2020 Toyota Camry

2020 Toyota Camry XSE, VIN [XXX], 2.5L 4-cylinder A25A-FKS engine, built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) during the production window covered by NHTSA Recall 20V-064 (Toyota campaign 20TA04), which addresses porosity in engine castings that can cause internal and external coolant leaks, engine overheating, and possible engine failure. Toyota’s VIN lookup returns this vehicle as not affected by the campaign, but the failure pattern matches the recall defect exactly. Timeline of failures and repair attempts: XXX, at approximately 92,832 miles, Camelback Toyota in Phoenix, AZ (RO XXX). Check engine light active. Diagnosed DTC P268115 (Engine Coolant Bypass Valve Circuit, Short to Battery or Open). Battery also failed load test. Overheating symptom noted on the same repair order. Coolant bypass valve replacement recommended. Following that visit, water pump and thermostat were replaced at Berge Toyota (Mesa/Gilbert, AZ area). Camelback Toyota stated the vehicle was fixed. Vehicle overheated again the next day after being returned as repaired. XXX, at 93,034 miles, Camelback Toyota (RO XXX). Oil and filter change performed under good faith goodwill service, transmission fluid exchange completed. Overheating condition persisted. Vehicle continued to overheat through the summer and into September 2026. Current dealer now recommends head gasket replacement and states that if the head gasket does not resolve the overheating, the engine block is cracked and the engine will need replacement. Dealer describes the engine as “sucking air,” indicating combustion gases entering the cooling system and/or a compromised block-to-head seal. This failure sequence — persistent overheating, multiple failed repair attempts across two Toyota dealers, replacement of water pump, thermostat, and coolant bypass valve without resolution, and dealer conclusion pointing to a cracked engine block — matches the failure mode described in NHTSA Rec INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)

Camera / Radar component - yes Camera / Radar unit is available When it failed, the dash lit up with lots of errors: engine check light, anti-skid failure light (even though the system was turned off), rotating errors included: secondary brake system malfunction, pre-collission system malfunction, LDA system malfunction, check engine. I was driving up a 6% hill on a four lane road at 65 MPH with the cruise control active. Was in the left lane passing two slower trucks when the engine just seem to die and the dash lit up with lots of errors. By the time I was able to get to the right lane and off the freeway, I was doing less than 20 MPH. It turns out that when the radar / camera unit failed, the computer put copious confusing errors and put the engine in limp mode. Very dangerous and I'm lucky there wasn't more traffic. When the computer detected the failure should have automatically disabled the cruise control and put out an error message saying it was now disabled. The other junk errors just confused everything. The computer definitely should not have put the engine in limp mode. It was only after I pulled over and had time to digest the errors that I actually figured out what had happened and how to handle the situation. After I pulled off, the center display which had been saying there was a message that would display after I was safely stopped, now had an message indicating I should turn off the cruise control. Problem was I could not determine if the cruise control was active or not because the indicator was blocked by errors, however the engine was still definitely in limp mode. I finally turned the engine off and back on to make sure the cruise control was off. All the rotating errors and error lights were still on, but the engine was now out of limp mode and the car was again drivable.

The vehicle contains a known manufacturing defect where the engine coolant bypass valve cracks internally, leaking pressurized fluid directly into the main electrical connector (covered under Toyota CSP 24TE04). This fluid intrusion has caused active electrical short-circuits to the battery and ground networks. As a direct result of this progressive component failure, the vehicle is actively dropping into 'Limp Mode' and experiencing severe transmission shifting failures while being driven on public roads, creating an immediate safety and crash hazard. Furthermore, a franchised Toyota dealership actively turned away an attempted preventive repair under the 'Prior Sought Remedy' rule while the vehicle was under the 100,000-mile warranty threshold, stating the dashboard light had to be on first, which directly allowed this hazardous electrical degradation to progres

First time it was the middle of the night I was leaving a party and the car cut off in the middle of the street in the intersection. I had to wait for hours for the car to start back up … a couple weeks later the car cut off 2 on the highway going 70/80 and I told the man at the car lot about it the first time it happen which wasn’t even a week of me having the car he said he didn’t care and what did I want him to do about it … even tho he sold me a dangerous car . The car almost caused me to be in a wreck steering wheel locked up all the times and I had a hard time pulling out of the fast lane to safety almost got hit a few times .

The Panoramic Moonroof suddenly is stuck in the vented position. It wont open more or close. Just get a clicking noise. This appears to be a very common issue amongst buyers of this generation of toyota. It started raining/hailing when I had it opened and could not close it I had rain falling down on me getting in my eyes and hail hitting me while driving which was a big safety issue.

Odometer Fraud: The contact purchased a 2020 Toyota Camry. It was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private sale from Facebook Marketplace. At the time of the purchase, the mileage was 63,129. After reviewing the Carfax report the following day, the contact became aware that the mileage was 352,000.