NHTSA Complaint #701245 — 1996 TOYOTA CAMRY

DATES OF SERVICE FOR THE SAME PROBLEM: 7/17/96, 7/29/96, 9/06/96, 9/20/96, 11/02/96, 07/10/97,10/06/97 DEALER TURNED OFF ENGINE LIGHT BUT PROBLEM WAS ONLY TEMPORARILY FIXED. 5/14/98 IS THE MOST RECENT DATE WHEN ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED & TURNED OFF BY ITSELF 3 DAYS LATER, THEREFORE 5/14/98 OCCURRENCE WAS NOT BROUGHT IN FOR SERVICE. DEALER HAD CONCLUDED THE CAUSE TO BE SEVERAL THINGS. THEIR FIRST DIAGNOSIS WAS THAT THE LIGHT BEING SET OFF BY ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION IN ALARM WIRING (ALARM WAS INSTALLED BY THE SAME DEALER), THE NEXT DIAGNOSIS WAS IT WAS DUE TO BAD CHARCOAL CANNISTER FOR WHICH THE PARTS WERE SPECIALLY ORDERED & CAR WAS BROUGHT IN FOR SERVICE FROM DATE 9/12/96 TO 9/19/96. THE PROBLEM WAS SHORTLY FIXED FOR THE ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON AGAIN AND CAR WAS BROUGHT IN AGAIN ON 11/02/96. IT WAS A HASSLE TO KEEP BRINGING IN THE CAR ONLY TO HAVE THE ENGINE LIGHT ON 1-2 WEEKS LATER. I HAVE BEEN GIVING UP ON THIS PROBLEM (IE BRINGING IN TO THE DEALER). THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTS. I JUST IGNORE IT& THE LIGHT WOULD GO OFF BY ITSELF WHICH IS EQUIVALENT TO THE RESULT OF MY DEALER'S SERVICE, ONLY IGNORING IT SAVES ME TIME & ENERGY. DEALER KEEPS TELLING ME IT'S NOT DANGEROUS AND KEEP BRINGING THE CAR IN WHENEVER THIS HAPPENS AGAIN.