CarComplaints.com Notes: Beware of the NHTSA complaint data for the 2005 Camry. It is almost certainly misleading.
The problem with NHTSA data for the 2005 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 2005 Camry, our data for the Camry is a far more statistically accurate representation of the Camry's reliability than what the NHTSA data shows.
I reported an unusual shift/gallop to the dealer within 30 days of buying this car off the showroom floor. They said it was the way vehicles with stability control traction worked. Now, at 130,000 miles, after taking immaculate care of this one-owner, one-driver car, I'm told that the transmission needs to be replaced. The car is only worth $3,000 on a trade-in, so, I think it's silly to put $4,000 in it. I've never even replaced a headlight, and now it needs a transmission? Another lesson learned.
Transmission failure at 65K miles, not covered under any warranty. Was told that it could have been caused by rocking the car to get out of 6 inch of snow. Thought this was BS, but something caused transmission fluid to start slowly leaking - didn't realize it due to snow/melting snow. No warning light on panel. A week later the check engine light comes on and we figured out about the leaking fluid, had the car towed to dealer. They replaced a couple of transmission related things - but it didn't fix the car, which was now shifting itself into neutral.
Long story short - I got to purchase a new/rebuilt transmission for $4700
As like the problem in "#6", I had experienced over-rev. while I laid my foot on the acc pedal steadily. The rpm suddenly increased by about 2k and then was stabilized. I'm wondering whether I can claim Toyoda for this issue.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I reported an unusual shift/gallop to the dealer within 30 days of buying this car off the showroom floor. They said it was the way vehicles with stability control traction worked. Now, at 130,000 miles, after taking immaculate care of this one-owner, one-driver car, I'm told that the transmission needs to be replaced. The car is only worth $3,000 on a trade-in, so, I think it's silly to put $4,000 in it. I've never even replaced a headlight, and now it needs a transmission? Another lesson learned.
- Lonna H., Muskegon, MI, US