NHTSA Complaint #10167727 — 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY

THIS COMPLAINT IS RE: A NEW 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY LE 4 CYLINDER WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. THIS CAR WILL HESITATE FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME BEFORE ACCELERATING FROM VIRTUALLY ANY SPEED (BEHAVIOR NOT SEEN WHEN ACCELERATING FROM DEAD STOP), REGARDLESS OF HOW HARD THE DRIVER PRESSES THE GAS PEDAL. PROBLEM OCCURS WHEN MOVING AT VIRTUALLY ANY SPEED AND THEN QUICKLY PRESSING AND HOLDING THE GAS PEDAL DOWN SO AS TO ACCELERATE QUICKLY. THIS BEHAVIOR IS NOT LIKE ANY OTHER CAR I HAVE EVER DRIVEN, INCLUDING A RENTAL 2005 4 CYLINDER CAMRY THAT I DROVE FOR A WEEK IN THE COLORADO MOUNTAINS LAST SUMMER (2005). SAFETY ISSUE IS THAT CAR IS UNPREDICTABLE IN SITUATIONS WHERE ONE MUST MOVE THE CAR TO AVOID TRAFFIC. EXAMPLE: ROLLING FORWARD INTO A LEFT TURN AT A GREEN LIGHT INTERSECTION, PRESS GAS TO CLEAR THE INTERSECTION BEFORE ONCOMING TRAFFIC GETS TOO CLOSE, THE CAR DID NOT INCREASE ENGINE REVOLUTIONS AND TOOK OVER 1 SEC. TO DROP INTO LOWER GEAR AND BEGIN TO INCREASE ENGINE REVOLUTIONS/ACCELERATE. THE CAR'S FAILURE TO RESPOND TO GAS PEDAL INPUT WAS SO LONG THAT I WOULD HAVE HAD AN ACCIDENT IF I HAD PERSISTED IN THE LEFT HAND TURN; I HAD TO TURN THE CAR PARALLEL TO ONCOMING TRAFFIC TO AVOID HITTING THE ONCOMING CAR. THIS BEHAVIOR IS REPEATABLE AND THE DELAY CAN BE UP TO 2 SEC. IN LENGTH BEFORE THE CAR EVEN BEGINS TO ACCELERATE. THIS BEHAVIOR IS ALSO SEEN BY NUMEROUS OTHER OWNERS OF '07 CAMRYS AS CAN BE SEEN IN POSTINGS ON WWW.EDMUNDS.COM (CLICK ON FORUMS TAB AND SEARCH FOR "CAMRY HESITATION"). THE ISSUE IS NOT ONE OF LACK OF HORSEPOWER. THE ISSUE IS LONG AND UNPREDICTABLE RESPONSE TO THROTTLE INPUT. THERE ARE ALSO VERY ANNOYING DRIVABLE ISSUES WITH THIS CAR THAT ARE RELATED TO TRANSMISSION/ENGINE BEHAVIOR, BUT I AM ADDRESSING ONLY THE SAFETY ISSUE IN THIS COMPLAINT. EFFORTS TO RESOLVE ISSUE HAVE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL; TOYOTA'S RESPONSE HAS BEEN THAT THE CAR IS OPERATING "NORMALLY" AND "AS DESIGNED." IF SO, THERE IS A DESIGNED-IN SAFETY ISSUE WITH THIS CAR. *JB