2008 Toyota Avalon

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH, BOTH HIGH BEAM HEADLIGHTS MALFUNCTIONED WITHOUT WARNING. THE FAILURE OCCURRED ON ONE OCCASION. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE HEAD LAMP ASSEMBLY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 4,500.

MY HUSBAND AND SON WERE RECENTLY IN OMAHA AND EXPERIENCED SEVERE WEATHER (TORNADOS/THUNDERSTORMS/FLOODING). AS THEY WERE DRIVING BACK TO THE CAMPGROUND WEST OF OMAHA, DURING TORRENTIAL RAINS, THE HEADLIGHTS ON OUR 2008 TOYOTA AVALON TURNED OFF REPEATEDLY. MY HUSBAND HAD TO CONTINUE TO SWITCH THE LIGHTS OFF AND ON WHILE DRIVING TO GET THE LIGHTS TO STAY ON. THIS HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST; HOWEVER, IT WAS NOT DURING ADVERSE DRIVING CONDITIONS. ABOUT A WEEK LATER, AS I WAS DRIVING THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS AT NIGHT (WHERE WE HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF WILDLIFE), I EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM. I RESEARCHED A RESOLUTION TO FIGURE OUT WHAT MIGHT BE WRONG WITH THE HEADLIGHTS, THINKING IT MIGHT BE A LOOSE WIRE OR BAD BULBS. DURING MY RESEARCH, I DISCOVERED THAT TOYOTA HAD ISSUED A SERVICE BULLETIN IN 2011 (TCS-11-030) RELATED TO THIS PROBLEM. WE PURCHASED OUR VEHICLE IN NOVEMBER 2012, WHEN THE MILEAGE WAS AROUND 47,000 MILES. HAD WE KNOWN ABOUT THIS SERVICE BULLETIN WHEN WE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE IN 2012, WE WOULD HAVE HAD THE ISSUE ADDRESSED. HOWEVER, SINCE WE DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE RECALL AND HAVE NOT UNTIL VERY RECENTLY, DURING DANGEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS, HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE LIGHTING, WE DID NOT ADDRESS IT. WHEN I CALLED TOYOTA TODAY, I WAS TOLD THAT, DUE TO OUR MILEAGE ON THE VEHICLE (100,000 NOW), OUR VEHICLE WAS NO LONGER COVERED UNDER THE EXTENDED THAT WAS ISSUED (UNBEKNOWNST TO US) IN 2011. I WAS TOLD THAT I COULD TAKE THE VEHICLE TO A TOYOTA DEALER IN OUR AREA FOR DIAGNOSIS (AT OUR EXPENSE) AND POSSIBLY SOMETHING COULD BE DONE IF THE DIAGNOSIS REVEALED THAT OUR HEADLIGHT ISSUE WAS RELATED TO THE RECALL IN 2011 (THE RECALL SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSES AVALONS MANUFACTURED BETWEEN 2008 AND 2010). AS I EXPLAINED TO THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REP, WE MAY HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING THIS ISSUE DURING THE DAY BUT DIDN'T KNOW DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE DON'T RELY ON THE LIGHTS DURING DAYTIME. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE PASSENGER SIDE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS WOULD ERRONEOUSLY SHUT OFF. WHEN THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH WAS TURNED OFF AND BACK ON THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHTS WOULD FUNCTION NORMALLY; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 25,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT BOTH THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHTS (HIGH BEAMS) MALFUNCTIONED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 36,600. UPDATED 9/4/14*CN UPDATED 09/16/2014 *JS

ON SERVICING OF MODEL XLS, SERVICE ADVISER NOTED THAT HI BEAM/DRL'S WERE NOT FUNCTIONING. INVESTIGATION REVEALED EXPLODED HALOGEN LAMPS. CORRECTION REQUIRED A REDESIGNED REPLACEMENT OF BOTH HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLIES, AS NOTED IN TSB 44-0010, AT AN APPROX. COST OF $900.00 . THIS WAS APPARENTLY DUE TO A DESIGN FLAW IN THE ORIGINAL HEADLIGHT HOUSING WHICH ALLOWED OVERHEATING AND CAUSED THE LAMP EXPLOSION. THE TSB RECOGNIZED THIS CONDITION BUT DOES NOT REPLACE THE DEFECT AFTER A PROVIDED WARRANTY EXTENSION TO 5 YEARS/72,000 MILES. THE LOSS OF HIGH BEAM LIGHTING IS A SAFETY ISSUE WHICH CAN GO UNDETECTED UNTIL NEEDED. ALTHOUGH DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS, (DRL'S), ARE NOT REQUIRED, THEY DO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED LIGHTING DURING TIMES WHEN WINDSHIELD WIPERS ARE REQUIRED (RAIN, SNOW, SLEET. LOSS OF EITHER AFFECTS DRIVING SAFETY. *TR

I AM THE OWNER OF A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. RIGHT AFTER WE PURCHASED THE CAR, WE HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH THE HEADLIGHTS GOING OUT. THE HEADLIGHTS ARE FLICKERING ON AND OFF AT RANDOM TIMES. ON DECEMBER 14, 2013 WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT, BOTH HEADLIGHTS WENT OUT AT THE SAME TIME NEARLY CAUSING AN ACCIDENT (LUCKILY THE LIGHTS CAME BACK ON WHEN I TURNED THEM OFF/ON QUICKLY). I TOOK THE CAR TO OUR LOCAL TOYOTA SERVICE CENTER AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THE ONLY WAY TO FIX THE PROBLEM IS TO COMPLETELY REPLACE THE WHOLE LIGHTING ASSEMBLY AT THE TUNE OF $2570.04. THE SERVICE CENTER ALSO EXPLAINED THAT THE HOUSING FOR THE BULBS WAS TOO SMALL AND THIS IS CAUSING THE BULBS TO OVERHEAT AND GO OUT. IT WAS AFTER 2010 THAT TOYOTA REDESIGNED THE HOUSING AND FIXED THE ISSUE. APPARENTLY, TOYOTA EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO 5 YEARS/72,000 MILES. IRONICALLY, IT APPEARS WE ARE JUST OVER THAT. I AM UNABLE TO DRIVE MY CAR AT NIGHT DUE TO THIS SAFETY ISSUE. I ALSO DON'T AGREE THAT WE SHOULD HAVE TO PAY $2500 TO HAVE NEW LIGHT ASSEMBLIES INSTALLED IN OUR CAR. THIS IS AN ISSUE OF A BAD DESIGN ON TOYOTAS PART AND I REFUSE TO PLAY A VICTIM IN THIS RIDICULOUS SOLUTION TO SUCH A SEVERE SAFETY ISSUE. I AM ASKING TOYOTA TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND REPLACE THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY AND TAKE CARE OF THEIR CUSTOMER. THE FACT THAT THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH THE HEADLIGHT DESIGN AND THE FACT THAT TOYOTA IS FULLY AWARE SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO HAVE THIS FIXED. THERE SHOULD BE NO LIMITTIME WISE OR MILEAGE WISE ON A SAFETY ISSUE THIS HUGE FOR TOYOTA'S CUSTOMERS. *TR

I PURCHASED MY 2008 AVALON NEW IN DECEMBER 2008 WHICH INCLUDED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR 84 MONTHS OR 100,000 MILES. IN NOVEMBER, 2013, I STARTED TO NOTICE THAT MY HEADLIGHTS WERE LOW. I TURNED THEM OFF AND BACK ON WHICH SEEMED TO RESOLVED THE ISSUE. (I TYPICALLY DRIVE WITH THE DRL) HOWEVER, THE SAME ISSUE RETURNED OFF AND ON OVER THE NEW FEW MONTHS. MY CAR WAS TAKEN IN FOR SERVICE ON MARCH 22, 2014 AND THEY WERE ADVISED. I WAS THEN INFORMED THAT THE ENTIRE ASSEMBLY FOR MY LIGHTS/DAYTIME RUNNING/HIGH BEAMS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I WAS TOLD THERE WAS AN ENHANCEMENT FOR 5 YEARS OR 72000 MILES...WHICHEVER CAME FIRST. UNFORTUNATELY, MY EXTENDED WARRANTY WHICH I PURCHASED WAS NOT APPLICABLE, AND THE 5 YEAR ENHANCEMENT EXPIRED IN DECEMBER 2013. I WAS NEVER NOTIFIED BY MAIL OR DURING ANY SERVICE APPOINTMENT ABOUT THIS EXTENDED WARRANTY OR PROBLEMS WITH THE EXTERIOR LIGHTING. I WAS QUOTED A COST OF $2,600 FOR THE REPAIRS. THIS IS NOT FAIR. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH AT NIGHT TIME, THE FRONT DRIVERS SIDE HEADLIGHT STOPPED WORKING. BOTH LIGHTS WENT OUT AT VARIOUS TIMES. OCCASIONALLY AT THE SAME TIME. HE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND COULD NOT DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 90,000. UPDATED 5/19/14*CN