NHTSA complaint #11463027

Owner complaint summary

I recently purchased a 2019 Camry LE with 18k miles, I’ve noticed many instances of poor acceleration, struggling to find gears, very jerky shifting when coasting and re accelerating. I was attempting to pass a vehicle on a 2-way highway on which I had more than enough time and distance to pass, but as I merged to pass the transmission felt like it didn’t know what gear to be in and I could not accelerate and I had to slam on my brakes and quickly jump back into my original lane to avoid being hit by a super duty pickup. Had a service advisor tell me it’s a common issue with these transmission and they pointed to a couple other models with the same issues only to then be told by someone else that it’s a “characteristic” of the transmission, this is a major safety concern. Under no circumstances should a problem that almost got me killed be called a “characteristic”, this is a serious issue that I wish I was told about when purchasing my car. Extremely disappointed, I’m too scared to drive this car because of a close call I had within 150 miles of my purchase. Something needs to be done, as I’ve noticed many other similar complaints that almost got other people hurt or killed.