Problems · by component
2002 Toyota Camry power train problems
75 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2002 Toyota Camry cite power train, 7% of all 1,039 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
75
7% of all complaints
Crashes
12
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
6
Reported by owners
What owners say about the power train
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“THE CAR IS EXPERIENCING SUDDEN ACCELERATION IT IS LUNGING FORWARD. THE LAST OCCURRENCE WAS AROUND 20 MINUTES AGO, IT HAS HAPPENED TO TWO FAMILY MEMBERS SO FAR, WHILE DRIVING NO EXTRA PRESSURE ON THE GAS THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATE.”
“I HAD TROUBLE SHIFTING MY AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FROM PARK TO REVERSE. IT WOULD NOT ENGAGE. I HAD IT IN REVERSE BUT THE CAR WOULD NOT MOVE. AFTER A FEW TRIES IT ENGAGED. I SLOWLY DROVE A COUPLE BLOCKS TO ROSSI'S AUTO SERVICE AND LEFT IT FOR THE WEEKEND. I LEARNED IT WAS LOW ON TRANSMISSION FLUID AND THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO SIGN ANYWHERE OF ANY LEAKAGE. I HAD IT SERVICED AT SALINAS TOYOTA ON 01/22/15 FOR AN OIL CHANGE AND THE FRONT BRAKES. I RETURNED 02/03/15 TO HAVE A FRONT ENGINE MOUNT INSTALLED. ON 02/27/2015 IT WAS MISSING APPROXIMATELY A QUART OF TRANSMISSION FLUID WITH A FEW MINOR METAL FOUND IN THE DIRTY FLUID. I'VE SPOKEN NUMEROUS TIMES WITH ROSSI'S AND SALINAS TOYOTA AND THEY HAVE SPOKEN TO EACH OTHER. NO ONE CAN FIGURE OUT WHERE THE TRANSMISSION FLUID WENT. THE SALINAS TOYOTA ASSISTANT SERVICE MANAGER HAS TRIED TO FIND AN ANSWER BUT HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO. I NEED THIS EXPLAINED OR SOLVED IN ORDER TO FEEL SAFE DRIVING THIS CAR. I DO NOT WANT TO TAKE A CHANCE ON BEING STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP MAKING SURE I AM SAFE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE. *TR”
“TRANSMISSION FAILURE. I AM SURPRISED THAT A CAR WITH JUST 117K MILES COULD HAVE A TRANSMISSION FAILURE. I WAS PARKED AT A STOP LIGHT AND WHEN IT TURNED GREEN MY CAR JUST STOPPED MOVING. I SHOWED MY CAR TO MULTIPLE AUTO SHOPS AND THEY SAY THEY ARE HAVE SEEN THIS ISSUE WITH 2002 CAMRY XLE AND NOT SURE WHY SINCE CAMRYS ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED RELIABLE AND HAVE A LONGER LIFE OF 200K PLUS. MAYBE A MANUFACTURING DEFECT? *TR”
“CAR WAS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH ACCELERATION(SLUGGISH) AND WOULD DIE WHEN CAR CAME TO A STOP. MOSTLY HAPPENED WHEN EXITING HIGHWAYS, THEN HAPPENED DURING NORMAL DRIVING. THE CAR WOULD IDLE VERY ROUGHLY AND DIE IF GAS PEDAL WASN'T DEPRESSED. IF CAR SAT FOR A WHILE, THEN IT WOULD START UP AND RUN JUST FINE. HAD IT INTO THE SHOP SEVERAL TIMES, BUT UNLESS THE PROBLEM WAS CURRENTLY HAPPENING, IT COULDN'T BE DIAGNOSED. THE PROBLEM IS THE IDOL THROTTLE BODY(SEEMS LIKE THERE ARE MANY MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PART). THE COST OF THE PART WAS $1014.45(RIDICULOUS). LABOR $68. WHAT'S GOING ON? TOYOTA IS FAILING TO PROVIDE A GOOD QUALITY PRODUCT AND I HAVE LOST CONFIDENCE IN THEIR PRODUCT. LOOK INTO THIS MATTER. PEOPLE'S LIVES ARE AT STAKE, ESPECIALLY IF PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE YOU ARE STALLED AND RUN INTO YOU. I'VE BEEN SCARED FOR MY LIFE SEVERAL TIMES. *TR”
“ON DECEMBER 14, 2012, AT ABOUT 7:20 AM, MY SPOUSE, [XXX] GOT INTO THE DRIVER'S SEAT OF THE ABOVE DESCRIBED 2002 TOYOTA CAMRY, WHICH WAS PARKED ON OUR DRIVEWAY. AFTER FASTENING HER SEAT BELT AND THEN CHECKING BEHIND TO MAKE SURE OUR STREET WAS FREE OF PEDESTRIANS AND BIKE RIDERS, MY SPOUSE PLACED HER RIGHT FOOT FIRMLY ON THE BRAKE AND SHIFTED THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION LEVER FROM "PARK" TO "REVERSE" THE TOYOTA CAMRY INSTANTLY ACCELERATED BACKWARDS AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. AND HIT A TREE ON MY ACROSS THE STREET NEIGHBOR'S LAWN, FORTUNATELY, THE CAR STOPPED BEFORE HITTING MY NEIGHBOR'S GARAGE DOOR BECAUSE THE PASSENGER SIDE FRONT WHEEL DUG ITSELF INTO THE LAWN AND THE FRONT WHEEL DRIVE LOST TRACTION IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO WHAT ONE EXPECT WHEN ONE DRIVES INTO HEAVY SNOW. THE TOTAL TIME ELAPSED DURING THE SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION WAS LESS THAN TWO SECONDS. THE DISTANCE TRAVELED DURING THE SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION WAS EXTREMELY SHORT. THE TREE WAS LOCATED ABOUT 57 FEET FROM THE REAR END OF THE CAR AND THE TOTAL DISTANCE THAT THE CAR TRAVELED WAS ONLY 72 FEET.. MY SPOUSE WAS TERRIFIED BY THE EXPERIENCE BUT, FORTUNATELY, SHE WAS NOT PHYSICALLY INJURED. I…”
“HARSH/HARD/DELAYED SHIFTING BETWEEN 2ND AND 3RD OR 2ND AND 4TH (OVERDRIVE) ON 1MZ-FE V6 ENGINE DUE TO FAULTY ENGINE CONTROL MODULE FAILING TO REGULATE TRANSMISSION SOLENOIDS PROPERLY. THIS ISSUE OCCURRED ON THE ECM ON RAV4 (SAME YEAR, 2002) AND RESULTED IN SETTLEMENT IN WHICH TOYOTA AGREED TO REPAIR ALL. *TR”
Showing 6 of 75 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 9, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.