I'm a new Camry Hybrid owner. I've had my fully loaded magnetic grey metallic baby for just 3 weeks now. I love the car, but it's not perfect. I'm finding that the most nagging problem is the shudder of the ICE kicking in when accelerating from a stop or near stop. The car has such a buttery, smooth feel; it feels like you're driving a Lexus until that God awful shudder cuts through the the smoothness like a jackhammer. At first i was happily taking my friends and coworkers out in the car because I wanted to show it off. However, I'm getting so embarrassed by the shudder; it instantly cheapens the feel of the car. I now make excuses to take someone else's car so that I don't have to get subjected to queries like "What was that?" and "Oh, gosh, what's wrong with the engine/transmission" and "Does that happen every time you step on the gas?"

Funnily enough, my test drive Hybrid didn't shudder once in stop and go traffic, so I wasn't even aware that such a thing happened until I took delivery of my vehicle. I'd also driven in a friend's Prius many times and had never experienced this shuddering. I'd say my own Camry Hybrid elicits the severe shudder 90-95% of the times I accelerate forward from a stop or near stop. I've tried adjusting the pressure I put on the accelerator, but nothing seems to help. I guess I don't understand how so many of you are tolerant of this awful "side effect" of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive.

I love so many features of the car, but this shudder effect and the extreme wind noise are making me get a serious case of buyer's remorse. Am I alone here?

On a side note, I read somewhere online that Toyota may be issuing a TSB for this issue this year. I wish I would have bookmarked the article/forum posting in which I read this information. Is anyone aware of any solutions for this issue that might be in the pipeline?