CarComplaints.com Notes: Beware of the NHTSA complaint data for the 2004 Camry. It is almost certainly misleading.
The problem with NHTSA data for the 2004 Camry is that for months on end, the news media repeatedly told the public that several Toyota models had an unintended acceleration defect, & to go to safercar.gov (the NHTSA's website) to file a complaint.
So, the NHTSA received a disproportionate number of complaints about unintended acceleration issues because of the national news media attention, to the point where their data is unreliable taken in context with any other vehicle that did not receive national news attention.
CarComplaints.com typically receives more complaints per day about vehicles than the NHTSA does, but the news media did not repeatedly say "go to CarComplaints.com to report your Camry acceleration problems" like they did about the NHTSA -- so although we have less complaint data than the NHTSA for the 2004 Camry, our data for the Camry is a far more statistically accurate representation of the Camry's reliability than what the NHTSA data shows.
I was surprised to find the water pump had failed. Toyota quality is supposed to be excellent although taking the car to a dealer is intimidating as they tend to advise maintenance beyond the manufacturer owner manual. I feel they are mandated to get at least $200. to $400. from every customer who comes in with a vehicle that is 3 years old.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I was surprised to find the water pump had failed. Toyota quality is supposed to be excellent although taking the car to a dealer is intimidating as they tend to advise maintenance beyond the manufacturer owner manual. I feel they are mandated to get at least $200. to $400. from every customer who comes in with a vehicle that is 3 years old.
- terry_electric, Caledonia, ON, Canada