2018 Toyota Camry: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Oct 8, 2026 · Engine · WI

My 2018 Toyota Camry LE went into Limp mode while drive on the highway causing jerking while driving and tons of error codes on the dash, and issues with safety systems shutting off and accelration. After towing to a dealership, dealership gave me the following description of the defect: Coolant is coming through the cylinder walls due to a hairline fracture in the cylinder causing 2 of the 4 cylinders to misfire and coolant to mix with usual contents. We aren't able to identify where the cause of this problem is but it makes the most economical sense to replace the engine with a lower mileage engine and replace the neighboring parts to support the less old engine. I was quoted $8300 approximately. the same vehicle just a few years older are recalled already for the exact same thing - the federal safety agency Recall 20V064000. the federal safety agency Recall states: "The subject vehicles are equipped with a 2.5L 4 Cylinder engine (A25A) and may have been produced with engine blocks containing higher porosity levels. Higher levels of porosity could create cracks in the cooling passages, resulting in coolant leaking internally and/or externally. This may lead to engine noise, engine smoke, warning lights/malfunction indicator illumination, an audible chime sounding, and/or, in some cases, engine overheating and possible internal mechanical engine damage (e.g. seizing of internal engine components). If engine overheating or internal mechanical engine damage were to occur on involved conventional gasoline vehicles, a vehicle stall while driving at higher speeds could occur without prior warning to the driver, increasing the risk of crash."

Filed Jul 24, 2026 · Engine · 42,572 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the message “See Dealer” was displayed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle with water pump failure. The dealer was notified of the diagnosis but advised the contact to disregard the warning. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle back to the residence, the vehicle started to lose power and went into LIMP Mode. The vehicle was returned to the independent mechanic to have the water pump replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,572.

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 May 28, 2026 · Acceleration, Engine · FL

When driving, the car would go into limp mode and wouldn’t get out of 2nd gear. it was super jerky as well. when taken to a mechanic, it was diagnosed with malfunctioning transmission among some other things such as brakes and tires. we take fairly great care of our vehicles and get them seen for regular maintenance. once the car started acting up, the check engine light came on. it is now unsafe to drive and two mechanics have confirmed an issue with the transmission, which is now also in a class action lawsuit for transmission failures. it’s had hiccups before over the past two years (started around 85000 miles) but never to that extreme and every time we took it into a mechanic they never saw the issue before until now. the hiccups we just delayed shifting and simultaneous RPM increase but stoped after a few seconds and letting off the gas, and then would correct itself. mechanics chocked it up to just needing a tune up and never saw the issue themselves, it happened randomly and just every once in a while.

Filed May 22, 2026 · Transmission · OH

Check engine light came on getting to highway speeds about 50 mph. Transmission went into limp mode at around 75k miles. Dealership told me my transmission was low on fluid. I had a transmission issue due to that same week. They told me to hold off on the flush because it was odd that a Toyota transmission is going in limp mode and with a check engine light at this mileage.

Filed Apr 29, 2026 · Driver assistance · AL

I was driving my daughter to work then all of a sudden 6 different vehicle alerts came on my dashboard. Vehicle Alerts: advanced ultrasonic detecting and ranging system, lane departure alert, pre-collision system, parking brake system, vehicle stability control system, and secondary collision brake system. I was at a stop light then the car would not drive it was like it started stalling. I had to put on my hazard lights then turn the car off and back on. That's when I was able to accelerate to 20 mph to get out of traffic. I could not give to car any gas to move. I pulled over to a doctor's office parking lot. The car would not go into reverse. Once again, I had to turn it off and on. I had to eventually put it into neutral and cruise all the way home. Once home the last alert came on which was the check engine light. I had the car towed to my nearest Toyota dealership. Toyota kept my car for over 24 hours. I had to go back up there to inquire about my car. That was when I was told it was my transmission and they quoted me $9,338.96 ($2,479.87 labor for 12.4 hours, $ 6,808.92 part, $50 for shop supplies) to get my car repaired.

Filed Dec 28, 2025 · Transmission · OH

My son was driving down Interstate 71 at approx 65 mph in our 2018 Toyota Camry when it lost power. He was able to pull off to the side of the road and turned the car off. Once the car was restarted, he was able to drive it (at a maximum speed of 35 mph) to the closest exit where he pulled into a gas station. While trying to back it into a parking spot, the car would not go into reverse. We had the car towed back to the dealership that we purchased it new from (Kings Toyota). Approximately 3 days later we received word that the transmission needed to be replaced at the cost of 8200.00.

Filed Sep 6, 2025 · Transmission · TX

Vehicle has 92,499 miles. All maintenance performed on time. Vehicle did not exhibit any issues beforehand. Vehicle judders upon acceleration and does not shift gears smoothly. The following error codes show up on the dashboard screen "Secondary collision brake system malfunction" "ICS malfunction" (Intelligent Clearance Sonar) "Pre-collision system malfunction" "Parking brake malfunction" "Check engine" Went to dealer and they recommended "replacing transmission due to multiple solenoids codes when checked is causing the lights and hard shifts when driving so recommend replacing and reprogram new transmission."

Filed Nov 6, 2024 · Transmission · CA

I have a 2018 Toyota Camry SE in which the transmission has completely failed. If I drive the car without having it completely replaced it hesitates when trying to excel. I was almost hit several times while trying to pull out into traffic where the car wouldn't shift and accelerate when it needed to move quickly.

Filed Jun 2, 2023 · Transmission · WA

I started getting weird shifting and hesitation I had around 70,000 miles took it to my local Toyota dealership, they completed several software updates. Also did a transmission fluid change that didn’t really resolve the problem now at about 113,000 miles I started getting odd shifting, and at higher speeds, when accelerating abruptly, the vehicle put itself in limp mode and will not accelerate further. Add 115,000 miles I took the vehicle into the Toyota dealership because the check engine light came on after accelerating onto the highway and the vehicle stalling and upon their investigation they found out that I would be needing a new transmission which is a little odd at 115,000 miles with the car only be five years old. Toyota, you should do better.

Filed Apr 30, 2023 · Electrical · CA

During replacement of Brake Light Switch, observed that original switch nut was installed up-side-down. Replaced switch, because vehicle intermittently would not go into gear. It is highly likely that brake lights were also not working intermittently. Vehicle only had 20K miles and I assume it came from Factory with the switch nut installed up-side-down. This condition allows the brake switch to be misaligned.

Filed Feb 21, 2020 · Acceleration, Transmission · 14,000 miles · TX

Transmission: when accelerating hard, such as on an on ramp, my speed only increases slightly while the engine revs to 5000+ rpms. I let off the gas & then it shifts and speeds up. The 8 speed automatic transmission will not shift on hard acceleration until I let off the gas pedal. This is consistent and I believe, a safety hazard. Cruise control: this system has what toyota calls a safety feature that automatically slows the car if it thinks the vehicle or object ahead is too close. In reality it slows the car dramatically without anything in front of me and a clean windshield. It has a windshield camera to detect such things, so I have to keep it clean. This is a recurring thing. I have notified toyota. There should be a required fix for such safety problems.