Two problems related to brake disc pads have been reported for the 2004 Toyota Camry. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2004 Toyota Camry based on all problems reported for the 2004 Camry.
This complaint deals with all Toyota cars with rear wheel drum brakes. On my car and many others possibly the pedal is soft has to go down quite a ways to activate brakes. On several occasions although I drive conservatively I feel my braking was compromised when I need quick braking response. I believe the reason is the automatic adjustment mechanism on my rear brakes was and is not working. This mechanism on all modern cars with rear drum brakes adjusts for wear by bringing the brake shoes closer to the drum when backing and braking. An automatic adjustment. When the mechanism isn't working the rear brake shoes get farther and farther from the drum due to wear and one must push the brake pedal farther and farther down on braking to get the shoes to contact the drums before braking can begin. This delays the braking time of the driver considerably. Recently getting new tires the mechanic noted my soft brake pedal and removed the rear brake drums and manually adjusted the shoes to bring them in light contact with the drum. My brake pedal got hard again and activated at the top. Toyota should bring the cars in to check this lack of adjustment problem as I wouldn't doubt there have been accidents because of it. With the new cars with disk brakes the pads are always against the disk and the is no soft pedal problem.
I own a 2004 Toyota Camry le, my problem with this vehicle are two things one is the braking system/abs and the second is the tires bridgestone. The pedal is too soft, doesn't stop the car as it should, the abs locked on many occasions regardless of the weather condition. I managed to hit a the front of the car twice and once in the rear. All of the abs system, while the damage is only to my car its becoming a very serious safety issue regarding the how safe is this vehicle. I have spoken with the dealer and he replaced the pads once, however the problem still exist and the rear breaks are making squeaky sound. I have 21,000 miles on this car and its my first new car and it will be the last Toyota I own. The dealer denies any problems and they say its normal but its not.