2021 Toyota Camry: What to check before buying

Airbags fail to deploy in serious collisions. The reports describe frontal hits, side impacts, guardrail strikes and a rollover, and several cars are totaled. Of 78 complaints, 9 involve crashes, with 12 injuries reported. Drivers usually say no warning light came on beforehand. The second large group covers recall 23V865. Owners report the remedy is not yet available, and dealers tell them the car cannot be fixed yet. Some say they were turned away or told their VIN was not included. A few describe the airbag warning light coming on while driving.

The brake pedal stops responding or sinks to the floor, and the car keeps moving. This mostly happens at low speed while parking, and the reports include crashes into trees, a garage heater and another car. Some describe a loss of power assist and automatic emergency braking that never engages. Dealers often cannot find a cause. The parking brake also fails to hold the car on an incline or in gear, sometimes with a malfunction message. Reported mileages are low, between 8,060 and 14,284 miles. Four of the nine involve crashes.

Transmission failures make up most of these reports. Symptoms include a sudden loss of acceleration at highway speed, whining, slipping, delayed shifts from first to second gear, and a neutral safety switch code. Failures cluster between 51,808 and 79,000 miles. One owner just past warranty was quoted 12k for a replacement. Two crash reports describe the car lurching forward or backward while parking, with one injury. A separate report covers a coolant bypass valve code at 24k miles.

These reports cover a mix of faults. One driver describes sudden acceleration in a garage that ended in a crash even with the brake pressed. Others report systems that stay powered after shutdown, leaving the car unable to start the next day without a jump. A rear door refuses to open and then leaves the car unable to lock, and rodents eat through parts. A report of sluggish acceleration and steering points to low battery voltage. Shops often find nothing wrong because the car runs normally once there.

An "Engine Maintenance Required" warning appears, often as soon as the air conditioning is switched on. Owners trace it to a faulty engine coolant bypass valve or coolant sensor. Oil leaks are the other pattern, coming from the oil pan gasket and the valve cover gasket. Owners report paying for diagnosis because there is no recall, and one mechanic warned that oil dripping on the muffler could start a fire. A hybrid owner reports the car losing power in stopped traffic.

Lane-keeping features cannot be fully switched off, so the steering keeps pulling the car away from lane lines and the warnings keep sounding. One driver had this happen on black ice. Dealers say the system checks out as working properly. Surging under braking is also reported, especially on snow. One fire report describes a steering fluid warning, followed by the car shutting off and restarting several times before it filled with smoke and burned. A steering lock ECU fault is also mentioned.

The car fails to stop when the system should intervene, and owners describe several near crashes. No warning light comes on, and neither dealers nor a manufacturer engineer could reproduce or explain the failure. A separate complaint says radar cruise control makes the steering loose and hard to control during lane changes, and the problem goes away when the radar feature is off. One crash report with an injury involves a car cutting in at an intersection.

Front bumper and fender clips work loose, and owners worry the panels could fall off in traffic. One dealer called it a common problem but would not cover the repair, and the same owner reports heavy rust. Another complaint says the angled part of the hood nearest the windshield reflects sunlight into the driver's eyes. One crash report describes the car accelerating on its own at a car wash while the brake was pressed, with no airbag deployment.