1st Nov 2005, 10:20

Go to a real alignment shop and it will be fine. Use high quality tires like Toyo, Bridgestone, or Michelin. Toyota dealer service is incompetent in my area, but they make up for it by being expensive, intimidating, and arrogant. I can't believe the top Toyota management in Japan would ever allow service like this in their own country. The delayed shift when cold is normal; the fact that your Toyota service didn't know this shows you how incompetent they are. Ask around for a competent independent repair shop; you might change your whole opinion about the quality of your car.

7th Jul 2006, 20:45

I owned a 94 Camry, and it pulls to the left too. I guess it's a common problem for Camry, our 05 would then wobble to the left or right somehow..

Speaking about the winter time up shifting, which is very normal for most modern automatic cars, that the computer prevents upshift until the tranny fluid reaches operation temperature. For ex, my 94 Camry won't upshift to 3rd in -30 C here in Toronto for initial driving.

27th Feb 2011, 01:22

Some of these comments are unbelievable! I used to be a die hard Toyota fan, but Toyota isn't some magical vehicle brand that doesn't have problems! Toyota's have just as much, if not more reliability issues than other brands.

I've owned many Toyotas; some have been the best car for reliability, and some just kept breaking down on me! In my opinion, it just depends on if you get a well built one or a lemon to as how good its reliability is! And Toyota has lost my loyalty; in my opinion, Toyota's newer vehicles have dropped in quality as my new favorite brand GM has surpassed almost every manufacturing company in quality, and in my opinion, always had other brands beat performance wise!

2nd Mar 2011, 07:43

@27th Feb 2011, 01:22.

You GM guys are still awake? Of course, you had to slip some GM comments into a Toyota thread. Business as usual.

Besides that, I don't understand what you are talking about. The reviewer has some alignment problems, but besides that, the car doesn't seem to have any other problems. The 'problem' with the trans not going into lockup when cold is standard behaviour and not an error. Why not read the instruction manual?

When hearing about people having continuous misalignment problems, it always boils down to one of two things: The car has either been into a crash, or you are running into things than bounces off the alignment. The term 'the car can't hold the alignment' is just not true when it comes to near new cars with low mileage. The front end must be extremely worn or damaged if it can't hold the alignment, which will be easily diagnosed by even a half-witted mechanic.

2nd Mar 2011, 10:51

Yup - the "I hate Japanese cars" comments are alive and well. If we're talking about alignment, that's hardly a problem. ALL cars and trucks will eventually go out of alignment. It's a fact. If not, then how come that is such a routine maintenance procedure at any tire shop? It's akin to having the tires rotated or balanced.

2nd Mar 2011, 15:49

Wow, the people who think Toyota are superior to every other car brand, and never break, are alive and commenting.

First off, @ 2 March 2011 07:43, the person who posted on Feb 27th 2011 @ 01:22 never said anything about an alignment. The person was stating their opinion and personal experience. They never said Toyota makes bad cars. So you Toyota fanatics are going off on that person for no reason. It is clearly obvious it's his personal experience with the Toyotas they have owned.

Sorry to break it to you, all Toyotas are not free from defects and problems, just like every other car, and just because your Toyotas have been good, doesn't mean the same model and year someone else has will be as reliable as yours.

You all started attacking that person's comment for no good reason, and not every Toyota that breaks is from neglect either!

4th Mar 2011, 05:19

That may be the case, but the problem is that you really don't have any facts to back it up. 'Toyota's have just as much, if not more reliability issues than other brands.' And your sources are??

My personal experience is that Toyotas are much better than previously owned cars from GM, although I must admit I haven't dared to buy anything from GM lately, after having some serious lemons back 10-15 years back. Reputation is something you have to earn! And I have independent sources to back them up, like various reliability index: Edmunds describes the 03-08 Camry as with 'Fine build quality, legendary reliability and a hushed ride characterize the Camry.' But you know better, right?

We used to own a 98 Camry, it's still in the family as a spare car with 250,000 relatively trouble free miles on it. New shocks all round, besides we've done no front end jobs on this car. Trans is still shifting fine.

4th Mar 2011, 16:28

My Toyota truck went out of alignment, but that was after close to 240,000 miles. Given that the truck spent half of its life in rural North Carolina on rough back country roads, that's not really all that bad.

My Mom has owned 3 Camrys: An '85 (when they first came out), a '92 and a 2003. While they're not what I would call the most terribly exciting cars on the planet, they are workhorse commuter cars that give a comfortable ride, reasonable fuel economy, and outright reliability. Of all of these, only the '85 had a breakdown: the ignition coil went out one day on the freeway. Fixed for $90. Other than that, we usually put at least 250,000 miles on them before trade-in, and even then, they still get a reasonable amount of money.

5th Mar 2011, 15:17

Very true. My good friend is looking to trade his two-year-old, immaculately serviced and cared-for Toyota for a Ford due to a fear that it is not capable of being reliable for much longer. He was recently informed that his car could not be aligned, due to the frame member sagging from the weight of the car. I encountered the exact same problem with my Japanese import. The materials used on Japanese cars is flimsy to the point of being dangerous. I will never buy another one.

7th Mar 2011, 00:58

@5th Mar 2011, 15:17.

Are you the person posting more or less the same junk information on Toyota thread after thread? Usually sagging bodywork and/or sagging exhaust systems. If this ever was true, you really should go to the auto press, since your information would be close to revolutionary: A near new car collapsing under its own weight without being in a serious accident. That would be the first time in history, especially since Camry (and most other new cars) are built in high tensile steel that is extremely strong.