NHTSA Complaint #10478841 — 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY

WHILE DRIVING, PULLING OUT OF GARAGE, TURNING RIGHT OR LEFT AT TOWN/CITY SPEEDS AND WHILE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS (55MPH AND HIGHER) A KNOCKING, POPPING FEELING IS FELT ON STEERING WHEEL. WHEN THE KNOCKING/POPPING FEELING IS FELT THERE IS ALSO A FEELING OF LOSS OF VEHICLE STEERING CONTROL. AT TIMES A SLIGHT LURCHING FEELING ALSO PRESENT. THE PROBLEM WAS REPORTED TO TOYOTA DEALER, WHO INSPECTED STEERING ASSEMBLY AND SAID THEY 'FEEL' THE PULSE BUT DON'T HAVE A FULL DIAGNOSIS. DURING THE MONTHS OF SEPT/OCT 2012 THE PROBLEM GOT WORSE WITH MORE POPPING/KNOCKING FEELING FELT AT WIDER SPEEDS AND GENERAL STEERING CONTROL BEING LOST MORE FREQUENTLY. TOOK THE VEHICLE TO ANOTHER DEALER ON OCT 5 2012 AND THEY STATE THAT THE STEERING SHAFT HAS TO BE REPLACED. MORE CONCERNING IS THE DEALER'S VERBAL STATEMENT THAT THIS IS A 'SAFETY ISSUE AND YOU SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING' THE VEHICLE. I CONTACTED TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE TO CHECK ON RECALLS AND THEY STATE NONE EXIST, BUT A TSB HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS ISSUE. THEY ALSO STATED (VERBAL) THAT IF MORE COMPLAINTS ARE RECEIVED TOYOTA MAY ISSUE A RECALL. A SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH WITH KEY WORDS '2007 TOYOTA CAMRY STEERING SHAFT RECALL' YIELDS 1000S OF HITS ON USERS REPORTING THIS PROBLEM. I FEEL THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT IS SLOWLY ARISING. I HAVE DRIVEN MY CAR FOR ROUGHLY 18000 MILES WHEN THE PROBLEM STARTS. DEALER NOW WANTS APPROXIMATELY $600 TO FIX THE ISSUE BY REPLACING THE SHAFT. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY, NOT JUST FOR MYSELF BUT FOR OTHER MOTORISTS AND FEEL THAT THIS ISSUE REQUIRES FURTHER INVESTIGATION BY COMPETENT AUTHORITY. TO ME IT LOOKS LIKE TOYOTA IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEMS BUT ARE WILLFULLY IGNORING THE ISSUE. I MAY BE CONTACTED FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF REQUIRED TO ASSIST ANY FURTHER INVESTIGATION. THANK YOU *TR