NHTSA Complaint #11298246 — 2008 TOYOTA CAMRY

LOST POWER STEERING WHILE PARKING THE CAR, PS LIGHT ALSO BECAME ON. THE CAR BECAME DIFFICULT TO STEER, BUT WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE PARKING JOB AS THE CAR WAS ALMOST IN PARKING POSITION. CALLED AAA AND TOWED THE CAR HOME (2PM, NO DEALER WAS OPEN) AND LATER DROVE TO A NEARBY DEALER (THE AAA DRIVER TOLD ME HOW TO HANDLE THE STEERING). THE INITIAL DIAGNOSTIC BY THE DEALER (STEVENS CREEK TOYOTA, SAN JOSE, CA) IS AN ECU FAILURE. DEALER TOLD ME THAT WE WERE LUCK AS IT IS VERY HARD TO CONTROL THE CAR WITH THIS PROBLEM. I WAS LUCKY THAT IT HAPPENED WHILE WE WERE PARKING THE CAR. IF IT HAPPENED ON HIGHWAY, IT CAN POTENTIALLY CAUSE CRASH FOR SURE. CAR IS 2008 CAMRY HYBRID, 105K MILE. WELL MAINTAINED, ALL MAINTENANCE WORK WERE DONE BY TOYOTA DEALER. WHAT MADE ME EXTREMELY CONCERNED IS THAT THIS CAR HAS A HISTORY OF CRITICAL SAFETY FUNCTION FAILURE IN THE PAST. 1) DRIVER SIDE WINDER SWITCH WAS OVERHEATED AND GENERATED A LOT OF SMOKES. DEALER SAID THE SWITCH HAS A DEFECT, AND I BELIEVE IT LED TO A RECALL LATER. 2) DRIVER SIDE WINDOW WIPER STOPPED MOVING WHILE DRIVING IN RAIN, LOST VISIBILITY IN SECONDS. DEALER SAID A DEFECT IN THE MOTOR CAUSE THE PROBLEM, BUT NOT SURE WHETHER IT LED TO A RECALL. 3) PS / ECU PROBLEM THAT MADE THE CAR HARD TO CONTROL. I THINK TOYOTA IS DOING EXTREMELY POOR ON THEIR CAR'S SAFETY. THE DEALER REPORT IS NOT DONE YET. I WILL UPDATE IT LATER THANKS [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR