2007 Toyota Camry Problems and Repairs

gbabaluk · May 2006

Hi tmusa;
Not certain how "viral" (that word and pandemic have been so grossly misused) any information can be but I agree with you 100%. Not sure where the individual got his/her information BUT sounds like from somewhere within the dealership?????
Anyway, Keep giving us the Correct information. That is why I posted the comment here as I knew you would alay any fears that may erupt from this mis-guided information.

tmsusa · May 2006

Yes, thank you very much gbabaluk. Your post was helpful--and appropriate here. It is a "woe" for us and our affected Camry customers. But it is not a "whoa . .stop the presses . . the sky is falling on every Camry owner . . ."

BTW, should it ever move more toward a whoa issue (highly unlikely), you can be sure we'll be back on that tranny forum I referenced with the right info.

glanwin · May 2006

*******************************************
tmsusa said,
Our customer handling procedures have not changed at all either. We'll do whatever it takes to make it right for our customer--and hopefully to preserve their loyalty to the Toyota brand.
*******************************************

Totally BS.

Please ask all Toyota dealers at Southern CA and they will try to give you as much BS as you can imagine to avoid doing any warranty works :mad:.

jbollt · May 2006

I have had similar experiences with many different brands of dealers over my 30+ years of buying new cars. And it MAKES NO SENSE to me, as the dealers are paid by the factory to do the warranty work. They make you feel like it is coming out of their profit to fix your car under warranty. I will say this, not all dealers are this way, but enough to make me realy shake my head. Why would they deny that you have a problem. You drive the car daily, and are very in tune with it, they are not....and I frequently know more about the car then they do...

hehe I had a 2000 Camry with CD player that skipped badly. They ordered me a new head unit under warranty...Went back in two weeks to have the radio exchanged. Great! work order says radio exchanged iunder waranty, N/C. Wife brings it home, and all radio stations are preset to my stations...she didn't do it...and it still skips... hmmm.....the dealer didn't even change the radio.......next day I get a call from the dealer re: survey about work done. COOL! I tell them what happened, they offered to have the service manager call me. yeah right! No call ever took place...seems like they billed Toyotafor the warr work and never did the work!

Sorry, off my soap box now. I still buy and drive Toyotas as they are the best of the best, but my experience says that the dealers are very lacking in customer service, both in the sales depts and service depts.

alpha01 · May 2006

What you need to understand is that there is a difference between 'Corporate Customer Service' and the customer service you'd receive at an individual dealer. The kind that you're seeing on this forum is the former, not the latter.

You could equate it to the kind of shoddy customer service you might receive at Wal-Mart, but the corporate response you might receive if you submitted feedback via their website, for example.

And for what its worth I've been to many dealerships- Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Subaru... it really does depend on the dealership with regards to warranty service willingness. I would say though, that Subaru, on a dealership level, tends to treat its owners more as family members than as customers (this is at three different NJ dealerships). And in my experience, Subaru's corporate customer service is the best of any mainstream (meaning.. non lux) manufacturer...

And thanks for the update tmsusa! It continues to be interesting to see how this issue is playing out.....

~alhpa

faldoc · May 2006

I have my 07 Camry XLE back today! Rice Toyota seems to have fixed it up right, washed it and filled the tank.
Seems to be running great.
So far so good.
Updates as I use it for the next few days.

Again, thanks to TMS, Danika, Rice Toyota (Jack and David) and TMSUSA for the way they handled the situation, which has made it as painless as possible.

To re-iterate, they towed my XLE for me, delivered a loaner to my house, kept me informed with weekly updates, and will re-imburse 1 car payment, and will institute a 7 year/100,000 mile Platinum $0 deductible warrantee for the car. Very fair treatment.

Now I have to figure out how the Bluetooth works with my cellphone...

ray_h1 · May 2006

Congrats!! I doubt you could've been treated any better had you bought the new $170,000.00+ Bentley Continental Silver Spur saloon.

corton · May 2006

I have a Japanese built 2007 XLE V6 (2k miles, last 6 digits of VIN 003559).

1. Transmission shifting problem - When the vehicle is cold or has not been driven for a while (30-60 minutes or so) and you get in, start up, and drive using light throttle, many times when shifting from 3rd to 4th gear the engine RPM's jump up from about 2k to 4k momentarily between gears. It's almost like 3rd gear disengages momentarily and the transmission is not in gear, then it catches in 4th and the RPM's drop down to where they should be. This only happens at very light throttle. If I step on it a bit it shifts normally. I don't think this is a snap ring problem but more of a problem with the ECM programming. It does not happen every time but is getting more consistent. It also happened today when shifting between 1st and 2nd. I do not have a CEL or ABS light or any other indication of problem. I don't think it's a real safety issue but it sure is disconcerting.

2. The hard plastic above the glovebox does not mate properly with the soft rubber like material on the higher part of the dash where the airbag is on the passenger side. There is a large gap above the left corner of the glovebox surround in the curved area where it curves down to mate up with the right side of the console. The dealership looked at it and agree that it is not right and made it much worse when they tried to adjust it. After making a mess of it and breaking the glove box damper in the process they agreed that they are going to have to order some new parts and replace everything that does not fit right. I'm waiting for the parts right now.

Coming from Toyota and especially a Japanese built unit this is a poor example of fit and finish. I looked at several other 2007 Camrys on the lot and about half of them exhibit the same problem in various degrees. Not good.

3. The backlighting of the stereo/climate control center cluster is just too bright for night time use. The dash lights and center cluster lights are controlled by the same dimmer and when you adjust it for proper brightness of the center cluster then the dash lights are too dim. The fix is to have a separate dimmer for the center cluster lights or permanently make the center cluster lights dimmer in relation to the dash lights.

4. The MPG computer always reads about 1-2 MPG higher than calculated actual mileage. I'm on my 5th tank of fuel and the computer is always higher.

5. The 440w JBL stereo still needs some work. It's lacking in bass, and at times it just sounds flat. I know they supposedly spent 1000 hours engineering the system but I've sure heard better. And what good is 440w of power if you turn it up and the doors rattle.

Things I really like - I don't think there is another car on the planet that combines the power and gas mileage of this vehicle. I'm consistently getting 23mpg or better around town and with just a few miles of highway driving the mileage jumps up considerably. I'm glad I went for the V6. Toyota has a real winner here with this engine/transmission combo.

blackcamry · May 2006

Wondering if we, camry owners, can actually see the transmission shifting from 1 to 6?

cwopete2 · May 2006

In regards to gripe #5, try turning up the level of bass if you want the stereo to go boom-boom. Seriously, the new JBL setup, IMHO, is a dramatic improvement over the stereo in my 2005 SE.

...also very surprise you don't like to stereo backlighting at night...might be just a little bright but it sure is nice...one of my favorite features of the car, along with my daily greeting "Welcome to Camry".

njerald · May 2006

My MPG computer is 0.7-2 mpg (averaged 1.05 higher for 3 tanks) higher than actual also.

It takes a signal from the #1 fuel injector and the odometer since refueling to compute the mileage. It updates every 10 seconds.

max_99 · May 2006

I have a Japanese made car with a similar VIN 0030XX & also a V6 but LE. It has the JBL upgrade. The following are my 2 cents worth on issues you mention.

Transmission - I keep watching because of the press releases: Up-Shifting. On light acceleration, I don't ever see anything much over 2K RPM. The shifting seems very smooth regardless of whether the car has been setting for a while or not. I think if I had a problem like yours with a 4K RPM on light acceleration, I would go back to the dealer. Downshifting is a differnt story. Not a big issue for me at this point... but I have noticed some unevenuess from 3rd to 2nd when completely letting off the accelerator... such as preparing for a turn or slowing for a traffic.

JBL Radio - Kind of miss my old Pontiac radio. However, I have found that adjusting the fade and balance helps. I am wonder if Toyota designed the sound system for the middle of the car...where no-one sits. When Fade and Balance are at 0. The sound seems very monotone and tinny to me. I noticed when sitting in the drivers seat, it appears sound is coming mainly from the front left driver speaker. The door speakers sound terrible. Almost like woofers. But the speakers in back seem pretty good. So I set Balance to R3 (slight stronger Right speaker) and Fade to R3 (Slightly stronger Back speakers). That seems to provide better stereo between the two up front speakers and better use of the back speakers. I keep the bass down because of distortation from the door speakers. If you have 3 other passengers, not sure if this helps much. I guess the point is that fade and balance may help the situtation. At least in my case it did.

Glovebox Gap Problem. Interesting note. I have the same issue. But to be honest, I can't see it from the driver side and only noticed it when you pointed it out. The gap I have is noticeable only if you look for it. But I don't consider it worth trying to fix.

blackcamry · May 2006

Is it normal - engine idle at 1500 rpm...it's kind of loud at idle
and when the gear move to R or D (without moving), rpm at 750?
Should I concern about it?
Can I have it adjusted?

ray_h1 · May 2006

1,500 rpm when started cold is not at all unusual. The engine management computer is programmed to run a fast idle initially to aid warm-up and overcome the parasitic losses of pumping cold (thick) motor oil to all parts of the engine as quickly as possible. Additionally a fast cold idle helps the catalytic converter warm up more quickly to oxidize unburned fuel. However, if your engine is idling that fast in "Neutral" after the engine heats up to normal operating temperature, then something's not right.

supergoop · May 2006

From a cold start, my XLE V6 idles in Park at ~1,500 rpm and drops about 100 rpm every 15 seconds. In about 1 minute, it idles at ~1,000 rpm. When I stift to R, or D, it idles at ~750 rpm. Outside temp is ~10 celsius (50 F).

I agree that if you are idling at 1,500 when the engine is warm, then there is something wrong.

humbhidesi · May 2006

I have the following problems with my 2007 Toyota Camry LE 4CYL (AUTO)RPM

1)Engine idle at 1500 rpm...it's kind of loud at idle
and when the gear move to R or D (without moving), rpm at 750

2) When I am between 45 and 55 MPH, then RPM suddenly climbs to 2600 and then drops to 1800.

3) Could it be a shifting problem

Should I be concerned about these? The pick up is so slow. It doesn't feel that am driving a 154HP engine.
Can I have this adjusted

I see the following post from user judas1

Shifting from 4th to 5th (I think, could have been 3rd to 4th) they'll lurch and the engine will momentarily climb a hundred RPM or so, then it will shift. The tech said they had another one that was doing the same thing, he checked both and the tranny temp sensor is bad and reading something like 1200 degrees, and that is apparently screwing up the computer that controls the shifting.

pickles077 · May 2006

When a vehicle gets to the upper end of a gear range the engine will turn more rpms rather quickly; when the transmission shifts, especially between fourth and fifth, you are likely to see a dramatic drop in the rpms.

I am not an expert in any area so someone with expertise in the area may want to clarify what I stated. P

corton · May 2006

I reported the transmission shifting problem that I was experiencing to my dealer and after having the car for the day while they checked, tested and spoke with Toyota corporate technicians, they have decided that my car needs a new valve body in the transmission and want to involve a regional tech/manager type person in the repair process. It does not sound to me like they really know what is causing the problem and want to try replacing the valve body first.

Not to mention that they replaced parts in my dash to attempt to correct the ill-fitting plastic in the passenger side dash area above the glovebox and it looks just as bad now as when they started.

So right now I'm a pretty unhappy 2007 Camry XLE V6 owner.
My car is Japanese built (March 2006)and the last 6 digits of the VIN are 003559.

AARGH!!!

faldoc · May 2006

Sorry to hear of your problems.

I have looked at my dash and do not see a problem with it. Can you post a pic?

My V6 XLE is still holding up some 500 miles after the transmission replacement.

I hope they treat you well and fix your problems.

tmsusa · May 2006

Yes, tmsusa regrets the troublesome issues you've described here re your new Camry. I believe you may have indicated via a post online at another forum that you have been in contact with our Customer Experience Center at 800-331-4331. To be sure, I have forwarded your comments to the management team there in hopes of achieving a speedy resolution to your concerns.

Re your "woe" with the dash fit, tmsusa is not familiar with that as a widespread issue, but agrees with another poster here that a good digital photo may help to gain a better understanding.

Thank you for sharing your information, corton.

barronc · May 2006

I haven't experienced this problem but have you brought it to the dealer and had a diagnostics check on the car? You might want to have it checked out to make sure it's not an electrical problem.

barronc · May 2006

I recently had to return my 2007 Toyota Camry XLE V-6 to the dealership because my battery went dead. I thought it was an electrical problem. Apparently I had accidently (when reaching for my sunglasses in the special sunglasses holder next to the dome light switches) set the dome light to the on position. I did this after getting out of the car by reaching into the car and reaching up to get them. My hand accidently pushed the dome light switch from door position to on position. Naturally I didn't think of looking to see if a light was on and locked the door with my remote. The dome light was on overnight and I had a dead battery in the morning. Toyota should have set the dome light switches further away from the sunglasses holder to prevent this. Also, the rear dome light switches are easily activated so if you have passengers in the rear and they put their hands near those lights they're apt to trigger one without knowing it. If you don't turn it off your gonna have dead battery. Just some advice so just remember to check your dome lights (front & rear).

210delray · May 2006

I thought the car has the "battery saver" feature, now common in many makes and models, that turns off any lights left on for more than 20-30 minutes if the key has been removed from the ignition.

pickles077 · May 2006

Even our 2003 Malibu had that feature. P.

pickles077 · May 2006

TMSUSA:
If you are in fact a representative of TMC I will share one concern I have with the 2007 Camry. The brake pedal
makes too much noise when you let your foot off the brake in a normal manner. The GM vehicles I own do not make
a similar noise. I have reported what I consider to be a problem to the local Toyota dealer. They checked another 2007 Camry and it made the same noise. The dealership is
reporting the concern to the next level, I guess a regional
trouble shooter for TMC. P.

barronc · May 2006

I guess the new 2007 Camrys don't have that feature. Strange considering the Toyota engineers in Japan seem to have thought of every bell and whistle they could think of to put on their new Camrys. But even if it have the "battery saver" feature and you left your dome light on by mistake and you had your key out of the ignition would it atomatically shut the dome light off?

210delray · May 2006

Yes, with the battery saver feature, all lights inadvertently left on would be turned off.

alpha01 · May 2006

I actually don't believe the battery saver feature on most cars will disable dome lights. I know this isnt the case on my '03 Sentra, or my parents '02 Camry or '05 Subaru. Really we're nitpicking here; it seems much more likely to leave one's headlights on than accidentally leave a dome light on.

I've driven the 2007 Camry and the brake pedal seems just fine to me in operation (much better feel than the outgoing generation) and I don't recall any noise.

~alpha

jrock65 · May 2006

Leaving the dome light on is actually a frequent occurrence. It most likely happens when you're in a dim garage, and you turn it on to read something (like a map). Then, as you drive out, it becomes bright outside (and inside the car), and you forget that the dome light is on because you can't really tell. So you're driving around all day with the dome light on and it's just left on when the car is parked.

ray_h1 · May 2006

I inadvertently left the dome light activated in my '03 Sonata shortly after purchase in December, '02, and it was still merrily shining 30 hours later despite the car's "battery saver" feature. Fortunately for me the engine started without issue. Still on the original battery.

njerald · May 2006

Battery Saver will shut off all interior lights (if a door is left open) after 30 minutes, if the Interior light switch is set to door position. If the lights are turned with the switch, they stay on.

schexschex · May 2006

I recently test drove the 2007 Camry, I found the head rest to be very uncomfortable on the back of my head. I wonder if it is because I am 5'1. Has anyone else had this problem and if you did what did you do? I really like this car but if it is not comfortable I might have to go with the Accord.

max_99 · May 2006

My wife at first didn't like this car because of the head rest. She said it felt like it was pushing her head forward and made her neck uncomfortable. She is also about 5' 1. The head rest was ok for me but I am much taller. That problem was nearly a show stopper.

After I presented this problem with the dealer, they suggested taking the headrest out and turning it around. Your head then rests against the flat side and is not pushed as far forward. In that case, it worked for her and it looks just fine to us.

ykang · May 2006

Accord head rest is not comfortable eiher. I had 2005 EX-V6 but it wasn't comfortable at all compare to my previous Lexus ES 300. I recently bought Azera limited and couldn't be happier. You can adjust head rest position forward. My 2 cents.

jaxs1 · May 2006

Often, the trunk light is forgotten by the battery saver feature designers. Once I had a car with the battery saver feature on the dome lights, but I had forgotten to go back to shut the trunk one day after unloading it, did not go back in the garage until a few days later and the battery was dead.

corton · May 2006

Here's a picture of the area that I'm talking about.

I've labeled two areas on this picture (A and

. In the A area where the plastic above the glovebox meets with the darker rubbery material of the upper part of the dash, there is an unsightly large gap between the two pieces of material.

Conversely in the B area of the picture the two pieces of the dash material fit properly together and there is no gap.

It is a fit and finish problem and I'm sure not used to this type of problem with a Toyota, especially my 2007 XLE.

I looked at other 2007 Camrys on the lots of a couple of local dealers and at least 50% of them have this problem.

barronc · May 2006

My 2007 Camry XLE also has that unsightly gap that you mention but I thought it was part of the design of the dashboard. I can't believe Toyota would allow something like this to pass the car's final inspection. This may very well be because the cars are put together here in the U.S. I doubt you'd ever see this happen if the car was manufactured on the assembly line in Japan. The Japanese would never allow shabby workmanship like that to go unnoticed.

barronc · May 2006

That's a shame about your new 2007 Camry. I haven't experienced any problems with my 2007 Camry XLE's tranny as mine seems to shift fine. I hope you get the problem cleared up soon.

njerald · May 2006

Just went out to look at my Japanese XLE.

There is no gap at all on the horizontal joint or on the left hand side.

In the curve on the left side, I have about 1/64" maximum gap for about 2 inches. Not noticeable until you look for it.

junepug · May 2006

Not so on a 2003 Highlander. I have had the switch set to door since the day I bought the car and remember one night I did not close one of the back doors securely and the next morning the interior dome light was still shinning. Fortunately the car did start and am still on the same battery. I now use the remote to lock the car to ensure the light is out.

barronc · May 2006

You'd never expect a small trunk light or inside dome light would run down your battery if left on for 24 hours or so, but apparently they suck more juice out of a battery than if your headlights were left on. That's what a Toyota service manager told me. I'm not sure I agree with him on that one.

splatsterhound · May 2006

Small interior lights will certainly drain a battery over several days. I once owned an '85 Blazer that had a switch near the rear ceiling that was very easy to trip. Found the battery dead one day. Discovered the light switch had been switched.

I haven't had a car that was made after '96 that didn't have auto off features for ALL lights. Even my 96 olds would turn off the ceiling dome or reading lights after a couple of hours if there was no activity. That's a real battery saver. I'm surprised a new Camry doesn't have that feature.

Here's another engineering whoops: Many new cars don't have a way to open the trunk if the battery is dead. They don't have keyholes or push buttons. For cars WITHOUT flip-down rear seats, how do you get a pair of jumper cables out of the trunk if your battery is dead? Hmmmmm...

tmsusa · May 2006

I must admit, I'm having a hard time seeing the gap you reference in the photo. But, tmsusa appreciates the time you took to post this photo. I will examine some of the cars that we have at our HQ vehicle services area and at our technical group and do a little research to see if we've identified any production pattern. We're not seeing the same complaints in our Customer Experience Center.

I understand we're making some headway on the other issue you've brought to our attention.

Thanks again for your helpful information.

tmsusa · May 2006

Actually, corton's Camry is Japan built.

jaxs1 · May 2006

Not "many" new cars don't have a keyhole in the trunk. The Acura CL coupe had no keyhole, but you could still relase the trunk via a lever in the interior. I doubt that there are many cars that have no alternate trunk release somewhere in the car if they don't have a keyhole in the trunk.

barronc · May 2006

I keep a portable jump start battery in the trunk of my 2007 Camry. If the battery goes dead I can still manually open the driver's side door with my key and pop the hood (or trunk) from within' the car and jump start the car. I picked up my Diehard portable battery recharger in case of a hurricane. You can recharge your cell phone on it as well as plug in a small television in case power is out in your area. Also, jump starting your own battery will save you some cash in the long run cause you don't have to call a towing or locksmith service. The cost of the jump start battery incl. tax was $53.00.

maryj · May 2006

I do a lot of traveling and consider time driving and mpg important. I know the Avalon will zero the trip timer each time the ignition is turned off and the mpg resets itself each time the tank is refilled. Does this occur on the Camry?
TedJ

max_99 · May 2006

I doubt you'd ever see this happen if the car was manufactured on the assembly line in Japan. The Japanese would never allow shabby workmanship like that to go unnoticed.

My car has this gap and was made in Japan. I think Corton's mentioned his car was made in Japan as well.

corton · May 2006

I guess I did a poor job of explaining this picture. This particular picture is not of my car. I just posted a generic picture to show you the area to look at. On my car in area A there is an unsightly gap that varies in size depending upon the temperature (when it is hot in the car from sitting in the sun the gap is rather large).

The passenger side of the dash is rather plain and there is not much to look at, so any imperfections stand out rather markedly.

njerald · May 2006

You keep talking about unsightly gaps (rather large).

This may make sense to the touchy feely.

Can you measure?

2007 Toyota Camry Problems and Repairs

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