2003 Toyota Camry brakes problems

Filed Oct 16, 2026 · Airbags, Brakes · PA · crash

Sudden Unintended Acceleration: I had been out doing errands in the morning. I returned home, pulling up in front of my townhouse which is on a cul de sac. After gently coming to a stop, I planned to back up just a bit to park my car along the curb. (I did not have my foot on the accelerator, as the car normally goes gently backwards when you put it in reverse.) When I put it in R, the car accelerated backwards and crashed into a car that was parked along the curb about 15-20 ft behind me. I instinctively put the car in D to stop going uncontrollably backwards. The car shot forward; the brakes did not work. The car was out of control, making very loud revving sounds and loud screeching sounds from slamming on the brakes. Somehow, it did finally come to a stop by itself ¾ of the way around the cul de sac. Wanting to get out of the middle of the street, I instinctively turned the car back on and drove it slowly to my driveway. The car functioned normally. I could have badly injured or killed someone; in my cul de sac, there is often a lot of activity involving people of all ages, including children and babies. A police report exists. The car I hit was totaled. I had the car towed to my mechanic. He said the car didn’t throw any codes. He inspected it, but did not find anything wrong with it. The local Toyota dealership refuses to touch it because it’s been in an accident. I called Toyota (Plano TX) on 10/5: filed a claim with them on 10/7. A 3rd third-party inspector from Engineering Analysis Associates inspected the car and did a Bosch download from the black box on 10/14. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. I don’t absolutely know which component or system failed or malfunctioned. I am wondering if it’s a "ghost" software glitch (see Bookout vs Toyota litigation). Something similar happened to my husband in April 2025 when he was parking in a parking lot. The car is available for inspection upon request.

Filed May 7, 2021 · Brakes, Engine · 240,000 miles · AL

Drivers side power seat is stuck in forward. Emergency brake does not work. Engine requires 1 gallon of oil every 2 thousand miles.

Filed Feb 21, 2020 · Airbags, Brakes · 139,000 miles · KY · crash · 1 injury

Almost at end of exit ramp from i264 to bardstown rd near gardiner lane intersection. Had green light. My vehicle was going approx 25 MPH with no car in front of me to exit onto bardstown rd (hwy 31?). Only myself, driver. I was in left hand lane to exit to westbd (?) bardstown rd. Toward downtown and a smaller car whipped right in front of me from right hand kane (two exit lanes going in same direction. Perhaps, this car wanted to cross over three lanes on bardstown rd to get to fat left turn lane at gardiner ln. This light is often backed-up. Even though I applied my brakes, they were not stopping my car in time and I hopped curb to left to smsll triangular median. Airbags deployed. I could not make wise decisions without seeing and I was hit by airbags, bruised in face, etc. I was wearing my seatbelt. I viewed that there was no traffic coming toward me as I was now perpendicular to traffic into teo lanes of bardstown rd. I could have turned right and avoided hitting any othrr vehivle if it were not for airbags blocking my view. I had not hit any object or vehicle at this point. I kept applying pressure to my brakes on which I had spent thousands in repair. The brakes still did not stop me. I never saw why I stopped. Airbag blocked view. The car I was driving finally hit something (later found out) another car in turn lane to get onto I 264 it finally stopped. My hearing aid in my right ear was ejected when airbag deployed. I found it later on passenger mat in rear. The airbags had to be defective to deploy from jumping one small curb. No airbag I am able to turn right whether brakes work or not. No accident.

Filed Feb 25, 2019 · Acceleration, Brakes · 55,000 miles · CA

Coming to red light car would not stop I pressed harder on brakes asb came in then the car went into high rpms,and stopped sounded like it would blow up?.. I quickly put the car in neutral, from my experience to slow rpms you press gas petal hard until the rpms slow, I do not have floor maps, never had them...

Filed Dec 11, 2017 · Acceleration, Brakes · 103,000 miles · FL

On december 7,2017, I was in a parking lot in florida. As I started going into a parking space, the car began to surge. I had a loss of steering and braking.I almost hit the car next to me. Luckily that did not happen. I kept pressing down on the brake, but it took time for the steeering wheel to respond to me. I shut off the car because it seemed like the car had a mind of its own. I had 2 witnesses in the car.who saw that my car was in drive, and that my foot was on the brake pedal. The passenger checked the floor mat, and it was lying completely flat. I do not know why I had this loss of control. This also happened to me in 2010, when I had unintended acceleration,and my car hit a tree. I am now afraid to drive my car, and willl not do so because I feel it is unsafe.

Filed Jan 30, 2017 · Brakes · 1,206 miles · KY

I was coming to a stop pressing the brake the car accellarate up to 70 to 100 speed and kept pressing the brakes the more I press the faster it went I had to run lights to avoid hitting cars finally it decided to stop when I swirl into a walgreens it did this 4 times that daythank god I need to know what is going on with this car that is scary it acelllarate fast and wont stop ....

Filed Nov 15, 2016 · Brakes · NY · crash

I have owned my 2003 camry since it was brand new. During all that time, I have noticed that whenever I brake as the car travels over small bumps, cracks or other imperfections in the road (especially if I brake hard), the ABS system kicks in and appears to pump the brakes (though it does not actually stop the car) and does not shut down until I lift my foot off the brake thereby preventing a proper stop and significantly lengthening the stop. Note that this occurs on dry roads. This also seems to occur if there is a need to stop hard just as I am accelerating, such as an unexpected short stop by the car in front. It has not LED to any serious accidents (though a couple of light rear-ends), which I credit to my being able to compensate for the problem, until last week when the problem caused a more serious rear-end collision. All the other cars in four car chain managed to stop short, not my camry even as I maintained my foot on the brake, as it seemed to barely slow down, causing significant damage. The car is probably better off without the ABS braking system altogether than with this defectively deploying system that doesn't really even seem to stop the car, but just lightly pumps the brakes, preventing proper braking.

Filed Dec 9, 2015 · Brakes, Steering · MA

"takata recall" - I am experiencing a clicking noise from the steering wheel when turning the wheel to the left & right, the whole dash board shakes when the AC or heat is on, brakes pedal goes all the way to the floor & making sounds, and when you put the car in park it will move forward.

Filed Dec 8, 2015 · Brakes, Steering · 33,705 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota camry. The contact stated that when making a left or right turn, there was an abnormal noise emitting from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the lower steering shaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. In addition, the contact stated that when the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle hesitated to respond. The contact also mentioned that after switching into the park position, the vehicle independently switched in the reverse position without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 33,705.

Filed Sep 25, 2015 · Brakes, Electrical · 110,000 miles · CT · crash

Today I pulled over to drop off child at school, was already to park and car accelerated and hit the car in front of me. My foot was clearly on brake as I was already going no more than 5 miles an hour to park. It was not driver error. That feeling of the car thrusting forward when my foot was on brake was something I never felt before. I called toyota and checked the recall list the car is not listed. I am sending it tomorrow to toyota for service. The impact was so hard, my body is completely tense even 5 hours later. The thrust was not driver error, thank god for the car in front of me that I hit or else would have been worse. All I could do out of panic was put the car in park but I think it stopped because I hit the car in front of me.