Toyota is recalling one half of one percent of the new 2007 Camry sedans it started building this year for a problem with their six-speed automatic transmissions. Affected vehicles may lose second and sixth gear while the vehicle is on the move within the first 500 miles of use, but the automaker says that the problem won't halt operation of the car.
We wonder if this is the same issue we've been reading about on the Cheers & Gears forum? Maybe even-numbered trannys aren't Toyota's thing -- we'll have to wait and see what happens with the eight-speed auto in the new Lexus LS sedan!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Bonita @ Apr 26th 2006 9:42AM
Just one more reason Toyota should offer a manual transmission for its V6 and V8 engines.
Vinny @ Apr 26th 2006 9:45AM
And a hundred GM loyalists cheer!!!
Swat Lax @ Apr 26th 2006 9:52AM
What would it take for Toyota to lose it's reliability luster? Would one really bad model - think Toureg bad - start making people think twice, or is the Consumer Reports halo too tough to lose without at least a decade of underperformance?
size does matter @ Apr 26th 2006 9:53AM
This is not the first transmission problem Toyota has had. I had problems with my 2000 Camry's transmission as long as I owned the car. Each time it went to the shop it was "fixed" according to the dealer. Well guess what, it wasn't fixed and that the reason I eventually traded the car.
Phelix @ Apr 26th 2006 9:55AM
I don't know about reliability, but with that new Camry they've gone from bland to ugly.
Scott @ Apr 26th 2006 9:58AM
Keep in mind this affects less than 0.5% of new Camrys. Another company might have said, "let it go to warranty."
Bob @ Apr 26th 2006 10:06AM
Obligatory lame GM joke:
So it's a 4 speed now, just like a GM!
But kidding aside, one half of one percent means it's most likely not a design problem but an assembly problem or a bad batch of parts supplied by an outside source.
doug @ Apr 26th 2006 10:12AM
Sad truth: there are only so many competent people in the world. When a company grows too fast, it has to hire new people, and sometimes a company hires best available instead of best. Then things get missed....
DJ @ Apr 26th 2006 10:20AM
"Toyota is recalling one half of one percent of the new 2007 Camry sedans it started building this year for a problem with their six-speed automatic transmissions. Affected vehicles may lose second and sixth gear while the vehicle is on the move within the first 500 miles of use, but the automaker says that the problem won't halt operation of the car. It will continue to function like the millions of GM vehicles that have only a four speed transmission said a Toyota spokesman."
Ben @ Apr 26th 2006 10:20AM
So, how long will it take for this thread to become a domestic brand bashing thread?
size does matter @ Apr 26th 2006 10:34AM
Toyota has no way of knowing how many cars this will affect, their low guess is to make them(Toyota)look better, just as any company would do. My guess it is, it's an engineering problem, they know it, and are trying to get it fixed before too many get on the road. I have nothing against Toyota, when I traded my 2000 Camry I bought another Toyota. But to say the company has no problems is ludicrous, all my cars have had problems of sorts.
The main reason I purchased the 2004 Camry was because the dealer is one of my biggest customers. In the future I will buy a different brand as I try to purchase from all my clients.
Presto @ Apr 26th 2006 10:38AM
Toyota sells around 400,000 Camry's a year.
Let's break that down monthly = 33,000 Camry's a month
Camry went on sale in late march March.
Recall is on Camry's built so far. Since Toyota builds cars three months out, we're probably looking at 3-4 months of Camry's affected at most. = 99K - 132K Camrys
Take that by half of 1% Recalled = Approximately 495 - 660 Camry's recalled.
It's not that big of a number.
Dave-in-pa @ Apr 26th 2006 10:46AM
Hey size..
Who ever said Toyotas have "no problems"?
Every complex product has the potential for problems and often they don't show up until after production has begun. Credit Toyota with recognizing quickly there is a problem, not hiding it and taking the steps to correct it. The historical GM approach would have been to deny the problem until the Government forced a recall. By then there'd be 200,000 vehicles on the road affected by the recall and GM's costs to fix it would be 100 times what it should have been. On top of that, 200,000 formerly loyal customers would swear to never buy another GM product. I know you GM supporters will say "GM is different now...blah, blah." But until there's a comparitive situation we'll not know that for sure. I'm not particularly fond of any current Toyotas, but I give the company credit for their quick response.
Michael G @ Apr 26th 2006 10:57AM
GM, Ford, Toyota, and everyone else recalls don't concern me. At least the car company is active in trying to fix a known issue.
What I hate is that some companies sweep issues like this under the rug and make the dealerships deal with the issue or just wait until a person's car blows the tranny (with only 10K miles) forcing the customer to go through hell to get it fixed. Really doesn't make you feel too fuzzy about your new car when you have to do that.
I’d rather have the company call me up and say we have an issue with your transmission please bring it in so we can repair it.
Michael G @ Apr 26th 2006 11:00AM
GM, Ford, Toyota, and Everyone else recalls don't concern me. At least the car company is active in trying to fix a known issue.
What I hate is that some companies sweep issues like this under the rug and make the dealerships deal with the issue or just wait until a person's car blows the tranny (with only 10K miles) forcing the customer to go through hell to get it fixed. Really doesn't make you feel too fuzzy about your new car when you have to do that.
I
I’d rather have the company call me up and say we have an issue with your transmission please bring it in so we can repair it.
Eric L. @ Apr 26th 2006 11:01AM
The reason Toyota is recalling such few vehicles is probably because they receive their parts in batches, and since batch builds might use different (but nearly identical) components (depending on supplier pricing at the time), they were able to pin down the issue.
MikeW @ Apr 26th 2006 11:12AM
Or toyota should stop doing stupid, arrogant things. Instead of following others that already have 6 speed automatics, 2005 Mazda6 V6-6 speed automatic ~6:1 ratio coverage, helps mask terrible engine, improve mileage over JATCO 5 speed automatic previously used.
4.148, 2.37, 1.555, 1.154, 0.859, 0.685
Toyota uses a new gear configuration 6 speed automatic.
3.3, 1.9, 1.42, 1, 0.713, 0.609, 5.4:1 ratio coverage
Less spread than the previous 5 speed automatic.
4.235, 2.36, 1.517, 1.047, 0.756, 5.6:1
The camry is NOT a sports car, even the SE trim.
I would have appreciated the extra ratio coverage for taller highway gearing 100mph@2500 rpm in 6th gear would have been great.
Philbert @ Apr 26th 2006 11:17AM
Re: "What would it take for Toyota to lose it's reliability luster? Would one really bad model - think Toureg bad - start making people think twice..."
It would take a lot. VW's and Hyundai's sales are going just fine even though anyone paying attention knows they're terribly unreliable and poorly built. It's all perception and Toyota's PR department is throwing out its A game right now. Even if all Toyota's were as bad as modern day VW's and Hyundai's you would still have the foreign cheerleaders at work a decade later proclaiming their greatness. Cadillac, Buick and Lincoln all have better long term reliability ratings than Honda but to even suggest this on Autoblog would bring a terrible wrath from the anti-American crowd. It's all perception.
Rusty @ Apr 26th 2006 11:21AM
No manufacturer is perfect and it is a low number, without a doubt. The main thing here, though, is if it were a Ford or GM people would be all over them about why can they not get the launch right on the most important vehicle in their line up.
atl @ Apr 26th 2006 11:33AM
They are recalling all 6 spds. Which is 1/2% of all camrys built.