2005 Toyota Avalon

OUR 2005 TOYOTA AVALON WAS SERVICED FOR SAFETY RECALL ON 3/1/10 AND GAS PEDAL FEEL BECAME MORE SENSITIVE IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS. ON 3/2/10 WHILE DRIVING IN RAIN THE ABS SYSTEM ACTIVATED SEVERAL TIMES DURING NORMAL APPLICATION OF THE BRAKES. THIS WAS ALARMING AND VERY DISCONCERTING. SUBSEQUENT DRIVING LATER THIS WEEK DID NOT EFFECT A REPEAT OF THE ABS CONCERNS. HOWEVER, THERE IS AN OCCASIONAL SLIGHT SURGE IN SPEED WHICH SEEMS TO RELATE TO THE TRANSMISSION SHIFT POINTS WHICH DID HAPPEN BEFORE THE RECALL SERVICE. *TR

MY 2005 TOYOTA AVALON WITH THE 2GR-FE V6 ENGINE REVS HIGH, EVEN WHEN IT'S WARMED UP. IN TRAFFIC, MANY TIMES IT REVS HIGH AND LUNGES FORWARD. SEVERAL TIMES I BRAKED HARD TO AVOID READ ENDING THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. THIS HAS BEEN ONGOING SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR IN 2005 AS I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER. I'VE TAKEN IT IN TO TOYOTA SERVICE AND THE MECHANICS FOUND NOTHING. ONCE I SHOWED THEM A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN FROM TOYOTA WHICH STATED THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD, OXYGEN SENSORS NEEDED REPLACEMENT AND THE ECM NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. IT WORKED FOR A YEAR (2007) THEN BACK TO THE SAME PROBLEM, HIGH REVVING OF THE ENGINE, HARD SHIFTING AND LUNGING FORWARD OR REVERSE. THE LATEST INCIDENT WAS TODAY, 12/7/09 WHERE I ALMOST HIT A PEDESTRIAN SINCE THE CAR REVVED HIGH AND LUNGED INTO THE CROSSWALK. I HAD TO PRESS THE BRAKES HARD TO PREVENT HITTING THE PEDESTRIAN. *TR

WHILE DRIVING A STRONG "BURNING OIL" SMELL BEGAN TO FILL THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. IMMEDIATELY TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A NEARBY SERVICE STATION WHERE THEY FOUND OIL COATING ALL OVER THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WITH A HIGHER CONCENTRATION ON THE PASSENGER SIDE. AFTER PUTTING A COUPLE QUARTS OF OIL THEY STARTED THE VEHICLE AND IMMEDIATELY A STREAM OF OIL (ABOUT THE SIZE OF A PENCIL LEAD) WAS FOUND SPRAYING OUT FROM A RUBBER HOSE LOCATED TOWARD THE REAR OF THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE CAR, JUST ABOVE A METAL BRACKET. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO A DEALER WHO REPLACE THE LEAKING HOSE. *TR

I WAS PARKING MY CAR AT WORK. I PULLED INTO THE PARKING SPACE AND BACKED UP SLIGHTLY TO STRAIGHTEN MY CAR. WHEN I PUT THE CAR INTO DRIVE TO PULL FORWARD AGAIN , THE CAR RACED FORWARD WITH ENGINE REVVING STRONGLY. I COULD NOT STOP THE CAR WITH THE BRAKE. THE CAR CRASHED AND PUSHED THROUGH A THICK BRICK WALL. THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE CAR WOULD ONLY STOP AFTER I PUSHED THE ENGINE SHUTOFF BUTTON. THE GEARSHIFT WAS HARD TO MOVE AFTER THE INCIDENT. *TR

SINCE PURCHASING IN DEC., 2005, TRANSMISSION HESITATES WHEN PROCEEDING FROM IDLE AT SLOW SPEEDS AND SOMETIMES BETWEEN GEARS AT HIGHWAY SPEED WHEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE. HAVE NEARLY BEEN REAR-ENDED INNUMERABLE TIMES. ORIGINAL SEVERAL COMPLAINTS TO DEALER RESULTED IN INFO THAT "NO TSB HAS BEEN ISSUED TO FIX THAT". THIS LAST TIME I COMPLAINED, I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS NATURAL FEATURE OF DRIVE-BY-WIRE, THAT NO TSB HAD BEEN ISSUED WHICH FIXED IT, AND THAT TOYOTA WAS NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS KNOWN PROBLEM.

TL* - 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. *AK UPDATED 01/29/07. *JB

I OWN A 2005 AVALON THAT HAS A TRANSMISSION/THROTTLE PROBLEM. SLOWING FROM SPEEDS IN EXCESS OF 30 MPH, THEN ACCELERATING MODERATELY, THE ENGINE WILL INCREASE RPM TO 2500-3000 RPM AND THE TRANSMISSION WILL SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL UNTIL THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL DECIDES TO SHIFT TO A LOWER GEAR. AT THE SHIFT POINT THE CAR WILL SURGE FORWARD RAPIDLY. THIS SURGE OCCURS EVEN ON THIS VEHICLE WITH TRACTION CONTROL. THIS "SURGE" HAS RESULTED IN MULTIPLE NEAR END COLLISIONS IN CITY TRAFFIC. THE NEUTRAL SHIFT PROBLEM HAS ALSO BEEN ENCOUNTERED ON OCCASION WHEN ENTERING HIGH SPEED INTERSTATE TRAFFIC. 18 WHEELERS BEARING DOWN ON YOU AT SPEED WHILE YOUR CAR IS TURNING 4000 PLUS RPMS IN NEUTRAL IS FRIGHTENING. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN TO THREE SEPARATE DEALERS AND A COMPLAINT WAS REGISTERED WITH TOYOTA MANUFACTURER. TOYOTA RESPONDED, SAYING THE TRANSMISSION WAS OPERATING AS DESIGNED. HOPEFULLY SOMEONE WILL CORRECT THIS PROBLEM BEFORE I, AND OTHERS, BECOME A STATISTIC IN A CLASS ACTION SUIT AS AN INJURY OR DEATH NUMBERS. MANY COMPLAINTS ON THIS PROBLEM CAN BE FOUND ON SEVERAL OTHER WEB SITES. I'VE BEEN A TOYOTA OWNER FOR OVER 25 YEARS AND THIS LACK OF RESPONSE BY THE MANUFACTURER ON THIS HIGH END OF THE BRAND ENDS THAT . AND TOYOTA DOES NOT CARE IF THEY LOST A LONG TERM CUSTOMER, SO STATED BY TOYOTA OF AMERICA. *NM

NOTICING HESITATION AT LOW SPEED GEAR SHIFTING . RESULTS IN NO ACCELERATION IN SPITE OF PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR AND AFTER A LAG CAR SUDDENLY RESPONDS. HAD TROUBLE WHILE MERGING FROM THE RAMP ON TO THE HIGHWAY NOW SEVERAL TIMES, BUT NOT DAILY. CONCERNED THAT THIS MAY RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT SPECIALLY WHILE MERGING OR DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. THIS PROBLEM HAS CAUSED ME TO BUMP INTO A TRUCK RESULTING IN DAMAGE TO MY RIGHT FRONT FENDER. *NM