2006 TOYOTA AVALON Complaints

2006 TOYOTA AVALON. AT LOW SPEEDS, ESPECIALLY AFTER SLOWING, THE TRANSMISSION ACTS AS IF IT WERE IN NEUTRAL, AND SEVERELY HESITATES, WHEN AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO ACCELERATE. DEALER SAYS IT'S NORMAL. THERE ARE YEARS OF COMPLAINTS ALL OVER THE WEB. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT SOME HAVE NOT BEEN REAR-ENDED OR STRUCK WHEN ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE INTO TRAFFIC FROM A HIGHWAY ENTRANCE RAMP. TOYOTA SHOULD BE FORCED TO REDO THE PROGRAMMING OF THE RESPONSIBLE COMPUTER CHIP OR REPLACE THE CHIP WITH ONE THAT HAS A FASTER CLOCK SPEED. THEY SHOULD ALSO BE HELD LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL INCIDENTS. THE DATE BELOW IS FOR THE LATEST OF NEAR DAILY, USUALLY MINOR FAILURES LIKE SLOWING TO TURN A CORNER.

TOYOTA AVALON 2006 HAS A PROTRUDING PIECE CYLINDER IN THE MID-SECTION OF THE TRUNK THAT HAS A CUTOUT WITH AN EXTREMELY SHARP EDGE. IT CUT MY FINGER WHEN PUTTING GROCERIES IN MY TRUNK AND MY DAUGHTER'S FRIEND WHEN REMOVING LUGGAGE. THIS COULD BE VERY SERIOUS FOR DIABETICS AND CAUSED SIGNIFICANT CUTS FOR BOTH OF US. *JB

I HAVE A 2006 TOYOTA AVALON. THERE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION. AT SLOW SPEEDS THE TRANSMISSION SEEMS TO SLIP. IF I AM SLOWING ALMOST TO A STOP AND THEN STARTING UP AGAIN THE TRANSMISSION DOES NOT ENGAGE, THE ENGINE REVS UP, AND THEN THE CAR LURCHES FORWARD AS THE TRANSMISSION FINALLY ENGAGES. WE HAVE ALMOST BEEN REAR ENDED WHEN ANOTHER CAR IS FOLLOWING CLOSE AND THINKS THAT I AM GOING TO MOVE FORWARD BUT CAN'T BECAUSE THE TRANSMISSION DOES NOT ENGAGE. I HAVE ALMOST HAD AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE THE CAR LURCHES FORWARD AFTER THE TRANS SLIPS. WE HAVE HAD THIS LURCHING AND SLIPPING INCIDENT SEVERAL TIMES. *JB

ON THREE DIFFERENT OCCASIONS, WHILE DRIVING MY 2006 TOYOTA AVALON XLS, I PRESSED DOWN ON THE GAS PEDAL TO PASS ANOTHER VEHICLE AND THE GAS PEDAL CONTINUED TO DEPRESS ON ITS OWN AFTER I TOOK MY FOOT OFF OF IT. I STOOD ON THE GAS PEDAL AND IT TOOK ABOUT 5 SECONDS FOR THE PEDAL TO DISENGAGE AFTER ACCELERATING VERY RAPIDLY. THE THIRD TIME, I HAD TO SHUT OFF THE IGNITION. I AM AFRAID TO PRESS HARD ON THE GAS PEDAL AT THIS POINT AS IT IS A VERY FRIGHTENING SITUATION. A LESS EXPERIENCED DRIVER WOULD GET INJURED. I WILL NOT LET ANYBODY ELSE DRIVE MY CAR BECAUSE OF THIS. THE DEALER HAD NO EXPLANATION WHICH I FIND VERY DISTURBING. HELP!! *JB

REQUEST TO REMOVE THE KNEE LEVEL AIR BAG FROM THE 2006 TOYOTA AVALON**CC THE CONSUMER'S WIFE WAS IN INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT IN WHICH THE KNEE BOLSTER AIR BAG DEPLOYED. SHE SUSTAINED FRACTURES TO BOTH FEET, SEVERE CONTUSIONS ON BOTH FEET AND A THIRD DEGREE CHEMICAL BURN ON HER LEFT LEG. *NM

(1) TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 11:30 PM, JANUARY 16, 2007. I AM DRIVING SOUTHBOUND IN OUTSIDE LANE ON DIVIDED INTERSTATE HIGHWAY APPROXIMATELY 400' BEHIND VEHICLE AHEAD, HEADLIGHTS ON DIM. WEATHER IS CLEAR, ROADS ARE CLEAR, HOWEVER, AREA HAD RECENT ICE AND SLEET BUT MOST HAS BEEN SNOW PLOWED TO THE ROAD SHOULDERS. TRAFFIC IS LIGHT, WITH VEHICLES AHEAD AND TO THE REAR. SPEED IS APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH AND I AM WATCHING THE ROAD CLOSELY. PASSENGER IN VEHICLE IS WITNESS. (2) I AM IMMEDIATELY UPON A CHUNK OF ICE ABOUT THE SIZE OF A BASKETBALL THAT APPEARED TO HAVE FALLEN FROM THE VEHICLE AHEAD. THERE WAS NO SWERVE BY THE VEHICLE AHEAD TO INDICATE AN ATTEMPT TO DODGE AN OBJECT IN THE ROAD. THE ICE IS SLIDING ON THE ROAD MOVING IN THE SAME DIRECTION AS THE TRAFFIC. I HIT THE ICE WITH MY VEHICLE JUST UNDER THE BUMPER AND INSIDE THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL. THE OBJECT WAS NOT ILLUMINATED BY MY VEHICLES HEADLIGHTS IN TIME FOR ME TO BRAKE OR MANEUVER AROUND IT. THE IMPACT BROKE MY FRONT BUMPER COWLING, UNDER ENGINE SHIELD AND RIGHT FRONT WHEEL MUD GUARD. (3) THE VEHICLE IS MOBILE AND NO PARTS LEFT THE VEHICLE AS A RESULT OF THE IMPACT. A FULL INSPECTION HAS NOT YET BEEN CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE IF THERE ARE OTHER DAMAGES. NO ESTIMATE OF COST HAS BEEN SECURED ALTHOUGH MY ESTIMATION IS THEY WILL APPROACH $2500. HAVING HAD THIS EXPERIENCE, I QUESTION THE INTEGRITY OF THE HEADLIGHTS ABILITY TO ILLUMINATE AN OBJECT AHEAD OF THE VEHICLE WHILE HEADLIGHTS ARE ON DIM. THIS IS A NEW 2006 MODEL FULL SIZE CAR HID HEADLIGHTS. THE HEADLIGHTS APPEAR TO DO A VERY GOOD JOB OF LIGHTING THE ROADWAY AT A DISTANCE THAT APPEARS TO BE ABOUT 150'. THIS ILLUMINATED DISTANCE IS A NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE (LONGER) FROM A SECOND VEHICLE THAT I HAVE ALTHOUGH THE SECOND VEHICLE IS A PICKUP ABOUT 8 YEARS OLDER WITH A DIFFERENT TYPE OF HEADLIGHT. *JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE ACCELERATING AT 10 MPH, THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WAS SLUGGISH WHILE SHIFTING GEARS, AND LURCHED FORWARD WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY A DEALER WHO WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. THE MANUFACTURER WAS ALERTED. UPDATED 01/19/07. *JB

I HAVE A 2006 TOYOTA AVALON WITH ~15,000 MILES ON IT. INTERMITTENTLY, THE CAR WILL HESITATE ON ACCELERATION. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS I HAVE ALMOST BEEN REAR-ENDED SEVERAL TIMES AND HAVE HAD TO SLAM ON THE BRAKES, AT TIMES, TO AVOID A SIDE-SWIPE COLLISION. THE DELAY IN INPUT TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO ACTUAL ACCELERATION IS 2-4 SECONDS AT TIMES. THIS IS A PROBLEM KNOWN TO TOYOTA. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT DESCRIBES IT AS A "CHARACTERISTIC" OF THE DRIVE BY WIRE THROTTLE SYSTEM. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS "CHARACTERISTIC" AND I'M CERTAIN WILL RESULT IN ACCIDENTS. THERE ARE MANY EXAMPLES ON THE "FORUM" ON EDMUNDS.COM WHERE OWNERS HAVE EXPRESSED THE SAME PROBLEM/CONCERN. *NM

WE HAVE FOUND THE AUTO LEVELING HEADLIGHTS (HID) TO BE AIMED MUCH TOO LOW. WE ARE NOT COMFORTABLE USING LOW BEAMS AT 55 MPH AND THE HIGH BEAMS ARE NOT NEARLY AS GOOD AS CONVENTIONAL HEADLIGHTS. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED INTERMITTENTLY, WHILE ACCELERATING AND TURNING A CORNER THE VEHICLE HESITATED, AND THEN LURCHED FORWARD. THE DEALERSHIP WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. *AK UPDATED 10/17/2006 - *NM