2012 Toyota Camry: hesitation when accelerating

Filed Jan 8, 2026 · Acceleration, Engine · WA

I am reporting a safety-related issue involving the ECM / torque converter on my 2012 Toyota Camry. This issue can cause loss of power, hesitation, or stalling which presents a serious safety concern while driving. The issue impacts drivability and can result in sudden loss of acceleration or engine stalling, especially at higher speeds or during merging. This creates an increased risk of collision for myself, passengers, and surrounding vehicles. I have experienced some scary occurrences with shuddering at high speeds, hesitation while near other innocent vehicles and stalling. I was never notified by Toyota about this recall or service campaign while it was active. I maintain current registration information and would have had the issue addressed immediately. Toyota acknowledged the campaign but refused support due to expiration, despite my lack of notice. I contacted Toyota and was instructed to file a complaint with the federal safety agency. Toyota declined to repair the issue under goodwill or policy exception. I am requesting that the federal safety agency investigate whether this defect should have been classified as a safety recall and whether consumers were properly notified. Sudden loss of power or stalling presents a significant safety risk and may warrant additional remedies or extension of the campaign for affected owners who were not notified.

Filed Aug 18, 2025 · Transmission · 90,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was an unknown warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure worsened while merging onto a highway and the vehicle vibrated abnormally while accelerating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty. The contact was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

Filed Mar 21, 2025 · Transmission · 105,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating before slamming into gear. The contact stated that the vehicle was shuddering abnormally. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to the Limited-Service Campaign: (LSC) LSCE03. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided contact with the diagnostic trouble code: P2109 that was retrieved when the vehicle was taken to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.

Filed Jul 16, 2024 · Transmission · 120,000 miles · GA

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating and downshifted unexpectedly. The contact stated that the vehicle was shuddering abnormally. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure with an unknown recall; however, the vehicle was not included. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.

Filed Sep 27, 2023 · TN

When accelerating transmission is hesitated to almost car dies. When pulling out into traffic cars almost run over you due to this or go to take off at red lights when you accelerate it hesitates then takes off.

Filed Apr 13, 2023 · Engine · 157,033 miles · MD

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle hesitated. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine control module (ECM) software needed to be updated. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 157,033.

Filed Mar 19, 2023 · Transmission · TX

As a background, we bought the car in 2012 brand new. My background is Mechanical engineering, and hence maintained the car very well. Apart from this issue on Torque convertor rest is all good. The car has about 94,000 miles on it. Around few weeks back, the car started to hesitate when it is shifting between 20-25 mph. Sometimes this can be dangerous as you are expecting the car to pick up the speed esp. when joining the freeway etc. and always worried about being rammed in the rear by the traffic. Anyway, I took it to the dealer who said there was a “Warranty Enhancement” program that expired after 10 years. I am not sure why Toyota is permitted to have this Warranty Enhancement program when they full well know this should be a recall. This is widely discussed on all the Toyota forums. The repair is expensive about $2200 (the work is detailed in the Warranty Enhancement program ZE5) and requires software update to be done which the dealers control. With the cost of new cars and also lack of supply I had no good choice but to pay for this repair. I tried to get Toyota Headquarters to see if they honor the “Warranty Enhancement”, but they refused to even though some of this period coincides with pandemic. We have bought several of the Toyota products including Camry, Sienna & Tacoma and never been more disappointed in them than this handling of the issue. I am still at a loss on why the federal safety agency would let Toyota do this warranty enhancement, and not a full recall. This is putting lives of drivers at risk where one day where it might either lock up or hesitate to pick up full speed when needed. More importantly, the warranty enhancement clearly states that it will only be fixed during that period if the transmission shudder shows. It is bound to show some time, so if they know this is a mechanical and software issue why not do a recall to fix this instead of putting people’s lives in danger? the federal safety agency please help investigate this safety issue. UPDATE 06/16/2023: This is a brand new design introduced by To

Filed Feb 23, 2023 · Acceleration, Transmission · 80,000 miles · MA

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH and making a lane change, the vehicle started vibrating while depressing the accelerator pedal, but failed to respond as needed. The contact stated that the hesitation lasted for approximately 10 to 15 seconds, before the vehicle jerked forward and accelerated as needed. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer however, the mechanic could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure became a recurring failure. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

Filed Jul 27, 2022 · Transmission · 162,000 miles · GA

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from idle, the vehicle hesitated. The contact stated that the transmission was shaking while driving between 20 and 50 MPH. The contact stated that the issue was remedied while driving above 50 MPH. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that the torque converter had failed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact stated the failure was occurring more frequently. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact stated that the failure was related to the federal safety agency ID Number: 10109488 (Power Train) and had been previously been repaired under the TSB Limited Service Plan; however, the repair failed to fix the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 162,000.

Filed Jul 15, 2022 · Transmission · MA

Torque converter shudder hesitation at 20 -25 mph

Filed Feb 26, 2022 · Electrical · CA

My car has a problem shifting into first gear and is jerking so bad I was driving and it actually was going super slow and going and secure and I almost got hit from behind it is stuttering and hesitating going into the lower gears it also keeps showing the traction light off and on and when it's on it causes It 2 sway a lot

Filed Sep 28, 2021 · Transmission · 127,000 miles · TN

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating and the contact felt as if the vehicle would shut-off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with torque converter failure. The dealer informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN and the vehicle was over the 10-year warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 127,000.