Other steering problem on the 2002 Toyota Camry
6 crashes 1 fire 2 injuries 9 of the 25 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Toyota Camry report other steering problem at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 15,000 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles, from 17 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 12th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 124,542 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
35% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,058 miles | 15,000 miles | 53,000 miles | 80,000 miles | 129,600 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 6 a crash, 1 a fire and 2 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 26 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 1,300 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 130,000 miles.
By volume the 2015 carries the most reports, with 86; the 2002 has 25. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I experienced a tremendous frustration -- while driving in downtown washington, dc, my car lost its power steering. When I opened the hood, I saw that the reservoir for power steering fluid was indeed full. Not wanting to be stranded 40 miles from home, I drove to the dealer from which I purchased the vehicle. I was advised that it could be several days before my car was evaluated and/or repaired. About 2 days after purchasing the vehicle, I returned it for 2 complaints: (1) the driver seat jars forward and back upon stopping and accelerating, approximately 80-90% of the time; (2) stopping/slowing the vehicle at speeds greater than 40mph (such as when slowing for an exit) causes the vehicle to shake and pull to one side. I was advised, by the services manager that the seat moving "happens in this kind of car", and that the alignment of the car was "ok" and that "pulling and shaking happens in this kind of car". And, I've tolerated it. Now, I'm wondering if the shut down of the steering also 'happens in this kind of car'. If so, I don't want "this kind of car" and perhaps my needs would best be…
2002 toyota camry lev6 w/15" rims. Car is unstable at high speeds. We are now on our third set of tires and the car only has 21,000 miles on it. First set (continental) became bald on outside edge of both front tires at 9000 miles. Tires were rotated (front to rear, rear to front) and front end alignment was done. Tires became bald on outside edge after only 8000 miles (17000 total miles on car). Dealer replaced all 4 tires with dunlop and I had to pay for a four wheel alignment. After 2500 more miles car again became unstable at high speeds. It started at about 75 MPH and as the tires wore it became unstable at lower speeds 55-65 MPH. The dealer replaced all four tires again with michelin this time and did another front end alignment. Now with only 1200 miles on the new tires it is again becoming unstable at high speeds 65-75 MPH. We would like toyota to acknowledge the problem and come up with a solution. *jb
While driving the steering wheel dropped into the drivers lap, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Steering wheel adjustment came loose, causing the steering wheel to fall into the driver's lap. Vehicle is currently being investigated by the driver's insurance company. Also, the air bags failed to deploy.*ak the driver had an accident as a result of the steering wheel failure. *tc
Also reported on the 2002 Toyota Camry
Other speed control problem
Other brake problem
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
Other powertrain problem
Other wheel or tire problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 25 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other steering problem happen on the 2002 Toyota Camry?
Across 17 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 15,000 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2002 Toyota Camry?
25 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.6 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed