1999 Toyota Camry

FRONT STRUT FAILURE ON XLE V6 CAMRY. NOISE BEGAN AROUND 32,000 MILES. STRUT PLATES REPLACED AT OWNER EXPENSE AT 42,000 MILES AND ALL FOUR STRUTS THEN REPLACED AGAIN AT OWNER EXPENSE AT 59,000 MILES. MANUFACTURER CONTACTED AND REFUSED ASSISTANCE "IN THIS CASE." INDICATION FROM OTHER REPORTS ON NET AND MANUFACTURERS' KNOWLEDGE OF PROBLEM THAT THIS WAS, INDEED, A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THAT MODEL YEAR AND STYLE OF CAMRY.

EXHAUST FUMES ENTER THE PASSENGER CABIN WHEN DRIVING UPHILL AT 30 TO 40 MPH. DRIVER EXPERIENCES DIZZINESS, HEADACHES AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH. DEALER HAS NOT SOLVED THE PROBLEM. *AK CONSUMER SAID THAT IT WAS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR TOYOTA CAMRY VEHICLES. DEALER SAID THAT IT'S THE TYPE OF FUEL USED ON THE VEHICLE. HOWEVER, DEALERSHIP REFUSED TO INSPECT THE VEHICLE. ALSO, CONSUMER WAS TOLD THAT IF THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT DIDN'T CAME ON, DEALERSHIP WON'T BE ABLE TO LOCATE PROBLEM. *LA

STARTING IN DEC. '03, I HEARD FLUID CIRCULATING THROUGHOUT THE ENGINE IN MY "99 TOY. CAMRY (V6), ESP. FROM A STOP. THE TOY. DEALER TOLD ME MY COOLANT LEVEL WAS LOW, BUT FOUND NO LEAKS, AND ADDED MORE COOLANT. SEVERAL WEEKS LATER, THE SOUND CAME BACK AND BECAME WORSE. THE CAR BEGAN TO IDLE ROUGH AND THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE RAN HIGH. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO ANOTHER TOY. DEALER, WHO INFORMED ME THAT I HAD A BLOWN HEAD GASKET, WHICH IN TURN CAUSED SEVERE ENGINE DAMAGE. I HAD TO HAVE A NEW SHORT BLOCK INSTALLED, ALONG WITH A NEW OIL PUMP AND WATER PUMP. *JB

AROUND 15 MONTHS AGO I PURCHASED A SET OF YOKOHAMA TIRES FOR MY TOYOTA CAMRY FROM MY TOYOTA DEALER AND AS SOON AS THEY PUT THEM ON I NOTICED DRIVABILITY PROBLEMS IN THE FORM OF STEERING SHIMMY. THE DEALER THOUGHT THAT ONE OF THE TIRES MUST HAVE TREAD SEPARATION SO THEY REPLACED THE SUSPECTED TIRE; ALTHOUGH I THOUGHT IT DROVE SOMEWHAT BETTER I STILL COMPLAINED ABOUT THE SHIMMYING. OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT 15 MONTHS I CONTINUED TO COMPLAIN AND THEY REBALANCED AND ROTATED THE TIRES BUT IT HAS CONTINUED TO WORSEN OVER TIME. SO I SUSPECT THAT ALL 4 TIRES SUFFER FROM THE PROBLEM AND THAT THE MANUFACTURER HAD A RUN OF DEFECTIVE TIRES.*AK

THE GAS PEDAL STICKS WHEN YOU FIRST START AND THEN DRIVE THE VEHICLE. THE MANUFACTURER KNOWS THIS AND SUGGEST CLEANING THE THROTTLE BODY EVERY 15000 MILES. THEY CHARGE $25 TO DO THIS IF THAT IS ALL YOU HAVE DONE. WHEN THE PROBLEM OCCURS YOU HAVE TO PRESS DOWN ON THE GAS PEDAL HARD TO GET IT TO RELEASE. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY VERY DANGEROUS. I HAVE TOLD MY TOYOTA DEALER MANY TIMES ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM SEAMS TO ALLEVIATE ITSELF AFTER YOU HAVE DRIVEN A FEW MILES. THE INCIDENT DATE BELOW IS JUST ONE DATE THIS OCCURRED. IT IS A CONSTANT PROBLEM. I ALSO OWN A 1993 TOYOTA CAMRY AND IT HAS THE SAME PROBLEM. *JB

WHILE DRIVING AT 25 MPH, THE CONSUMER FELL ASLEEP BEHIND THE WHEEL. THE CONSUMER LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND STRUCK ANOTHER VEHICLE, THEN COLLIDED WITH A STREET LIGHT POLE AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE CONSUMER BROKE HER STERNUM AND WAS HOSPITALIZED FOR A WEEK. THE CONSUMER ALSO HAD A GRANDSON IN THE VEHICLE THAT BROKE TWO FINGERS IN THE ACCIDENT. THE POLICE DID ARRIVE, BUT THE CONSUMER WAS NOT CITED. THE MANUFACTURER AND THE DEALER ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. *JB