Problems with 2003 Toyota Camry SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC

2003 camry le has defective brake rotors since new. had problem identified since 1000 miles. has taken almost 1 year since purchase to get new rotors on car. always fades/ vibrates when brakes are hot.*ak

While driving down a hill when i applied brakes towards bottom of hill and front brakes began to vibrate and caused front end to shimmy.*ak

When applying the brake pedal it would proceed to the floor and the vehicle would continued to accelerate. *ak the vehicle surged forward and crashed into a building. *sc the consumer stated the brakes were soft. *jb updated 7/5/12 *cn the consumer stated after braking and coming to a complete stop, he used the emergency brake before putting the gear in park . updated 07/12/12

Automatic braking system (anti-skid) activated prematurely on two occasions. *ph

As i was driving up the driveway of my home/house and in the process of applying the brakes to my 2003 toyota camry the car surged forward impacting the from of my brick house and going into the master bedroom causing extensive damage to the house and to personal property inside the bedroom, also the car suffered great damage to the front up to and including complete brekage and collapse of the winshield for a total car damaged of close to $8.000.00 dollaras and over $5,000.00 damage to the house not including the damage done to the interior of the bedroom and its contents. extimates of the cost of repairs still going on. *ak

Consumer stated the brakes locked when he attempted to stop at a toll booth. this caused a rear end collision upon impact, air bags did not deploy consumer sustained a bruised chest, and consumer's wife sustained 2 two broken ribs. consumer stated that when he hit the vehicle in front it was as if the vehicle accelerated, and even though he had feet on the brakes, vehicle kept going. he states that he pushed the vehicle in front of him, immediately cut the ignition off, put on emergency brakes, and coasted to the side of the road. vehicle came to a stop on the shoulder. he says that the only thing that saved he and his wife was the seat belts. consumer stated he saw on tv that toyota was recalling 2002-2003 camrys for excessive acceleration. *ak *sc *jb

While making left turns and without any warning steering wheel and brake pedal locked up. as result, consumer was involved in a head on collision, and air bags did not deploy.*ak

Dt: on december 8, 2003, at 6918 miles consumer was at a stop sign and tried to apply brakes and they failed. consumer was in a school zone and tried to stop at a traffic light, took the vehicle to dealer to be inspected, and the service department couldn't find anything wrong. again, had the vehicle out and was at a 3 way stop and tried to apply the brakes, and they failed again. took vehicle to dealership on april 21, 2005 at 13096 miles, and they did find that because of a brake failure there was internal failure in master cylinder, and the front rotors were warped.*ak

My wife recently purchased a 2003 camry le and has an issue with the braking on the vehicle. in our opinions there is excessive pedal travel before the braking systems starts to engage and you must press the brake pedal practically to the floor in order to stop. as a result, my wife nearly had two accidents during sudden stops. we brought the car back to the dealer and their assessment was that the brakes are fine and we must get used to them. *la

The brake pedal will plunge to floor mat. the pedal height was very low, pumping pedal increases the height. the car will stop, continued pressure causes pedal to drop to floor. *jb when the engine was off, the pedal would touch the floor. when the engine was running the pedal was about one quarter inch from the floor. *tc *sc

During a routine maintenance check, the dealer determined that the rear brake pads locked up and damaged the brake pads and rotors. the dealer resurfaced the rear brake rotors and replaced the rear brake pads. *jb *nlm

Incident occurred during daytime, clear skies, dry road,with no debris. vehicle was practically new, having less than 300 miles. at 1230 in afternoon, i was driving approx. 25-30 mph on a slight downgrade (in a 45 mph zone). another vehicle suddenly pulled out in front of vehicle that was 5-6 car lengths directly ahead of me. the driver of the vehicle in front of me slammed on brakes to avoid hitting the interloper. i too stepped on brake pedal hard to avoid vehicle in front of me. although i was applying significant pressure (1 leg press 400+lbs, and was applying approx 1/2 to 3/4 of that) , but my vehicle slowed negligible - prompting an expletive version of "what the heck?!?!". after a couple of ineffective attempts to push down brake pedal i stomped it, with little or no effect. my vehicle ultimately came to a stop through impact with the vehicle in front of me (after traveling approx 150-200 feet). the other driver and vehicle, my passenger and i were unharmed, but my vehicle suffered significant front-end damage. i reported the brake problem to both my insurance company and the toyota dealership (located 1/4 mile from the site of the incident) where the vehicle was purchased. the dealership was not inclined to investigate the problem, but i pressed the issue with toyota and my insurer, until someone from the toyota regional office in baltimore agreed to examine my vehicle. the "examination" occurred after the vehicle (front-end damage and all) had been sitting on the dealers lot for 3 weeks, and consisted of a couple of test stops in the parking lot and pulling wheels off the vehicle in the shop to inspect the brakes. this, of course, yielded no new information and toyota effectively closed the complaint. *jb

The vehicle continued to accelerate upon depression of the brake pedal. this resulted in the consumer broad siding another vehicle. *ak the dealer informed the consumer that the brakes would eventually adjust to the consumer as the computer sets itself. *sc *jb

Adding to the complaint already registered about long travel of brake pedal before brakes actually being applied. dealer readjusted, but still far short of comfortable feeling. dealer also suggested i was unfamiliar with abs. ha! also adding to complaint of windshield popping noise before actual crack appears. our camry's windshield has been popping and creaking since we bought the car.. several trips to dealer have not solved the problem.*ak

I slowly pulled into a parking space, stepped on the brake, and the car failed to stop and surged forward. the car hit the store wall, five feet from the parking stall. i reported this to my insurance company. the brakes were checked and i was told they were okay. when i took my car for it's first maintance at the toyota dealer, i told the service person to check the brakes and why. the service technician informed me that the 2003 camry's rpms go up if you have the air conditioner on and you simultaneously step on the brakes lightly. they did not replace any brake parts, instead they suggested that i press hard on the brakes if the air conditioner is on to avoid an other surging incident.*ak

Brake pedal of 2003 toyota camry goes to the floor! dealer says they have had numerous complaints but corporate says that's normal. i feel it's dangerous especially to short drivers. this car is brand new and i have driven four other camry's, a 2002 and 3-2003 s. the dealer says this has been happening in the newer body style but "there's nothing wrong with it." 8jb

Brakes have a pulsation in brake pedal when stopping. front rotors were out of round,lateral out of round and rear drums needed to be machined. took it back to the dealership on four occasions and the problem still exists. also, when stopping at various speeds, motor makes a fluttering sensation.*ak

On the freeway when i applied the brakes for emergency stop it went to the floor.t took extended distance to stop the vehicle. the dealer changed the main cylinder, but after a week the problem got worse. the brake pedal does not have any reserve distance as it specified in the maintanance and repair manual, the pedal is too soft and spongy. because the brake pedal softness the braking time is increased by 3 seconds. when i asked the assitant manger had they performed actual tests on the vehicle after the repair he told me that they did a computerized brake test, but when i asked for hte printout he said that the computer cannot print it. *ak

When the brake pedal was depressed at any speed, the vehicle failed to stop. this resulted in extended stopping distance. the dealership replaced the master cylinder because it was leaking, but the problem recurred, then the dealership cleaned and readjusted the rear brakes. *ak the brake pedal traveled to the ground. *scc *jb

While consumer's wife was driving the vehicle at 15mph the brake pedal went all the way down to the floor. dealer notified. *ak

Consumer noticed that when depressing the brakes pedal it traveled to the floorboard. the manufacturer had been contacted. *ak the vehicle had travel time on the pedal about one inch and spongy. dealer stated all 2002's and 2003's had that problem. *ph *jb

2003 toyota camry v6 (midyear 210 hp motor). the brakes on this car fade all the way to the floor when depressing the pedal. this is very disconcerting as there isn't any "pedal" to the brake and has to just keep pressing, pressing, pressing the pedal until the car stops. the toyota representative says this is how the camry brakes are designed and it is normal. the toyota representative insists that since he can not reengineer the car he cannot do anything to help with the problem. he acknowledges that the pedal goes to the floor. the dealer service manager was "obviously" concerned with the problem, but the toyota representative dismissed his concern. it appears that toyota "thinks" it's smarter than the rest of us. but perhaps they should take a step back and look at where that attitude has gotten a few of the other automobile manufacturers. the camry's brakes do not give the driver a feeling that the brakes will stop the car. in fact, the car does not stop. these brakes are dangerous. *ak *scc

While driving at 40 mph, and when depressing the brakes vehicle did not slow down enough to avoid a collision. consumer's vehicle was involved in a rear end collision. there were no injuries reported. however, consumer was cited. vehicle had been to the dealer twice concerning the brakes. dealer would simply remove the rust and do nothing else. *ak

Consumer noticed that after applying the brakes vehicle went into extended stopping distance. vehicle was serviced by dealer. technician adjusted both rear brake shoes.*ak *cb

A 2003 toyota camry, v-6, with all safety equipment experienced intermittent cruise control disengagement, actual turn-off, at highway speeds. sometimes the brake pedal needed to be lifted with the left foot to restart/re-engage the cruise control. later, while parallel parking, on applying the brake, the car surged ahead hitting the suv parked ahead. toyota dealer, and field technician drove vehicle and the only thing noticed was the cruise control went off when turning around in a driveway. the problem was sporadic on the highway when first observed. toyota legally denied the claim after over 3 months time from reporting to their regional center. no injuries occurred. the master cylinder has been replaced and the front end repaired. the car appears to be operating satisfactorily. *la the consumer stated if the brake pedal is depressed slightly to disengage the cruise control, he still has to lift the pedal to engage it again. updated 03/05/10

Within 3 weeks from purchase date the car accelerated when i attempted to brake. this happened twice. i took the car to the dealer who was unable to find anything wrong. they had the car for a month in that time corporation reps also tried to find the fault. they were unable to. i was told car was fine. i was terrified to drive it and would not take it . the dealer would asume no responsibility and said if i wanted a new car i would have to trade this model in towards the purchase of a new car. because i was so afraid to drive it and would not take the car anyplace else to sell because i knew how dangerous it was (and so did the dealer and if they sold that dangerous car to another it was on their responsibility not mine) i accepted the conditions put forth by my dealer and traded my 3 week old toyota in for a new toyotaand had to pay an additional $4000.00 because the 3 week old car with less than 1200 miles on it was now a used car. *ak

I parked my 2003 camry (with under 5000 miles on it) on a steep, circular driveway on a drizzly morning. when i went to leave, creeping from a dead start, my brakes failed...or my tires didn't grip the asphalt. i don't know which. i jammed my foot on the brakes and nothing happened. i went skidding down the incline. when i reached the bottom, my car finally stopped. fortunately there was no cross traffic, so i avoided a collision. i have photos of the extensive skid marks left by my car. *nlm

The consumer wanted to know if there was a problem in manufacturing or quality control of 2003 camry brake system. *mr the consumer believed when the vehicle left the factory, the brakes were out of adjustment. when the consumer had to apply the brakes, he discovered the brakes were spongy and the brake pedal traveled to the floor. it was discovered the rear brakes were out of adjustment, the front brake pads contained glaze and the front springs were inoperative. *ts *jb *cb

Gas tank thump when starting from stop. slight thump and heavy thump all depends how much fuel in tank. suspension bolts tightened to factory specs. parking brake out of adjustment coming up to high hard holding on hill and brake pedal to soft.

Consumer states that when trying to apply the brakes the brake pedal will go to the floor, causing the vehicle to have extended stopping distance. dealer notified. *ak

I had backed out of parking space. when i put 2003 toyota camry in drive, it surged forward. i braked but the vehicle accelerated. i depressed brake fully, nonetheless the car accelerated uncontrollably and very quickly. vehicle only stopped by violent collision with two parked vehicles and cement blocks. only good fortune prevented deaths of any passers by. witnesses observed my foot fully on the depressed brake pedal as the car was at rest after the accident.

The brake pedal goes to the floor in emergency situations but the car does not decelerate any harder. i have notified the mfg numerous times, even got their legal dept involved (case # 200301090284) according to toyota this is by design - even though the brake pedal height & stopping distances are outside the published specs. i have found numerous similar complaints on the nttsa website and am concerned this has fallen in a crack. this is so rampant that i am considering a class-action lawsuit should all other methods fail (i really don't want to do this!!) thanks for your attention in this crucial matter. i have filed a complaint a while back - i called the 800 number to inquire whay no research has been done & i know you are spread very thin - please accept my apolgy but i really think this is a important matter

I am very concerned with the brakes on my '03 camry le. when continued or strong pressure is applied to the brakes the pedal goes to the floor. on said date i rear-ended someone because of this deficit. toyota legal got involved and said it was 'normal'. the braking system is very dangerous & misleading! *nlm

Vehicle was at a complete stop. consumer had their foot on the brakes, and the pedal went all the way to the floor. consumer feels that the pedal are too soft. the dealership indicated that they were having problem with this model/year brakes, and thinks the cause is the master cyclinder. ph