Adaptive Cruise Control problems of the 2025 Toyota Camry

The hybrid propulsion system in my Toyota Camry hybrid malfunctioned. The vehicle displayed multiple warning messages, including “hybrid system malfunction” and other system failure alerts. The accelerator pedal stopped responding, and the vehicle lost propulsion while driving at highway speed. The vehicle would not restart after coming to a stop. The vehicle has been towed and is available for inspection upon request. The vehicle lost power while I was traveling at highway speed during severe weather conditions (tornado and thunderstorm warnings). The car began rattling and shaking, then the accelerator stopped responding, and the vehicle gradually decelerated despite pressing the gas pedal. I was forced to activate hazard lights and maneuver to the shoulder. Multiple large trucks were traveling at high speed and did not immediately move over, coming dangerously close to striking my disabled vehicle. Because of the severe weather and approaching storm conditions, I was stranded on the highway in a vulnerable position. The sudden loss of propulsion created a significant risk of a high-speed rear-end collision. The vehicle was towed after the incident. It has not yet been confirmed whether the dealer has reproduced the failure. The malfunction occurred suddenly while driving and has not been intentionally reproduced by me. The vehicle would not restart at the time of the incident. The vehicle was towed following the incident. It has not yet been inspected by police or insurance representatives. Inspection by a Toyota dealer/manufacturer representative is pending (or currently in progress, if applicable). Approx. 15 minutes before reaching my destination, the vehicle began rattling and shaking unexpectedly while driving at highway speed. Shortly after, the rattling stopped, but the accelerator pedal stopped responding and the vehicle began decelerating. Multiple warning messages then appeared, including “hybrid system malfunction” and other system failure.

On 1/14/26 a parking cone blew into my lane on the freeway and hit my passenger side bumper. I filed an insurance claim for the damage and took it to a progressive preferred shop, color magic carstar collision. Carstar replaced the grille, bumper cover and all affected components such as the retainers, moulding, impact absorber, etc. With oem parts. After 60 days of allowing the new bumper's black paint to cure, I went to get the bumper rewrapped with the mint green wrap that was put on the car by the dealership before I purchased it. At that time, the wrap company noticed that there was a gap in the bumper under the passenger side headlight and that the bumper could be popped back into place, but easily popped back out. It was not noticeable to me while the bumper was black, but once they put the mint green wrap on, it was extremely noticeable. I have went back to carstar multiple times for them to make adjustments to fix the problem. My insurance adjustor has inspected it multiple times and referred me to germain certified Toyota collision center to assist after he found online forums and was told by direct collison center (also Toyota certified) staff that it was a known issue with the oem bumpers and that there was no fix for it. All have confirmed and been able to reproduce the issue. The adjustor says it is a manufacturing warranty issue ane neither certified Toyota collision centers we talked to were willing to help or take responsibility for it. Germain said it is how the car is meant to handle impact and that scrapes on driveways or minor bumps/potholes can cause it to pop out of place. It is a safety issue because it could continue to get worse and pop out or fall off while I am driving. It also affects the front sensor which affects a multitude of safety features as well as lane assist, which I cannot turn off. I am worried that the sensor will fail and cause me to get in an accident if it jerks my wheel wrong.

Several times when I have honked my horn on my 2025 Camry se cruise control has engaged. That is a dangerous situation if I'm trying to avoid a slow vehicle or accident and the vehicle goes into cruise control mode. Not sure what Toyota can do about this as the cruise control buttons are on the right side of the steering wheel behind the horn. Maybe it is overlapping or too close. There are auto braking cruise control options with the Camry but there is also a disengage non control mode that could lead to that accident.

The default cruise control mode on my 2025 Toyota Camry is adaptive cruise control. If you are using adaptive cruise control when driving around town the system can abrubtly brake when it should not. The two conditions when this happens are: 1. You are driving on a divided highway that has left turn lanes. If there are cars in the left turn lane the sytem can abrubtly brake. It thinks the car in the left turn lane are in your path. 2. If you are driving in the left lane of a one way street where cars are parked on the left hand side of the street, the system can brake abrubtly. It thinks the parked cars are in your path. I consider this a safety issue because drivers often follow to closely and abrupt braking might cause a rear end collision. To solve this problem, I suggest Toyota either make non adaptive cruise control the default or have an option to change the default cruise control to non adaptive cruise control.