CarComplaints.com Notes: Beware of the NHTSA complaint data for the 2004 Camry. It is almost certainly misleading.
The problem with NHTSA data for the 2004 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 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 2004 Camry, our data for the Camry is a far more statistically accurate representation of the Camry's reliability than what the NHTSA data shows.
On Friday, October 3, 2014 I was driving at 45 miles/her with my wife in the car and in very busy street, Highway US 1, in Aventura, FL. Suddenly the car lost all power. I manage to pull it safely to the side of the road. On my IPad found out that the 2004 Camry owners had reported many incidents of faulty Throttle Actuator Control Systems the one that controls acceleration. I also learned that Toyota had refused to make a recall or give the owners a warning.
I have maintained the car very well and not 3 months ago I took it for an oil change and no warning was issued. At that moment we decided that we didn't want anything else to do with Toyota or its dealers. We took the car to a trusted mechanic that other members of my family use. He diagnosed the problem ordered the part and today is being replaced. It cost $1,132.67, inexpensive considering that we could have been involved in a serious accident.
We will be buying a new car but we will wait until all these recalls are completed and will buy an American car. At least they are willing to assume responsibility and recall defective cars, NOT LIKE TOYOTA THAT PUTS PROFITS AHEAD OF OUR LIVES.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
On Friday, October 3, 2014 I was driving at 45 miles/her with my wife in the car and in very busy street, Highway US 1, in Aventura, FL. Suddenly the car lost all power. I manage to pull it safely to the side of the road. On my IPad found out that the 2004 Camry owners had reported many incidents of faulty Throttle Actuator Control Systems the one that controls acceleration. I also learned that Toyota had refused to make a recall or give the owners a warning.
I have maintained the car very well and not 3 months ago I took it for an oil change and no warning was issued. At that moment we decided that we didn't want anything else to do with Toyota or its dealers. We took the car to a trusted mechanic that other members of my family use. He diagnosed the problem ordered the part and today is being replaced. It cost $1,132.67, inexpensive considering that we could have been involved in a serious accident.
We will be buying a new car but we will wait until all these recalls are completed and will buy an American car. At least they are willing to assume responsibility and recall defective cars, NOT LIKE TOYOTA THAT PUTS PROFITS AHEAD OF OUR LIVES.
- Hugo C., Aventura, FL, US