NHTSA Complaint #11208755 — 2018 TOYOTA CAMRY

FROM THE FIRST WEEK OF DRIVING, THERE BECAME A TERRIBLE AND ANNOYING HESITATION OF 3-5 SECONDS WHEN ACCELERATING. SINCE THIS IS A V6, IT ACCELERATES GREAT, BUT I REALIZED AFTER DECELERATION AND THEN ACCELERATING AGAIN, THERE WAS A LONG DELAY BEFORE THE ENGINE WOULD 'CATCH UP' WITH THE IDEA THAT WE WANTED TO GO AGAIN. UPON COMPLAINING TO SERVICE, THEY SAID IT TAKES SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES FOR THE COMPUTER TO LEARN HOW EACH INDIVIDUAL DRIVES. AGAIN, AFTER SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES, THE SAME OCCURRENCE, AND IT SEEMED TO EVEN GET WORSE AS I SOMETIMES SPIN THE FRONT TIRES (ON ICE AND SNOW AND WET ROADS) ONCE THE CAR'S COMPUTER ACTUALLY ACCELERATED. ONCE THE DEALER ACTUALLY 'RESET' THE COMPUTER WHICH MADE THINGS WORSE BECAUSE THE 'LEARNING' MODE STARTED OVER. SEVERAL TIMES I COMPLAINED AND FINALLY ONE OF THE MASTER TECHS ADMITTED THIS IS BECAUSE OF THE DRIVE-BY-WIRE SYSTEM THAT REPLACED THE MECHANICAL FOOT-PEDAL DIRECT ACCELERATION. HE SAID IT'S ALSO COMPLICATED BY THE 8-SPEED TRANSMISSION, THAT WHEN DECELERATING, THE TRANS UPSHIFTS TO MAYBE 6TH OR 8TH GEAR, AND ONCE THE DRIVER ACCELERATES AGAIN, THE DRIVE-BY-WORE SYSTEM , WHICH IS ALREADY DELAYING ACCELERATION FROM THE DRIVERS FOOT PRESSURE, HAS TO THEN UP SHIFT SEVERAL GEARS 'IMMEDIATELY', THIS CAUSING A LURCHING (AND SOMETIMES TIRE SPIN). TOYOTA ACKNOWLEDGES THE 'PROBLEM', BUT SAYS SINCE OTHER SIMILAR CARS DO THE SAME THING, THAT IT'S 'NORMAL'. I DISAGREE. IT'S IS A FAULT, A DESIGN DEFECT, AND IT SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED AND REPAIRED. TOYOTA HAS BECOME SERVICE-LAZY IN RECENT YEARS AND REFUSES TO FIX DESIGN FLAWS, FORCING THEIR CUSTOMERS TO DEAL WITH FAULTY CARS.