general problems of the 2003 Toyota Camry

I have a 2003 Toyota, Camry with 50,000 miles on it that has been well maintained (at my expense at the local dealership where I purchased it). I live in oregon where we have seasons so it only gets hot a few months out of the year and I use a sun visor during the summer for protection. In the front passenger side of my car where the airbag is in the dash, the rectangular indentation (like a seam) around the airbag has completely separated at the top exposing yellow foam and has me very concerned about the safety of any passengers or even myself or others on the road should the airbag deploy. My father is terminally ill with cancer and only weighs about 115 pounds and I have to drive him to doctor appointments regularly. I was so concerned when I first noticed what I call a "design flaw" that I made him ride in the back seat. However, since he is so thin, he was very uncomfortable in the back and wanted to ride in the front seat again which I allowed him to do after the local dealership in medford (lithia motors, inc) guaranteed me "100%" that this is not a safety issue but is purely cosmetic. I have provided proof of similar complaints to lithia and have spoken to Toyota corporate a few times. They still insist it is only cosmetic and I am responsible for replacing the entire dash at a cost of over $2,000. 00. I maintain this is a safety issue and if they can afford to spend a million dollars a day on safety (per their advertisements) and are spending even more on pr, they can do a "good will" repair for a loyal customer. To their credit, I should add that they were willing to pay 50% to repair the dash, but it was determined to be "unrepairable" by their upholstery person. I have been going back and forth with them for months now. I am a very principle based person and believe this is wrong considering the age, mileage, etc and should be corrected at their expense especially when others have reported the same problem. Does customer service still exist??.

Consumers 2003 Toyota Camry has brake problems, water leaks in the trunk and gas reservoir, doors do not close properly releasing air into the driver side door. Smoke would emit from the exhaust on cold starts. The engine valve stem seals were replaced due to loss of tension and oil was leaking into the cylinders. The strut supports were replaced due them being worn. The power steering rack was leaking, the engine mount was cracked and the battery was leaking. The consumer also stated there was a vibration coming from the brakes when they were applied. There was a hole in the dashboard. Updated 04/223/10.

2003 Toyota Camry passenger air bag cover coming apart. Consumer is concerned about this gap in between the dashboard and the air bag cover affecting the performance of the air bag if it is needed. The dealer stated the separation appeared to be caused by excessive heat.

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that there is a gap in the dashboard above the air bag cover. The air bag can be seen through the gap. He took the vehicle to the dealer who stated that the air bag is in still in place and that there is nothing wrong with being able to see the air bag through the gap. The current and failure mileages were 46,009.

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Camry. The contact noticed holes in the rear speaker covers and pieces of the covers had fallen into the trunk of the vehicle. The failure began in March of 2007 and still persists. The dealer agreed to split the cost for parts, but the contact must pay the labor fees. When the windows are rolled down, the speaker cover fragments float around inside the vehicle. The powertrain was unknown. The current mileage is 45,000 and failure mileage was 40,000. Updated 02-01-08 updated 02/01/08.

The speaker panel behind the back seat has cracked and this has made holes in this back panel. There has never been anything placed in the back window to have created this to happen. We contacted our Toyota dealer and was told it would cost $500. 00 dollars to fix which in my opinion it was caused by faulty material that the Toyota company used. In all of the cars I have bought over the years many different makes this has never happened. I went into a part site to see if this can be replaced and many other Toyota owners had the same problem with this panel. I love my 2003 Toyota Camry but if I have to pay to have this part fixed I will not buy another Toyota. I also emailed the Toyota corp office and they did not give me any responds to this matter.

The vehicle was hit by a semi truck and totaled. None of the vehicle's air bags deployed. The consumer sustained injuries. The headrest was shaped incorrectly for a short person and the windshields reflective properties were distracting when driving on brightly sunlit days.

During the day odometer is hard to view. Dealer states that it is the new design for the 2003 models.

In 3/2003 I purchased a Toyota Camry. Within 1-2 years I noticed minor cracks developing on the two speaker covers at the back of the car under the back window and behind the back seats. The cracks progressed with time but I had forgotten to bring it up to the dealer because the speakers are located in a place I do not normally look and because I thought they were only cheap plastic covers. By 2006 the plastic was actually disintegrating and falling into the loudspeaker assembly creating an ever bigger black hole. The dealer pointed out to me that this problem exists on Camrys and that you must replace the whole back panel behind the back seats not just the plastic cover for $450 plus labor. I was told that other Toyotas do not have this problem since they use a different vendor for the speaker covers. Since the car was out of warranty Toyota declined to replace the covers. . Read more...