Toyota ordered the parts for the TSB and today, they are replacing the PADS, shims etc per the service bulletin under warranty.. Just FYI for anyone hearing the brakes squeak when first backing up. Toyota was on the spot on this one, however, I think they should have notified owners rather than waiting for owners to report the problem.
At any rate.. it is being handled and I figure this is a good thing since I have 35,000 miles on the TCH now.. Still think it is a wonderful vehicle and my lifetime average FE is 36MPG. .I am pleased with that for 35,000 miles.

 

Actually, they shouldn't. That is how a 'silent recall' works.
A full recall, notifying everyone, costs a ton of money. Most owners will opt for the part replacement, irrespective of whether their car is 'defective' or not, further driving up the cost. This isn't fair for the manufacturer, since it's possible/probable that not all of the cars from a model year are defective. In addition, the tremendous cost will cause the manufacturer to think twice about going public and issuing a 'full recall'.
The silent recall, on the other hand, will cover the cost for anyone who complains, presumably those that own defective cars. There are going to be a few owners who will end up spending money repairing cars (at private shops) when the same repair would be covered fully by the manufacturer at the dealer, but that should be the exception, rather than the rule.
I've talked to my local mechanic about repairs and was advised to check with the dealer to see if it was covered by a 'silent recall'. Yes, he was an honest mechanic, and not all mechanics would be so honest or knowledgable about the recall, but the economics of the silent recall makes sense.
By the way, if all recalls were 'full recalls' the cost explosion would have to be built into the cost of new cars, so in the long run, the consumer would end up paying for the repair, one way or the other, whether or not the repair was needed.

 

My take on this issue, silent recall or full recall....

I don't believe this is a recall(able) issue. If I am not mistaken recalls are for safety related issues. A squeak is not a safety issue. My quess is that anyone who is bothered enough by this squeak, will ask the dealer to look into it, and will get the squeak repaired for free under the TSB.

 

You're correct. Recalls are virtually always for safety related issues.

One recent recall example is the all-weather driver's side floormat recall. The issue with this floormat was that it might slip forward and get stuck under the accelerator, causing the pedal to stick, and risk loss of control. I think the real problem was the risk of someone installing it over top of the carpet floormats (which seems very unlikely).

I had this fixed at my last oil change, and I actually wish that I hadn't. The new mat appears to be thinner than the previous one, and therefore the ridges on it aren't as deep, and don't hold as much slush/mess. This is based on my comparison to the passenger side mat (which wasn't replaced). I don't have the original, so I can't compare directly - but it might even have less coverage of the carpet (especially under the accelerator pedal).

 

You just described, perfectly, the problem with the way our society works.Conclusion...consumer losses, product is altered negatively, corporation looses, attorney wins (typically $50-200 million or more).
As long as there are successful corporations, there will always be class action attorneys looking for a free ride by taking a bite out of that success.
By the way, the trial lawyers association is one of the biggest and most powerful lobbying groups and typically the largest of political donors (coincidence???)

 

I just got back from the dealer after I mentioning a brake squeal the last oil change. The dealer order parts and the reapir order states:

installed rear brake fitting kit per tsb br007-07

no parts listed, also

installed front brake fitting kit per tsb br008-06

with the following parts used:

qty p/n desc
1 04466-06090 pad kit, disc bra
1 04948-06031 fitting kit disc
1 04946-06070 shim kit, anti sq
1 04947-33240 fitting kit disc
2 08887-80609 disk brake calipe

we'll see if the noise comes back


only took an hour or so and even got a free car wash, so I'm a happy camper.. Car now has 21000 miles on it and runs great.

 

TSB 07-007 (Rear Brakes) has just been preformed on my '07 TCH (19,518 miles).

Write-up:I don't know how much time it took to perform work since I had other warranty work at the same time.

Initially it appeared as if problem had been corrected.

Now, when first moving forward with cold brakes, appears as if right rear brake may not be releasing immediately. Get a grinding/scraping sound for a few seconds after first moving. Problem is that it occurs ONLY when cold, (first thing in AM, going to lunch - while @ work, coming home). Therefore, not reproduceable at shop unless I leave car there for the day. Will take it in in a couple of weeks for investigation.

 

Is there a listing somewhere with all of the TSB's for the Camry Hybrid? I just bought an '07 and was just curious about any known issues out there.

 

I have just posted the TSB on the rear brake noise and pad wear problem [CDN_TSB2663(Rev) = TSB_BR007-07] in the thread "List of pertinent TSB's."

Stan