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.
The 2012 Camry has a known problem with its Torque Converter. At low throttle (less than 1500 RPM), the torque converter exhibits a shudder while changing gears, most often going from 4th to 5th gear. Toyota initially released a service advisory in 2017 and attempted to fix the problem with a software update. A few years later, Toyota released an extended warranty covering the defect for 8 years of first use or 150,000 miles; whichever came first. Toyota claims that this defect may eventually result in transmission failure. My car exhibited this problem in 2016. A local Toyota dealership confirmed the problem and performed the software update. This temporarily resolved the torque converter shudder. In early 2022, the shudder returned. By this time, the extended warranty period had expired and Toyota refused to repair the defect since more than 8 years had passed since first use. The issue persists, and this defect should be placed under a recall instead of a time-limited warranty.
2012 Toyota Camry has Torque Converter Shudder issues and they knew about it. They also ran the Warranty Enhancement program but failed to notify its owners. I never received about this Warranty from them. I had this wired noise for brief seconds when driving at a speed of 50-65MPH and told the Toyota authorized repair and maintenance center about it when I took my car for regular maintenance. They checked my car and also failed to update me on this extended warranty and could not find the issue. They knew that this was an ongoing issue but did not bother to correctly update me on this. I only happen to know about this when my transmission started to slip and was searching if there was any recall and found about their Warranty Enhancement program as mentioned https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10129984-9999.pdf but it was too late. I also called the Toyota Engagement Center to discuss this but they said they can't do anything as the program expired. The car now slows down itself when driving either in 20-25MPH or 55-60MPH and this could lead to unforeseen situations and could be a safety issue for the roads and highways I would like NHTSA to step in and make this a safety recall. It looks like almost all 2012 Camry are affected by this issue.
The car shudders when shifting gears, this is due to the torque converter. Toyota knows about this issue. I called and they said the recall was sent to the previous owner but they didn't get it fixed. Toyota needs to recall all of these 2012 thru 2014 Camry and fix these cars when people call.
- Minnetonka, MN, USA
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As a background, we bought the car in 2012 brand new. My background is Mechanical engineering, and hence maintained the car very well. Apart from this issue on Torque convertor rest is all good. The car has about 94,000 miles on it. Around few weeks back, the car started to hesitate when it is shifting between 20-25 mph. Sometimes this can be dangerous as you are expecting the car to pick up the speed esp. when joining the freeway etc. and always worried about being rammed in the rear by the traffic. Anyway, I took it to the dealer who said there was a -??Warranty Enhancement-?? program that expired after 10 years. I am not sure why Toyota is permitted to have this Warranty Enhancement program when they full well know this should be a recall. This is widely discussed on all the Toyota forums. The repair is expensive about $2200 (the work is detailed in the Warranty Enhancement program ZE5) and requires software update to be done which the dealers control. With the cost of new cars and also lack of supply I had no good choice but to pay for this repair. I tried to get Toyota Headquarters to see if they honor the -??Warranty Enhancement-??, but they refused to even though some of this period coincides with pandemic. We have bought several of the Toyota products including Camry, Sienna & Tacoma and never been more disappointed in them than this handling of the issue. I am still at a loss on why NHTSA would let Toyota do this warranty enhancement, and not a full recall. This is putting lives of drivers at risk where one day where it might either lock up or hesitate to pick up full speed when needed. More importantly, the warranty enhancement clearly states that it will only be fixed during that period if the transmission shudder shows. It is bound to show some time, so if they know this is a mechanical and software issue why not do a recall to fix this instead of putting people-??s lives in danger? NHTSA please help investigate this safety issue. UPDATE 06/16/2023: This is a brand new design introduced by
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH and making a lane change, the vehicle started vibrating while depressing the accelerator pedal, but failed to respond as needed. The contact stated that the hesitation lasted for approximately 10 to 15 seconds, before the vehicle jerked forward and accelerated as needed. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer however, the mechanic could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure became a recurring failure. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
Ever since I purchased vehicle back May 2016 with 24K miles on it (currently has 107k miles on it) the car has been vibrating between 35mph - 45mph. I took it to the dealer over 3 times within 30 days of purchase and they couldn-??t figure it and replaced tires. They said it vibrates because roads are uneven. Didn-??t feel like dealing with dealership and left it at that. Last year in 2021 I decided to research it and found out it-??s a known issue (Torque converter) needs to be replaced. Toyota would always email me but for the -?? warranty repair-?? they sent it to my old address. I took it to a Toyota dealer to have it inspected now say that if I want it repaired, I have to pay $2500. I even reached out to corporate July 2021 to see if they would ear 50% of costs and declined. Toyota NEEDS to take care of this properly!
The transmission slips while accelerating through the gears. I understand it is a torque converter issue. The car jerks through each gear, feels like the engine is falling out. It has not been fixed yet as I understand it is about half the value of the vehicle to get it fixed, and I hear the fix can cause other problems with the transmission parts that are not replaced. No warning lights. As this is my only vehicle I'm worried about being in an accident before I can get it fixed. I'm not made of money, and I have to save up first.
-Toyota Motors Manufactured 2012-2014 certain camry models with faulty torque converters(Ref- https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10129984-9999.pdf). -Car is available for inspection. -Shudder makes the car weaker and unstable. Also Delaying throttle response. Babies feel scared when the car shudders and ultra risky while passing another car. Risk for transmission lock up etc. -The problem has been reconfirmed by Toyota Dealers and Independent Service Centers. You can ask any reputed mechanic shop as well about this well known problem. -There was never a warning light and still no warning light. PLEASE SEE- Toyota Motors is making a fortune by selling a few faulty cars- Also, the above warranty plan was only applicable if the car had symptoms of torque converter failure. But toyota evaded liability to replace Torque Converter by blaming software issue initially (https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/staticcontent/en/techinfo/html/prelogin/docs/cp/e03tofaq.pdf) and limiting the extended warranty to 8 years, knowing that most faulty cars will not display failure symptoms during that time (Average failure time is 70-100k miles) Now, they are selling the revised torque converter with installation for over $3000. But, it is not even the fix. The faulty torque converter also damages the transmission, leading to its failure within a few hundred miles after Torque converter replacement. All those faulty torque converters are bound to fail by 100k miles. Toyota is pocketing $7-10K for those repairs, making the car worthless and owner broke. If you read reports, this extends far beyond 2012-2014 models. Since it is allowing Toyota and its dealers to sell the most expensive repair a vehicle can have...making bank for Toyota Motors and their dealers. They are also able to avoid the limelight on this issue...since it does not affect all the camry models of the same year. I wrote toyota to fix it or provide reimbursement, but they denied. Please Help!!!!!
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving 35-40 MPH, the transmission was slipping and the vehicle was shuddering while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact released the accelerator pedal and was able to continue driving. However, the failure reoccurred several times while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed that the torque converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000.
While the vehicle speeds up beyond 3-35 mph, the car starts shacking a bit and the vehicle seems to have lost power. Then it recovers and moves on as normal. The problem is identified as a transmission programming/torque convertor problem. This has been going on for some time now and has been getting worse. There are no other problems prior to this issue.
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from idle, the vehicle hesitated. The contact stated that the transmission was shaking while driving between 20 and 50 MPH. The contact stated that the issue was remedied while driving above 50 MPH. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that the torque converter had failed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact stated the failure was occurring more frequently. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA ID Number: 10109488 (Power Train) and had been previously been repaired under the TSB Limited Service Plan; however, the repair failed to fix the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 162,000.
So I own a 2012 Toyota Camry and this vehicle started having issues when shifting gears it almost feels like the break is being hit. My wife freaked out and almost had and I accident. I went to the dealership at Rick Hendrick here in North Charleston South Carolina. They told me that it was the torque converter in the transmission that was bad. They asked me for almost $2,700 at the time in 2021. I couldn't afford that but later I found out that Toyota had issued a warranty extension for the specific issues for models 2012 to 2014. Apparently this is a known issue.I was not sent any notification via mail. Once I found out that Toyota was covering the issue it was already too late because she has 160,000 miles on the car. Apparently I missed the deadline by a month and they refuse to help. Now I'm left with a car when shifting between 20mph to 40 mph feels like your hitting the Break. I can't believe this is happening to " the most reliable car on the market"
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating and the contact felt as if the vehicle would shut-off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with torque converter failure. The dealer informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN and the vehicle was over the 10-year warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 127,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while driving 25-35 MPH, the vehicle shuddered and loss motive power. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where they were unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to a local dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000. The VIN was not available.
Torque converter, (upon acceleration vehicle delay in accelerating/shifting and abnormal heavy vibration/shuddering felt ), I almost had an accident while trying to change lane a few times, due to the fact that the vehicle does not accelerate/shifting correctly/delayed, (my wife and kids were in the vehicle), took the vehcile to Toyota dealer, service advisor told me that the tech could not duplicate concern, when clearly there is a problem, did some reading/research online alot of customer experience the same thing Toyota turning a blind eye when it come to this specific concern ( torque converter shuddering) they giving customer the running around, no warning lamp on when problem occur.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Akron, OH, USA