Buyer Research

2022 Toyota Camry — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $21,000–$28,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 16 Toyota Camry years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

Fifty-nine complaints is a thin record for a car this common, and a thin record is not a reliability rating — it means few people have filed yet, and this car is still young. What is on it: one recall, the passenger-airbag occupant sensor that can short and stop the bag deploying, which is the whole safety story and is free to fix; a scatter of infotainment freezes, slow wipers and two sunroofs that shattered; and no engine or transmission pattern at all in the 59. The 2020's engine-block and fuel-pump recalls do not appear here, which fits the build dates. Check the airbag recall by VIN — parts were slow, so a 2022 can still show it open — and treat the rest as an ordinary late-model inspection. If the recall is closed and the screen behaves, this is an easy car to recommend at a fair price.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 59 owner complaints for the 2022 Toyota Camry, and 1 recall campaign.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. The largest single group is airbags at 17%. That is notable without being overwhelming — worth checking, not worth panicking about.

One recall campaign covers this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2022 Toyota Camry

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Passenger airbag occupant sensor can short — bag may not deploy (recall, parts were slow)High — wallet impact

Recall 23V865 covers 2020–2022 Camrys and Camry Hybrids: the occupant classification sensor in the front passenger seat can develop a short, and the airbag may then not fire in a crash. Dealers inspect and replace the sensor free, but Toyota mailed interim letters in early 2024 and parts trickled out for well over a year, so some 2022s still show this open in 2026. Seven of the ten AIR BAGS complaints are crash reports, one with an SRS malfunction message on start-up and a dealer who could not reproduce it. Run the VIN before you drive it, and watch the passenger airbag indicator change when an adult sits down.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (10); 1 NHTSA recall campaign on this model year.

Infotainment screen freezes or drops maps and audio; a scatter of other electrical reportsMedium

Eight ELECTRICAL SYSTEM complaints with no single part: the touchscreen locking up and needing a restart, a USB port that cuts the whole system out on a bump, one heated steering wheel that scorched, one car that lost power with the check-engine, pre-collision and stability warnings lit together. One owner was told a coolant-bypass-valve code fell outside a campaign for their VIN — ask a Toyota dealer to check this VIN for any open campaign or customer-support programme rather than take anyone's word. At the car, run the screen through maps, phone and radio for five minutes and plug your own cable into the USB.

Repair cost (estimate): $0–$300 for a software update or USB hub; $900–$1,800 for a head unit outside warranty

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (8).

Wipers too slow in heavy rain; two sunroofs shattered at speed; one windshield cracked on its ownMedium

Seven VISIBILITY complaints, and the wiper ones are consistent: on high speed the blades barely keep up in a downpour, and one set turned on by itself. Two owners describe the sunroof glass exploding with a bang at 60 mph with nothing hitting it, and one sunroof seized shut with a maintenance message. Test the wipers on high with the washer going; open and close the sunroof fully; look along the glass edge for chips. A cracked panoramic glass is a real bill, but two reports in 59 is a thing to check, not a pattern to fear.

Repair cost (estimate): $40–$80 for premium blades; $800–$1,500 for sunroof glass; $300–$600 for a windshield with camera recalibration

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under glass, wipers and mirrors (7).

Brake pedal that sank at parking speed, and Toyota Safety Sense false alarmsMedium

Seven SERVICE BRAKES complaints with two crashes — one describes the pedal sinking to the floor while creeping into a parking space — and seven FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE complaints about phantom braking and warnings for cars that were not there. Neither is a pattern at this count, but both are safety systems, so check them: pump the brake pedal at a standstill and hold it for thirty seconds looking for creep, then drive past parked cars and under an overpass and see whether the pre-collision light flashes. A fault code scan at a Toyota dealer covers the rest.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$400 for a camera or radar calibration; $500–$1,200 for a brake master cylinder or booster

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (7), the driver-assist and automatic braking systems (7).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Recall 23V865 open on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✗SRS or airbag malfunction message at start-up
✗Touchscreen that freezes or reboots during a five-minute test
✗Brake pedal that creeps toward the floor under steady pressure
✗Wipers that lag on high with the washer running

Good Signs

✓Recall 23V865 shown complete, with the sensor replacement on a dealer invoice
✓Infotainment software updated at the dealer, on the service record
✓Sunroof opens, closes and tilts smoothly with no glass chips at the edges
✓Remaining factory powertrain warranty confirmed by a Toyota dealer on the VIN
✓Brake pedal firm and steady at a standstill