Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (power steering, steering column, rack and pinion).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2005 Toyota Camry owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Camry. The contact's brother performed brake repair on the vehicle and added Prestone DOT 3 brake fluid to the brake reservoir. The contact stated that several days later, while driving at approximately 25 MPH, the brakes locked up and the vehicle failed to move. The vehicle was taken to the brother's residence by her brother while driving and depressing the accelerator and brake pedal simultaneously. The contact's brother flushed the brake lines however, the failure persisted. The contact's brother became aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24E101000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic, Steering) from the NHTSA.gov website. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that there was cross contamination of the braking system and the entire braking system needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Tl* the contact owned a 2005 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, an item flew out of a truck while in motion. The contact moved into the right lane safely, then safely went over back to the left lane. The contact then maneuvered the steering wheel slightly to the right, and the steering wheel spin out of control. The contact lost control of the vehicle as a result, the vehicle crashed into a concrete barrier. The contact sustained a bloody nose and ankle injuries. The front passenger sustained three broken vertebrae in the back and broken right arm. Both injured required medical attention. The contact does not remember if a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. In addition, the contact also stated that the air bags partially deploy. The vehicle was destroyed. …
While driving from friends home to pickup kids from school, I was going on a 2 lane road going east bound, car was travelling @ 30 MPH on startight road of speed limit 35mph, all of sudden steering and brakes did not function due to which the car was about to collide with a tree head on, all of the sudden the streering and brakes started functioning and I tried to avoid the tree collision during which the trunk of the car hit the trunk of the tree. I pulled the car to the curb of the road
My vehicle was in motion 70 MPH on the highway I take everyday as I was mildly turning with the road the steering wheel spung to the left and the car went out od control spinning and ended on the right shoulder where than my car started to flip over none stop and the airbags didnt not burst or come out.
March 19th 2016, driving on a city street when the car suddenly accelerated. Applied the brakes/emergency brake. Car continued to accelerated and I attempted to enter freeway. I was unable to turn the steering wheel and I hit a car that was entering the freeway.
My serpentine belt recently started squealing, so I bought a new one and changed it myself. Upon changing it, I realized that my crankshaft pulley had chunks of rubber that had come off of it, and it seemed to be making the belt rub on the side of the engine block on one of the tension pulley's. After researching online, I found that in 2011, Toyota had recalled 402,000 vehicles because of a faulty crankshaft pulley, that caused power steering to go out, and cause accidents. However, in calling Toyota, they state there are no open recalls on 2005 Toyota Camry's, even though the website that I found included 2005 Toyota Camry's in their recall list. Even now with a new belt on, the belt is jumping back and forth on the tension pulley causing the car to have a "jittery" feel while idling. I feel it is only a matter of time before this belt is ruined as well. …
A year ago in May of 2015, my wife was driving her Toyota Camry when the power steering suddenly went out on her while driving and almost caused her to crash. We brought it to a mechanic who was mystified, he said he'd never seen anything like it before, in his words, "it looks like the pulley bent on it's own and then the belt came off." he had no idea what had caused the pulley to get out of alignment and charged me almost $500 to repair the damage. Nearly a year later, I'm investigating brake issues with camrys and I came across this recall which describes perfectly what the mechanic couldn't figure out. Why was I never informed of this recall? My Camry is a 2005, it clearly should have been included. Toyota's negligence on this could have cost my wife her life if she hadn't narrowly avoided the crash the failure of her power steering almost caused. …
I was driving on a city street at about 35mph when rough, somewhat grinding noises came from under the right side of the car hood of the 2005 Toyota Camry. These noises continued for about 15 minutes while I was driving. I stopped at a red light. When I had the right-of-way and attempted to proceed, I found I could not turn the steering wheel. I thought the car was inoperable but when I exerted great effort, the wheel did turn. Fortunately, I was able to turn a corner and move into a public parking lot. Again with great steering difficulty and noise from below the car hood, I drove the car about a quarter of a mile to my home and the car was towed to a service center. Updated 4/14/16
Takata recall, my power steering has been leaking. 05/2018 I noticed it when I was pulling out of driveway, I reversed out and started to turn a little bit and it started to made a grinding noise and kind of hard to turn.(2) Takata recall my car is overheatng as I was pulling into a driveway I stopped put it in neutral pulled the emergency brake sat there for 3 minutes and the dial went to extremely hot, I turned it off immediately. Ever since then it drives hotter than usual not as hot as it was that day and I can smell burnt rubber when I'm driving or burnt something I'm not getting good gas mileage it idles rough after it's been warmed
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 Toyota Camry. While driving at approximately 5 MPH and making a turn to the left or right, the steering column made an abnormal noise without warning. The contact stated that the noise was getting louder and more frequent. The failure recurred continuously. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the vehicle had normal wear and tear. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure on numerous occasions. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000.
Steering complaints in other Camry years
Frequently asked questions
How common are steering problems on the 2005 Toyota Camry?
NHTSA has 71 complaints about the steering of the 2005 Toyota Camry, 10% of the model year's 721 complaints. The component named most often is column (3 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2005 Toyota Camry steering problems?
No. NHTSA lists no steering recall for the 2005 Toyota Camry, though it has 5 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2005 Toyota Camry steering problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 47,000 miles, and 19% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 6 crashes, 0 fires and 5 injuries to steering problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.