CarComplaints.com Notes: Beware of the NHTSA complaint data for the 2003 Camry. It is almost certainly misleading.
The problem with NHTSA data for the 2003 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 Toyota 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 2003 Camry, our data for the Camry is a far more statistically accurate representation of the Camry's reliability than what the NHTSA data shows.
Here's an obvious design and or material flaw. The oil filler baffle on the 2003 Camry can dislodge and cause damage to your engine...check out YouTube video, http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=1tHt_z1jZsA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D1tHt_z1jZsA...Toyota needs to come clean and fix this, which to me seems simple enough. For those who say that the person's changing the oil should be aware not to place too much pressure on the baffle during oil changes, I agree BUT this is one of those design modifications that was not tested fully or Toyota would've known this and used sturdier material or a more functional design. I guess if more engines are destroyed then they'll be forced into a recall...but then again we all don't mind paying for a new engine, do we:)
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Here's an obvious design and or material flaw. The oil filler baffle on the 2003 Camry can dislodge and cause damage to your engine...check out YouTube video, http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=1tHt_z1jZsA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D1tHt_z1jZsA...Toyota needs to come clean and fix this, which to me seems simple enough. For those who say that the person's changing the oil should be aware not to place too much pressure on the baffle during oil changes, I agree BUT this is one of those design modifications that was not tested fully or Toyota would've known this and used sturdier material or a more functional design. I guess if more engines are destroyed then they'll be forced into a recall...but then again we all don't mind paying for a new engine, do we:)
- mymannate, Rockville, MD, US