2004 TOYOTA AVALON Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2004 TOYOTA AVALON . THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 10 MPH, THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED AND THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED ABNORMALLY. THE CONTACT THEN CRASHED INTO THE SIDE OF A HOME, CAUSING MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE AND THE HOME. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THEY DIAGNOSED THE VEHICLE AND ADVISED THE CONTACT THAT THERE WERE NO FAILURES FOUND WITHIN THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 80,000. UPDATED 5/7/12 *CN THE CONSUMER HAS SINCE TRADED THE VEHICLE.

2004 TOYOTA AVALON. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO SAFETY RECALL NOTICE CONCERNING ENGINE CRANKSHAFT PULLEY *TGW THE CONSUMER BELIEVED UNNECESSARY REPAIRS WERE MADE TO THE VEHICLE, PRIOR TO RECEIVING THE RECALL NOTICE. THE CONSUMER EXPERIENCED DIFFICULTY IN TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL, THE STEERING WAS SLUGGISH AND THERE WAS A VIBRATION. THE POWER STEERING PUMP WAS REPLACED. THE BRAKES, TIRES, AND RACK AND PINION WERE ALSO REPLACED. *JB

OUR AVALON HAS ABOUT 46,000 MILES ON IT AND HAS BEEN DOING THE FOLLOWING FOR THE LAST 10,000; PASSENGER-SIDE AIRBAG LIGHT/FAULT INDICATOR INTERMITTENTLY COMES ON WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED. THIS MAY GO FOR DAYS OR WEEKS WITHOUT HAPPENING, AND THEN HAPPEN SEVERAL TIMES A DAY. INDICATOR MAY COME FULLY ON OR ONLY DIMLY ON, FOR SECONDS OR FOR MINUTES. IT APPEARS THAT GOING OVER A BUMPY ROAD WILL TRIGGER THE LIGHT GOING ON OR OFF. THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT TO THE WATERTOWN MA TOYOTA DEALER FOR ANALYSIS IN OCTOBER 2010 AND TO THE WOBURN MA TOYOTA DEALER ON JANUARY 16 2012. THE INDICATOR DID NOT COME ON WHILE AT EITHER DEALER WHO SAID THEY COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG AND THAT WE NEED TO BRING THE VEHICLE TO THEM WHEN THE AIRBAG LIGHT IS ON. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE NEITHER DEALER IS CLOSE TO OUR HOME AND THE LIGHT GOES ON AND OFF SO INTERMITTENTLY. THE JANUARY 2012 VISIT TO THE WOBURN MA TOYOTA DEALER INCLUDED RUNNING A DIAGNOSTIC TEST THAT DID NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG BUT SAID IT COULD POSSIBLY BE THAT THE AIRBAG WIRING HAD GOTTEN WET AT ONE POINT AND THIS WAS THE RESULT. THE DEALER ADVISED US TO SEE IF THE PROBLEM IS WORSE WHEN IT RAINS. (IT IS NOT.) BOTH DEALERS SAID IF THE INDICATOR IS ON THEN THE AIRBAG SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY, WHICH IS VERY CONCERNING TO US. A LOCAL MECHANIC ALSO REMOVED THE FRONT SEAT FROM THE CAR TO CHECK THE AIRBAG WIRING BENEATH THE SEAT; THEY DID NOT FIND ANY PROBLEMS. ON FEBRUARY 7, 2012, THE AIRBAG LIGHT WENT ON AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET TO THE LOCAL MECHANIC WITH IT STILL ON. THE MECHANIC IMMEDIATELY PUT ON THE SCANNING TOOL AND NO DIAGNOSTIC CODES SHOWED EVEN THOUGH THE LIGHT WAS ON. HE TAPPED ON THE AIRBAG PANEL ABOVE THE PASSENGER GLOVE COMPARTMENT AND THE DIAGNOSTIC CODES STARTING APPEARING ON HIS SCANNER. BASED ON THE SCAN RESULTS, HE SAID THAT THE PASSENGER AIRBAG IS FAULTY AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. *TR

SRS AIRBAG LIGHT COMES ON INTERMITTENTLY HAVE BEEN BACK TO THE DEALER MULTIPLE TIMES AND THE LIGHT GOES OFF, THE ONE TIME IT WAS ON THE TECHNICIAN PLACED THE COMPUTER ON IT AND NO ERROR CODE WAS SHOWING EVEN THOUGH THE LIGHT WAS FLASHING ON AND OFF. ANOTHER TECHNICIAN REPLACED THE MAIN SENSOR MODULE $700+ BUT THE LIGHT STARTED FLASHING AGAIN AFTER THE WEATHER CHANGED AND STARTED GETTING COLD. DEALER SAYS I HAVE TO BRING IT BACK FOR MORE DIAGNOSIS, ALSO MORE MONEY. CALLED TOYOTA CORPORATE OFFICES AND THEY WILL NOT EVEN TALK TO ME ABOUT REFUNDING THE UNNECESSARY REPAIR COST AS CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY. HAVE SEEN MULTIPLE INSTANCES OF THIS BEHAVIOR BEING DOCUMENTED IN THE INTERNET POSTINGS, WHY HASN'T THE NHTSA DIRECTED TOYOTA TO FIX THIS SAFETY ISSUE. IF THE LIGHT IS ON THE AIRBAGS WILL NOT DEPLOY AND MULTIPLE BLOGS HAVE STATED THAT TOYOTA AIRBAGS HAVE FAILED TO DEPLOY IN MULTIPLE INSTANCES. I THINK A MAJOR RECALL IS IN ORDER FOR TOYOTA AVALON AIRBAGS FOR THE 2001-2004 MODEL YEARS. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE ENTERING A PARKING SPACE, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION OF THE FAILURE AND THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE DEFECT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 140,000. THE DEALER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM ON 8/22. CAR WAS TOWED TO DEALER SHOP'S SERVICE CENTER ON 8/25. MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED 9/1/11 INSPECTOR FROM TOYOTA FACTORY TO INSPECT CAR WEEK OF 9/19 AT DEALERSHIP PREMISES. UPDATED 10/27/2011 *LN *TR

IN DECEMBER, I TOOK MY 2004 AVALON TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THE STEERING COLUMN BRACKET RECALL. SHORTLY AFTER, I RETURNED TO THE DEALERSHIP COMPLAINING ABOUT MY ODD STEERING. I COULD FEEL THE STEERING STIFFEN, THEN RETURN TO NORMAL, THEN BACK TO STIFFENING. THE DEALERSHIP HAD THE CAR FOR A DAY TO CHECK OUT THE STEERING WHICH THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT. NOW, MY STEERING IS STIFF ALL OF THE TIME. I AM AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR. IT IS NOT SAFE TO BE ON THE ROAD. IN RESEARCHING I HAVE NOT FOUND A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM. CLEARLY, THERE IS A STEERING PROBLEM SINCE I HAVE FOUND SEVERAL SIMILAR COMPLAINTS. A RECALL SHOULD IMMEDIATELY BE ORDERED BY TOYOTA. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE REAR DRIVER SIDE DOOR HANDLE FRACTURED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO OPEN DOOR. THE DEALER ADVISED REPLACING THE DOOR HANDLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 79,982.

MY 2008 TOYOTA AVALON HAD THE HIGH BEAM LIGHT FAIL AFTER APPROX. 30000 MILES. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND TOLD THEM THE HIGH BEAM DID NOT WORK. I WAS INSULTED WHEN THEY ASKED, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY DON'T WORK"? I TOLD THEM, "THEY DON'T TURN ON". I WAS TOLD THEY BOTH BURNED OUT AND I SAID THERE WAS NO WAY THEY WOULD BOTH BURN OUT AT THE SAME TIME. THEIR INSULTS CONTINUED WITH, "THEIR THE SAME AGE SO THEY CERTAINLY COULD BURN OUT AT THE SAME TIME." I EXPLAINED WHEN I WENT TO TURN THEM ON ONE NIGHT, ALL LIGHTS IN THE CAR WENT OUT AND I HEARD A POP SOUND. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE REGULAR LIGHTS BACK ON BUT THE HIGH BEAMS HAVE NEVER COME ON SINCE. AFTER THEY CHECKED THE CAR I WAS INFORMED, "THEY DIDN'T JUST BURN OUT, THEY BLEW UP". EVEN WITH THEIR STATEMENT THE DEALER WOULD NOT ADMIT TO ANY ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS WITH THE CAR. THEY WERE GOING TO CHARGE ME $250 PER LIGHT. WITH THEIR ATTITUDE, I DIDN'T GET THEM CHANGED. I MADE ANOTHER MISTAKE WITH THIS DEALER WHEN I GOT THE OILED CHANGED SEVERAL MONTHS LATER. TOYOTA NOW PROVIDES A BOGUS SAFETY REPORT. MY REPORT STATED ALL THE LIGHTS WORKED. IT ALSO STATED MY REAR WINDOW WIPER WAS IN EXCELLENT SHAPE AND DIDN'T NEED TO BE REPLACE. IF YOU'VE EVER SEEN AN AVALON, IT DOESN'T HAVE A REAR WINDOW WIPER. I GUESS THE VIRTUAL ONE WORKS JUST FINE. *TR

ON 30 DECEMBER 2010, I TOOK MY 2004 TOYOTA AVALON FOR SERVICE PER A RECALL FOR A STEERING BRACKET REPLACEMENT. I PICKED UP THE CAR ON 03 JANUARY 2011 AND DROVE IT HOME. THE NEXT TIME IT WAS DRIVEN WAS ON JANUARY 10 AND I NOTICED THE STEERING WAS "STICKING" SO I NOTIFIED THE TOYOTA SERVICE DEPARTMENT. WHILE DRIVING TO HAVE THE VEHICLE CHECKED, THE STEERING LOCKED UP AND I NEARLY CRASHED BEFORE MANAGING TO STOP. THE CAR WAS TOWED IN FOR SERVICE AND I WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE "STEERING RACK". I HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS THAT REPAIRS TO THE STEERING DUE TO A RECALL WERE PERFORMED AND IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THIS PROBLEM OCCURRED. *TR

2004 TOYOTA AVALON WITH A RECALL FOR THE STEERING COLUMN UPPER BRACKET. *KB THE CONSUMER STATED SHE EXPERIENCED THE STEERING PROBLEM PRIOR TO THE RECALL. *JB