Comments: 1-15, 16-18
The steering wheel shakes (wobbles side to side) at speeds above 40 mph. It has done this every since I bought the car new from the Toyota dealership. I continued to take the car back to their shop and I was continually told that "this is normal". It would shake so bad that my watch would rattle on my arm. They supposedly even brought in some "special technician" who does nothing but trouble shoot problems and they told me he "did not find anything wrong" either. Everyone else (other than the Toyota people at the Lufkin, TX dealership) tell me something is wrong with the car. I have had all the tires rotated and balanced, numerous times and even bought four new tires. After buying new tires the shake in the steering wheel got better, but now the whole car vibrates.
The Toyota Dealership refuses to acknowledge that something is wrong with the car. They also have flat out lied to me about what they were doing: (1) shop manager told me he had sent a guy to the tire shop to pick up my car and after waiting about an hour and continuously asking what the problem was I watched him drive into the dealership with my car. (2) He told me that I could not speak with the "special technician" as he did not deal directly with customers, but after being told that he also had found nothing wrong with the car I asked to speak with him and was told he was busy with another customer. I will not go back into the place unless it is warranty work.
If it wasn't for the steering wheel shake and poor service it would be a nice car. I have no desire to own another Toyota.
Steering wheel shaking---that is what I have in my 95 toyota celica. I replaced the tires/balanced/rotated/front end alignment... now the shaking is down to a very minimum.. happens at 60+ mph...
I was told by the dealership to replace the RIMS.. that is the cause.. i am going to buy 4 new rims.. this should solve your problem as well.. i think...good luck..
I agree with the above comment. It sounds like slightly out-of-round rims. I had the same problem once, but not with a
Toyota. My Toyotas have always been very reliable and trouble-free.
I agree with the comment above. I own a 1999 Toyota Camry LE and I haven't had any problems with the steering wheel shaking that is until I bought a set of 17' rims and tires. Before hand, I had the factory 14' wheels with wheel covers and it continuously shaked and wobbled. But with that said, I strongly urge, if your financial situation permits to purchase a new set of rims and I can almost guarantee that your wobbly situation will be over. Toyota has been the best running automobile I've ever owned. I guess the only dilemma I have with Toyota is some of their Dealers.
Have you had the brakes and rotors checked out, since Toyota is notorious for electrical and braking problems that might be the first place you would want to look. What about your ABS have you had that looked at. It also sounds like the dealer ship you bought it from is incompetent, take the car to a different dealer if you still have a warranty on the car. Also, the shaking could be coming from the typical "Toyota Pull". All Toyota's seem to do this, pull to one side or the other, you can get an allignment, but with in a few days the pull will come back, just one of the quirks of Toyota's.
If the rims are causing the vibration, you maybe be able to request that they be replaced under warranty.
It's a pity the dealership (and the shaking problem) has spoilt the experience of owning your Camry. I reside in Australia and have the 1999 V6 version of the Camry. From many of the reviews I have read it seems to me quality control on Toyotas are superior here when compared to USA.
I have never had shaking problems on my Camry which has traveled almost 70,000 Kms (approx. 45K miles) and just yesterday took it out on a remote stretch of long straight road where it reached 180Kmh with not a hint of steering wheel shudder or shake. By the way, the tyres are running on the stock 15" rims.
As someone else suggested here see if you can't try another dealership as it seems they can be quite different even within the same car 'brands'. I have just moved over to a different Toyota dealership (in a smaller city) and their attitude appears to be much more customer friendly.
I realise this advise is probably too late, but it just goes to show the proof is really in the test drive regardless of any car's reputation.
Pretty soon they'll be Chryslers!!!
I've driven my 2001 Camry LE 45,000 miles without a hitch. I've rotated the tires every 5,000 miles (including spare) and have not experienced any vibration issues. My work car is a 2001 Ford Taurus. The Taurus did vibrate at highway speeds. Turns out it was a bad tire.
I own a 2001 Camry and I have the exact problems ever since I've owned it. Bad vibration in the steering wheel between 45 and 50 mph. While it was still under warranty a local dealer replaced all 4 wheels. Worked for a while, but it never goes away. After the tires were replaced it got better, but now it's back. Other than this frustrating problem I love the car. As far as replacing the rims - why the heck should we? It's been a problem since it's been new and it's obviously a manufacturing problem that Toyota is refusing to deal with - why should the owner pay for this??? Cindy S. in Nashville, TN.
I have a 2001 Camry after driving highway speeds maybe over a 100 miles the steering wheel gets a slight vibration on and off. I have got new tires, balance several times, but it remains the same. I give up it drives me crazy.
Balance your tires, the shaking will go away. I own a '97 Camry 5-speed and the service department at Toyota dealerships is just awful, find a mechanic who owns his own shop, and will actually do a better job at a lower price.
I have a Camry LE 2001. The steering wheel shakes at around 70 miles per hour. Los Angeles.
My 2001 camrey runs great. Just a question. Even tho the fuel economy is good, I would like to know how to improve gas mileage.
Looks like the shake is from unbalanced air pressure. Check the air pressure, you might have to throw away the faulty tyre.
Pay more if necessary, and have your tires rotated same side front back, and with a hand torque wrench not an air impact; may overtorque and you are warping rims and damaging rotors.
One or more of your rims are bent. It is not necessary to replace all 4 rims when more than likely only 1 rim is the source of your shaking problem. If you pay a good reliable mechanic to mount and balance all 4 wheels and tires, he or she will be able to point out exactly which rim or rims are bent. I think stock Camry wheels are about $90.00 in the states.
Trust me, I put about 500 to 800 miles on my 2001 Camry per week and a drive it like I stole it. It's a true workhorse (minus the actual horsepower), but it's just what I need for my job. Perform scheduled maintenance, change the oil every 5k to 6k miles and it should last you for 300k miles. I mean that is what you buy a Toyota for right? Otherwise go with the Porsche... Reliable and fast, but not cheap.