2012 Toyota Camry: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Nov 18, 2019 · Engine · 60,000 miles · NC · fire

Tl* the contact owned a 2012 toyota camry. While driving on the highway, the contact heard a clicking sound and decided to change lanes to pull over. The contact noticed smoke filling the vehicle and pulled over. The contact exited the vehicle as it caught fire under the hood. The vehicle was engulfed in flames and destroyed before the fire department arrived to extinguish them. Police and fire reports were filed. The vehicle was towed from the scene. The insurance company investigated the failure and took plenty of pictures of the burned out vehicle. There were no injuries. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The cause of the failure was not determined. The failure mileage was 60,000.

Filed Aug 2, 2018 · Brakes · 66,000 miles · MA

Our 2012 camry se had approximately 66,000 miles when the brake problem occurred. I was the driving vehicle on the highway on 7/30/18 going 55 MPH when I heard an whistling sound for 2-3 minutes. When I arrived at my destination 10 miles from my home I smelt a burning smell which seemed to come from the left rear wheel. When I touched the wheel it was very hot and would have burned my hand if I left it there. I drove home later and the same thing occurred. I threw some water on it and a cloud of steam arose. I called my mechanic who said it was most likely a stuck disc brake caliber and that he had seen the problem before on 2012 & 2013 camrys. The mechanic diagnosed the problem as a seized caliber piston which required the replacement of the left rear caliber, pads and rotor for over $500.00. My concern is that I have never had a safety problem like this occur in any vehicle never mind a fairly new camry which passed a safety inspection at toyota as part of an oil change on 2/20/18 when the vehicle had 63,253 miles. In my opinion there is a defect in the design or in the quality of the brake system which could lead to a brake system fire or brake failure.

Filed May 12, 2018 · Electrical · 87,900 miles · PA · fire

Driving car and I was stopped at intersection on a foggy morning about 6:15 am. Went to turn right at intersection and saw what I thought was a dense amount of fog flow across the front of my car. As I drove down the road, I smelled something burning, saw some smoke from under the front hood. An alarm went of and my dash displayed the warning hybrid system malfunction. Then fire started coming out from under the hood and up along the front windshield. I was just passing a gas station at the time so I continue to drive down pass the gas station and then pulled the car over to the side of the road and existed the car. The nearest fire company was out on a call, so the car continued to burn for about 30 minutes. As a result the entire front half of the car was completing burnt. Had no problems with the car prior to this fire. In fact, I drove it 176 miles the night before the fire. Learned after I existed the car while it was on fire, that a driver coming up the road behind me after I turned at the intersection, noticed sparks and/or flames shooting out from under my car. She was flashing her headlights at me, but I did not notice her.

Filed Apr 28, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 18,000 miles · FL · fire

Tl* the contact owns 2012 toyota camry. The contact stated that the service engine warning light started flashing on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the sensor was reset but the failure recurred until the warning light remained illuminated. The contact parked the vehicle and later discovered that the vehicle was on fire. The contact noticed that the fire originated from under the hood on the front passenger's side. The contact was not able to contain the fire as the front and rear passenger side tires, as well as the rear driver's side tire exploded. The fire department was called and was able to extinguish the fire. There were no injuries and the vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed of the incident. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 18000.

Filed Jan 2, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · CA

P/o response ltr to toyota corp. Re 2012 camrydate: december 26, 2013 - ...furthermore,my brother and I have stressed to everyone we have spoken with since our first contact on dec16, 2013 with toyota regarding these dangerous mechanical problems I.e., the unintended acceleration, steering pulling to the right as well as the offensive odor that occurs when the AC is turned on. ...no one will assist us until january 6, 2014...we cannot imagine that ceo [xxx]... Would find it acceptable to wait three (3) weeks - until january 6, 2014- to first begin an investigation while being left with a defective and damaged toyota camry. [xxx]. Did not respond to our phone call either. We located nov 16 2012 details and fwd to toyota corp: nov 16, 2012- at approximately 11:15pm on the 405s, all traffic was stopped by the police north of the skirball. We were standing still for about 10 minutes. Suddenly, our car lunged forward due to unintended acceleration. As the car veered to the right, I managed, with great effort, to steer the car as we went into the lane to the right of us. After traveling more than 100 feet, I was finally able to get the car to come to a stop. Thankfully, we did not hit and were not hit by passing police and fire vehicles. We also smelled something burning in our car for a couple of minutes. On november 17, 2012, we went into toyota service to report what had occurred the night before. We wanted toyota to know what had happened because it was very frightening and we were concerned about our safety. We also wanted to know how many other people had experienced this problem and how toyota had resolved this dangerous, safety problem. Toyota service checked and responded that there was no recall for this unintended acceleration in the 2012 camry. Unfortunately, we accepted that this was an isolated incident experienced only by us. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Jul 24, 2013 · Electrical · 28,000 miles · AL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 toyota camry. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked and became engulfed in flames. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact was informed by the fire marshall that the wiring under the instrument panel had caused the fire. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileage was 28,000.