I purchased a 2000 Toyota Camry ce (VIN # 4T1bg22koyu962183) with a 4 cylinder engine, 5 speed manual transmission in February of 2000. Friday, July 3, 2004 around 6:15am I was driving this car to work on rte 495 South in hudson, mass. Without warning, I heard a pop under the hood and suddenly there was a loud explosion. White smoke was pouring out the rear and dark smoke from under the hood. I was driving 65 mph down a steep grade, in heavy traffic. I quickly began pull into the brake down lane. I applied the brakes but the brake pedal went to the floor and the clutch pedal was also to the floor. I slowly applied the parking brake and managed to get the car stopped. I had flames coming from under the hood and smoke coming into the driverS compartment. The traffic that was being blinded by the smoke and the road had guardrails so I could not pull completely off the road. I was concerned about getting out of the car into traffic but I had to get out quickly. I got away from the vehicle and called the authorities. By the time the fire trucks arrived the front of the Camry was fully engulfed in flames. The car was a total loss. What occurred that morning hit me later. I realized that I could have been seriously injured or killed. Thankfully I did not panic and cause a bad situation to be worse. I thought what if someone else had been driving this car, my pregnant daughter or my wife. What if a family with a child in a car seat, a new younger driver or an elderly person was driving? I consider myself lucky to walk away uninjured. Someone else might have been another story. I donT know what caused this to occur, I took good care of this vehicle. My insurance company, travelers casualty company of Connecticut, is handling the settlement. I thought it was important to let you know of this failure. I had found that there was an investigation into Camry fires a while ago. Please contact me if you need more details. William hovey.

- Nashua, NH, USA

Engine light came on while driving. Vehicle was taken to dealer. Dealer stated engine light had come on either because the fuel tank cap had not been closed tight enough or vehicle was refueled with engine running. No action was taken by dealer. Consumer stated that the gas cap was on tight and the vehicle was never refuled with the engine running, consumer feels he should not have been charged from the dealer to stop the engine light from illuminating when the vehicle was still under warranty.

- Yonkers, NY, USA

While driving on highway at 65 mph consumer heard a loud bang and suddenly lost power steeriing and power brakes. Dealer stated that engine needed to be replaced.. the dealer stated when they opened the hood, they found number 4 connecting rod sticking through the block, they also found a piece of the block sticking into the hood insulation and around the inside of the engine compartment, there was oil around the engine compartment from the hole in the block, the dealer believes the vehicle was downshifted improperly, causing engine to over rev and caused the connection rod to break and also to catch on fire, consumer stated there was no downshifting involved.

- Centerbrook, CT, USA

Consumer states that while driving at 65mph, the engine blew and then the vehicle caught on fire.

- Center Brook, CT, USA

While the vehicle was parked insured noticed fire under hood, expert advised fire originated due to animal nest, claim# 59-V427-952.

- Coconut Creek, FL, USA

Oil sludge was found during oil change at 12000 miles. All maintenance intervals complied with.

- Pensacola, FL, USA

Oil sludge was found during oil change at 12000 miles. All maintenance intervals complied with.

- Pensacola, FL, USA

The engine blew up. I have regularly changed my own oil at 6,000 mile intervals for the past year. The oil pressure light came on and I added 2 quarts of oil. One day later the engine blew and the oil pressure light never came on.

- Edmond, OK, USA

While driving at 65 mph the oil pressure sensor light started to flicker. Vehicle suddenly lost power. Consumer felt this was a safety concern because another driver could have rear ended him. Please provide any further infomation.

- Wood River, IL, USA

At 32,000 miles, the warning light indicating low oil pressure came on. The owner took it immediately to the nearest Toyota dealer for repair, as it was supposedly under warranty. The dealership and Toyota motor corporation refuses to honor any warranty work because of 'engine sludge'. after only checking the oil level and pulling the valve covers off of the engine, they determined that it was 'owner neglect'. and will only look into possible causes at the owners's cost. After researching the internet the owner has found several cases of 'engine sludge' not only in the Toyota Camry's produced in 1999 through 2001 but in the Toyota truck's sienna model, as well.

- Wood River, IL, USA

Vehicle stalled while traveling approximately 10 mph in traffic. Second time happened on May 5, 2001 while traveling at approximately 30 mph. Dealership could not determine the cause of defect on either occasion. Please provide any additional information/attachments.

- Holndel, NJ, USA

No summary listed for above vehicle.

- Memphis, TN, USA