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.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
153 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
51 / 4
Average Mileage:
38,621 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
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.
I was going 45 to 50 mph and my car shut off in middle of highway and we barely got out of highway before getting hit there is recall on same kind of car for throttle body and that's what's wrong with mine so it has too be that they missed my car
As I turned slightly right into my parking space with my foot lifting from the gas pedal toward the brake pedal, the vehicle suddenly took on a life of its own and sped up then crashed right thru the gate that divided the parking space from the sidewalk. I was in shock and thought there was a ghost of some kind that just took over the gas pedal as it sped up. My front bumper was destroyed and front grill along with the lower head lights of vehicle along with the hood of the car.
I was backing out of a parking spot. When my car staled and was shaking in reverse. I slammed on my breaks because I thought I backed up into something. When I put my car in drive and took my foot off of the brake pedal. My car immediately accelerated to full speed out of no where and caused me to crash into two cars.
Coming to red light car would not stop I pressed harder on brakes asb came in then the car went into high rpms, and stopped sounded like it would blow up?.. I quickly put the car in neutral, from my experience to slow rpms you press gas petal hard until the rpms slow, I do not have floor maps, never had them...
Coming to a stop and about ready to stop and all of sudden steering wheel was pulled to left and accelerated. Then I hit a parked car and was finally able to stop.
- Chicago, IL, USA
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On December 7,2017, I was in a parking lot in Florida. As I started going into a parking space, the car began to surge. I had a loss of steering and braking.I almost hit the car next to me. Luckily that did not happen. I kept pressing down on the brake, but it took time for the steeering wheel to respond to me. I shut off the car because it seemed like the car had a mind of its own. I had 2 witnesses in the car.who saw that my car was in drive, and that my foot was on the brake pedal. The passenger checked the floor mat, and it was lying completely flat. I do not know why I had this loss of control. This also happened to me in 2010, when I had unintended acceleration, and my car hit a tree. I am now afraid to drive my car, and willl not do so because I feel it is unsafe.
Takata inflators: Every time I fix my vehicle individuals cause hate crimes damaging my vehicle as I go to sleep or when I am not viewing my vehicle they must know exactly when I go to sleep because I cant catch them even though I think I know who it is I can not prove it so this is why I am complaining I remember checking my tires in the night noticing nothing wrong with them then checked in the mourning and noticed nails nailed in the tires then I noticed dried turtle wax all over the body of the car messing up the paint wheel alignment out of line right door power window malfunction trunk open power switch broken power sun roof sliding window broken vehicle was stationary this happened on different date in combination to the damage between 06/16/06 to 04/21/17.
During normal highway driving vehicle unexpectedly accelerated to full throttle. Gas pedal was tapped several times which did not remedy the problem. Vehicle was placed in neutral and engine shut off.
The contact owned a 2003 Toyota Camry. While idling, the vehicle accelerated rapidly in reverse on its own without warning. As a result, the contact's vehicle crashed into another vehicle and a picnic table. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. There were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was towed and destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owned a 2003 Toyota Camry. While driving 5 mph, the vehicle independently accelerated. As a result of the acceleration, the contact's vehicle rear ended another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The vehicle was able to be driven after the crash, but was later towed to an independent mechanic where it was deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.
To whom it may concern: My 2003 Toyota Camry makes a rattle noise from the engine area and it's most noticeable during idle or light acceleration. My car has only 35,000 miles inspite of it being 13 years old. Clearly, Toyota acknowledge that it had a problem with the manifold but since my car is more than 6 years old, Toyota would not cover it but my car has only 35,000 miles and this problem did not show up until now. Hopefully, your office can help me with this matter. Thank you so much
I felt a click under hood around area of driver side as I backed out out of a parking space at the bank. I drove forward across the street into another parking lot, turned my wheel right to pull into parking place and the accelerator increased sending me up a curb into a brick wall. With foot on brake, I had to put car into neutral and park to turn off before acceleration stopped. My entire front end was smashed(have photos of car and tire marks on cement). I started car back up and it reversed fine. No mats under pedal and no slipping foot to gas pedal. Car has 60,000 miles and was impeccable.
I was nearly finished parking my car when the car sped up, went over a concrete curb stop, hit and knocked over a sign post. I recall the engine revving when this happened. I stomped on the brake pedal and that stopped the car. This is the first time this has happened in the 12 years I've owned the vehicle but it was scary.
I too have been noticing a surge when I back up and turn the vehicle and step on the gas to drive out. I have avoided crashes with cars near by, I have found that I have to keep the speed on low and out of drive to avoid hitting a car near my parked car. I am not sure of the mileage above as I am just backing out of a parking space and turning my car to drive, I make sure it is on low.
I was in the process of parking the car in a parking lot when the vehicle accelerated on its own. When I attempted to apply the brakes there was no effect. In order to avoid traffic I had to steer the vehicle into a stone wall.
The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Camry. While making a left turn at an unknown speed, the engine revved and the vehicle independently lunged forward. The contact depressed the brake pedal to avoid a collision. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 25,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while at a red light, the vehicle suddenly accelerated independently without warning. As a result, the contact crashed into the vehicle in front. A police report was filed. The contact did not specified if any injuries were sustained. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure was unable to be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000. Updated 4/20/15 updated 9/28/2017
I was pulling into a parking spot at a local dry cleaners. As I was pulling into a parking spot, the vehicle suddenly surged rapidly forward going over a concrete barrier and hit a concrete wall. Unintended sudden acceleration.
Driving with the cruise control set to approximately 45 mph. Cars ahead were stopping, so the cruise control cancel button was pressed. Instead of the car decelerating, it quickly accelerated as if the gas pedal had been pressed to the floor. The brakes were quickly pressed, but before the car came to a stop, it hit the rear end of the car ahead. The person in the other car had a precautionary medical exam a few days later, but no injury was reported. The driver and passenger of the Camry were not injured and air bags were not deployed. The Camry was declared totaled by the insurance company. The other car was repaired.
I experienced unintended acceleration of my vehicle while driving slowly in a parking lot. The vehicle accelerated to a high speed and revved to very high RPM's. I managed to slam on the brakes and finally shift the controls to neutral. The car immediately returned to normal RPM's and I turned off the key. Toyota first claimed "driver error", then entrapment of the gas petal by a floor mat, then "driver error" again, alleging I had "braked incorrectly and must have hit the gas by mistake"!! I was simply low-speed driving with my foot on the gas, when their car raced suddenly on its own Accord. I had not hit the brakes until I had to emergency-stop a runaway car! dealer says they "checked the computer" and there are "no issues" to resolve! this is a blatant, lethal defect in their product!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Florence, AL, USA