Saturday, August 8, 2026
RecallGazette

Vehicle problems, recalls & safety intelligence

1997 Toyota Camry electrical system problems

40 owner complaints filed with NHTSA name the electrical system on the 1997 Toyota Camry7% of all complaints for this model year.

40
Electrical System complaints
7%
share of all complaints
100,000 mi
median reported incident mileage
1 / 13
crash / fire reports

What owners report

  • In January my starter caught on fire while driving down the road, and again in April causing me to lose days of work. Caused positive cable to battery to melt.

    filed Apr 13, 2024

  • Key will not turn to start car. Steering wheel lock goes in and out. Eventually (5-20 minutes) do something that works (don't know what) and car will start. When it happened once, I figured it was an anomaly. But it has not happened five times and I am now in constant worry about it happening…

    filed Jul 28, 2015

Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.

Electrical System problems in other Camry years

YearReportsShare
2025 Camry2518%
2024 Camry24%
2023 Camry813%
2022 Camry814%
2021 Camry85%
2020 Camry6424%
2019 Camry256%
2018 Camry659%
2017 Camry2316%
2016 Camry2011%
2015 Camry3011%
2014 Camry5412%
Camry electrical system problems by year →

Counts are unique NHTSA complaints naming this component group. Complaints are unverified owner reports; mileage is computed only from complaints that included a usable odometer reading.