Toyota Avalon

I purchased a Toyota Avalon in 2006 after owning a Lexus for 13 years. This has been a good car for the most part. Unfortunately, I recently had to replace the air condenser. The repair shop told me they do not normally see this problem in newer vehicles. I am considering purchasing another Toyota. Considering this early repair, would you offer some remuneration on the purchase towards a new Toyota?

I purchased my 2006 Avalon 10 months ago from Melody Toyota. I've had to bring in my vehicle for 2 engine rebuilds due to black smoke spewing from the tail pipe while on the freeway. On July 7, 2011, I noticed my engine was ticking/knocking and I wasn't due for an oil change for another 3,000 miles. I brought my car to the closest Toyota, City Toyota in Daly City. They noticed the knocking and contacted my extended warranty and gave me a rental Prius. Upon the advise of my service advisor, who recently resigned, I called up Toyota Customer Service 800-331-4331 and opened up a ticket #**. My case manager who was assigned was Debra ** ext **.

I've been calling weekly to find out about my repair, to find out there was haggling about who would pay for the repairs. Today, after 5 weeks of waiting, Debra ** said that her Director, Duffy **, refused to authorize repair of my vehicle at City Toyota and that my vehicle would be towed to Melody Toyota for repair. I requested to have his phone number and address, and was told it was private. I asked why this had not been escalated to his boss. She said that was not their practice. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that it was not possible. I contacted Melody and spoke to a service person who I've dealt with in the past. I feel that since this is the 3rd time I will need an engine rebuild, I should receive a new engine or the dealer should offer me a trade comparable to my 2006 Avalon.

My 2001 Toyota Avalon has 85,00 miles. Something inside the drivers side door handle must have snapped off or broken because the front door can now only be opened by using the outside latch. That is a safety issue because someone could get trapped in their car. Toyota says that door handles are just an "expected wear and tear" item and that I should be delighted that my door handle mechanism lasted so many years because they expect most to break earlier. The repair would cost 140 for parts and 198 for labor. Although it is an "expected wear and tear" item there are no references to that in any manual and there is no easy access to repair.

Unfortunately, here is another Toyota safety issue. Consumers need to be aware that they may be trapped in their cars and unable escape in an emergency. Toyota knows about this but does not consider it their responsibility. Consumers need to be aware of this potential safety hazard before they get stuck in an emergency or stuck with expensive repairs. Thank you.

My mother was driving her 2003 Avalon home on September 2, 2007 and her car suddenly drifted off to the right and over an embankment and hit a tree. She was killed within seconds. Her autopsy results indicated she had died of chest trauma and no apparent other reasons such as heart attack or stroke. My concern is that there was problem in the steering mechanism of the vehicle, which impaired her ability to drive the vehicle. Her vehicle would be on the recall list but was totaled in the accident.

New Avalon 11/10/01. Discovered sludge problem 5/28/10. Pederson Toyota confirmed 7/12/10. Current mileage 42,993. Said no help was available. Car is not drivable and has not been since 5/28/10.

My daughters Toyota Avalon xsl 1997 makes a loud moaning noise when she first moves the car. She was told by a salesman that all of these cars make this noise. I think they are wrong. Has anyone else complained about this strange moaning noise?

I have a 2006 Toyota Avalon XLS. My wife was driving the car and the oil line blew. After the car was towed in to Pauly Toyota in Crystal Lake, they told us there was a faulty oil line on the car which I had never gotten notice from Toyota for any faulty oil lines. The oil line blowing resulted in an engine replacement. Toyota had the car for probably a week or more. As soon as I got it back, the car was not driving right, accelerating too slowly or too fast, sputtering making noises.

I took it back and a tech drove with me and tried to play it off like it was nothing. We drove around for quite some time before he finally noticed. it. They took the car back for a couple of days to fix it and gave it back to me. I still had issues with the car not driving right, so it went back in a third time. Even now I have problems with hesitation, or the car shifting gears so late that it is redlining. If the car is cold, the engine revs at about 1500 RPMs. The car has 58,000 miles on it. It also had the two gas pedal recalls. I submitted a BBB claim which caused Toyota to pull the records which resulted in a denial of any sort of help on my car and they pointed me in the direction of the NCDS which I am currently doing. I definitely do not feel safe driving the car with all its issues and I don't feel safe with my kids being in it. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

I bought a new 2002 Toyota Avalon with an extended warranty. I had no problems with the car until about 60,000 miles. It began to smoke and use oil. The car had never been in the shop and had used only AmsOil in the engine. I took it to the dealership. Tests were run and I was told that the engine had sludge. I was also told that since my son-in-law, who is an AmsOil dealer and a mechanic for Fed Ex, had taken care of oil changes, they could not say I had taken care of the car. It is a known fact that Toyota has had sludge problems, but I was told that they did not by the service manager. I am 78 years old, retired, and on a fixed income. I cannot afford a new car and I feel that I have been insulted by them at the very least. He said they could repair it for $4,000 which I cannot afford.

I purchased Toyota Avalon in 2000. Two or three years later, the engine was packed with sludge. Toyota repaired the problem at no cost, but told me it could occur again. And it did in 2008. My husband took care of the basic maintenance car repairs. Unfortunately, I didn't keep all of the receipts.

In 2008 I took the car to the Toyota dealership when the engine light came on. Yes, they discovered another sludge problem but told me the cost would be around $6,000 - $9,000. I told them that they should have in their records that this is the 2nd time this sludge problem has occurred. I provided my copy of the receipt. I also provided copies of maintenance documents that I had, but that wasn't enough. They told me to call a Toyota representative in another state and she would investigate.

According to her analysis, I did not have sufficient proof that regular maintenance had been performed on my vehicle, thus, my claim was denied for repair unless I paid. I cannot afford to purchase another car at this time in my life, and my car is literally on its last leg. Every time I put the key into the ignition, I pray. My car has no power, burns gas ridiculously, and makes this awful clunking sound. Oh, I was also told by the Toyota representative that I had just missed the boat by a few months with the class action lawsuit. I was not even aware of the lawsuit until I did an internet search in 2008 - during the time I was trying to get Toyota to right their wrong.

My 2009 Avalon XLS came with two problems: front end vibration above 65 mph and an intermittent vibration between 38 and 42 mph. After 5 trips to the dealer within two months and 5,000 miles, an inspection by a Southeast Toyota technician concluded that the car was operating normally. I placed 140 lbs of weights on the front passenger floor. That seemed to alleviate the vibration over 65 mph but created an obvious unsafe condition. The inconsistent vibration between 38-42 mph was still there. The only response I received from Toyota Corp or the dealer was a copy of the technician's report. I sent a final letter to Toyota. They opened a new file on the case after I traded the car. Rather than put up with these annoyances, I traded the car for a Hyundai. I would have traded for another Toyota but the dealer offer was ridiculous.

I purchased new 2007 Toyota Avalon from the showroom. Since I have the car, I had to make 5 trips to dealer. First, my tires went flat at 17800 miles and the dealer told me that it was an issue with Avalon. Next, the car was very noisy then the dealer told me that the factory forgot to put the liner with roof and the seats are sinking and quite uncomfortable for a long driving. The car is not as good as the Avalon I had purchased in 2001. Telescopic Steering Wheel Latch opens with road vibration and steering wheel goes down. Very scary experience.

I have a 2004 Toyota Avalon sitting idle in my driveway with roughly 30,000 miles and a blown engine due to oil sludge. After reading through this website, I see I had the typical Toyota experience. I was told the sludge was my fault, I must never have changed my oil, must not have driven it enough, etc. They also did the condescending, "You must be an idiot or a liar because our cars don't create this problem" approach. I have to admit I must be an idiot - this is my second Avalon, the first also had the sludge, they told me I must have "put diesel" in it, but I was able to get that one repaired on my own with an engine overhaul at an independent mechanic. Do I have any recourse?

On Nov 8th I was driving off in my hushand Avalon. Whn i started the car and proceed to go the car took off. The speed of the car kept accelarting it reached 90 miles per hour, the brakes did not work. emeregancy brakes did not work, I could not turn off the car...I finally got the car into park . The dealership is claiming mat issues...if this is the case why is there no recall from toyota??? I want some type of action and Toyota has to notify consumers.

I took the car back to the garage in May 2009 and they told me that the car has engine sludge and that I should check out what Toyota is doing for the consumers with this issue because of the class action lawsuit. I called the Toyota dealer who then asked how many miles are on the car, I said somewhere around 100K and it is my main source of travel. She then said, "sorry we can't do anything for you". I can't afford a car now and I can't afford to get this fixed. What do I do?

I own a 2003 Avalon with a bad sludge engine. Blows smoke on start up and burns oil EVERY DAY! I have spent lots of money.... I had the engine taken apart and cleaned 3 months ago and it is still doing all the above. No dealer will take it as a trade in and I am stuck with this Toyota.

We purchased a 2006 Toyota Avalon three years ago. From my first oil change I reported having a feeling of pulling in the transmission. It felt as though it would down shift rather than upshift when accelerating. I was told by several service writers that it was how the Avalon drove and to get use to it. My vehicle is 3 years old and currently has 63994 miles on it, just outside of the 60K warranty.

Toyota said they would give us $1000 towards our $5100 bill to replace my transmission, that failed completely as I was trying to merge into traffic on south bound I-25 in Denver. I had issues, and was repeatedly told that that was normal for the Avalon. I have found articles from other owners with identical issues, and still Toyota will do nothing. I really feel that there is enough complaints to warrent a recall. I wish they had just owned up to it earlier, so I could have purchased an extended service contract, or had it replaced while it was under warranty. I think they need to foot the bill on this, since they knew it was an issue and still did nothing about it.

stuck with a new transmission for $4100 out of my pocket after only three years, 63K miles. I don't trust the replacement transmission, it has showen failure as well.

More than 10 days now I have no car because my air conditionin my Avalon product in 2005 was brkdown and no more AC. I took the car to Toyota branch in Makka were I live. They promise after 10 days I will receive it on Sunday 19 Aug but now they say they have no more compressor. Imbelievable? Please help.