general problems of the 2018 Toyota Camry - part 1

Nothing happened. Yet. I cannot drive the car at all because the power steering is locked up and I cannot turn it at all.

My 2018 Toyota Camry (VIN [xxx] ) crashed and burned completely on Nov 16, 2025. While driving on the freeway the vehicle stopped suddenly without any notice on dashboard all electrical turned off steering wheel locked and lost control hit left fwy barrier which caused car to spun couple times and when it came to a complete stop was not able to turn car or even turn emergency lights on and couple seconds later was rear ended by another vehicle which caused vehicle to catch on fire and vehicle was fully in flames after reviewing history of vehicle I never received notification of Toyota recall 18v-200, which addresses defective pistons that can cause engine stalling, rough running, loss of power, or sudden failure. Based on VIN and production date, my car likely falls within the recall. Police and fire reports are available. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The power steering is very stiff and hard to turn. It is worse at slower speeds and while trying to turn.

Brake malfunction on my 2018 Toyota Camry and steering wheel malfunctioned causing my vehicles to spend on the freeway hitting a barrel and landing the car into a ditch. The car is not available for inspection it’s still at the tow yard. The safety was at risk for me as the driver was tremendously overwhelming and fearful. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by anyone. There hasn’t been any inspection to the vehicle that I know of. Yes there was warning sign; power steering malfunction, secondary collision brake system malfunction, antilock brake system malfunction, ics malfunction, pre collision system malfunction. They first appeared 12-01-2024.

Out of nowhere, the steering became very stiff and there was lots of difficulty with the wheel returning to center. This put myself and others at risk as it would be difficult to steer and in a moment where I would have to react fast to avoid an accident, my car would not be able to help. My car was initially inspected by a mechanic that ran diagnostics and nothing electrical showed up. My car is currently getting looked at by a Toyota dealership. I was told there was a recall in 2022 for the intermediate shaft assembly being faulty. My car showed no signs on the dashboard of any issues. It was just random.

Driving down the road about 25 miles an hour, slowed further to take a left turn when the power sreering suddenly gave out. The steering wheel became extremly difficult to turn and resulted in me slowing to a crawl to safely make the turn. If cars were near there could have been a colision.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the power steering malfunctioned, causing the steering wheel to become very difficult to turn in either direction. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the steering linkage was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the manufacturer’s extended coverage for the failure. The failure mileage was 63,500.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he became aware that the electronic power steering was not functioning properly, requiring increased effort to maneuver the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to customer support program: 22te02. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 50,000.

I brought my car in for maintenance and while the vehicle was on the lift, the top mounting bracket of both front macpherson struts failed and allowed the coil spring to decompress to the furthest extent allowed by the other suspension components. Both struts catastrophically failed within 10 minutes of each other, causing a loud violent bang, but not immediately when the tires were lifted off the pavement. By all measures, this is a design flaw that allowed moisture to be trapped in the top strut mount which greatly accelerated this component's failure. Every other visible portion of the strut and all other components on the under carriage look almost pristine, showing almost no corrosion. The maintenance and subsequent repair did not occur at a Toyota dealership.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that extra effort was needed while turning the steering wheel, and for the steering wheel to return to center. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and a diagnostic test was performed. The dealer confirmed that the vehicle was outside the production date for a customer support program. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The failure recurred several times. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 110,000.

Complaint regarding Toyota 2018 Camry se - power steering went out while on the highway. - this is a known problem but not covered under warranty. I believe this would constitute a major safety issue for older drivers who may not have the strength to correct the car. - Toyota never notified anyone about this issue. Some research shows hundreds of customers have suffered this. - repair cost 900 occurring on 12/5/23 – steering shaft - Toyota repair center diagnosed in under a minute with explanation of issue evan draper cell: 603-289-1952 email: evan@theinsdoc. Com.

Electric power system warning light comes on, indicates a malfunction in the eps, why is Toyota ignoring this problem, this warning comes on at different times.

Electric power steering warning light which indicates a malfunction in the eps system comes on almost every other week. If there is a software update for this problem why Toyota does not fix it? are they waiting for an accident to happen?.

My car has only 56 k on the odometer and suddenly last week my steering wheel starting to get stuck, at time it feels like it is locking, and then a second later is normal. I see there is a recall for power steering #22te02, but when I search my VIN #, this recall is not showing for my car.

I bought the car 6/23/21 and since then the electrical power steering system light indicates a malfunction , I had it serviced three times and so far the warning sign still goes on, I called Toyota and they can't help me, I do not want to wait for an accident to happen before it is taken care of.

After continued usage steering becomes stiff and turning becomes very difficult. This then possess a safety risk to not only the driver but other drivers. The cause is failure of the intermediate steering shaft. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the steering wheel was stiff. While driving at various speeds, the steering wheel was difficult to turn. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the steering shaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 42,000.

Steering wheel is becoming harder and harder to turn right or left.

Steering wheel hard , to turn.

I was driving down the road on interstate at 70 mph and my 2018 Toyota Camry se warning message steering power low alarm and one to two seconds later my steering wheel pulled violently to the right barely missing truck in right lane by inches. I was in center lane. I was fortunate it was not rush hour and no vehicles were in back of the truck in his right lane where the car was steered. Toyota dealer was approximately one mile and half way. I went to the far right emergency lane driving slowly and arrive at dealer. Service manager drove the car around the parking lot and said I had steering failure and will need to replace rack and pinion parts. The car had approximately 30,500 miles only. I am fortunate my car was at the rear of the truck back tires when this happened. This is was a very close near miss. Toyota has been of no help in this matter wanting me to pay $3700 dollars for repairs. A set of tires last longer than this rack and pinion. How safe can a car be if you can not reply on your steering. ?.

Steering became stiff to the point driving was an issue. Dealer said it was a know problem in model. Replaced steering shaft column due to binding at drivers expense.

I don't know why.

2018 Toyota Camry- consumer has steering issue and submitted copy of complaint sent to NJ office of attorney general division of community affairs- consumers comment letter & note of referral. Attached is the invoice for repair and inspection report.

Steering feels stiff at a certain point while turning. Sometimes its worst and sometimes its showing no problem. No any warning light and 1st time the dealership does not identify what was the issue. After couple of week it was getting worst. So I went again to the dealership and then they said had to replace "intermediate steering shaft". Cost nearly 500-600$.

Steering became very tight and thus the power steering had drag in it and needed immediate repairing. We felt compromised and felt it was a safety issue, which the dealer that I am having repair the problem did not know of other reports of this problem. I had heard this problem has happen to others with the 2018 Toyota Camry.

I have had issues with the breaks since I purchased the vehicle. The first recall I got the vacuum pump replaced. I still have the same issue. I have been having the break issue but recently had an issue slamming on my breaks after someone was coming around the corner too fast in my garage and feeling pushback from the break petal and not breaking fully. I actually did hit her care but she only had scratches and decided not to file a claim (I have the date and pictures as well). I bought this Camry feeling confident and I actually worry about my breaks I even got them replaced thinking they were worn out but I still have the same issue.

Since I have purchased this vehicle when it first came out, I have noticed that the steering is very stiff, particularly when driving along curvy, windy roads (ex. Certain freeway exits/entrances that require you to follow along a curve). I did not realize how stiff the steering wheel was until I was forced to get a rental car following several car accidents over the course of 2 years. At times the steering was so stiff I actually almost dislocated my shoulder joints several times, or tore muscles/ligaments deep within my shoulder which would take at least a month to fully heal. Other cars I have driven (including a 2019 Toyota sienna awd have excellent steering fluidity and show no signs of stiffness). I understand that this "stiffness" is a safety feature (anti-lock steering) but there needs to be a way to lessen the stiff feeling as for individuals with weaker joints like me this can cause pain and injury and temporary immobility.

Around 47k miles the steering shaft failed and the vehicle became extremely difficult to steer. The wheel would also not return to center on its own after turning and had to be forced back in order to drive the vehicle straight again. It was almost as if the power steering went out altogether. The dealer was aware of the issue and said that some of the steering column bind and need to be replaced. Causal research such as doing a google search for "Toyota steering shaft binding" shows that this has been an issue for several years. The fact that the dealer knew about it shows that Toyota is simply ignoring the issue.

I was going home from houston to richmond texas but a few minutes into driving some warning lights came on and a warning message says secondary brake system malfunction. Then all of a sudden the steering wheel was almost locked and was very hard to maneuver. But due to safety of where I was driving I tried hard to reach a Toyota service center nearby which was about to close so I decided to drive to another one nearby my home. A week or so later they said the car was inspected and repaired but on my way home after picking up the car I had to return it again and since then which has been approximately a month now the car is still in service waiting for parts. The safety of others and mine was at risk as the steering wheel was very tough to maneuver. The problem was confirmed by the dealer. The vehicle component was inspected by Toyota service worker and they said they also had it checked by the manufacturer personnel. There were no prior warning or symptoms prior to this incident which happened on may 24, 2021.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Camry hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel would make an abnormal squeaking noise without warning. Over time, the steering wheel had stiffened which caused the contact to use excessive force to steer the vehicle. The contact had initially taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic where he was informed that the steering shaft needed to be replaced. The contact then took the vehicle to a dealer where they repaired the steering shaft under his extended warranty. The manufacturer was notified of the matter and offered no assistance. The vehicle had been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

When I am making a complete turn either right or left my steering wheel will stall out on me intermittently before the turn is completed. This will happen when my vehicle is in motion either on a street, my driveway, or turning off of the highway.

The steering becomes very stiff and does not return to the neutral position after making a turn it feels like it is not power steering at all. I am fearful of pulling out in traffic because of this problem.

I don't feel safe driving my Toyota Camry 2018. The car feel very heavy when driving, tge steering wheel are stiff and difficult to move sometimes. The brakes are not stable like they should even after I paid for it to be fix. The gas gauge refuse to open when it's time to fuel gas the car makes noises. It's very frustrating and it's not worth what I pay for.

2018 Toyota camary se. Steering wheel is stiff and locks in place as you are driving and turn the wheel so it does not return if you let go of the wheel and you have to put a lot of pressure to try and turn back and turn more in to the corner,.

As I was starting out my driveway the steering suddenly got very stiff and when it would turn it would not return to center, so I had to do that myself. It only did it once so I continued to my destination, but when I started home it became more and more stiff and was making a growling noise. I drove it slowly home and had to park it for nearly two weeks to wait for an appointment because I was very concerned that it would lock up totally,. Finally got it in for service and service said that the intermediate shaft was binding and had to be replaced. This seems to me to be a very odd problem to have with only 47,000 miles on the vehicle.