Toyota Camry won't shift problems

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 Sep 18, 2026 · Transmission · CA

My granddaughter was driving on the freeway. Car just slowed down to 30 miles an hour. Secondary collision Brake system Malfunction warning came on. Also, other lights came on. Luckly no one hit her from behind. She pulled over to the shoulder. Highway patrol came by escorted her off the freeway. By the time she reached a safe place to park, car would not go into gear. Car was towed to a Toyota dealer. After having the car checked I was told it was the transmission. Quote was 9100 dollars for repair. Car had 71329 miles. I have bought 3 Camry vehicles. I was disappointed with all the phone calls I had to make for some help for repair cost from Toyota. I finally had the car repaired after having it towed to Envision Toyota of Milpitas. Received vehicle back 09/15/2026. Out of pocket expense was 5893.03. It was mentioned to me at the Toyota dealer in Vacaville. The transmission was assembled differently in the years 2018-2024 models. Toyota knew about the issue customers were having and did nothing. Now Toyota is being sued.

Filed Aug 30, 2026 · Driver assistance · AZ

Camera / Radar component - yes Camera / Radar unit is available When it failed, the dash lit up with lots of errors: engine check light, anti-skid failure light (even though the system was turned off), rotating errors included: secondary brake system malfunction, pre-collission system malfunction, LDA system malfunction, check engine. I was driving up a 6% hill on a four lane road at 65 MPH with the cruise control active. Was in the left lane passing two slower trucks when the engine just seem to die and the dash lit up with lots of errors. By the time I was able to get to the right lane and off the freeway, I was doing less than 20 MPH. It turns out that when the radar / camera unit failed, the computer put copious confusing errors and put the engine in limp mode. Very dangerous and I'm lucky there wasn't more traffic. When the computer detected the failure should have automatically disabled the cruise control and put out an error message saying it was now disabled. The other junk errors just confused everything. The computer definitely should not have put the engine in limp mode. It was only after I pulled over and had time to digest the errors that I actually figured out what had happened and how to handle the situation. After I pulled off, the center display which had been saying there was a message that would display after I was safely stopped, now had an message indicating I should turn off the cruise control. Problem was I could not determine if the cruise control was active or not because the indicator was blocked by errors, however the engine was still definitely in limp mode. I finally turned the engine off and back on to make sure the cruise control was off. All the rotating errors and error lights were still on, but the engine was now out of limp mode and the car was again drivable.

Filed Aug 14, 2026 · Engine, Transmission · 127,990 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that the vehicle jerked while accelerating from a complete stop. Additionally, the vehicle intermittently failed to start, with the ABS warning light displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for repairs, but the failure reoccurred shortly after the repair. The contact stated that while attempting to shift into drive(D), the transmission remained stuck in neutral(N) with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle rolled forward while the vehicle was parked, turned off, with the parking brake engaged. The contact placed trash bins in front of the vehicle to prevent the vehicle from rolling. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure, and the vehicle remained unrepaired. The failure mileage was 127,990.

Filed Aug 11, 2026 · Electrical, Engine · PA

The vehicle contains a known manufacturing defect where the engine coolant bypass valve cracks internally, leaking pressurized fluid directly into the main electrical connector (covered under Toyota CSP 24TE04). This fluid intrusion has caused active electrical short-circuits to the battery and ground networks. As a direct result of this progressive component failure, the vehicle is actively dropping into 'Limp Mode' and experiencing severe transmission shifting failures while being driven on public roads, creating an immediate safety and crash hazard. Furthermore, a franchised Toyota dealership actively turned away an attempted preventive repair under the 'Prior Sought Remedy' rule while the vehicle was under the 100,000-mile warranty threshold, stating the dashboard light had to be on first, which directly allowed this hazardous electrical degradation to progres

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 Jun 10, 2026 · Transmission · NC

We experienced rough shifting, engine revving and now it won't shift out of first gear. The car is not driveable. We've taken it to Town & Country Toyota in Charlotte, NC where they said it could not be repaired and it needed replacing for $12,000. The car has 121,000 miles and is not under warranty. Also took it to an independent transmission shop and they said to replace the transmission as well. We think Toyota should issue a recall or some kind of compensation for this major expense. I have lots of stories similar to this by owners with 2018-2022 Toyota Camrys. Thank you.

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.