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.
This car is a lemon. I have had five integrated relay's replaced and now it is out again. The headlight or the dash lights will work, but not both at the same time. Toyota said it was because I had a non-factory alarm installed. They replaced the alarm with a Toyota alarm and replaced the relay and it burned out the following day. They can't find the problem. The air conditioner has had a musty smell since the car was new. They spray the vents with "frigi fresh" and it's fine for a few days and the smell returns. They told me to spray simple green in the air intake once a week. That's a pretty poor remedy. The transmission will not hold on any incline. Sometimes the car will pull into the garage by it self and other times it will roll into the street. It depends on it's mood. The car lack power. Some days the car is peppy but most days it's a old mule. I went through arbitration and Toyota just keeps replacing parts instead of replacing the car. It's sits in the garage now because is not dependable. I think there needs to be an in-depth investigation and recall of the 1999 Camry.
This problem involves the buildup of oil sludge in the 1998-2001 Toyota V6 products. Apparetnly they redesigned the V6 engine so that it would fit in the sienna van. In doing so they created a design flaw that creates sludge in the engine. Apparently the design flaw causes the engine to run to hot also causing valve seals to leak. The result is a fairly new car that smokes, burns 1 quart of oil a week, and builds up sludge in the engine which I am told will ruin the engine if I keep driving with sludge build up because the engine won't be lubricated properly. Many others are reporting this sludge problem. In the 1999 owners manuel it says you can change the oil every 7500 miles. Which people did. These customers that followed this guide line instead of the 3000-5000 mile oil changes which should be recommended now have oil sludge. I called my Honda service rep who told me Toyota has a fix for the overheating problem which they do not want the general public to know about because than they will have to fix thousands of cars. He said the engine does not breath properly and that they have an upgrade to the breather - the positive crank case?? he said if I can prove to Toyota such an upgrade is available they will fix it but will deny any knowledge otherwise. I submit that Toyota should have to repair the vehicles that have gotten sludge from this defect while under warranty and that Toyota should be forced to do a recall and install the upgraded part so that their engines breathe properly. Toyota refuses to honor my warranty on replacing the valve seals and rings which will cost me about $3200. The least they could do is install the fix into my engine so if I do get it fixed it won't happen again. Toyota has changed their 2001 owners manuel telling people to change the oil every 5000 miles so they know the direction to change it every 7500 miles will not work for thei esitb because I have sludge and T of lyd thgit otherwise. Isienoice lkhe haspd satoyota even has.
Engine seized up at 31,920 miles. Dealer states car needs a new engine because sludge was found in the oil pan, indicating poor engine maintenance. I have complete maintenance records on the vehicle, but Toyota is not interested in seeing them.
Pushed the accelerator, no response from the engine. Engine would spontaneously rev- without accelerator being touched. After a 2 hour rest period the car was again driven the same problem occurred. The RPM would rev without the accelerator being pushed, after about 50 feet the engine check light came on. The gas pedal would sometimes engage the engine so we were able to travel a short distance. It was unpredictable as to when the accelerator would work. It would sometimes kick in while the RPM's were reving and the car would jerk forward. I felt it was unsafe to drive. As we were shutting the car off to load it on the tow truck when thecar was shut off, and the keys were still in the ignition, the automatic door locks repeatedly went off- in a rapid motion about 20 times until the keys were removed. The car has been towed to a local dealer.
The check engine light came on in may of 1999 they then replaced the transmission and the entired computer system. Now the check engine light is on again.
Check engine light on since 150 mi. Reset, failure recurred in 30 mi. No specific infromation from Toyota about planned repair or date parts will be available for repair.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Folsom, CA, USA