10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 2
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 65,817 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
The 2000 Toyota Celica has a defective belt tensioner mechanism that results in a dead battery and ultimate loss of all electrical starter, etc. I have already replace the tensioner (and battery) twice costing $500. Now this has happened for the 3rd time same car. In my opinion this is dangerous since it leads to people being stranded or worse loss of power on the freeway. Sunnyside Toyota, in North olmsted, Ohio says the tensioner "should be replaced every 40 - 50K miles.
- North Olmsted, OH, USA
9/11/01: Shortly before midnite: Fire ignited in our unattached garage, family sleeping, only vehicle in the garage was a 2000 Toyota Celica (approx 20,000 miles on it). Neighbors woke us up, by that time house was engulfed in flames, we were evacuated. Total loss:nearly $300,000 in loss and property damage. We thought our area was being bombed, due to the events which took place that entire day. 2 auto investigators came to the home, worked together on the car, 1 from our ins co., the other from Toyota. After 9 1/2 hrs of completely overhauling the car, they both determined the car started the fire from a faulty ground wire. Our ins. (homeowners) were like stones amongst boulders against Toyota. They spared no expense to hire the top of the top to discredit us and in the end, the judge decided there wasn't enough evidence to take this ordeal to court. It was a joke and our neighbors and even saw the man who sold us the Celica was called in for questioning. All agreed, it was the car. No one would hear us. Ins company couldn't pursue. It would have been too costly and Toyota had unlimited funds and time to fight this. It was so terrible. My family would never be the same after that. I wanted someone to hear my story, especially since this new occurrence with Toyota's recall. Maybe someone could look into unexplained fires with their Toyota vehicles. May be very interesting and may save a life or two.
- Niagara Falls, NY, USA
We bought a 2000 Toyota Celica for our 16 year old daughter. The car was used with about 80K miles. The car was in excellent shape, and had not been altered in any way. On January 2nd, our daughter was driving home from work and the car caught fire. She was able to get out of the car and call 911. The car is a total loss, and the fire department stated that it was an electrical fire. The weather that day was clear, but very cold. She stated that the only thing on in the car was the heater. We have not had any work done this car except an oil change. I am thankful that my daughter was able to keep her wits enough to remember the manual door locks. My wife and I went to great lengths to buy a safe and reliable car for her, and the carfax stated that there was no negative history on the car. I am very concerned that this car has a defect that could have resulted in injury or death. I have inspected the damage, and it appears that the main fire was centered around the computer and battery area. Thanks, joe phillips
- Canton, NC, USA
- Highland, CA, USA