Problems · NHTSA complaints

2016 Toyota Camry Hybrid problems

Owners filed 171 complaints about the 2016 Toyota Camry Hybrid with NHTSA between Nov 2015 and Jul 2025. The most-cited component is air bags (26).

Complaints
171
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
36
Reported by owners
Fires
2
Reported by owners
Injuries
33
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
01 —By component

Complaints by component

One complaint can cite several components
  1. Air bags26
  2. Steering24
  3. Vehicle speed control21
  4. Service brakes19
  5. Power train18
  6. Engine16
  7. Electrical system16
  8. Structure16
  9. Wheels8
  10. Seat belts8
  11. Fuel/propulsion system6
  12. Seats5
  13. Exterior lighting4
  14. Visibility/wiper4

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Oct 27, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Trend

When complaints were filed

Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
View as table
Model yearComplaints filed per calendar year
20151
201629
201725
201826
201922
202025
202112
20228
20236
202413
20254

Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.

03 —Owner reports

Top problems in owners’ words

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first

Air bags

26 reports20 crashes
“Vehicle- 2016 Toyota Camry As I was making a slight turn on the highway, my steering wheel began to sparatically veering left and right, which resulted in me hitting a curb, not once but twice. Due to the heavy impact and harsh involuntary, out of control steering the airbag should have deployed. However, it failed to do so. Instead, only the "airbag light" came on my dashboard along with warning lights that had not been there prior to accident.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 8, 2024Steering, Air bagsCrash reportedODI 11576277

Steering

24 reports3 crashes
“Erratic steering issue related to weak car battery. I have a 2016 Toyota Camry XLE. The car began pulling to the left then to the right while driving down a straight and even road. The car would then resume normal steering for a minute or two, then the erratic steering behavior would resume for several minutes. In addition, the steering wheel would not return to center after making left or right turns. This steering issue would begin 1 - 5 minutes from the start of a trip a continue throughout the journey. This issue has been reported by many other Camry owners in several online automotive related repair sites with each person describing these same steering issues. They stated that the problem was resolved when they replaced their car battery. I decided to replace my 4-year-old True Start battery with a new DieHard Platinum battery from Advance Auto Parts and had them install it a week ago. Since then, the steering issue has not returned, and I consider this issue resolved.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 1, 2024SteeringODI 11574845

Vehicle speed control

21 reports6 crashes
“I was on the highway during traffic hour going approximately 40 mph at 2 rpm and when I tried to accelerate to keep up with the flow of traffic, the car did not accelerate and actually slowed down and suddenly shifted down below 1 rpm which caused the oncoming cars behind me to hit their brakes hard. After it slowed down and did not accelerate, even though I pressed the gas pedal further, it suddenly shifted to 3.5 rpm and bolted forward towards the vehicle slowing down in front of me causing me to slam the brakes. It felt as if there was a disconnect between the transmission and the engine. Nothing popped up on the dashboard. This continued twice more before I pulled over and restarted the car to see if would help and it sort of did for about 10 miles before occurring once more before I reached my destination, so I pulled over and checked it on my OM126p and it showed no faults in the system. I then took it to the mechanic the next day and the car was fine the mechanic cleared the vehicle and said it was probably due to a clogged fuel filter and I have an appointment with them in hopes of fixing this problem. Now I’ve read into the problem and it seems to be a…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 22, 2024Vehicle speed control, Unknown or otherODI 11573267

Service brakes

19 reports3 crashes
“The rear brake (passage side) had very uneven wearing. It is the outside pad only. It is a potential safety issue. It was discovered when performing brake inspection by myself. There was no warning except some grinding noise.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 10, 2023Service brakesODI 11531368

Power train

18 reports3 crashes1 related recall
“I have a 2016 Toyota Camry LE and I'm having problems with the shaft and that is dangerous. I see that other Camry's are having the same problem as my car is. I think this problem need to be reported as a recall.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 15, 2025Power trainODI 11661231

Engine

16 reports3 crashes2 fires
“The engine quit running whenever the headlights, turn signals, or wipers were turned on. This was obviously a serious safety problem when driving! It began intermittently on 6/30/25, but it became a consistent problem by 7/7/25, so I took the car to the closest Toyota Dealership for evaluation. I can provide their service report to you if requested. It took them 6 hours and $1000 to diagnose the problem as bad electrical grounding points (high resistance), which were only revealed after they removed the front bumper. In my opinion, it is an unsafe design to have poor grounding for headlights cause the engine to die.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 10, 2025Exterior lighting, Engine, Visibility/wiperODI 11672467
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 27, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.