general problems of the 2020 Toyota Camry

Incident highway malfunction occurs – [xxx] while driving at a steady speed on the highway, my 2020 Toyota Camry unexpectedly shifted gears on its own. I did not bump the gear shifter or interact with the controls in any abnormal way. The gear shift occurred without warning or driver input, while the vehicle was in motion. A “drive start control malfunction” warning appeared on the dashboard at the time of the incident. Vehicle towed to Toyota service center – July 11 2025 following the incident, I brought the car to a Toyota dealership for diagnosis and repair. I spoke with a service advisor named rebecca, explained the situation, and clearly stated that I did not hit or touch the gear. The vehicle was kept for inspection, repair and I communicatied with Toyota. Vehicle picked up – July 16, 2025 I picked up my car from the Toyota dealership on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. I had not yet heard back from Toyota about coverage or resolution. I chose to wait for further communication regarding whether they would take responsibility for the malfunction. Toyota corporate follow-up call – July 23, 2025 on Tuesday, July 23, 2025, Toyota corporate called to inform me that the repair would not be covered, citing that the vehicle is out of warranty. What disturbed me most was that the representative claimed I had told rebecca that I might have “bumped the gear,” which is completely false. I made it clear from the beginning that I never touched the gear shifter, and that the malfunction occurred while I was driving normally. This false statement was either a miscommunication or a lie — and it minimizes the seriousness of a potential safety defect. Response to Toyota’s misrepresentation – July 23, 2025 during the call, I told Toyota that misrepresenting my account was unacceptable and dangerous. If Toyota is aware that this vehicle model may experience uncommanded gear changes while in motion and fails to report. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

This vehicle, and models with the same throttle body and air filter/air duct assembly have an issue. Where plastic parts from the vacuum box attached to the air duct come loose and get stuck in the throttle body. Causing the engine to rev up then die. I have dealt with this same issue twice in the last three weeks. Thank you for your time.

Brakes under constant pressure took longer to engage. One minute later while pulling into parking stall the brake pedal went to floor and one pump immediately after it engaged. Simultaneously, the car accelerated and jumped a curb and one foot into the landscape. Had the acceleration continued and/or the brakes not engaged the vehicle would have hit a tree in another 3'. This tree was about 18"-24" diameter. One hour later cautiously drove to Toyota dealer who performed inspection of brake system, test drove, and scanned the computer system. They found no abnormal codes for the time of the incidents. They could not replicate the issues. There were no warning indicators noticed during the incident. Scan data and incident report sent to Toyota field agents confirmed the described problem was not found in the system.

Have whining from transmission. When trying to accelerate the car does not shift into gears correctly and there is hesitance and delay. Have issues merging on highway and regular traffic due to hesitance and delay. Car can jerk when accelerating. Had dealership inspect twice at different dates. The dealership said nothing was wrong and that the hesitance and delay was just how the car operates. Discovered that other Toyota Camry's had same issue under t-sb-0008-21. Would like for our model year Toyota Camry be added for repairs.

During multiple episodes whether the car is at a stop or in motion there is a delay from when the accelerator is depressed to when the engine responds and revs leading to more power and speed. For example when stopped at a light trying to make a left turn, I press the accelerator down and there is no major change in speed and revs until seconds later when then engine then goes from 1000rpms to 3000rpms. This can be dangerous and almost led to an accident as there was an oncoming car that almost hit me as I was trying to make the turn. Also happened when I was trying to accelerate to merge onto the highway and there was an acceleration delay for a safe merge.

Slow acceleration during 1st 1 or 2 gears. Almost had multiple accidents in highway due to slow acceleration when changing lanes. The vehicle does not immediately respond to acceleration when accelerator pedal is used. The vehicle has a couple of seconds delay until it changing into next gear. Dealer non responsive. I brought it into my Toyota dealer and the service technician drove my car with me in the passenger seat. I explained that my previous (3) v6 Toyota Camry's did not have any problems with acceleration, he totally understood. The new 8- speed transmission has different shift settings which explains the acceleration delay and sometimes causes a jerky motion from a dead stop, driving in stop & go traffic or while entering a highway. According to the tech, they have been provided with no fixes for this problem and that the car will "learn" my driving habits the more I drive it.