This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Sudden acceleration in my 2005 Toyota Avalon. The mat did not interfere with the accelerator. Without looking at the vehicle Toyota has maintained that the mat is the cause of the accident leading me to believe that about what Toyota knows about this problem and is not being candid with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration when informing them of the issue.
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Avalon. Contact stated while parking the vehicle going up a ramp the vehicle accelerated and crashed into wall. The contact thought at the time her foot slipped on the brake pedal. The contact was not hurt and the vehicle was repaired. One year after the first incident, while pulling into the driveway the vehicle surged again. This time the contact was able to break and stop the vehicle from always crashing into the garage. Contact feels this vehicle is unsafe and refuses to drive the vehicle. Current mileage was 47,000 and failure mileage was 27,000. Updated 1/11/09 updated 01/15/10.
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Avalon. While entering a highway the accelerator pedal became stuck to the floor. The vehicle accelerated up to 80 mph. He had to manually lift the pedal from the floor to decelerate. He was advised that he could bring the vehicle in as a trade-in. The failure mileage was 56,400.
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Avalon. When attempting to apply the brakes, the vehicle accelerated without touching the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was shifted into neutral to decelerate. The vehicle was towed to two different dealers, but the technicians could not remedy the failure. A complaint was filed with the manufacturer, but no assistance was provided. The current mileage was 45,000. The failure mileage was 11,000. Updated 11/09/09 the consumer stated his foot was on the brake when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. Updated 11/09/09
Weather: Sunny. Engine warm - driven about 10 miles on the way to small shopping center. I'm in no hurry, stopping to browse in a favorite boutique. Looking for a parking space, slowed vehicle to a crawl while scanning the lot & then turned slowly about 45 degrees to drift into an available space when suddenly the vehicle lurched forward out of control ramming the parked vehicle facing the space I was in. I remember a loud noise - which was the engine accelerating: An unfamiliar sound when the vehicle was just about stopped. Then, the noise of the crash - about 6 ft in front of the Avalon at the time of the noise & lurch. The impact stopped the car. I put it in reverse & backed away, then turned off the ignition. My foot was not on the accelerator by mistake as it had been on the brake while drifting down the aisle toward the open space - there had been no acceleration while in that aisle. To come to a complete stop in the space I would have had to apply only the slightest pressure to the brake ; therefore, if I had touched the accelerator by mistake I would have not done so with enough pressure to cause the wild acceleration. With my foot above the brake in that instant when I touched the brake to stop the lurch it didn't affect the speed of the car before impact: There was not any hesitation in the engine. No damage to the other vehicle. The Avalon sustained some bumper damage and a bent hood - drivable, but I refused to drive it. While waiting for a tow truck I drove to the empty lot behind the stores and tried to repeat the event, unsuccessfully. I discovered that in order to accelerate that quickly, I would have had to have pushed the accelerator to the floor - an impossibility at the 0 miles per hour I was drifting into position in the parking space. The car accelerated suddenly and unintentional through no action on my part. The Toyota dealer found nothing wrong with the car.
- Ellicott City, MD, USA
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The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Avalon. When the contact depresses the brake pedal, the vehicle surges ahead or shifts to another gear. The dealer was unable to diagnose the cause of failure. He has spoken with the Avalon division of Toyota and they stated that someone will contact him in reference to the failure. The VIN and engine size were unknown. The current mileage is 22,500 and failure mileage was 20,000.
- on 9/24/06 while the contact was driving vehicle at 60 mph and it unexpectedly accelerated to 75 mph. The contact had to apply the brake with both feet to disengage the acceleration on the vehicle. On 10/09/06, while driving on the highway at 40 mph the vehicle accelerated to 75 mph, had to hold both feet on the brake and pull the vehicle off to side of the road. At that point the contact took the vehicle to the dealership, ) and the dealer stated that the gas pedal was most likely getting caught under the carpet. The dealer couldn't find anything wrong with the vehicle. While driving on 12/23/06 at 35 mph the vehicle accelerated to 75 mph, after a quarter of a mile contact was able to stop the vehicle by outing both feet on brake. All the brakes were smoking and there was transmission fluid leaking. At that point, contact had the vehicle towed to rosener Toyota. Updated 01/29/07.
There seems to be a hesitation when stepping on the gas peddle, it takes a couple seconds before the transmissions responds. When it does, it doesn't seem to know what gear to put it in. Sometimes it accelerates normally. But other times it is unpredictable....can be very dangerous when merging or turning onto major roads.
: the contact stated while driving 40mph through a residential area, the vehicle operated at a reduced speed and suddenly lurched forward. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who determined the vehicle was operating as designed and was unable to duplicate the problem. Additionally, while driving 75mph the front tire blew out without warning. Upon initial inspection, there was complete tread separation. The tire was a Bridgestone, tire line size of P215/55/R17.
: the contact stated upon initial acceleration the vehicle hesitated. The problem has been present in the vehicle since the date of purchase. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined the vehicle was operating normally.
: the contact stated while driving speeds of 5mph or less in stop and go traffic, there was a delayed acceleration followed by a sudden acceleration forward. The vehicle was seen by an authorized dealer. A factory representative inspected the vehicle and reprogrammed the electronic control module.
This is a follow up on the incidents reported under 10142940. When starting to slowly proceed forward behind heavy traffic at a stop light the vehicle suddenly surged forward. I placed transmission in neutral and engine rev's to ~7000 RPM before I could shut it off. Tried restarting the engine about 6 times with it immediately going to ~7000 RPM. On about the 7th try the engine started normally and ran normally until I reached home (about 4 miles). Called dealership again and they did not particularly want to see vehicle as I could not report any check engine light coming on. I insisted on an appointment and was put off until next week. They claimed they have never heard of this problem with Toyota Avalons and Camry's except for my vehicle. Called the dealer/zone customer relations and placed complaint but they also do not know what to do except call Toyota engineering. See also voq 10142940.
Since purchasing the Avalon in early June, I have been frustrated with how the car operates between 20 and 40 miles per hour. The car does not always know what gear it needs to shift into. It will frequently race 1000 RPM ahead without any change in speed. Then suddenly it will accelerate and the RPM's will drop back to normal RPM. It seems to happen most often in rush traffic when trying to change lanes. The hesitation in acceleration will cause me to lose most of my margin of safety in the process of changing lanes. In this regard, the car is not safe. There is no way to predict when the problem will occur, and therein, lies the safety hazard. It would seem that the last effort by the service department to update my computer programming failed to achieve any level of improvement to my satisfaction with one exception. Since the first computer upgrade, I have not experienced the complete loss of gear at high speeds. Is this a problem in all 2005 Avalons" is Toyota aware of the problem and do they have plans to resolve it" serviced on Friday, October 21. Toyota reset the computer learning back to factory default. Technical support in ca explained that there are no current plans to address the issue. Once the learning process develops a bad pattern, it must be reset back to factory default and the relearning started over. The problem started all over again and there is no "unlearning" the problem.
Unexpectedly the vehicle accelerated when backing out of driveway with foot on brake. Went to neutral and engine slowed down. Put in drive and it tried to run away again. Took to dealer and could not find anything wrong and no codes in computer log. Twice previously had similar uncontrolled acceleration when driving on freeway. Braked lightly to change lanes and car uncontrollably accelerated. Shifted to neutral with heavy braking and engine response came back under control. Car only has 3200 miles on it at this date. 9/26/05 incident was at 1975 miles on vehicle, prior incidents were probably a month to 6 weeks earlier. See also voq 10149436.
The consumer complained about an automatic transmission problem. When applying pressure to the accelerator pedal the gear would not engage. The vehicle did not shift gears smoothly. The consumer suspected that there was a problem with the vehicle speed control. The consumer lost control of the vehicle when another vehicle passed. The dealership informed the consumer that they could not do anything because the vehicle was computer controlled. (12/01/05)
We purchased a 2005 Avalon limited. From nearly the first day we noticed a hesitation driving. The symptom is that the car will hesitate as it thinks about what gear to go into. This is noticeable going up a hill, and is at its worst in a slow turn when the car seems like it might stall. Quite simply this is dangerous and from everything we have leered a result of drive by wire. The dealer says it is normal and there is nothing they can do. We spent close to $35,000 for this car and it is outrageous to have this problem. This car is dangerous to drive. There are numerous complaints about this problem on Avalon (as well as other Toyota models).
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Spring, TX, USA