I am thinking about buying a 2008 Toyota Camry XLE V-6 w/automatic transmission. I have noticed on Edmunds & Consumer Reports indications of some transmission problems. If this is true, has Toyota “fixed” the problems? Should I avoid the '08 Camry?
Toyota claims to have fixed the problems.
I have not heard any explanation of what they did to fix the problem, though, and unless I hear that, I NEVER trust a company. FWIW, Toyota also claims that there aren’t problems with the Avalon transmission, and I’m seeing a good number of complaints on those.
I always insist on finding out what they did to fix the problem because it shows that they truly understand the problem. If they say that the problem was isolated, but don’t say what it was, it concerns me that they may have seen some variation in production that they don’t fully understand. Some may be fine, but the problem may still be there, randomly hitting cars. Or at least the potential may be there.
By contrast, for example, once Ford said what their fixes were for the nasty AXOD transmission problems in the 94 and earlier Taurus, it gave me confidence that they understood how they screwed up. When I saw the fixes added on for the AX4N, it gave me confidence that the AX4N would be satisfactory in reliability. I bought a 97 (made not long after they fixed their problems), and that transmission has been flawless…
I know a few owners of the 2007/2008 4 cylinder version with shifting problems(more annoyance) and they have been quietly told by dealer they are waiting for a fix.
Personally I would find out how the problems occur(hopefully someone has posted clearly when/where) and take arrange an extended test drive. See if you can replicate the problem while at the same time trying out the car and see if fits your life. I personally would buy the manual shift version myself but many people don’t like to think much about driving especially typical Camry owner.
I’m not much of a Toyota guy but do believe there has been a problem with the automatic transmissions. The last 2 times while visiting the parts dept. of the local Chevy/Buick/Toyota dealer I’ve seen near new Toyotas on the racks in the service dept. with the transmissions out and on the table. On the last trip I saw one car and on the previous trip saw 3 at one time so there is obviously something going on there.
ALLDATA shows a TSB (Tech. Service Bulletin) issued back in 5/07 for a “shift flare” but that does not necessarily mean that is the only problem that has surfaced. It may only mean that nothing else has been issued to this point.
I would recommend talking to someone in the service dept. (preferably the guy who actually does the transmission repairs) and verify what the problems are and if those issues have been corrected during production before jumping off on one.
This is clearly a red flag; although I like the Camry, and trust the rest of the car is OK, I would never knowingly buy a car that has a proven problem, even if the manufacturer will soon come up with a fix.
The 4 cyl version has a different transmission, and should be OK.
There WAS a problem, but Toyota fixed it. It was the internal pump being too small. I think this was only for the 2007 models. Every manufacturer is going to make mistakes. I also look at how quickly they responded to the problem.