Hello Everyone,

(Preface: I would like to hear from other people if they have experienced the same issues with their 2007 Camry with the V6 - 3.5. (2GR-FE) engine as we have. (Or even 2006 or 2008 or 2009 Camry's.) Our 2007 Camry currently has 85,134 miles on it.)

Starting at just under 60,000 miles ..... Every six months or so..... The check engine light comes on because one of our Oxygen Sensors or one of our Coil over plugs fails. Our 2007 V6 Camry has a total of FOUR O2 sensors and SIX coil over plugs.

These are the FACTORY components that have failed...... none of the OEM replacements have failed.......so far.

(Please see below if interested in specific dates and mileage of the failures and repairs)

I need to also mention that our 2007 Camry gets ONLY one hundred percent Toyota OEM replacement parts and it ONLY gets PREMIUM gasoline from Chevron AND.... We closely follow the recommended maintenance schedule which has been performed by our local Toyota dealership from day one.

Plus our Camry is only used back and forth to work and home under normal city driving conditions here in Portland Oregon. No off road racing, drag strip or extreme weather driving (lol).

Also..... I am a twice fully re-certified ASE technician (semiretired) with over 30 years experience in automotive repair including having worked at several dealerships.

So our local Toyota does the regular maintenance (oil changes, tire rotations, fuel injector services, break checks, etcetera) and I personally do the actual repair work when a sensor fails or new brake pads are needed ALWAYS using Toyota OEM replacement parts. NO ONE else has ever worked on our Camry .... Just Toyota and myself.

And I VERY carefully follow the replacement procedures using new seals, anti-seize (where needed) and torque to specs.

We really do love our 2007 Camry and in fact I just purchased a 2014 Corolla as well..... It's just that considering how carefully we drive and maintain our 2007 Camry I find it difficult to believe that we are the
only ones having this issue. And since each Coil is $110 and each O2 sensor is $178 (that's dealership PART prices, when I do the repairs) it is a bit upsetting. The Toyota dealership estimate (if they did the work) was just below $500 to replace ONE coil...... the drivers side front no less!!!

Anyway.... Here is the specific mileage, dates and failed items list:

1) 59,643 miles
01/18/2011
Oxygen Sensor (bank 2, Sensor 1)

2) 62,970
06/03/2011
Coil over plug (#6) (aka "F")

3) 68,614
12/08/2011
Coil over plug (#2) (aka "B")

4) 75,150
01/08/2013
Coil over plug (#5) (aka "E")

5) 78,443
06/21/2013
Oxygen sensor (bank 2, sensor 2)

6) 85,134
03/15/2014
Coil over plug (#1) (aka "A")

Thanks in advance to anyone that takes the time to reply (smile).

 

Have you posted at Toyotanation.com for more feed back?

Are you using the right spark plug?

Understand your frustration with taking good care of the car only to have expensive failures. Could be a component issue from the manufacturer. Some owners replace all coils when one fails with a 6-pack kit sold online.

The number of 02 sensors is common given the number of emission converters.

Might consider buying lower priced aftermarket parts from Denso, NGK, etc. Denso makes a lot of parts for Toyota. If using Toyota brand parts, the internet has discount online dealers.

Take heart, you could have purchased the 4-cylinder now suffering from failed head bolt threads and excessive engine oil burning both due to design problems.

 

Thank you Toyomoho for taking the time to reply (smile),


Yes I did also post to Toyota Nation forum as well and I have received confirmation that this model Camry is known for "eating" factory original coils and O2 sensors.


And this issue occurred with the factory plugs still in and even the rear three plugs that I installed while I had the intake phelum off are Toyota factory OEM parts.


It is quite obviously NOT caused by related components but by "corners cut" during design and manufacturing although Toyota would never acknowledge this.


I mean just look at the 1.2 BILLION (with a "B") that Toyota was FINALLY forced to pay out after at least a year of litigation for the sticking accelerator issue which caused the death of several people and that Toyota wants to blame on "Faulty Floor Mats".


Anyway...... we love our Camry and as I mentioned in my original post I have just purchased a 2014 Corolla..... which is the last car I will ever need because of my age (smile).


We wish to keep our Camry in as good a condition as possible so we will continue using Toyota OEM parts hoping that the slightly different part numbers and slight modifications to the coils will resolve the early failure issue. Besides.... other than a savings of roughly twenty five percent there is no reason to go with aftermarket parts even considering that I have accounts at my local NAPA auto parts stores.


I use genuine NAPA aftermarket replacement parts for my older Nissan Quest, Dodge Intrepid and Plymouth Voyager (smile).


My reason for posting is not so much about the money it is more a concern about the declining quality of what was once the world's greatest line of cars since about the 1990's...... in my opinion.


(P.S. sorry to hear about the failing cylinder head bolt issue....that is MUCH worse than failing coils and O2 sensors).

 

Thanks for posting back with the information!

No doubt books have been written along with case studies of what happened at Toyota.

Part of the issue was trying too hard to be No 1 in car production, part due to currency exchange rates which effect global industries, part due to modern day management practices which one can debate really work over time.

At least you opted for the V6 which had a few issues but not like the 4-cylinder. The 4-cylinder engine has since been replaced with something else.

Most of Toyota parts are outsourced. There has been a few issues with coils, water pumps, etc. Still, in my opinion Toyota parts are high quality baring issues every manufacturer has. And suppliers today are always being to get their costs down.

 

I'm hoping I got lucky with my 4 cylinder, knock on wood. I'm so far, not experiencing the usual troubles and the car has well over 100k miles on it. After about 2500 miles I do have to add about half a quart of oil but I can live with that.