1998 Toyota Camry LE from North America - Comments

Pulls to the left, especially at freeway speeds. Replaced original tires at 15000 miles. Two tires were completely worn smooth. Have aligned wheels 3 times. Dealer says he cannot duplicate symptoms.

Transmission will not shift into third gear until engine is warm. Usually requires about 2 miles driving in winter. Dealer said he could not duplicate problem.

I have been very disappointed in Toyota's inability or unwillingness to fix these problems. I will probably go back to Honda.

How many dealers and/or mechanics have tried to duplicate your concerns? I wouldn't say that just because one mechanic could not duplicate two less than obvious problems that a vehicle is disappointing. Maybe you should try to ride with the mechanic, or try another dealership. But one attempt to fix problems that may or may not exist is not proper justification to categorize a car that performs well in all other aspects as disappointing.

I can respect the opinion of anyone disappointed with their Toyota. There is so much hype about their reputation for quality, etc., that one expects them to be perfect. But they are not and are far from it. I find that they are not any better and in some circumsances worse than other makes. Especially when you consider the sludge problems in Toyotas. Do a web search at www.google.com using the words "Toyota Engine Sludge" and see for yourself.

If you read the owner's manual you will find a section that explains why your car doesn't shift into third gear (which I think that you may be referring to 4th gear and not 3rd). Basically, it is an actual feature that is designed to get the engine up to optimal running temperature. When the engine meets this temperature, it allows the transmission to resume normal shifting. I think that what you perceive as a fault may actually be a clever idea on Toyota's part. When I first noticed that my Camry wasn't shifting until I drove for a while in the morning, I was a bit suspicious too so you are definitely not alone. Take care.

You have only driven this car 28000 miles in 6 years. why do you even have it? as far as it pulling to the right, how can you even tell? the steering on my camry is so overboosted- this is one of my greatest complaints (i didn't want the car; got stuck with it), I could tell right away they had old ladies in mind when they designed this part of the car, you can't even feel the road... at all. so how can you tell if it is pulling or not? I mean you could put oil all over the steering wheel and still drive this thing with one finger. I can't tell mine is out of alignment unless I look at the steering wheel going straight and it isn't straight up like it is supposed to be. as far as the engine warm up feature, you haven't ever held your car in a lower gear on a cold morning to warm it up, it is the same thing only you don't have to put the shifter in second and shift into d when it finally warms up the car does it for you. I don't know what else to tell you honestly...I'm kinda worried about you.

Go to a real alignment shop and it will be fine. Use high quality tires like Toyo, Bridgestone, or Michelin. Toyota dealer service is incompetent in my area, but they make up for it by being expensive, intimidating, and arrogant. I can't believe the top Toyota management in Japan would ever allow service like this in their own country. The delayed shift when cold is normal; the fact that your Toyota service didn't know this shows you how incompetent they are. Ask around for a competent independent repair shop; you might change your whole opinion about the quality of your car.

I agree with the comment brfore mine... try another shop..I'm a mechanic myself and have had 3 lexus and 4 camrys.. i also sell cars that's why I go through that many, but I have to honestly say all 7 of them never had a problem unless it was from neglect.. i took my car to get a new thermostat because of overcooling in the winter.. (i would have done it myself, but it was too cold out) anyway when I got it back I checked the coolant level... they didn't put enough coolant in the car.. could have had serious problems because of the shop I took it to.. goes to show you.. need to be careful who diagnosis the car and works on it.. half the time they just make it sound like they know what theyre talking about rather then actually knowing the problem!

I owned a 94 Camry, and it pulls to the left too. I guess it's a common problem for Camry, our 05 would then wobble to the left or right somehow..

Speaking about the winter time up shifting, which is very normal for most modern automatic cars, that the computer prevents upshift until the tranny fluid reaches operation temperature. For ex, my 94 Camry won't upshift to 3rd in -30 C here in Toronto for initial driving.