2007 Toyota Avalon

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH, THE TRANSMISSION FAILED TO SHIFT PROPERLY. IN ADDITION, WHEN COMING TO A STOP, THE TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTED VIOLENTLY WITH A LOUD BANG. THE FAILURE RECURRED WHENEVER THE VEHICLE WAS IN OPERATION. IN 2015, THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE THE ENGINE MOUNTS WERE REPLACED HOWEVER, THE FAILURE PERSISTED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER, WHO WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE A FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 7,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 TOYOTA AVALON EQUIPPED WITH MICHELIN DEFENDER (NA) TIRES, SIZE: 215/55/R17 (NA). THE CONTACT OBSERVED PUNCTURES IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE AND THE TIRE BELT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED, BUT WAS REPLACED. THE TIRE WAS A REPLACEMENT TIRE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 70,000 AND THE TIRE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 10,000.

THIS IS A SECOND COMPLAINT ABOUT MY TOYOTA AVALON DASHBAORD. I SENT A COMPLAINT TO YOU ALL IN JAN OF 2014 ON THIS ISSUE. HERE IS MY ORIGINAL SUBMISSION: 'MY 2007 TOYOTA AVALON DASHBOARD BEGAN CRACKING SEVERAL YEARS AGO. MY CAR IS LOW MILEAGE AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN GARAGE KEPTED. THE CRACKING HAS GOTTEN PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. THERE ARE NUMEROUS INTERNET COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DEFECT, BUT TOYOTA IS STONEWALLING US CUSTOMERS. I WOULD REQUEST THAT YOU ALL LOOK INTO THIS ISSUE. MELTING AND CRACKED DASHBOARDS IN VARIOUS TOYOTA VEHICLES COULD CAUSE SAFETY ISSUES. FOR BACKGROUND INFO, JUST SEARCH THE WEB. WHEN WE CALLED TO COMPLAIN TO TOYOTA ABOUT THE SAFETY IMPLICATIONS AND REDUCTION IN CAR VALUE, THEY ACTED LIKE WE WERE THE 1ST PEOPLE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS ISSUE. UNLESS YOU ALL ACT, TOYOTA IS JUST GOING TO BLOW US OFF. PLEASE HELP." TOYOTA HAS OFFERED TO REPLACE THE BADLY CRACKED DASHBOARD, BUT THAT HAS DRAGGED ON FOR OVER A YEAR. WHEN WE CALL THE DEALERSHIP TO CHECK ON THE STATUS, THEY HAVE THE SAME REPLY EACH TIME, "WE DON'T HAVE THE DASH, AND WE DON'T KNOW WHEN WE WILL GET IT". UNLESS TOYOTA CAN PROVE TO YOU ALL THAT THE BADLY CRACKED DASH IS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE, I MAINTAIN THAT IS IS. PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS POTENTIAL SAFETY ISSUE, AND HOLD TOYOTA'S FEET TO THE FIRE TO GET THE DASH BOARD REPLACED. IT HAS BEEN WAY TOO LONG ON GETTING TOYOTA TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 25 MPH, THERE WAS AN ABNORMAL ODOR COMING FROM THE ENGINE. THE CONTACT THEN DISCOVERED THAT THERE WAS OIL LEAKING FROM THE ENGINE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE OIL LINE HOSE HAD FRACTURED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 101,000.

WHEN DRIVING NORTH ON I-95, MY CAR BEGAN TO SLOW DOWN EVEN THOUGH I HAD NOT RELEASED PRESSURE ON THE GAS PEDDLE, SO I ACCELERATED. AS SOON AS I ACCELERATED, THE CAR THEN BEGAN TO RUN EXTREMELY ROUGH, THE RPM MONITOR FLUCTUATED BACK AND FORTH, AND THE BEGAN TO SLOW DOWN EVEN MORE. I LOOKED IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR TO CHECK TRAFFIC AS I PREPARED TO PULL OFF THE INTERSTATE AND SAW SMOKE COMING FROM THE REAR OF THE CAR. WHEN I STOPPED AND EXITED THE CAR, SMOKE WAS THEN BELLOWING PROFUSELY FROM THE FRONT RIGHT SIDE OF THE HOOD AND UPPER RIGHT TIRE RIM, SO MUCH SO THAT I THOUGHT THE ENGINE WAS ABOUT TO EXPLODE. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT NEVER CAME ON. A TOW TRUCK WAS CALLED AND NOW I'M WAITING FOR MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP TO OPEN SO THAT I CAN FIND OUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY CAR. A SIMILAR ENERGY SURGE AND ROUGH DRIVING OCCURRED APPROXIMATELY ONE YEAR AGO AND MY CAR WAS TOWED IN, BUT NO PROBLEM COULD BE DETECTED. THE PROBLEM STOPPED AS MYSTERIOUSLY AS IT APPEARED, WITH NO SERIOUS REOCCURRENCES UNTIL YESTERDAY, 9/7/15. IN 2014, THE MECHANIC CHALKED THE PROBLEM UP TO POSSIBLY BAD OR CHEAP GAS.

COLLISION WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE WHILE MAKING A LEFT TURN. DRIVER'S UPPER AND LOWER (KNEE) AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. DRIVER INCURRED SEVERE CUTS TO BOTH LEGS BELOW THE KNEE APPROXIMATELY HALF WAY DOWN TO ANKLE. CAUSE OF INJURIES HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED BUT INSPECTION OF VEHICLE DISCLOSED THAT THE KNEE AIRBAG CONTAINMENT COMPARTMENT IN THE LOW PART OF THE DASH HAS A FLAP/DOOR THAT OPENS IN DEPLOYMENT, IS VERY EXTREMELY SHARP AND MAY HAVE BEEN THE SOURCE OF THE INJURIES.

THE RADIO STATION STARTED TO FADE IN AND OUT. THEN THE DASHBOARD CONSOLE STARTED TO SHUT DOWN AND DISPLAYED THE LETTER F (FOR FAIL). THEN THE ENGINE SHUT DOWN WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON A DIVIDED FOUR-LANE HIGHWAY IN THE LANE CLOSEST TO THE MEDIAN. THERE WAS NO TIME TO MOVE INTO THE RIGHT-HAND LANE. THERE WAS NEVER ANY BATTERY WARNING LIGHT OR OTHER INDICATION THAT THE BATTERY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH CHARGE TO RUN THE ENGINE OR EVEN TO POWER THE EMERGENCY FLASHERS. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE ALTERNATOR FAILED. THE BATTERY DIDN'T NEED REPLACING. ONLY THE ALTERNATOR NEEDED REPLACING. I HAD THE TOYOTA SERVICE DEPARTMENT TEST THE BATTERY WARNING LIGHT AND WAS TOLD THAT THE SENSOR WAS WORKING PROPERLY. I HAVE HAD NO TROUBLE WITH THE CAR SINCE THE ALTERNATOR WAS REPLACED. I WAS TOLD THAT THE ALTERNATOR HAS THREE DIODES AND THE FAILURE OF ONE OR TWO DIODES CAN STILL PROVIDE SUFFICIENT CHARGE. EVIDENTLY EVENTUALLY ALL THREE DIODES FAILED. I WASN'T TOLD HOW MANY FAILED. MY COMPLAINT IS THAT I HAD INSUFFICIENT WARNING THAT THE ALTERNATOR HAD FAILED. AS FAR AS I KNEW, THE PROBLEM WAS IN THE CONSOLE WHICH I THOUGHT WOULD NOT REQUIRE IMMEDIATE EXIT FROM THE FOUR LANE HIGHWAY. THE LACK OF A PROPER WARNING MEANS TO ME THAT I COULD HAVE BEEN STRANDED ON AN INTERSTATE EXPRESSWAY WITHOUT A MEANS FOR GETTING OUT OF A HIGH SPEED LANE. THAT IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION AND WARRANTS AN INVESTIGATION INTO WHY TOYOTA PROVIDES NO WARNING FOR AN ALTERNATOR FAILURE.