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.

- Staten Island, NY, USA

Purchased a certified, used 2006 Toyota Avalon touring model on July 15, 2006. Within the first week of ownership, I noticed a serious hesitation in the transmission, especially at speeds below 10 mph. I took the vehicle to koons Toyota dealership on July 8, 2006 and had the service department shop foreman, drive the vehicle. He confirmed that the transmission was indeed hesitating and that this was a problem for 2004-2006 Toyota siennas, Avalons and Camry that share the same 5-speed automatic transmission. Chris told me that the computer that selects the appropriate gear based on various criteria analyzed by the system is too slow in processing this information, which in turn causes the hesitation and RPM surge before a gear is engaged. I lodged a complaint with Toyota today (case number 200608090063), and was told that the "corporate line" is that the transmission is behaving as was intended. The dealer told me this issue can be fixed by a reprogramming of the computer or replacing the chip with a "faster" version. Obviously, this is a terribly dangerous situation that Toyota needs to address.

- Annandale, VA, USA