Consumers Reports & Camry QC ?

The problems are with the 6 cylinder. The 4 and hybrid are ok. My wife bought the hybrid 6 weeks ago. Great car so far and getting 34 mpg as EPA promised. Only issue is a clicking noise from upper vents in dash when air ATC has air coming thru those vents. Brakes are great. Just saved me from hitting a deer. My wife was sitting next to me and impressed with the short and straight stop.

I did not look the CR but I think it is based on 07 Camry, the 1st year of the new model. One of the significant change of this new model is the 5 speed auto transimission. There are over 10 TSBs issues after the first 07 Camry was released, some are replacing previous TSBs. I have a 4 cylinder and have done 3 TSBs so far (transimission slow shifting, panel rattling noise, and braking squealing). For details of these TSB, check toyotanation.com Overall, the car performs very well with very smooth ride, good mileage. After two years on the market, the 08 model should have all bugs fixed (I hope).

I think you are over reacting. The CR reliability ratings are junk science at best, more like a popularity poll that a scientific survey. I didn't trust the surveys when they rated every Toyota as a super duper greatest car ever made on the face of the earth, and now that Toyotas are showing up as only average or slightly better, I don't think the surveys are any more trustworthy. The biggest difference is that Toyota is now a major league player with millions of non-enthusiast buyers. The CR readers that used to bash domestics are now buying Toyotas and discovering that they are not all that the Toyota enthusiasts claim them to be. In truth, they are very good but not always perfect cars. My SO has a 2007 RAV4 (basically a tall Camry Wagon) and so far it has not been back to the dealer. The car is not perfect, but it is a very good car. The only serious complaint I have is the operation of the Cruise Control. It goes wild if you try to cruise at around

60 mph (continually down shifting and upshifting in response to the slightest change in road conditions). There are lots of ergonomic and quality of material things I don't like (ridiculous control layout, bizarre gear shift, irritating instrument illumination, cheap materials, mediocre seats) but all of this is at the typical Toyota quality level (i.e., extra ordinary). If you liked your old Toyota, the new one will probably be just fine.

Ed

Most of the problems have to do with the drive by wire implementation that Toyota uses, which results in 1-2 second delay before the transmission down shifts after you press down on the gas pedal under certain conditions (like slowing down during a turn, then accelerating). The purpose of this behavior is to minimize emissions and maximize gas mileage. Anyway, some people don't notice this behavior, others, well it simple drives them completely crazy. Take an extended test drive and see if it is a problem for you.

Did you read their recall rate in 07, thats a joke. Its called over expansion and trying to sell the most cars and not the best ones.

Did you read their recall rate in 07, thats a joke. Its called over expansion and trying to sell the most cars and not the best ones.

Actually Toyota's 2007 recall rate was exceptionally low. If you drop out the truck ball joint rcall it was trivial. The most significant "car" recall wasn't a vehicle recall at all - it was an equipment recall of dealer sold accessory floor mats. There is a list of 2007 Vehicle Recalls at

Regards,

Ed White

Toyota is the recall leader 1.500,000 in 06 and 1,000,000 in 07 worldwide, you call that exceptionaly low!! Its a joke.

Toyota wasn't even close to the recall leader in 2007. Mike Hunt made this same claim a few weeks back. Did you bother to look at the spreadsheet I posted the link for?

The following is copied from a previous post where I refuted the false claims about 2007 Toyota recalls:

That is not true either. I provided you with a complete list 2007 Toyota recalls. Strictly speaking "Toyota" only has three recall campaigns in 2007:

Sept 26 - NHTSA # 07E082000 - 2007 and 2008 Camry and Lexus ES350 Floor Mats (an equipment recall, not a vehicle recall) - approximately

55,000 vehicles affected

Jan 19 - NHTSA # 07V013000 - 2004 to 2007 Sequoias and 2004 to 2006 Tundras - lower ball joint recall - 533,124 vehicles affected

Jul 24 - NHTSA # 07V324000 - 2007 Tacoma 4WD Pickup - propeller shaft - 108 vehicles affected

There are three more recalls for aftermarket components installed in Toyotas (in some cases installed by Toyota dealers or distributors):

Jan 16 - NHTSA # 07E005000 - Scion XA and XB - aftermarket cruise control (not installed by Toyota) - 2934 vehicles affected

Jan 25 - NHTSA # 07V030000 - Scion XA and XB - Gulf States installed cruise control - 1372 vehicles affected

Jan 16 - NHTSA # 07V048000 - Scion XA and XB - Southeast Toyota installed cruise control - 716 vehicles

As far as I can determine that is the complete list of 2007 "Toyota/Lexus/Scion" US Recalls. In the last five months of 2007 (May to September) DiamlerChrysler (now Chrysler) has had 13 recalls:

May 2007 - 07V-192 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 270,958 MY 2005 Town and Country and Dodge Caravan minivans

May 2007 - 07V-196 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 410 MY 2007 Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass and Patriot passenger vehicles

June 2007 - 07V-240 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 798 MY 2007-2008 Sebring and MY 2008 Dodge Avenger vehicles.

June 2007 - 07V-246 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 39 MY 2007 Dodge and Freightliner Sprinter 2500 and 3500 trucks.

June 2007 - 07V-247 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 5,062 MY 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup trucks

July 2007 - 07V-291 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 80,894 MY 2007 Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Nitro vehicles.

July 2007 - 07V-299 - DaimlerChrysler Manufacturing is recalling 4,433 MY 2001-2006 Dodge Sprinter and Freightliner Sprinter 2500 and 3500 trucks

July 2007 - 07V-325 - DaimlerChrysler Manufacturing is recalling 461 MY 2007 Dodge and Freightliner Sprinter 2500 and 3500 trucks.

September 2007 - 07V-413 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 1,498 MY 2007

2-wheel drive Dodge Ram pickup trucks

September 2007 - 07V-414 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 72,333 MY

2007-2008 Avenger sedan and Chrysler Sebring convertible vehicles.

September 2007 - 07V-415 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 28,755 MY

2007-2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander sport utility vehicles

September 2007 - 07V-426 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 1,158 MY 2008 Dodge Avenger all wheel drive vehicles.

September 2007 - 07V-434 - DaimlerChrysler is recalling 296,550 MY

2007 Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler, and MY 2006-2007 Grand Cherokee and Commander sport utility vehicles.

Ford, GM, Nissan, VW, Volvo, and Suzuki have all had more individual recall campaigns than Toyota so far in 2007. So to be clear - Toyota has not recalled the most vehicles in 2007 and Toyota has not had the most recalls in 2007.

Also see :

Ed

Your spreadsheet pulled up Yamaha, you obviously have a business relationship with toyota, Why argue Toyota has had alot of serious issues over the last few years, Camry transmissions, oil gelling, etc etc, and yes they are one of the recall leaders

The main problem is with their new transmission design, the one for the V6 skips gears (or "flares") when you step on the gas. There is no fix. Toyota will give you a new transmission and if it goes bad again, as one owner claimed, the dealer is instructed not to recognize you. The 4-cyl ones seem ok, but may shudder as earlier U series downshift.

Toyota's older Aisin A series transmissions were ok, they were never great, but at least the A series was more reliable. When Aisin stopped copying BorgWarner's design from the joint venture is when they started having problems.

As for purchasing one? Why would you want one? I personally would let GM tweak the new Malibu a bit and add the new Hydramatic 6T series transmission:

The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan use the same basic transmission with a V-6. Nobody complains about the transmission in that application. Why does Toyota appear to have a problem?

I finally saw an actual Malibu on the road. Now I understand why all the GM ads only use artist renderings. It is not an ugly car, but it is very plain looking. I can't decide which looks more like a Saturn Aura - the Malibu or the new four door Accord. After checking out the prices on the Malibu, I can't see any reason to get excited. Dull and over priced...not a good combination. I wonder how many sales it is stealing from the Impala? I can't see much reason to prefer one over the other unless you want a V-8, in which case the Impala is the only choice. The Malibu has loser written all over it. I guess in the short run it is attractive to die hard Chevy fans (and they have had little to love recently), but I can't see it attracting many Camry or Accord buyers, especially a year from now after all the usual GM screw-up are made public (or maybe finally, there will not be any - here's hoping for a miracle)..

Ed

I am not sure what you mean when you said "your spreadsheet pulled up Yamaha." Yamaha is the last brand in the list, but that is just because of where the name falls alphabetically. The spreadsheet (an Excel file) lists all the 2007 US safety recalls for all US vehicle manufacturers in 2007. Page up to see the Toyota recalls. My only "business relationship" with Toyota in recent years has been buying parts for the SO's RAV4.

I am not saying that Toyota has not had problems in recent years. In fact I would agree that Toyota has managed to create the illusion of building trouble free cars despite selling some real pieces of junk. I was merely pointing out that your claim that Toyota had the most recalls in 2007 was wrong. Despite all the additional trucks recalled due to ball joint problems, Toyota wasn't in the top five in terms of recalls in 2007. They were a leader in 2006, but that is the only time that has happened (at least in the US).

If you want to trash Toyota for building mediocre yet overpriced cars, I won't argue with you. However, you need to at least get the facts straight.

Ed