NHTSA Complaint #10676280 — 2009 TOYOTA CAMRY

WHILE DRIVING OR WHEN PARKED, ALL DASHBOARD GAUGES (ENGINE TEMP, SPEEDOMETER, ETC.) DROP TO 0. AT THE SAME TIME, THE "BRAKE" AND THE "ABS" LIGHTS ILLUMINATE. THE INDICATOR FOR PARK/DRIVE/REVERSE IS NO LONGER ILLUMINATED, AND THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE INDICATOR FLASHES BETWEEN "E" AND THE CORRECT TEMPERATURE. IN ADDITION, THE A/C FAILS TO COOL, DESPITE ALL LIGHTS/INDICATORS ON THE CONSOLE APPEARING NORMAL (NO FLASHING LIGHTS TO INDICATE A MALFUNCTION.) ALL ABOVE ISSUES WILL RANDOMLY OCCUR - NO OBVIOUS CORRELATION TO BRAKING, ACCELERATION, ETC. AT TIMES, SOME OF THE GAUGES WILL NORMALIZE, WHILE OTHERS REMAIN AT "0." IN ADDITION, SOME GAUGES WILL FLUCTUATE SPORADICALLY, OR "BOUNCE" UP/DOWN - NOT INDICATING TRUE ENGINE TEMP OR SPEED. THE PROBLEMS WILL ALL RESOLVE AT TIMES, SEEMINGLY RANDOMLY, AND THEN REOCCUR - JUST AS RANDOMLY. I HAVE FOUND NUMEROUS VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE WHICH DOCUMENT THIS ISSUE, AND I HAVE NOTED NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ON THIS WEBSITE DESCRIBING THE SAME PROBLEM. AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS (ON 11/14/14), I TOOK MY CAR TO THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP, DESCRIBING THE ISSUES AND SUGGESTING THE BRAKE ACTUATOR HAD FAILED (AS I HAD READ FROM OTHER OWNER COMPLAINTS.) THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP STATED THAT THEY HAD SEEN SEVERAL OTHER VEHICLES WITH SIMILAR ISSUES, BUT WAS CONFUSED ABOUT THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE A/C ISSUE. (PLEASE NOTE: I LIVE IN A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF LESS THAN 250,000.) AFTER SEVERAL DAYS OF DIAGNOSTICS, THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP CONTACTED A TOYOTA SPECIALIST IN HOUSTON, TX, WHO CONFIRMED THAT THE BRAKE ACTUATOR HAD FAILED. I PAID $1932.23 FOR PARTS AND LABOR (THAT'S INCLUDING A 10% DISCOUNT) TO HAVE THE ISSUE REPAIRED. MY VEHICLE WAS WITH THE DEALERSHIP FOR 11 DAYS BEFORE IT WAS FINALLY REPAIRED. I AM CONCERNED THAT SO MANY PEOPLE SEEM TO HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM, AND THAT A RECALL HAS NOT BEEN ISSUED FOR A CONDITION AFFECTING MULTIPLE SAFETY FEATURES OF THE VEHICLE. *TR