Toyota cars are bought worldwide as they are famous for their safety and reliability. Unfortunately, there are many vehicle models produced by Toyota that have brought shame to their trusted name, as there are plenty of problems with the Toyota Camry’s models in the 2000s .
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However, there are more troubling issues with the engines and gearboxes, along with the problems in the sound system and other interior components. All of these reasons and more will enlighten you with why you should avoid buying these camry model years .
Why You should Avoid Buying These Camry Model Years?
2002 Toyota Camry Problems
Before the 2002 Camry, previous models had very few complaints. The main complaints were for the engine, brakes, and transmission. The 2002 Camry’s engine problems were stripped head bolts, smoke, overheating, rapid oil consumption, body lurching, engine knocking, the check engine light turning on, unintended acceleration, and engine stalling. Transmission failure, jerky, and rough shifting, automatic shifting into reverse gear, and difficulty shifting in cold temperatures.
2003 Toyota Camry
The 2003 Toyota Camry also had unintended acceleration, stripped head bolts, engine failure, bad valve seals leading to smoke, knocking intake manifold noises, excessive oil consumption, and roughness. Owners either had to replace the engine or the head bolt repair kit.
2007 Toyota Camry Problems
The 2007 Toyota Camry had a massive recall campaign, where over 6,000,000 cars were affected. Vehicle speed control issues prevailed, along with a defective throttle, which caused it to accelerate out of control.
The NHTSA, states this led to more than 100 crashes, injuring 61 people, and killing 3. The 2007 Camry also had defective piston rings which caused severe oil losses, which sometimes led to necessary engine replacement. Other engine problems were knocking, check engine lights turning on, ignition coil failure and head cracking. The 2007 Camry’s brakes led to about 16 crashes and 12 injuries after high mileage.
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There were also problems with the interior as owners reported the dashboard material melting, the sun visor breaking, the dash gauge cluster malfunctioning, the speedometer being inaccurate, the CD player not functioning, the doors not locking, the audio system spontaneously turning off, and the unintended locking of the car. Many users had to replace the entire dashboard.
2009 Toyota Camry
The worst of them all, the 2009 Camry also had many speed control issues, coupled with engine and braking issues, which had its own share of crashes and injuries. Intense oil losses occurred without any warnings, leakages, spills on low mileages.
Other engine problems were engine failure, the car surging, rough idling, defective oil lines, excessive engine knocking, the head gasket blowing, and poor acceleration.
The 2009 Camry also had dashboard melting, defective auto door locking, vulnerable sun visors, loosening of floor rugs, the radio turning off, the ABS and brake warning light running on, and the gas gauge reading empty during use.
Max Anthony
Max is a gizmo-savvy guy, who has a tendency to get pulled into the nitty gritty details of technology and cars. He attended UT Austin, where he studied Information Science. He’s married and has three kids, one dog and a GMC truck and a Porsche 911. With a large family, he still finds time to share tips and tricks on cars, trucks and more.
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