2018 Toyota Camry: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed Jun 13, 2026 · Transmission · CT

The 8-speed automatic transmission (Aisin UB80, the 4-cylinder variant of the UA80 family) failed at approximately 53,000 miles. Symptoms prior to failure: harsh shifting, RPM flare to 4,000 between gears before hard engagement ("thud"), loss of power in Reverse, and a metal-on-metal noise from inside the transmission when power was applied. No dashboard warning lights illuminated at any point. Safety risk: the vehicle would not shift normally and lost power in Reverse, with the engine revving to high RPM before abrupt gear engagement. This created a real risk of sudden loss of forward propulsion in traffic, abrupt unintended acceleration on engagement, and inability to safely reverse. The failure occurred without prior warning indicators. The problem was confirmed by both an independent service center and an authorized Toyota dealer. The Toyota dealer performed a road test and a transmission fluid sample analysis. The dealer documented, verbatim: "vehicle will rev up to 4k before shifting and will only shift if you let off the gas... took a transmission fluid sample and found fluid was burnt with clutch pack material suspended in fluid. Transmission will need to be replaced." Quoted repair: approximately $10,747. The failure mechanism — burnt fluid with suspended clutch pack material from heat-driven internal wear — matches the defect alleged in three active federal class-action lawsuits naming this transmission family (filed in U.S. District Courts in Texas, California, and New Jersey, late 2025 through early 2026). It also matches multiple Toyota Technical Service Bulletins (T-SB-0330-17, T-SB-0010-18, T-SB-0152-19) and the defect Toyota has acknowledged on the 2017-2018 Sienna and Highlander under Customer Support Program ZJC by extending warranty to 10 years/unlimited miles on the same transmission family. The failed transmission is no longer in my possession; the vehicle has been sold. Diagnostic documentation is available upon request.

Filed Nov 3, 2023 · Brakes, Driver assistance · NC · crash

I am writing this letter because, on August 1, 2023, my wife, and I, were involved in an accident with our 2018 Toyota Camry, which may have been due to SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION, a defect which affected Camry owners for over 10 years, and is still happening. Most of these accidents occurred when the driver was pulling slowly into a parking space and their car suddenly accelerated strongly and couldn’t be stopped by hitting the brakes. The car only stopped when it hit a solid object. This often resulted in serious injuries, even death. On August 1, my wife was driving the Camry (I was in the front passenger seat) and she was in the process of slowly pulling into a parking space at Parkside Town Commons in Cary, with her foot on the brake. Without warning, the car suddenly accelerated and she was unable to stop it by hard braking. The car jumped the curb in front of it and climbed a landscaped incline, only stopping when it crashed into a wrought iron fence in front if it. There were no vehicle warning messages prior to the accident. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the Camry had over $6,000 in damages and the fence was bent badly where the car hit it. We called the Cary Police and a Police Report was made. No tickets were issued by the Cary Police. Our Toyota dealer referred us to a higher level Toyota office that deals with special vehicle problems, which we called. We reported the accident, they said it would be reviewed. We have had no response from theToyota higher level office since. Though the damage was repaired, we are very worried that if our Camry has a SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION defect, we could suffer another such accident anytime. It is very critical to have our vehicle inspected for such a flaw, whether in electronics, the throttle, brakes, or anything else. As this problem is an important safety issue, we feel the need to have it checked out. Would appreciate your assistance.

Filed Oct 16, 2019 · Acceleration, Engine · 13,000 miles · VA · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota camry. After attempting to pull into a parking space, the vehicle suddenly accelerated into the street and up a hill where it came to a stop. The vehicle was restarted and driven home. The vehicle was taken to steven toyota (2970 s main st, harrisonburg, va 22801, (540) 434-1400) where it was kept for over a week, but no failure were identified. A week later, the contact parked in front of a house where it accelerated again on its own and crashed into the house at 60 MPH. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer and they referred the contact to call the manufacturer. The contact wanted the manufacturer to buy back the vehicle. The contact was assigned to two case managers to find a solution for the failures. The failure mileage was 13,000. *bf *ln*jb

Filed Dec 5, 2018 · Transmission · 50 miles · GA

This is my third toyota car that I buy as a brand new car and I was so excited about grtting a 2018 camry se but am very disspoint it with this situation man so this is whats happening to the car the vehicle has issues with the transmission there are times when the car can't seem to decide what gear to pick and when to engage it resulting in a second or two of dead acceleration once the vehicle decides what to do, it sends an excessive amount of power to the wheels with unintended acceleration rates. This has been an issue since I bought the car so please let me know what we can do because I dont like how this brand new transmission works. 2.the second pronlem is that that car start shaking when am going over 70 miles per hour on the highway and I know exactly that is not with balance and not alighnmrnt because idont feel the steering wheel shaking I fell the shaking is comming from the engine I can guaranteed u that is coming from there because when I stop accelareting it goes away but once I accelerate again starts that vibration again so toyota needs to be more specific and making sure that they're customer are 100%% happy with their car and stop testing this brand news platform with the people money because I can telk u that at least 40 percent of the people they are regreting of buying this car just because this kinda of problem so I wish theres a remedy tgat toyota it might xonsidering to fix this inds of problem which I hate about it st all

Filed Nov 20, 2018 · Acceleration, Airbags · 5,600 miles · MA · crash · 1 injury

Tl* the contact owned a 2018 toyota camry. While driving various low speeds in a 30-car garage facility, the vehicle independently accelerated without warning while pulling into a parking spot. The vehicle crashed into a wall and bounced back approximately 30 feet, striking a nearby parking column. The contact stated that the automatic ABS became inoperative during the failure. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a salvage lot where it was deemed destroyed by the insurance company. The contact suffered severe bruising and bleeding from the driver's seat belt across the left side of the chest. Medical attention was required. The manufacturer was made aware of the crash and sent an engineer on november 14, 2018 to remove the computer system from the vehicle for further analysis. In addition, the contact was provided with case number: 810130693. The failure mileage was 5,600.

Filed Oct 9, 2018 · Acceleration · 2,000 miles · OR

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota camry. While driving various speeds, the vehicle would not immediately accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the failure usually occurred while making a turn. The vehicle also experienced unintended acceleration. The failures were not diagnosed or repaired. An unknown dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failures, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 2,000. The VIN was invalid.

Filed Sep 24, 2018 · Acceleration, Transmission · 1,000 miles · MI · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota camry. While operating the vehicle, the transmission shifter would erratically downshift and up shift, and the engine rpms would rev very high. While pulling into a parking space, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and crashed into a second vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer (toyota of grand rapids, 2555 28th st. Se, grand rapids mi) and the transmission was reprogrammed, but the failures continued. In addition, while operating the vehicle with the air conditioner activated, the windows inside the vehicle would fog up and create a visibility hazard. The cause of the failures was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 1,000.

Filed Sep 6, 2018 · Acceleration, Engine · 250 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota camry. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration, even when the accelerator pedal was not depressed. There was also a lack of acceleration when attempting to merge, abnormal shifting, and the vehicle stalled. In addition, the odor of anti-freeze filled up the cabin. The failures occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to toyota grand rapids (located at 2555 28th st se, grand rapids, mi) where the failures were confirmed, but could not be remedied. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 250.

Filed Aug 29, 2018 · Acceleration, Engine · 275 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota camry. While driving approximately 5 MPH, the vehicle surged forward and accelerated independently without depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle then decelerated and the contact depressed the brake pedal to bring the vehicle to a complete stop. In addition, the vehicle stalled as the motor revved. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to toyota of grand rapids (2555 28th st se, grand rapids, mi 49512, (877) 703-5930) where it was diagnosed that a new software program update was needed. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and did not assist. The approximate failure mileage was 275.

Filed Aug 9, 2018 · Transmission · 4,600 miles · NY

The transmission does not shift properly, and hesitates. When needing to make a sudden acceleration, the vehicle rolls several seconds before accelerating. I almost got hit several times

Filed Jul 15, 2018 · Transmission · WI

Vehicle has issues with transmission. There are times when the car can't seem to decide what gear to pick and when to engage it resulting in a second or two of dead acceleration. Once vehicle decides what to do, it sends an excessive amount of power to the wheels with unintended acceleration rates. This most commonly happens when slowing for a yield and then going, stop and go traffic, and passing on the highway. Fuel economy is all over the place as well, most likely due to poor transmission. This has been an issue since car was first bought in november 2017....has nearly 8000 miles as of july 18 and still an issue.