NHTSA Complaint #10308256 — 2008 TOYOTA CAMRY

SAFETY ISSUE WITH MY 2008 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID I HAVE 2008 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID. IT IS EXTREMELY UNSTABLE ON SNOW. THE CAR SKID A LOT ON SNOW AND BRAKES ARE NOT VERY EFFICIENT ON SNOW. MY CAR HAS SKIDDED SEVERAL TIMES AND I AM WORRIED ABOUT ME AND MY FAMILY'S SAFETY. I REPORTED THE MATTER TO TOYOTA ON THEIR WEBSITE ON NOV. 26, 2009. TOYOTA RESPONDED BACK ON DEC. 3RD VIA EMAIL SAYING THAT THEY HAVE OPENED A FILE (#0912105992/ INCIDENT: 091126-000277) AND A CASE MANAGER WILL CONTACT ME. TILL DATE NO ONE HAS CONTACTED ME. I SPOKE TO GO TOYOTA, CENTENNIAL COLORADO BASED TOYOTA DEALER PERSONNEL AND HE SAID I SHOULD PURSUE THE MATTER DIRECTLY WITH TOYOTA. HE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED COMPLAINTS ABOUT POOR PERFORMANCE OF TOYOTA'S HYBRIDS IN SNOW. I AM REALLY UPSET ABOUT TOYOTA'S HANDLING OF THE CASE AS NO ONE HAS CONTACTED ME SO FAR. IN FACT THEY WERE QUICK ENOUGH TO EVEN SEND ME A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY ON HOW WAS THEIR RESPONSE WITHOUT EVEN CONTACTING ME. TO BE ON THE SAFER SIDE I CHANGED MY TIRES WITH HIGH QUALITY MICHELIN TIRES. THE OEM BRIDGESTONE TIRES WERE VERY POOR ON SNOW FROM DAY ONE OF MY PURCHASE OF CAMRY HYBRID. ON NOV. 22, 2009 WHILE I WAS TRAVELING WITH MY FAMILY I HAD A NARROW ESCAPE WHEN MY CAMRY SKIDDED AND HIT THE SIDEWALK. AT THAT TIME IT HAD BARELY STARTED SNOWING WITH LESS THAN 1 INCH OF SNOW ON THE GROUND. THE CAR COULD NOT EVEN CLIMB A SMALL SLOPE ON THE ROAD WHILE OTHER CARS WERE PASSING BY WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. THIS INCIDENT HAS MADE ME NERVOUS ABOUT DRIVING MY CAR ON SNOW. AFTER TIRE CHANGE THE STABILITY HAS IMPROVED BUT I STILL FEEL THAT BRAKING AND STABILITY IS BIG ISSUE WITH TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID. THIS MODEL IS NOT MENTIONED IN CURRENT RECALLS BUT I WOULD REQUEST NHTSA TO INVESTIGATE THE STABILITY OF TOYOTA HYBRIDS ON THE SNOW. - BEST REGARDS. *TR