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:
5 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
61,460 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.
48 degrees outside, sitting in my car waiting a few minutes for it to warm up, after about one minute of sitting in it, the rear driver side window just cracked everywhere and shattered. Glass all over. Not happy, no reason why this should have happened. No cars were around, nothing hit it, it just shattered with no warning or no reason. I always loved Toyotas but this is really discouraging.
After oxygen sensors were changed the VSC and track off lights came on and wouldn't turn off and it's using a lot of fuel consumption and it takes a second for the car to pick up after stepping on the gas pedal
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.
On August 7, 2020 I was parked in front of a subway restaurant. I went in and picked up my order to go. When leaving I put my car in reverse to back out of my parking spot. There was a large pole about 15 feet behind me that I slightly backed into. Putting my car from reverse to drive(automatic transmission) my car suddenly accelerated into the subway restaurant, jumping a curb and sidewalk crashing into the building. I had no control of the acceleration, brakes did not allow me to brake. Thankfully no one in the building or myself was injured. The police officer that made out the accident report told me he could not give me legal advice but that this sudden acceleration has happened before and that I may want to goggle it. I did goggle this problem and found many other instances where this has occurred. I called a Toyota dealer and gave her my VIN number and she said there were no recalls for this and she had not heard of anything like this before. I consider this a major problem and that someone could be seriously injured or killed. The car is in the repair shop but I do not want it back until this problem is fixed. Next time this sudden acceleration happens the outcome could be drastically different. Please notify me with any information you have. Thank you. Pictures available if needed.
After owning the car for five years it began to accelerate on its own while either at a stop or while driving. This would happen in the drive selection of the transmission without warning as the engine would begin to run at full throttle holding the brakes down firmly would not stop this condition and only when I put the vehicle into neutral or turned off the ignition would I be able to return control of the vehicle to me. Having owned the car since I bought it new in 2003 until now this condition happens infrequently and weeks or months will pass before this problem happens again. It is sudden and without warning, diagnoses and inspection of the vehicle has not shown any problem or issues electronically or mechanically. This has happened at a dead stop on city streets, highways and even pulling from a parking space.
Today I pulled over to drop off child at school, was already to park and car accelerated and hit the car in front of me. My foot was clearly on brake as I was already going no more than 5 miles an hour to park. It was not driver error. That feeling of the car thrusting forward when my foot was on brake was something I never felt before. I called Toyota and checked the recall list the car is not listed. I am sending it tomorrow to Toyota for service. The impact was so hard, my body is completely tense even 5 hours later. The thrust was not driver error, thank god for the car in front of me that I hit or else would have been worse. All I could do out of panic was put the car in park but I think it stopped because I hit the car in front of me.
Opened the sun roof while driving in the city, a loud horrific noise occurred above my head unexpectantly, it cause me to swerve. I pulled over to the side of the road, as I initially thought something had hit my car, and no that the sun roof had decided to fail. The sun roof broke off in part, leaving the right side dipped into the frame rail. When I tried to just close it to get back on track, then you could hear the motor or mechanics of the sunroof churning. The sunroof was able to be closed complete enough not to get rained on but that is all. Having spoke to a few dealerships/shops over the phone. I am being quoted anywhere from $2000 to $4000 to fix --- this is an expensive problem and the problem is with the mechanics of the sun roof. I seldom open my roof here in rainy seattle. Now, it's guaranteed not to open ever again, as I will opt to have the sun roof sealed and disconnect the mechanics to open it. All this on top of air bag issue. The air bag on the passenger front right side is separating from the dashboard console, I called burien Toyota in the seattle area, the receptionist for service looked up my VIN and told me my VIN is not on the list of affected airbags. I assured her whether or not my VIN is on the list --- there is an airbag issue with the unit. My goodness must another person die behind these faulty airbags.
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.
The vehicle malfunctioned and the accelerator stuck. This caused the vehicle to crash into the wall at [xxx]. information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
I have been harassed on the roads of las vegas by several people who are hired by 2 people who have hired personal agencies to follow me around the city this has been constant every where I go the time I leave home to when I return. I believe that they have hired the nsa & their are agents who receive money by them to harass me.these vehicles portray plate numbers related to people I have on my facebook N twitter accounts-they will use birthdate, age numbers O celebrities I have on my account, even the president and 1st lady, me, my daughter, her daddy. Sometimes I am cut off and followed closely-I was traveling and was tailgated I entered a public area, when I got to the 2nd floor O the garage parking, the man got out O his vehicle and started towards me his vehicle red 4 door Toyota Camry with #'s O the presidents year O birth on the plate. Its red cars all the time representing the devil, this is the 3rd time I have had to call police. I know my stalkers names who may hire these people.they called the city on me, took the tag off my license plate, the next day I got a ticket. My last driving job they may have made threats to hurt passengers, transportation vehicles N tried to get me fired-one lives in las vegas, the other in los angeles and is a threat to the transportation industry.I have filed police reports-they also post comments on their twitter accounts O vehicles-planes, and use theinternet to communicate makes and models to follow and harass us and our children. They also hired vehicles with plate numbers possibly representing the presidents motorcade number on the govt plates. In July in cally my vehicle was towed and I was left without a vehicle and then had to be taken to the hospital due to low potassium levels and more. They use numbers in my VIN to communicate on their account. I didn't notice this til now.
Consumer request forms to report a safety issue with a 2003 Toyota Camry and additional forms such as auto safety hotline, recalls and new car crash tests and annual report of safety recalls.
About a year ago, one rear speaker cover started to crumble. The next month, the entire cover crumbled with no external force applied. One week ago, my other speaker collapsed in on itself the same way...with no outside pressure or influence. As a chemist, I can say definitively that the material used for the speaker cover is defective. The plastic during the molding process was not heated thoroughly. Now, Toyota says that it will be around $650 to replace the entire back cover which they will not pay for.
It has been over a year that I complained to Toyota customer service about my headliner coming down. They initially agreed to repair or replace it and then after the customer service representative got involved they rescinded their initial agreement to repair it. I asked customer service who is located in torrance, calif. To send me a written letter stating why they refused to repair or replace it as they initially agreed to and they refused to do so. My vehicle was purchased at the end of 2003 and as stated, it has been over a year that I have had no satisfaction to this problem. The headliner is continually coming down and I feel it is a safety issue and a manufacturer defect. Toyota concludes it is wear and tear. Your headliner should last the life of the vehicle.
2003 Toyota Camry with cracks appearing on the rear speakers. Consumer states that by 2006 the plastic piece was beginning to fall into the loud speaker assembly, creating a black hole in the rear dash.
2003 Toyota Camry passenger air bag cover coming apart. Consumer is concerned about this gap in between the dashboard and the air bag cover affecting the performance of the air bag if it is needed. The dealer stated the separation appeared to be caused by excessive heat.
I purchased a 2003 Toyota Solara the last week in september2002. Within 3 weeks of buying my car the paint started to chip off and come off in chunks. I have made reports to the company each time a new chip has occurred (the chips and hunks are down to the bare metal) the company had a rep come in to look at my car and they continue to keep saying it is road damge when in fact it is not. They have offered no help, options or solutions to my problem. All I want the car to be analyzed to see what is causing the paint to come off. It could be bad paint, or that the cars metal was not prepped and treated properly before painting or it could even be the primer itself. I just want a solution to my problem, this is the first new car I have purchased and it was an expensive car. I have owned much older cars in the past where I have never had problems with the paint on them.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Dixon, IL, USA