From the first week of driving, there became a terrible and annoying hesitation of 3-5 seconds when accelerating. Since this is a V6, it accelerates great, but I realized after deceleration and then accelerating again, there was a long delay before the engine would “catch up” with the idea that we wanted to go again. Upon complaining to service, they said it takes several hundred miles for the computer to learn how each individual drives. Again, after several hundred miles, the same occurrence, and it seemed to even get worse as I sometimes spin the front tires (on ice and snow and wet roads) once the car’s computer actually accelerated. Once the dealer actually “reset” the computer which made things worse because the “learning” mode started over. Several times I complained and finally one of the master techs admitted this is because of the drive-by-wire system that replaced the mechanical foot-pedal direct acceleration. He said it’s also complicated by the 8-speed transmission, that when decelerating, the trans upshifts to maybe 6th or 8th gear, and once the driver accelerates again, the drive-by-wore system , which is already delaying acceleration from the drivers foot pressure, has to then up shift several gears “immediately”, this causing a lurching (and sometimes tire spin). Toyota acknowledges the “problem”, but says since other similar cars do the same thing, that it’s “normal”. I disagree. It’s is a fault, a design defect, and it should be investigated and repaired. Toyota has become service-lazy in recent years and refuses to fix design flaws, forcing their customers to deal with faulty cars.

Update from Jun 8, 2019: [ not sure how to update the category of this complaint. I see several complaints in another category which are all similar to mine. SEE ALSO complaints under this category: NHTSA — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL PROBLEMS

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I've wanted the 2018 Camry XSE 2.5 since the first time I saw it. It took me about 3 months before I bought it, because I wanted to make sure I was making a good purchase. I paid a great price for my car and I find the car very good. It is efficient and has many safety items, but there is something that is bothering me so much, that is the transmission. The gear changes are slow and accelerating the Camry soon after a slowing down is a terrible thing. The transmission is always hesitating to change gears. I complained about this problem in the Toyota Dealer and was given the "wonderful solution" to avoid using the ECO mode and always use the SPORT mode. I confess I was surprised that the solution given by the Toyota Dealer because I believe that Toyota Engineers are a little smarter and able to design a better transmission than the one in my car.

I have prayed a lot for Toyota engineers to find a solution to this problem, otherwise I'll have to change my Camry for an Accord.

Update from Sep 17, 2018: After driving my 2018 Toyota Camry XSE for 20,000 miles, the transmission continues hesitation to change the gears and now my car looks like a rattlesnake nest of so much rattling noise that it is making. I've complained several times, but the Hendrick Toyota Apex maintenance team can not do anything. As soon as I get a big deal, I'll be trading my car.