5th & 6th Generation (2002-2006 & 2007-2011)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 2002-2006 & 2007-2011
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
Ok guys so i bought a 2011 Camry SE in Feb of 2011 it was great the first 3 Months. Until I hit about 4,000 miles I started getting a vibration in my steering wheel at about 65 MPH, and a vibration when braking at highway speeds, another problem was a creaking/popping sound in my roof area when going in and out of driveways or speed bumps which was diagnosed and fixed by replacing the sunroof rails. My main problem has been the wheel vibrations. I took it in for my 5,000 mile service and told them about the vibration problems they took it on a test drive and claimed nothing was wrong.
I brought it back in to service around 11,000 Miles since the vibration had became more violent. so they took it on a test drive and confirmed at 60 MPH it shakes but the braking vibration is not there. So I was a little relieved that atleast they felt something. So they said they were going to try to balance the tires, and no that didnt work. So then they opened up a case with Toyota Corp. Corp told them to roadforce balance the tires and, no that didnt work, so they called Corp and they told them to roadforce balance it one more time, Nope didnt work still shaking.
So they decided the tires were deformed. They replaced all 4 of my tires and confirmed no more shaking and gave the car back to me. Once i took it and started to drive on the fwy i felt the vibration again but not at 60 MPH. It was at 70-75 MPH now. Right away i exited the fwy and turned back to the dealership. Took it back to my service advisor and said the shaking is still there. She called a tech to go on a test drive with me. Once we got on the fwy the tech confirmed yes there is shaking at 70 MPH. So we went back to the dealership and the service advisor told me that the dealership can't touch the car since its Toyota Corp's problem to resolve my issue and said to wait till Thursday for a Toyota factory rep to come and look at it. So last week Wednesday night I drop off the car and Thursday afternoon they call me and tell me they didnt feel nothing. But they did feel the vibration when braking that I had mentioned to them at 4,000 Miles. So they changed my pads and resurfaced my rotors, Gave the car back to me and it was ok until saturday it started to vibrate again.
I took the car in to the dealership again for the vibration issues and this time the service advisor called out the shop foreman he was a total pain in my butt. He asked me oh your having vibration problems with it at 70-75 MPH. I said Yes 70-75 MPH the vibration starts. And he said oh I cant drive over 65 MPH is that fine with you. I was kind of mad and said yeah i guess so lets go for a test drive hopefully maybe you will feel something. We hop on the fwy this guy is going 55 MPH holding up 18 Wheelers in the slow lane and other cars are passing us going about 85 MPH. he slowly starts to speed up to 65 MPH. I asked him hey just go up to 70 MPH see if you feel anything. And again he said no I cant because if I get a ticket I will put my job at risk, and to top it off I will still have to pay for the ticket. So i got mad and stood quiet I didnt say anything anymore. The part that got me even more mad was when we were driving back on the fwy his phone started to ring in his pocket and he looked at me as if it was my phone ring. I looked at him and told him dont look at me its your phone. so he goes searching thru his pocket for his phone. Im thinking ok hes going to ignore the call but NO!!! he answers the phone and starts to talk away on the phone. And I had enough I was going to go off on him. He wont speed but he will answer a phone call. Anways when we got back I told the service advisor about the hole story they were laughing about it. But still my problem is not resolved. What do you guys think I should do. I tried explaining to them that the other tech felt it after they replaced the tires but they dont care. IDK what to do anymore anyways sorry about the long story guys. SEE QUESTIONS BELOW
1) You could offer to drive instead of him. If any vibration, the steering wheel will vibrate or the whole car will.
2) I usually skip strait to showing them. That's what you end up doing yourself anyway, go road test with them. Sure they'll say "Our tech are professionals" but just ignore that and offer to come along or anything.
3) Seem like they pull out all the usual suspect trying to fix the car. You can use the lemon law if you want. has the car been in an accident? the frame might be damaged.
1) You could offer to drive instead of him. If any vibration, the steering wheel will vibrate or the whole car will.
2) I usually skip strait to showing them. That's what you end up doing yourself anyway, go road test with them. Sure they'll say "Our tech are professionals" but just ignore that and offer to come along or anything.
3) Seem like they pull out all the usual suspect trying to fix the car. You can use the lemon law if you want. has the car been in an accident? the frame might be damaged.
If you are not happy with it, well... sell it.
See thats what made me get confused the shop foreman denied my request to let me drive he said he won't sit in the car with me if im driving the car
I'd tell the Service Manager "I have to drive, I don't feel safe riding in the car while your shop foreman answers personal calls while driving my car."
or, they can drive it up to where it makes the noise. There are states that have higher speed limits that are legal. Tell them that you'll be happy to drive their foreman to a higher MPH state, and send them the bill for gas, meals, and hotels.
Tell them to stop being pretentious idiots and fix the car. Time to ratchet up the mood a bit. You bought the car from them, not Toyota, so they are not absolved of all responsibility. If they think they are, call Toyota and tell them what's going on. Talk to customer service/dealer relations, not service. Different people.
I'd tell the Service Manager "I have to drive, I don't feel safe riding in the car while your shop foreman answers personal calls while driving my car."
or, they can drive it up to where it makes the noise. There are states that have higher speed limits that are legal. Tell them that you'll be happy to drive their foreman to a higher MPH state, and send them the bill for gas, meals, and hotels.
Tell them to stop being pretentious idiots and fix the car. Time to ratchet up the mood a bit. You bought the car from them, not Toyota, so they are not absolved of all responsibility. If they think they are, call Toyota and tell them what's going on. Talk to customer service/dealer relations, not service. Different people.
You know what your right I will be calling the service manager today
Had about same problem(s) - dealer solved mine; Try one more dealer
Quote:
Originally Posted by kobe4life323
SEE QUESTIONS BELOW
HAS ANYBODY HAD THIS PROBLEM?
IF YOU WERE ME WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
*****************************
When I first started reading your thread ..... I thought ..... wow, this should be easy to solve - " I had almost the exact same problems." And YES, I know how annoying it can be because mine developed into the "intolerable - if they can't fix it, I am getting rid of this car" stage on a 2,000+ mile round trip from kansas city to gulf breeze FL before I moved in the Fall of 2010. Fortunately, my fixes only ended up taking one repair visit so I took advantage of the opportunity to have my oil changed just slighly before I would have taken it in anyway.
Look at my thread "09LEV6 wheel vibration(s)/bad brake rotors-NEED HELP"
Go to my post #11 where a VERY competent dealership diagnosed THREE separate problems which were causing the vibrations and fixed them in a matter of hours. I had never even heard of road force issues until then.
Although your dealership may have a really bad attitude problem [the cell phone story tops them all], it looks like they have done about everything possible in the context of what is normal. Your car may be developing into something of a "lemon" so get familiar with the "Lemon Laws" of your state and start crossing your t's and dotting your i's.
[The vibration issue is the ONLY problem I ever had with my car in 38K miles/40 months. Virtually no wind noise, road noise, rattles or squeeks. Runs smoother, more powerful, more fuel efficient, and quieter than prior Lexus LS400, Avalon XLS, & Lexus ES].
Anyway, in the meantime, you did not mention alignment. Did they check the all four wheel alignment? Although your symptoms are not typical of bad alignment, a check of the alignment and suspension itself including struts should clearly be performed here. The shaking reminds me of older cars with worn out ball joints.
If your dealer will not willingly do further investigation, first, take your car to another dealer. I've been on these forums long enough to know that going to a different dealer very often solves the problem. The Toyota dealer network is a complete disaster when it comes to consistency. Service and policies will vary from dealer to dealer and region to region on things like post warranty repairs, what they say is covered by the powertrain vs the bumper to bumper warranty, etc.
If going to another dealer does not work, try a non-dealer ASE certified mechanic that specializes in Lexus/Toyota vehicles. Assuming its not alignment, for this diagnosis, it's going to take someone who either has seen the problem before - which is unlikely - or has familiarity with the suspension, etc. of these vehicles to know what all to check intuitively. alignment? Even if you have to pay someone $100 or $200 to diagnose the problem accurately, it would sure be worth it to avoid the aggravation.
I don't know if you have an I4 or a V6, but if V6, you might post to the Avalon forum at Toyotanation. Also, Edmunds is a good place to post your Camry problem but their threads are not as well organized is Toyotanation.
Since you have an SE, you are dealing with a different suspension than most Camry or Avalon owners ..... and the problem could be with a faulty part unique to the SE series. There are no suspension changes that I know of or can find doing a quick Internet search since 2007 on the V6 and since the 2010 model year on the I4 when the suspension had to be made compatable with the 2.5L I4 6 speed tranmission vs the 2.4L I4 5 speed transmission.
We have seen this with a customer who had an 07 Camry SE that thought the wheels were out of balance. We concluded that it was an alignment issue. The customer brought the vehicle to the dealer and they realligned the vehicle and replaced a suspension component.
NOTE: I found this by doing a google search after I made the original post. I did not type in the word alignment. Just "toyota camry se suspension problems" - I did not even type in a model year. I may have been onto something afterall when I mentioned alignment and suspension components.
Last edited by Paul3637; 08-03-2011 at 12:14 PM.
Reason: Added similar problem found in camry enthusiast forum
Had about same problem(s) - dealer solved mine; Try one more dealer
Deleted duplicate post / WOW - when I started writing. the original post was the only one ........ walked away from the computer mid stream and my post registered #9 instead of #2. Toyotanation really is the best of all the Toyota forums. My Lemon Law comment was typed before I saw that two people had already made the same point.
Last edited by Paul3637; 08-03-2011 at 11:43 AM.
Reason: deleted Duplicate post / comment about prompt responses
kobe4life323: which dealer are you dealing with? I see youre from Montebello.
Lmao I rather not say the dealership name. The last time i mentioned a dealership name on the forum, some people ratted me out and the president of the dealership actually hit me up about it and i rather just stay out of the drama. sorry about that I dont want to offend anybody. LOL as much as I hate them we still have to respect the business
When I first started reading your thread ..... I thought ..... wow, this should be easy to solve - " I had almost the exact same problems." And YES, I know how annoying it can be because mine developed into the "intolerable - if they can't fix it, I am getting rid of this car" stage on a 2,000+ mile round trip from kansas city to gulf breeze FL before I moved in the Fall of 2010. Fortunately, my fixes only ended up taking one repair visit so I took advantage of the opportunity to have my oil changed just slighly before I would have taken it in anyway.
Look at my thread "09LEV6 wheel vibration(s)/bad brake rotors-NEED HELP"
Go to my post #11 where a VERY competent dealership diagnosed THREE separate problems which were causing the vibrations and fixed them in a matter of hours. I had never even heard of road force issues until then.
Although your dealership may have a really bad attitude problem [the cell phone story tops them all], it looks like they have done about everything possible in the context of what is normal. Your car may be developing into something of a "lemon" so get familiar with the "Lemon Laws" of your state and start crossing your t's and dotting your i's.
[The vibration issue is the ONLY problem I ever had with my car in 38K miles/40 months. Virtually no wind noise, road noise, rattles or squeeks. Runs smoother, more powerful, more fuel efficient, and quieter than prior Lexus LS400, Avalon XLS, & Lexus ES].
Anyway, in the meantime, you did not mention alignment. Did they check the all four wheel alignment? Although your symptoms are not typical of bad alignment, a check of the alignment and suspension itself including struts should clearly be performed here. The shaking reminds me of older cars with worn out ball joints.
If your dealer will not willingly do further investigation, first, take your car to another dealer. I've been on these forums long enough to know that going to a different dealer very often solves the problem. The Toyota dealer network is a complete disaster when it comes to consistency. Service and policies will vary from dealer to dealer and region to region on things like post warranty repairs, what they say is covered by the powertrain vs the bumper to bumper warranty, etc.
If going to another dealer does not work, try a non-dealer ASE certified mechanic that specializes in Lexus/Toyota vehicles. Assuming its not alignment, for this diagnosis, it's going to take someone who either has seen the problem before - which is unlikely - or has familiarity with the suspension, etc. of these vehicles to know what all to check intuitively. alignment? Even if you have to pay someone $100 or $200 to diagnose the problem accurately, it would sure be worth it to avoid the aggravation.
I don't know if you have an I4 or a V6, but if V6, you might post to the Avalon forum at Toyotanation. Also, Edmunds is a good place to post your Camry problem but their threads are not as well organized is Toyotanation.
Since you have an SE, you are dealing with a different suspension than most Camry or Avalon owners ..... and the problem could be with a faulty part unique to the SE series. There are no suspension changes that I know of or can find doing a quick Internet search since 2007 on the V6 and since the 2010 model year on the I4 when the suspension had to be made compatable with the 2.5L I4 6 speed tranmission vs the 2.4L I4 5 speed transmission.
We have seen this with a customer who had an 07 Camry SE that thought the wheels were out of balance. We concluded that it was an alignment issue. The customer brought the vehicle to the dealer and they realligned the vehicle and replaced a suspension component.
NOTE: I found this by doing a google search after I made the original post. I did not type in the word alignmentl. Just "toyota camry se suspension problems" - I did not even type in a model year. I may have been onto something afterall when I mentioned alignment and suspension components.
So your resolution was replacing a tire that was deformed???
Three separate issues on mine. Alignment or suspension on yours
Quote:
Originally Posted by kobe4life323
So your resolution was replacing a tire that was deformed???
Three separate issues on my car that made the "perfect storm":
1) The steering wheel vibrated like crazy when the brakes were applied at highway speed. This was fixed under a TSB for free where they replaced the brake pads and other brake related parts.
2) The wheels were out of balance. I had purchased replacement tires at NTB in Olathe, KS at 8500 miles when the worhtless OEM Bridgestones wore out. I took it in every 6K miles for rotation and balance - free under the purchase agreement. Turns out the moron that balanced the tires at about 20K miles did not know how to work the machine and every tire on the car was slightly out of balance. Dealer balanced the tires correctly.
3) Dealer did a road force test as a matter of course. Discovered one tire was out of round and documented it on the receipt. Said it had to stay on the rear wheel because unsafe to drive on front.
Item 1 above was free under warranty. Items 2 & 3 cost about $50.
At this point, the steering wheel vibration had gone away.
Took receipt to the place I bought the tires. They looked at it and gave me a free new tire with no pro-ration for the 15,000 miles I had driven it.
Note also in my post #11 on the link I originally sent you, the tech rode with me while I drove and was able to diagnose the problem from the passenger seat. Like I told you, dealer practices are wildly inconsistent. The fact they would not let you drive your car to test it ...... but in my case the tech never even drove the car - he let me drive it - speaks volumes about inconsistent practices amongst dealers.
*************
If I were you, I think I'd have them check your alignment and suspension. The comment above was made by a Toyota Tech where someone thought wheels were out of balance when it was alignment and a faulty suspension part.
Well I called the dealership and spoke to the service manager. He told me that he can not force his techs to drive over 65 MPH because thats breaking the laws. and once I told him well why dont you let me drive he said no due to the fact that people these days are crazy (IDK if he was trying to call me crazy or if he just needed a excuse to get out of it). And after I told him what "WORKERANT" had told me to tell him. That me and the tech should go somewhere where the speed limit is 70 MPH he told me I should go find a dealership in a City/State where the speed limit is 70+. I got mad and told him that this was B.S. and that he would be mad to if this was his car. He told me that he wasnt going to talk to me and hang up on me because I cussed while talking to him. He hung up the phone I called back multiple times but he just keeps letting it go to voicemail. You know what im starting to reconsider my idea of keeping the dealership name confidential.
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Tired Of Problems On My 2011 Camry SE
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