2008 Toyota Avalon

MY HIGH-BEAM LIGHTS WENT OUT OVER A YEAR AGO ON MY 2008 TOYOTA AVALON TOURING (HID LIGHT PACKAGE), NOT SURE ON MILEAGE BUT APPROX. 60,000. I TOOK IT INTO THE DEALER I PURCHASED THE AVALON FROM (AND ALSO BOUGHT THE TOP DOLLAR EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR 100,000 MILES). THEY SAID THE ENTIRE HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY WAS BAD AND NEEDED REPLACED ON BOTH SIDES. SAID IT WOULD BE ABOUT $2,800. I THOUGHT MY WARRANTY SHOULD REPLACE IT, THEY DISAGREED. THEY SAID I COULD CONTINUE TO DRIVE IT BECAUSE MY LOW BEAMS WERE FINE AND DIDN'T SEE ANY FUTURE PROBLEMS HAPPENING. A FEW MONTHS LATER, I RECEIVED A WARRANTY EXTENSION FROM TOYOTA FOR THIS EXACT PROBLEM. THEY WOULD REPLACE THE HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY'S AT NO CHARGE TO ME IF I HAD LESS THAN 72,000 MILES. I HAD ABOUT 80,000 AND THEY REFUSED TO FIX IT. ON 4/13/2012, DRIVING OVER AN HOUR HOME FROM DINNER, MY DRIVER SIDE LOW BEAM STARTED FLASHING AND WENT OUT COMPLETELY. IN THE DARK. I TOOK MY CAR TO A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP TODAY TO FIX THE BULB. THEY SAID IT WOULD BE $380 ISH TO REPLACE THE ONE LOW BEAM BULB. BUT SAID BOTH HIGH BEAMS AND BOTH FOG LIGHTS WERE OUT TOO. AND THEY THOUGHT THIS WAS A RESULT OF THE HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY'S AND THOUGHT I SHOULD REPLACE THEM BOTH, BACK TO THE $2,800 FOR LIGHTS!!! I CALLED TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE AND COMPLAINED BUT THEY SAID THEY COULDN'T DO ANYTHING BECAUSE I WAS PAST THE 72,000 MARK. THIS IS A DEFECT AND SHOULDN'T BE BASED ON MILES OR TIME. THEY POSTED A WARRANTY EXTENSION, ADMITTING THEIR PROBLEM, BUT ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T DRIVE MANY MILES. I FEEL TAKEN BY TOYOTA. THIS COULD HAVE (AND MAY IN THE FUTURE) CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH. MAKE IT RIGHT TOYOTA!!! *JS

LOW BEAM / DRIVING LIGHTS ON PASSENGER SIDE TURN OFF AFTER APPROX 3 - 5 MINUTES OF OPERATION. IF LIGHT SWITCH OR ENGINE IS SHUT OFF AND RESTARTED, LIGHT RESETS AND OPERATES FOR APPROX 3-5 MINUTES AND THEN SHUTS OFF AGAIN. ALSO, BOTH HIGH BEAM BULBS ARE INOPERATIVE. BULBS HAVE SHATTERED LEAVING GLASS SHARDS INSIDE THE HIGHBEAM LIGHT HOUSING. ONLY THE LEFT FRONT LOW BEAM LIGHT IS WORKING WHICH TOYOTA REPLACED AT 27,000 MILES. *TR

THE LOW BEAM/HIGH BEAM BULBS TURN OFF WHILE I AM DRIVING. SOMETIMES THE LEFT SIDE AND SOMETIMES THE RIGHT SIDE. IF I TURN THEM OFF THEN BACK ON THEY BOTH TURN ON FINE BUT LATER TURN OFF AGAIN AND IT KEEPS HAPPENING. I REPLACED ALL BULBS WITH NEW ONES AND AFTER INSTALLING THEM, THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM HAPPENS AND NOTHING HAS CHANGED. MY CAR HAS LESS THEN 50K MILES AND HAD NO ELECTRIC WORK DONE TO IT SINCE I PURCHASED IT SO I AM ALMOST POSITIVE THAT IT IS A MANUFACTURE DEFECT. *TR

RUNNING/BRIGHT BEAMS BOTH WENT OUT ON LEFT AND RIGHT AROUND SEPT 2011. LITES USE THE SAME LAMP. HAD REPAIRED AT FREEMAN TOYOTA IN HURST TX. WAS NOT TOLD IT WAS A TEMPORARY FIX. TOYOTA ISSUED WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT NOTICE SOMETIME AFTER THAT REPAIR. RIGHT LAMP OUT AGAIN NOW APRIL 2012. DEALER SAYS THEY CANNOT REPAIR/REPLACE AND TO DEAL WITH TOYOTA DIRECT FOR REFUND, ETC. *TR

THE HIGH BEAM BULBS BURN OUT ALL THE TIME. I HAVE REPLACED THE HIGH BEAM BULBS 4 TIMES IN THREE YEARS. TOYOTA ISSUED A SERVICE BULLETIN REGARDING THE PROBLEM, BUT ONLY EXTENDS THE FACTORY WARRANTY TO 72K MILES. MY BULBS INITIALLY BURNED OUT--SIMULTANEOUSLY--AT 83K. JUDGING FROM THE COMMENTS ON TOYOTA FORUMS AND USER WEBSITES, THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM. TOYOTA SHOULD CORRECT PROBLEM FOR ALL AVALON OWNERS, NOT JUST THOSE WITH MINIMAL MILES. *TR

TWO YEARS AGO BOTH BRIGHT HEADLIGHTS FAILED. DEALER REPLACED BULBS AT MY EXPENSE. ON 3/12/2012 BOTH BULBS ON THE DRIVERS SIDE FAILED. DEALER SAID THE VEHICLE HAD DEFECTIVE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY THAT TOYOTA KNEW ABOUT THAT HAD TO BE REPLACED ($1265.30) AT MY EXPENSE BECAUSE VEHICLE HAD OVER 50000 MILES (CAR NOW HAS 85000 MILES). I CALLED TOYOTA AND THEY CONFIRMED THAT THIS WAS TRUE. MY QUESTION TO TOYOTA WAS, IF I WAS DRIVING ON A BUSY HIGHWAY AT NIGHT AND BOTH DEFECTIVE ASSEMBLIES FAILED WOULDN'T MY SAFETY BE IN JEOPARDY AND IF SO WHY WASN'T THIS CAR RECALLED? *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT BOTH EXTERNAL HEADLIGHTS WOULD FAIL WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT WOULD ADJUST THE LIGHT SWITCH FOR THE LIGHTS TO BECOME OPERABLE. NEITHER THE DEALER NOR THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 50,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 74,000. UPDATED 4/2/12 *CN UPDATD 04/16/12

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. WHILE PARKED, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT STOPPED FUNCTIONING. THE FAILURE RECURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING WHERE THE MECHANIC REPLACED THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT BULB. THE FAILURE CONTINUED AFTER THE REPLACEMENT OF THE BULB. THERE WAS A MANUFACTURER'S RECALL FOR THE HEADLIGHTS BUT THE VEHICLE WAS OVER THE MILEAGE LIMIT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 78,000.

2008 TOYOTA AVALON LIMITED: AT 35 MONTHS AND 40,000 MILES, THE HIGH INTENSITY HEADLIGHTS (HID) BEGAN INTERMITTENT OPERATION AND POINTED STRAIGHT DOWN TO THE GROUND MAKING NIGHT DRIVING UNSAFE. THE DEALER CLAIMED THE LOW BEAM HID HEADLAMP WAS GOING OUT AND THE REPLACEMENT COST FOR THE HID LOW BEAM BULB WAS AN EXORBITANT $300 DOLLARS ($125 FOR THE BULB AND $175 FOR INSTALLATION). THE BULB REPLACEMENT DID NOT FIX THE AIM PROBLEM AND A NEW HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY WAS ORDERED AND INSTALLED. THE HEADLAMPS STILL POINT AT THE GROUND MAKING THE VEHICLE UNSAFE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT. I CAN NOT BELIEVE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WOULD ALLOW TOYOTA TO CREATE SUCH A SAFETY HAZARD AS A LIGHT BULB THAT WORKS INTERMITTENTLY OR COSTS $300 TO REPLACE, WHICH IS HARDLY AFFORDABLE BY A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS. THE FACT THAT THE DEALER CAN NOT GET THE LAMPS TO AIM CORRECTLY ON THE STREET INDICATES THE DESIGN IS ALSO FLAWED. THIS IS NOT A LUXURY ITEM LIKE ELECTRIC WINDOWS OR AIR CONDITIONING. THIS IS A SAFETY DEVICE, REQUIRED BY LAW, AND THE CAR IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT WHEN IT MALFUNCTIONS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE HID MALFUNCTION OCCURS PREMATURELY WHEN COMPARED TO OTHER HEADLAMPS AND IS EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE TO REPAIR. THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ISSUE ON THE INTERNET BUT TOYOTA IS EVIDENTLY DENYING ANY ISSUE EXISTS. *TR

MULTIPLE FAILURES OF HIGH BEAM / DRLS (SAME BULB). BULB WILL QUIT WORKING OR IN SOME CASES SHATTER AND LEAVE GLASS SHARDS IN THE HOUSING. (KNOWN, AND RECENTLY ACKNOWLEDGED, PROBLEM WITH BULB HOUSINGS BY TOYOTA.) I HAVE ALSO RECENTLY EXPERIENCED SEVERAL FAILURES (TEMPORARY FAILURES SO FAR) OF THE HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE (HID) LOW BEAM HEADLIGHT. THE LOW BEAM WILL FAIL, AND USUALLY (AFTER COOLING, OR A FEW ON/OFF CYCLES) WILL RESUME OPERATION. INTERNET RESEARCH SHOWS THIS ALSO TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM, PROBABLY A VOLTAGE PROBLEM, AND SEEMINGLY RELATED TO THE BULB HOUSING PROBLEM THAT TOYOTA RECENTLY OFFICIALLY ACKNOWLEDGED AND OFFERED TIME/MILEAGE-LIMITED REPAIRS FOR. SO FAR, TOYOTA HAS REFUSED TO REPAIR THIS KNOWN PROBLEM FOR VEHICLES OUTSIDE THE ARBITRARY SET LIMITATIONS OF 5 YEARS OR 72,000 MILES. THE CHRONIC AND REPEATED FAILURE OF THESE HEADLIGHTS (HIGH BEAMS/DRL AND HID LOW BEAMS) IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN AN OFFICIAL RECALL FOR REPAIR AT TOYOTA'S EXPENSE WITHOUT TIME OR MILEAGE LIMITS. *TR