loss of antifreeze, with a definite possibility of water pump failure and corresponding timing belt failure. However, when I did the initial tear-down of the timing area, I found a rather surprising scenario. The timing belt was intact. There were none of he usual oil leaks from the cam/crank seals. The belt was in excellent shape. The water pump had suffered a catastrophic bearing failure. In fact, I found pieces of metal in the timing area, as well as a few of the ball bearings from the water pump shaft bearing. The timing area also had traces of antifreeze (oem antifreeze) from where the water pump had been leaking prior to the failure. As per our discussion, I proceeded to tear the engine down further to inspect for other possible damage. At this time, we were simply expecting to find a warped/possibly cracked cylinder head. Upon removing the necessary components required to remove the head, and removing the head itself, I inspected the block, cylinders, and pistons. The inspection revealed that the pistons had suffered severe damage. There is over thirty thousandths of clearance between the top edge of the piston and the cylinder wall. The top piston ring is clearly visible. Therefore, I must declare the engine a loss. In fact, I have made the observation that Toyota vehicles using the oem antifreeze usually had far fewer cooling system problems of any kind. In their vehicles. I have two Toyota pickups. One has a reman engine. It has oem antifreeze and an oem oil filter. To make a long story short, I feel in my opinion, and my experience, that this problem is a manufacturer defect. What the manufacturer can and will do for you I do not know.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Canyon Country, CA, USA