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Toyota Camry xse 2023 issues

16K views 27 replies 15 participants last post by  Gdead65  
#1 ·
Hey guys I just bought a 2023 Toyota Camry sxe, I now have 700 miles on the car and I am having a couple issues. Under the hood, driver side between the motor and battery I am getting a strong smell of burning rubber and cannot figure out why. I am also having an issue with the car pulling to the right while driving, and also the back left tire is making a hissing sound at times like there is an air leak or something of some sort, and have also smelled the burning smell from that tire. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. I am taking it to a dealership tomorrow but would like your feedback also. Thank you!
 
#9 ·
The burning rubber smell has happened from. Day 1. Some people said it’s normal break in period smells, some people I didn’t. I’ve checked under the hood and haven’t seen Any obvious leaks but there is one spot that possibly looks like something has been leaking. No tubes or anything if my knowledge and visual are busted open or melting. The coolant is almost half gone already and only 700 miles so I’m thinking it may be a coolant leak, the air pressure is good in the back tire, upon inspecting again today it seems like the “air leak” sound may be coming from up a little further on the left side bottom and not from the tire
 
#12 ·
I’m at the dealership now, full list of issues include, car not shifting correctly at times unless I take my foot off the petal, half tank of coolant left after driving 800 miles, burning rubber smell between battery and engine, strange chemical smell also from under the hood, car stalling and lunging forward periodically, possible leak on drivers side under hood, triangle with exclamation light turned on today while driving on the center screen, back left tire area hissing periodically and also burning smell…think that’s it that I can recall currently. Had over a half a sheet of paper filled with all the issues
 
#13 ·
Wow!

Keep us up to date on this one.
Ask dealer if they can get any codes or info from the ECU.
Loss of coolant should be top priority.
Document every interaction with the dealership.
 
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#14 ·
Well, the exact thing happened as I thought it would. I took it in, saiid the burning smell was “normal” for a new vehicle which is complete BS considering it’s been driven 800 miles and I can pinpoint the strong odor between the battery, and engine. Claim to have not heard any noise from the back left side tire/area which I had stated. It doesn’t do it every time. Told me “there’s no codes, come get your car”. Told me I wasn’t used to the transmission in the car, although it stalled in the middle of the road and revved itself up without moving the vehicle and it was running fine when I got it. Didn’t mention anything to me about having to slightly release off the pedal for it to shift just another “you aren’t used to the transmission”. Didn’t get one answer whatsoever that was helpful.
 
#16 · (Edited)
The engine burning smell you’re smelling is probably the same one many of us have smelled on ours. A lot of reports from Camry owners regarding that smell.

It’s coming from the driver’s side of the engine and tire area and kinda smells like a mixture of coolant and rubber. I’ve smelled it too on mine. It’s probably just some material giving off that smell when it gets hot because it’s so new.
I now have 14,000 miles on mine and the smell has gotten better.

Regarding your rear tire, if it’s not losing air then not sure what the hissing sound could be. Could it be the gas tank pressure check that these cars do some time after driving?
But right after driving your car next time, touch all four of your wheels and see if the right rear is way hotter than the other three. It could be a stuck caliper piston.
If your brake pads don’t release, your brake pad material and other components of that tire get hot enough where they start giving off a burning smell. Been through that on my last car.

The transmission issue sadly indeed is a common characteristic of this transmission. I believe it’s called ‘shift shock’ and has been discussed here before.
I’ve experienced it on my 2020 Camry 2 times so far - once when taking off from a dead stop and once while moving and then suddenly stepping on the gas pedal hard.
The only solution is to kind of gradually but firmly stepping on the gas when needing to accelerate fast as opposed to just stomping on the pedal.
 
#17 ·
Well, the exact thing happened as I thought it would. I took it in, saiid the burning smell was “normal” for a new vehicle which is complete BS considering it’s been driven 800 miles and I can pinpoint the strong odor between the battery, and engine. Claim to have not heard any noise from the back left side tire/area which I had stated. It doesn’t do it every time. Told me “there’s no codes, come get your car”. Told me I wasn’t used to the transmission in the car, although it stalled in the middle of the road and revved itself up without moving the vehicle and it was running fine when I got it. Didn’t mention anything to me about having to slightly release off the pedal for it to shift just another “you aren’t used to the transmission”. Didn’t get one answer whatsoever that was helpful.
First, I'm sorry that you are having issues with your new Camry. I hope that everything turns out okay. I'll try and work through some of my ideas/thoughts for the things that you are experiencing:

1) Strong smell of burning: As a few others have mentioned, this seems to be something that a lot of people experience within the first few thousand miles with their Camrys. Hopefully it will slowly go away as everything wears a bit.

2) Car pulling to the right: I have found that the current Camry has pretty light steering. That combined with the fact that 99% of roads are designed with a crown- meaning that it's higher in the middle and lower on the sides- designed that way so rainwater will flow to the sides and into the sewer drains- often causes cars to appear to be pulling to the right as they go down the road. It's more apparent with cars with every light steering- like the Camry.

If it seems a lot worse than other cars that you've driven in the past- on the same roads... it might be worth checking your car's alignment. It's possible that someone drove your car before you bought it and hit a big pothole- or something similar. You can ask your dealer to investigate it or you can take it to an independent shop to have the alignment checked. If they say that it's not to proper spec- take their report to the dealership and have them fix it.

3) Transmission: That 8-speed transmission is an acquired taste for some. It is programmed for maximum fuel efficiency first- and smoothness second. Your dealer is probably right about you just not being used to it yet. Over time, the transmission will learn how you drive and adjust a bit- but many have been a bit alarmed by how that transmission shifts as they get used to the car. With that said- your second statement about the car stalling- that's a bit more concerning. If the car did stall and the transmission did malfunction- that would have certainly threw an engine code that the dealership should have been able to scan for. Hopefully it wasn't something serious and the transmission continues to 'learn' how you drive and things will smooth out over time.

4) Air hissing by rear tire. The best way to investigate this is by checking the PSI of that rear tire- and then rechecking every few days to make sure that you are not losing any air. Toyota's TPMS is sometimes a bit too picky- so anything beyond a few PSI being lost would likely have illuminated the TPMS light on the dash. I can't imagine what else might be hissing by a back tire.


In my experience, Toyota dealers (really any dealership) sometimes have a hard time investigating an issue if it doesn't present itself during its time at the dealership. One way that you can perhaps help them understand and better identify the issue is if you were to perhaps use your cell phone to record any of the issues when they happen to you- not while driving, of course- but maybe if you could have a passenger hold the phone and record the conditions when they happen- that could go a long way to help you 1) prove that there is an issue and 2) help the technician identify what's happening and what might be going wrong.

Lastly, I'll say that there is a HUGE variance in terms of the quality of service departments at different Toyota dealerships. Some dealership service departments are absolutely awesome and really take care of their customers. Others will pull trick after trick to avoid doing warranty work. (Many hate doing warranty work because it's not very profitable for the dealership). There are five Toyota dealerships with 30 minutes of my house. I only will take my car to one of them. The one that I use always goes above and beyond to take care of their customers. Their sales department is honest and straightforward- and their service department works hard to ensure that the customers are happy. That's the way that it should be... but unfortunately dealers are independent- and Toyota is often powerless to try and force them to improve their customer service. It's often no better at any other brands. No local Honda dealership was willing to fix the pretty glaring defects in my 2021 Accord... which is what caused me to trade it in after less than a year. Luckily I was able to sell it for more than what I paid for it new.

Like I said- I hope that you can find solutions to the issues that you are having with your Camry. Camrys are pretty great cars in general. They aren't always perfect- but generally after you work out any initial issues- they are pretty reliable long-term. I hope that's the reality that you eventually are able to get to with your Camry.

Good Luck.
 
#19 ·
First, I'm sorry that you are having issues with your new Camry. I hope that everything turns out okay. I'll try and work through some of my ideas/thoughts for the things that you are experiencing:

1) Strong smell of burning: As a few others have mentioned, this seems to be something that a lot of people experience within the first few thousand miles with their Camrys. Hopefully it will slowly go away as everything wears a bit.

2) Car pulling to the right: I have found that the current Camry has pretty light steering. That combined with the fact that 99% of roads are designed with a crown- meaning that it's higher in the middle and lower on the sides- designed that way so rainwater will flow to the sides and into the sewer drains- often causes cars to appear to be pulling to the right as they go down the road. It's more apparent with cars with every light steering- like the Camry.

If it seems a lot worse than other cars that you've driven in the past- on the same roads... it might be worth checking your car's alignment. It's possible that someone drove your car before you bought it and hit a big pothole- or something similar. You can ask your dealer to investigate it or you can take it to an independent shop to have the alignment checked. If they say that it's not to proper spec- take their report to the dealership and have them fix it.

3) Transmission: That 8-speed transmission is an acquired taste for some. It is programmed for maximum fuel efficiency first- and smoothness second. Your dealer is probably right about you just not being used to it yet. Over time, the transmission will learn how you drive and adjust a bit- but many have been a bit alarmed by how that transmission shifts as they get used to the car. With that said- your second statement about the car stalling- that's a bit more concerning. If the car did stall and the transmission did malfunction- that would have certainly threw an engine code that the dealership should have been able to scan for. Hopefully it wasn't something serious and the transmission continues to 'learn' how you drive and things will smooth out over time.

4) Air hissing by rear tire. The best way to investigate this is by checking the PSI of that rear tire- and then rechecking every few days to make sure that you are not losing any air. Toyota's TPMS is sometimes a bit too picky- so anything beyond a few PSI being lost would likely have illuminated the TPMS light on the dash. I can't imagine what else might be hissing by a back tire.


In my experience, Toyota dealers (really any dealership) sometimes have a hard time investigating an issue if it doesn't present itself during its time at the dealership. One way that you can perhaps help them understand and better identify the issue is if you were to perhaps use your cell phone to record any of the issues when they happen to you- not while driving, of course- but maybe if you could have a passenger hold the phone and record the conditions when they happen- that could go a long way to help you 1) prove that there is an issue and 2) help the technician identify what's happening and what might be going wrong.

Lastly, I'll say that there is a HUGE variance in terms of the quality of service departments at different Toyota dealerships. Some dealership service departments are absolutely awesome and really take care of their customers. Others will pull trick after trick to avoid doing warranty work. (Many hate doing warranty work because it's not very profitable for the dealership). There are five Toyota dealerships with 30 minutes of my house. I only will take my car to one of them. The one that I use always goes above and beyond to take care of their customers. Their sales department is honest and straightforward- and their service department works hard to ensure that the customers are happy. That's the way that it should be... but unfortunately dealers are independent- and Toyota is often powerless to try and force them to improve their customer service. It's often no better at any other brands. No local Honda dealership was willing to fix the pretty glaring defects in my 2021 Accord... which is what caused me to trade it in after less than a year. Luckily I was able to sell it for more than what I paid for it new.

Like I said- I hope that you can find solutions to the issues that you are having with your Camry. Camrys are pretty great cars in general. They aren't always perfect- but generally after you work out any initial issues- they are pretty reliable long-term. I hope that's the reality that you eventually are able to get to with your Camry.

Good Luck.
Thanks so much! Really appreciate your input!
 
#18 ·
Thank you, makes me feel a little bit better about it, except I wasn’t stomping on it when it happened to mine, was slowly starting to accelerate. Not how I pictures my brand new car treating me especially this early. Just my luck though. Thanks for your input and advice. Appreciate it
 
#27 ·
Hi Sloanrb1, Your first post about coolant smell, coolant loss was March 2023. How has this turned out for you now.

The aroma on my car is from under the battery area which is mounted on front left inner fender. I was thinking trans cooler but zero pink coolant stains. No visible coolant leak around any hose, water pump, head gasket or anywhere else that's visible. I've looked many times with bright light & mirrors. Even wiggled under car.

The interior of car never ever smells of coolant. The A/C, heater vents never ever smell of coolant. The only time I can smell coolant is with window down at red light. I've pulled over popped hood & it's again smelling from under battery area. I've peeked under front carpets. No coolant under carpets.

I purchased 2023 Camry SE 4cyl front wheel drive March 2023. I was Mercedes dealer mechanic for 35 years. Have smelled hundreds of new cars. Plus the new ones I purchased. From day one I could smell odd aroma besides the normal new car/motor smells. eventually the new smells went away as expected. However I would get faint coolant smell at times. I'm east of San Francisco. I was cold & rainy. In May we drove to Palm Springs. It was 90-104f there. We drove to the tram up the steep hill. When getting to toll booth I smelled hot coolant. I was sure it was car in front of me. No it was mine! I smelled at the parking lot. Observed no coolant leak. No coolant stains. Was about 102f day. Again smelled it at hotel parking lot. Again no visible leaks. No overflowing from coolant reservoir. Next morning I checked level cold. It had dropped 1/2 from the Full cold mark. I specifically set to coolant in expansion tank to the full mark cold the 2nd day we had car. Of course this is after setting in garage overnight. I marked a dot of the reservoir with sharpie pen. Observed carefully. Indeed it slowly lowered. Mind you I've serviced thousands of cars & am very familiar with normal coolant lowering from evaporation. This was not right! I paid very close attention to the coolant smell & what makes the smell come on. 100% related to the expansion of hot coolant. Let's say I drive 10 miles, park car. I'll smell it. Also at a red light at about 10 miles I'll smell it with windows down. If breeze is just so, it can fairly strong. However once the hot coolant temperature is stable the aroma goes away. Of course hot the expansion tank level goes up 1-2". The radiator hoses feel very hard so indeed there is pressure in system. Mid summer 2023 I had 5k service done. It had lost at least 1 qt coolant. Dealer could not find leak.

I have radiator pressure test kit. I tested pressure at 7# 1.5 days. No leaks, no pressure drop. Go figure the aroma is for certain coolant. The coolant is dropping when it shouldn't. If I remove radiator cap coolant is aways right under cap. I've seen leaks on Toyotas many times. The pink coolant makes a very decided pink crust you can't miss. A bad leak it washes crust away, but you can see liquid coolant coming out. I see no liquid & no crust.

I bought gallon of Toyota Super Long Life coolant to have on hand. I again leveled expansion tank to full line cold.

Mid August we drove from San Francisco to Canada & back. Covered just under 3k miles. Use 1 quart coolant. I checked it every morning. Topped it when it was midway between Full & Low marks.

Had 10k service done. Again they can find no leaks. Next time they will contact factory assistance.

Car has about 11k miles now. Had it 9 months. As we know the condensate water from A/C drains out below front passenger side. It's looking like the concrete is taking on a very faint pink cast. Hmmm... I've tasted the condensate water several times. I can't taste even faint trace of coolant. I'm not suggesting people taste coolant, but it's an old mechanic's trick in helping identify leaks. Coolant has a very distinctive taste that is like nothing else. Should you taste it, only most tiny amount off tip of finger. Then rinse mouth well with water. Coolant is poisonous if you drink too much.

I've seen many leaking heater cores. In every case they smell of coolant or at least put a slimy film on windshield & in heater vents. I get neither.

This is most puzzling. Some say it just quit smelling after a year or so. I was most curious as to what has happened to your car.
Don
 
#28 ·
just ran accross this post... found pink crust along the air intake / top of beauty cover / driver side of the engine bay. I cleaned everything up and closely monitor the cold level of the coolant level. It never varies between half and just below half. At operating T- on the bottom portion of F. NO visable leak/crust from any hose / radiator cap. No smells no puddles.
I have OCD when it comes to this stuff so I check daily...I hate my brain at times
It has been raining a ton these days. Wondering if i picked up something in a puddle....