So I bought my Camry almost two years ago. I've put on about 44,000 miles since the purchase. I don't recall this happening at first (it might have), but I noticed it probably March or April of last year.

Basically, I'm driving along just fine and then when I go down a hill, I would put my brakes on and the tachometer would raise from about 1.5 up to over 2. I'm not sure what this is.

Example: Doing 65 MPH, then I follow a slow driver down a hill, he puts his brakes on, then I'm forced to as well, and then the tach shoots up.

If I could get some help with what this means, I would appreciate it.

Since your car has an electronically controlled throttle, it is the ECM changing the rpm in response to driving and engine conditions.

Okay, so my car doesn't appear to have a problem in that regard then?

I don't know what's normal for your car, but it wouldn't surprise me at all that this was normal. As long as it is not revving above 5000 rpm and potentially damaging the engine or causing some sort of safety concern on your part, I would assume it's normal. Keep an eye on it and as long as it doesn't get worse, I would leave it alone. Since the ECM has control over the rpm, you have a good reason to assume that there is no problem, other than strange behavior.

If asked, I would assume that the ECM is increasing your rpm to decrease the vacuum to the brake booster for some reason. Alternatively, it may have something to do with vacuum to your EGR system.

You can always go drive a similar car (same year and engine) from a used car lot (under the auspices of thinking of buying it) and see if it exhibits the same behavior.

I'm pretty sure it's just just the ECM downshifting the transmission. The gearing is relatively tall on these cars and if you stayed in OD, the car would tend to "run away" downhill and you would have to ride the brakes, prematurely wearing them out. With the downshift to 3rd, the engine compression helps to slow the car down. At least, this is what happens on my 2003. (Of course, I'm assuming that you have an automatic).

So it's not only perfectly normal, but it's a good thing,