Problems with 2004 Toyota Camry STEERING

Fax on behalf of re her defective 2004 toyota camry: defective steering shaft was replace but noise has returned; reply attn: cape coral district office. *kb the consumer stated the vehicle made a distinctive noise when the steering wheel was turned. the problem returned six months later.

Recently i brought my 04 camry to my dealer because of sulfur smell and rattle at light acceleration. the dealer verified the problems and replaced the converter and intake manifold according to the tsbs. they said they also had to re-program the ecm. then after i picked up the car, i found everything is harder: the acceleration, steering, and braking. i found it is hard to maintain a speed whether on local or highway. on may 28,2005, while i drove the car on highway with 4 persons sitting in the car (including me), i found the steering was very hard and felted like it was locked, and i found it is very hard to accelerate to hwy speed and hard to maintain it. i brought the car to the dealer again on may 31. after having a technician test drove it, they told me it was similar to other camrys (normal) and wouldn't want to solve my problem. i believe they never tried to reproduce my problem (by having more people sitting in the car). i think this problem is a safty issue so i file complaint with nhtsa. i also feel the car doesn't shift right and engine is noiser after the convert/intake change and re-programming.

I heard and felt a noise on my steering wheel on my 2004 toyota camry an when i took it to the dealer they said that i needed a steering shaft/intermediate shaft. i happened to check the web and found that other people were having the same problem and that there was a tsb on this problem. also that there was a new shaft made to remedy this situation. i have contacted the dealer and the manufacturer which in turn had the dealer contact me. the service manager told me that they could not fix it since it was out of warranty. he said that if it had 39,000 miles they would probably repair but since i had 60,000 they would not. he did offered me a goodwill gesture of 15% off the cost. my contention is that this was a known issued, and since this has to do with a safety issue such as the steering why wasn't something done before having come to this. the car runs out of warranty and people have to pay for something that they knew about and is a safety issue i also took it to an independent automobile repair shop to see what they thought and they told me that they believe that the noise was coming from the shaft and steering gear box. they did repair a vehicle of someone who 's car was out of warranty but only a few hundred miles over the expiration of the warranty. *jb

Car was parked in driveway for 2 days on march 31 and april 1 during a driving rain storm car was not driven for 2 days. on friday afternoon april 1 at 3:3 pm opened car door and driver's side floor and carpeting was wet from gas pedal under seat to back seat. toyota said nothing was wrong and i must have driven in high water or parked where my car could flood. first of all car wasn't under water in my driveway, if that was the case, my entire car would be flooded, not just drivers side floorboard, and my house would be under water. second of all ,if i had driven in high water both sides of floor board would be wet. not just drivers side. on march 30th day before the storm my car came from toyota shop from getting a steering shaft put in the car. makes me wonder if they didn't seal something up around the firewall, anyway they are refusing to take responsibility. something is wrong with this car, is leaking on just the drivers side floorboard. also bad rattles in b pillars. *ak

Vehicle has pulled left ever since the tires were rotated for the first time. i've had it back to the dealer three times, with them showing me that the alignment falls within specs, and attributing the pull to road crown. i just had my 30k mile service, and they called to let me know that my tires are wearing unevenly because of alignment issues. i paid to have it aligned again and reminded them about my problems the last time (please note that my tires are supposedly rotated each time the dealer performs an oil change). i drove the vehicle home and it still pulled to the left. i am going back there today to have them road test it with me again, on the phone the tech again attributed it to road crown which i denied, but i'll see what happens. this is ridiculous that a dealership or manufacturer won't repair known issues with their vehicles.*ak

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota camry. the contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, the steering wheel shifted from left to right involuntarily. the failure occured constantly while driving at different speeds. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics because the warranty had expired. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 40,000.

While driving brakes and/or steering was over riding his judgment. vehicle started the pull to the right consumer had a hard time trying to keep the vehicle in line. *ak....while driving on dry flat road about 70 mph vehicle began to pull to the right. consumer tried to correct back straight but steering did not respond. turned harder and to leftand car started lef toff the road. tried to correct back right lightly and steering did not respond. turne dharder right and car went hard right almost off the road. consume rhit the brakes to keep from leaving the road. also, vehicle has bad vibration a thighway speeds from tires. *ak

Car started pulling to the right when travelling 65-70 mph, leading to hitting a bridge wall and going down hill after that.suspension and steering heavily damaged, also damage to the body of car. i have been driving for more than 4 years now and this is the first time that i saw a car behave so strangely. since toyota camry has so many complaints from consumers saying that the car pulls to the left, i am thinking if the car was tampered with before sale, causing it to pull to the right instead of left to keep the complaints at bay.. also while driving for the 4 months that i had the car i noticed that the steering would turn to the right when ever i braked(i should have reported this at that very moment) unfortunate that i am doing this after been an horrible accident. *ak

Vehicle pulls to left or right--mostly left. vehilce will not drive straight without constant pressure on the steering wheel. i have complained and have taken it in for service and/or test driven a total of eight times. four times have been in the last month. the springs have been replaced and a wheel alignment has been performed. two service managers have driven with me from two different dealerships. they could feel the car pulling but said it was "normal." there is a technical service bulletin to repair the vehicle pull/drift but there has not been any improvement to my vehicle. i hear rattles in the driver window, the passenger window/door, and the dash. the windows were serviced once. the dash has been serviced twice. servicemen replaced the seatbelt panel on the passenger side because they thought the noise existed there. the noise still exists. since then, they don't try to repair and i've been told 'a little play in the windows is normal.'

Looseness in steering wheel with binding associated with popping noise in front of 2004 toyota camry with 40k. *nm

When driving, the steering wheel pulled to the left/right intermittently. *jb the vehicle had been serviced six times but the problem still exists. two sets of tires had been worn out. the tires were out of alignment. *sc

From day one car has pulled to the left. steering wheel is also not centered and has too much "play". i must apply constent pressure to the right just to keep the car straight. car does not have a solid, stable feel to it where steering is concerened. i have broght this back twice to laurel toyota carmax and they have not fixed it. i had a loaner car for two days and that car felt like it should. i will file a complaint with the manufacturer as well.*ak

Toyota camry was purchased june 28, 2004. pulled to left during test drive but was promised that it would be aligned and taken care of. repeated trip's for service have resulted in the tires be rotated repeatedly but no effect on the pulling issue. ended up in arbitration. waste of time. shop forman type person acknowledged this as a oft repeated complaint. arbitration denied any type repair or replacement. constantly repeated the "crown of the road" story, the "its designed that way for your safety" story, etc. first set of tires wore out after 18000 miles. was told that they're designed that way for a better ride. took car to another toyota dealer. he changed springs and such, apparently to exercise the warranty. after nearly a week in the shop, no better. again told the "crown of the road story" and the "its designed that way" story. to repeat what if have seen in the other complaints, this is too much to pay for a new car that constantly pulls to the left. it would seem to me that having it pull towards the oncoming traffic would not be the desired result here. the act of having to constantly apply right tension is not only tiring, it is very dangerous. if you glance away from the road, the abnormal feel of right tension causes some totally undesirable maneuvers. totally frustrating. it appears that my third toyota will be my last. *nm

I bought this car on 1/1/04. when i took it back a week later to have leather put on the seats, i told them it was pulling to the left. supposedly they aligned the front end but they didn't put anything in the computer about it. they have rotated the tires, switched the tires, aligned the front end, put a new rack on it etc. etc. the last time they told me there was nothing wrong with it and i should read the owners manual on how to operate it. i have dealt with this for 3 months and no satisfaction. i took it back to them and told them i wanted another car. they gave me one to see if i liked it and then pulled mine in to work on it again after i had told them no more. they called me today to tell me it was fixed. right!!! i have called my lawyer. *jb

- new toyota camry le purchased january 2004 - on february 25th key would not turn (took 10 - 15 minutes to start it) - later while parking, the car the steering locked turning the car to the right - the car accelerated and surged despite depressing th

A new 2004 camry se will not align and has severe steering problems. to follow toyota's suggest the alignment computer generated report will note: cross camber actual "this value is not within specification. tire wear, handling and safety problems may result." *jb

Car pulls to the left. when driving, the car drifts to the left. the problem is worse at freeway speeds. took to the dealer and they claim there is no problem, just "minor road variations".*ak

Two weeks ago we purchased a new 2004 toyota solara sle v6. it has from the date of purchase drifted to the left. today 12-29-2004 i took it to the dealer (right toyota of scottsdale, arizona) to correct the problem. they said they reverse mount and balanced the left front tire (per tsb st005-01). it drove somewhat better but when i got home and checked the tire pressure after several hours in the garage i found the left front tire at 37+psi well above the required 32 and 4.5 higher then the right front.*ak

2004 toyota solara - pulls to the left and cannot be aligned. safety hazard problem. must hold onto steering wheel tight or vehicle goes left. dealership aware of this problem but cannot fix it. has had many problems with this type of vehicle. what will happen on icy/snow covered roads? needs to be recalled. *la

I bought a 04 camry le in nov.03 but found it kept pulling to left. since then i have brought it to dealership twice for fix. the first time, they said it is out of alignment and aligned all 4 wheels. but it still pulled. the second time they cross rotated two tires and slightly adjusted the toe(as they told me). this time it is slightly improved. however, i found the steering is not symmetrical, i.e. turning left and turning right give me different feeling. so i guess the fix they did was not the right fix. they just tried to compensate the left pull by playing with the toe angles. it still pulls! recently i noticed many camry owners have the same problem. some of them actually had the problem fixed by a so-called "rotating upper spring insulator by 25mm ccw" meothd. and the problem is becuase of an assembly issue. so i would like toyota to have my problem addressed. they should fix their assembly issue and not let customers keep complaining without results!!!*ak

We purchased a 2004 solara se sport v6, after the test drive i told the service manager it pulled to the left he told us not to worry bring it back next week and he will give it a front end alignment, we did that and still pulls . we took it back again and they switched the tires from the right side to the left and it still pulls to the left. they have now had it for 2 weeks and dont know how to fix the problem, they told me toyota knows there is a problem with it pulling to the left but dont know how to fix it. this is a big safty problem because you must at all time kepp pressure on the steering wheel to the left in order for the car to go straight on the road. if you let go of the wheel you will go into the other lane of traffic what will happen in bad weather with ice or snow..... this problem needs to be fix before someone has a bad accident cause of the constant pulling to the left... i suggest a recall on the vehicle. *ak

I purchased a brand new 2004 toyota solara in september of 2003. since i have had the car it has pulled to the left. i took it in and toyota had my car for three days. they told me that they have talked with toyota specialist at corporate and it's a known problem with the 2004 solara that they are working on a fix. at this time they don't know what the problem is and recommended i drive the car until they figure it out. if tires wear wrong or any other problem they would cover it. this is not an acceptable solution for me. this car is brand new and i shouldn't have to keep a car that has a defect. this would not pass state inspection if i were to get it inspected today, so how could they tell me it's safe to drive when it pulls to the left? i have filed a complaint with toyota and i am awaiting a call back. i am also filing a complaint through nhtsa to further assist my situation. *la

I purchased a new 2004 toyota solara sle v-6 a few weeks ago and have some problems. the main problem is drifting to the left. i have taken the car in twice for this problem and the first time i got the car back from ourisman fairfax toyota the steering problem was worst than when i brought it in. "aligned to toyota specifications" they said. the service manager rotated the tires many times and adjusted the alignment "out of specifications" to try and make the car track straight down the road. his attempt to fix the car has failed and i am certain that the car will begin to produce abnormal tire wear because of the adjustments made to the car. i feel cheated by toyota. this is a 27,000 dollar car and the 15,000 dollar corolla rental they gave me for the day had perfect steering. this is also a safety issue. drifting to the left side of the road can cause an accident, if you don't keep constant pressure on the steering wheel the car will go left at an alarming rate. the amount of drift is so bad that if you remove your hand from the wheel, the steering wheel will turn left by itself. the amount of auto wheel turn is between 3 to 12 inches. this is very un-safe and i hope this complaint can be of some help to others and me. *la

Just bought a new 2004 camry xle fully loaded, had 18 miles on it.one of the bearings on the steering u-joint fell out,causing at least 2" of play in the wheel, luck has it this was just before we were going on a trip. we could of lost the steering on the freeway and crashed. power toyota in irvine ca. will not give me the bad part they said they had to send it back to the manufacturer. *ak

We purchased a 2004 solara se sport v6 ,from day one even at the time of the test drive it puled to the left you must always keep pressure on the steering wheel to the right to keep it straight. we spoke to the service manager after the test drive and before we bought the car and he said to me dont worry bring it back next week and we will fix it, it might just be out of alignment. we took it back the next week they changed the tires from the left side to the right side and said it was ok. it still pulled to the left, i called and told them that it was still pulling to the left they told me to bring it back and they gave me a rental car and they had it two days. we picked it up and it still pulled to the left .we took it back for the 3rd time in less then 2 weeks and i told them to keep it till it is fixed , they called me and told me they are having problems with them and dont know what to do to fix the problem the correct way . this has been 3 attemps to fix it and 17 days out of the first month of having the car that it has been in the shop. what about at a later date about tire problems with this car.*ak

I purchased a brand new 2004 toyota solara. since day one the car has drifted to the left. i have had the front end aligned 4 times, rotated the tires and checked air pressure. nothing has helped this car. this is a safety hazard and should be recalled, before somebody gets killed.

Purchased brand new 2004 toyota solara in september 2003. car has pulled left from day one. have taken car in 5 times. dealer told me toyota is aware of problem and are working on fix. a case number was assigned to my car and dealership claimed that they fixed car by adding washers to the strut bolts on that side to "shim" the car. dealer failed to tell me that they also added 5 extra pounds of pressure to the tire on that side to make the car go straight. not acceptable--the car is not fixed. i have filed a lemon law complaint with toyota 2 weeks ago and am awaiting a call back (they have 30 days to fix) and have also filed a complaint with the attorney general's office. *la