2008 Toyota Camry: sudden loss of power

Filed Jul 25, 2023 · Electrical · CA · crash · 1 injury

The vehicle is a hybrid and so with no warning present on the dash the vehicle was being back out of garage and when the hybrid battery Failed which led to loss of power including steering and brake and hit brick gate and after impact the vehicle is unable to drive has all warning lights on and displays "check hybrid system" and low voltage park immediately, and the hybrid battery is constantly on due to overheating, had it check by mechanic and was told it was the hybrid battery. Thank God no one was around when the crash occurred or that I was not on the highway.

Filed Jan 9, 2020 · Steering · 105,000 miles · CA

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).

Filed Jun 26, 2018 · Engine · 201,000 miles · AZ

Took the car on a long trip across the country. Had an oil change just before the trip. As we were arriving home, we lost power going up hills. Pulled over and checked oil. It was low... Very low. No warning lights or check engine ever came on. Took it to the dealer. They said that it now needs new rings and that the cylinder's are scored. Repairs totaling over $10,000. Apparently there is a known defect with these cars that they burn oil. The low oil warning light didn't come on when I was 3 1/2 quarts low on oil. That is unacceptable! This car has been ruined due to this defect.

Filed May 23, 2018 · Driver assistance · 170,000 miles · VA

When driving the car, the check vsc system, ABS icon and sometimes the battery icon appeared on screen. Shortly after it starts to affect the entire car where it starts losing power in the cabin as well as exterior of the car. The vehicle also experience couple of bad shakes followed by speed decreasing, odometer going haywire where you are speeding or giving gas but the odometer is at 0. Finally the car comes to a stop. It acts totally weird. If you are turn off the car to turn it on again, the car does not turn on. There is no ignition clicking as well. When this occurred the first time, the clicking of starting the engine could be heard. The second time, it was as the car has completely died although battery still has power since the dashboard lights do turn on. Both of the time the accident was avoided. The first time the vehicle was luckily pulled into a side street and not on main road. The second time it was close enough but was able to pull on to the side street and to a parking space. In the first attempt, the battery was jumped and took off the cable in couple of minutes and finding the car dead. This was thought that the battery was bad. Second time, new battery was installed and the similar incident was experienced. When the new battery was installed, the car was 'ok' for couple of days but the battery icon would come and go. When the above issue was experienced again and this time on the new battery, it was jumped and stayed for 5 minutes before driving away. The battery icon still comes and goes and it is not due to the battery being lose. Everything is tightened properly. This was not experienced in the 10 years of owning this car. There are no major accidents on the cars. There was nothing minor or major happened to the car prior to the incidents

Filed Mar 14, 2017 · Driver assistance, Engine · NY

In july 2016 I began to notice my car was struggling to maintain it's power. When I drove the car and stepped on the gas in wasn't getting much power. When in traffic or stopped at a traffic light it would stall when trying to drive off and then the check engine light would come on. I brought my car to toyota service center and they worked on my car for several days. They were able to get the check engine light of and remedy the problem but could not determine the cause. In december 2016 I started to experience the same problem. I was losing power and the car would stall when at a complete stop, it was right after the check engine light came on. I brought my car back to toyota for servicing and they had a difficult time determining the cause but came to a conclusion that it was a sensor code. I followed their advice for servicing and paid for the the sensor code to be replaced. Now we're here in march 2017 and I'm having the same problem. The same pattern where the car struggles to gain power and when I drive to to stop in traffic the car begins to stall. It is right after the check engine light comes on. I returned to toyota for the problem but hey could not diagnose the problem. My car is being returned without a cause.

Filed Jan 23, 2016 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 133,000 miles · MN

My toyota camry hybrid all sudden after 2 minutes of driving, had all of its warning lights on (like ABS, engine...) and with the vcs warning text across the dash board. It was very hard to control the vehicle to pull it off the road. I am not sue what is happening, but god forbid if this thing happened on the highway, I would have been in accident. The card was in no drivable and constituted a huge hazard. A car must never be allowed to lose power suddenly while driving. Scary experience and must be looked by the relevant authority to compel toyota to investigate and may be recall those hybrids.

Filed May 20, 2014 · Brakes, Electrical · 119,442 miles · CA

The warning lights went on and immediate the vehicle shut down while I was traveling a city street in san francisco, california (dewey blvd). Fortunately the street is fairly level and I wasn't on a hill. I loss power to the brake, steering and everything as everything was dead. I was able to coast to a curb putting all my effort to stop the car. I tried starting and moved about 10 feet before everything went dead again. I did not move it further I called for a tow (aaa) and the initial diagnosis was that the alternator was dead. The car was towed to a mechanic who also said that this alternator was dead and it was replaced. I told him where it happened and he said I was lucky that I wasn't on the freeway.

Filed Jan 23, 2009 · Transmission · 16,500 miles · NY

2008 toyota camry suddenly lost power in 5th gear (manual transmission). Steering wheel lost control. At the time the incident happened, the road was dry and the engine was running. I was lucky because no one was near me so I did not hit any other car. The incident happened during morning commute. Afterward, I tested my car on a different road at noon and the car still feel sluggish at 5th gear. By evening time, the 5th gear recovered some more power.

Filed Feb 16, 2008 · Steering · 600 miles · CO

Loss of power steering in brand new 08 camry hybrid.