2008 Toyota Avalon

LAST WEEKEND I WAS DRIVING MY 12YR SON TO VISIT HIS GRANDFATHER FOR SPRING BREAK. WE STOPPED TO USE THE RESTROOM AND TURNED OFF THE CAR. WHEN WE GOT BACK ON THE ROAD, THE HIGH BEAMS WOULD NO LONGER WORK. WE WERE DRIVING DOWN DARK COUNTRY ROADS IN THE MIDDLE OF NO WHERE. I NEEDED EXTRA LIGHT, SO I TURNED ON MY FOG LIGHTS. FORGETTING THE HIGH BEAMS WOULDN'T WORK, I TRIED THEM AGAIN; WHEN I APPLIED THE BEAMS, THE FOG LIGHTS WENT OUT. WHEN I SHUT THE HIGH BEAMS, THEY CAME BACK ON. I NOW HAVE TO GO PICK UP MY SON FROM HIS VISIT AND AM AFRAID TO DRIVE AT NIGHT. I'VE HAD MY LEFT HEADLIGHT GO OUT INTERMITTENTLY WHEN THE CAR WAS FIRST SHUT OFF, BUT NOW MY LIGHTS ARE ALL GOING OFF. MY BROTHER TRIED TO HELP ME FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG AND WE FOUND NOTHING PHYSICALLY WRONG WITH THE CAR. WE LOOKED ONLINE AND FOUND MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS. I DRIVE A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON TOURING - AND I AM NOW AFRAID TO DRIVE AT NIGHT. I FREQUENTLY DO A LOT OF NIGHT DRIVING, AND DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I HAVE APPROX 45,000 MILES ON THE CAR. IF THERE IS A SIMILAR RECALL ON THE PRIUS, THEY NEED TO DO SOMETHING BEFORE THERE IS A FATAL ACCIDENT!!!!! *TR

THE LEVER TO ADJUST THE TELESCOPING STEERING WHEEL ON MY 2008 TOYOTA AVALON DOES NOT STAY IN THE LOCKED POSITION. IT FALLS DOWN, RELEASES THE STREEING WHIEEL AND THEN IT SLIDES IN AND OUT WHILE DRIVING. IN THE LOWERED POSITION I HAVE TORN CLOTHING GETTING IN/OUT OF THE CAR. I HAVE PERMANENTLY SCARED MY KNEE AS WELL. I'VE TAKEN THE CAR IN FOR WARRANTY REPAIR THREE TIMES. THE FIRST TIME THEY REPLACED THE STEERING COLUMN. NOT SURE WHAT THEY DID THE 2ND TIME. THE 3RD TIME THEY SAID THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH IT! YEAH, RIGHT! VERY POOR DESIGN AND DANGEROUS. AND INJURIOUS. *TR

I PURCHASED MY 2008 AVALON TOURING IN FEBRUARY 2008 WITHIN TWO YEARS OF OWNING, I NOTICED THAT MY HIGH-BEAM NO LONGER WERE WORKING. I TOOK INTO THE DEALERSHIP TO HAVE CHECKED, THEY INDICATED THE HIGH-BEAM BULBS HAD BURNED OUT. WHEN INQUIRING WHY THEY WOULD BOTH BURN-OUT IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF OWNING THE VEHICLE THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN INDICATED THE HIGH BEAM BULB ALSO WORKS AS YOUR DAY RUNNING LIGHTS, THEY QUOTED A FIGURE OF OVER $160 FOR THE BULBS AND ANOTHER $180 TO COMPLETE THE WORK. I PURCHASED THE BULBS AND PUT THEM IN MYSELF. UPON INSPECTING THE BULBS ON REMOVAL, BOTH HAD COMPLETED EXPLODED WHEN THE WENT BAD. KEEPING FINGERS CROSSED THAT THIS WILL BE THE LAST TO TIME TO REPLACE. OVER THE PAST COUPLE WEEKS I NOTICED THAT THE LOW-BEAM LIGHT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE SEEMED TO BE SHUTTING DOWN PERIODICALLY. AFTER RESEARCHING ON THE INTERNET, I FOUND THAT IT APPEARS TO BE AN ONGOING ISSUE WITH OTHERS. ALL INDICATIONS WERE THE ONLY WAY TO CORRECT IS REPLACING THE BULB. ONCE AGAIN OUT OF POCKET FOR OVER A $150. WAS ABLE TO REPLACE MYSELF. READ A FORUMS WHERE PEOPLE INDICATED THEY HAD TO PULL THEIR ENTIRE BUMPER OFF TO REPLACE. NOT THE CASE. THERE IS A SAFETY CLIP THAT HOLDS THE BULB IN PLACE, AND IT TAKES ALITTLE WORK TO GET IT OFF THE FIRST TIME, BUT NOT THAT DIFFICULT ONCE YOU'VE DONE. SCHEDULE TO TAKE MY CAR IN FOR AN OIL CHANGE THIS WEEK, AND I PLAN TO INQUIRE AT THE DEALERSHIP AS TO THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS THAT I'VE NOTICED ON THE WEB WITH THEIR HEADLIGHTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE 2008 AVALON. *TR

TOYOTA AND THE NHTSA CONTINUES TO IGNORE THE PROBLEMS WITH THE INTERMITTENT OPERATION OF HID HEADLIGHTS IN THE AVALON. THEY INTENT FOR SOMEONE TO DIED BEFORE CORRECTING THIS PROBLEM. I WAS INFORMED TODAY BY TOYOTA DIRECT THAT MY HID COMPUTERS ARE OVERHEATING CAUSING MY RIGHT HEADLAMP TO FAIL FOR THE SECOND TIME AND THE LEFT HIGHBEAM NEEDING TO BE REPLACED. MY COST TO FIX IS $2788.00. TECHNICIAN APOLOGIZED BUT CLEARLY IT'S NOT A DEALERSHIP PROBLEM - THIS IS A MANUFACTURER PROBLEM - SAME A PRIUS. IF TANAZIANS CAN OVERTHROWN A GOVERNMENT ON FACEBOOK, SURELY AVALON OWNERS CAN KILL PRODUCTION OF THIS VEHICLE BEFORE SOMEONE DIES IN AN ACCIDENT DUE TO NO HEADLIGHTS. OF COURSE WE NEED HEADLIGHTS TO DRIVE OUR VEHICLES AT NIGHT!! I AM GOING TO CREATE A FACEBOOK PAGE TODAY TO START THE GLOBAL PROCESS OF TAKING THIS VEHICLE OF THE MARKET. THOSE READING THIS, PLEASE PASS THE MESSAGE TO THOSE LOOKING TO PURCHASE AN AVALON. FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND SOCIAL MEDIA THAT WORKS. I REFUSE TO LEFT TOYOTA CRAP ON THE SAFETY OF MY FAMILY AND YOURS SHOULD WE MEET AT NIGHT--AND I HAVE TO NAVIGATE WITHOUT HEADLIGHTS. STATES REQUIRE HEADLIGHTS TO BE ON WHEN IT'S RAINING, DAY LAMPS FOR SAFETY AND OF COURSE AT NIGHT. LOOK FOR THE FACEBOOK PAGE. NEVER NEVER BUY A TOYOTA! *TR

HAVE HAD INTERMITTENT PROBLEMS WITH HEADLIGHTS GOING OFF. THE LAST INCIDENT THAT OCCURRED WAS WHILE DRIVING ONE NIGHT AT AROUND 70 MPH.. ALL LIGHTS WENT OFF! WE WERE ABLE TO SAFELY PULL OVER AND TURN LIGHTS TO OFF AND THEN BACK TO ON. WERE ABLE TO GET LOW BEAMS BACK ON BUT NOT THE HIGH BEAMS. LATER DISCOVERED AT THE DEALERSHIP THAT BOTH HIGH BEAM BULBS HAD EXPLODED. WE HAVE BEEN TOLD BY DEALERSHIP AND AN INSURANCE ADJUSTER THAT THIS IS A DESIGN PROBLEM WITH OUR MODEL/YEAR OF CAR WHICH IS A 2008 AVALON. STILL FEARFUL THAT WE COULD HAVE SIMILAR ISSUES WITH THE LOW BEAMS. THIS IS AN URGENT SAFETY ISSUE! IN ADDITION, WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THE COST TO REPLACE THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLIES WOULD RUN AROUND $2500.00! WE ARE LUCKY THAT WE ARE UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY. *TR

I JUST HEARD ON THE RADIO THIS MORNING THERE IS A RECALL ON THE HEADLAMP'S INTERMITTENTLY WORKING/NOT WORKING ON THE PRIUS. PLEASE ADD THE 2008 TOYOTA AVALON TO THIS RECALL. ON DECEMBER 24,2010, AS MY WIFE AND I WERE LEAVING MY DAUGHTER AND SON IN-LAW'S HOUSE AT APPROX. 8:30 P.M., I USED MY REMOTE START AND STARTED MY CAR. MY SON-IN-LAW LOOKED OUTSIDE AND SAID, 'YOU HAVE A HEADLIGHT OUT'. IT WAS THE RIGHT FRONT HEADLAMP. I GOT IN THE CAR AND TURNED THE LIGHT SWITCH OFF AND TURNED IT BACK ON TO 'AUTO' AND BOTH HEADLIGHTS CAME ON ONCE AGAIN. HOWEVER, I HAD TO TURN THEM OFF AND TURN THEM BACK ON TO GET THEM BOTH WORKING. ON JANUARY 16, 2011, MY WIFE, MOTHER-IN-LAW AND MYSELF WERE LEAVING A RESTAURANT. I AGAIN USED MY REMOTE START AND STARTED THE CAR. I WALKED PAST THE FRONT OF THE CAR ON MY WAY TO THE DRIVER'S DOOR AND WOULD HAVE NOTICED A LIGHT OUT BUT I DID NOT. APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE DOWN THE ROAD FROM THE RESTAURANT, WE ENTERED A DARK AREA AND WE NOTICED WE COULD HARDLY SEE THE ROAD. I SAID TO MY WIFE, I THINK I HAVE A HEADLIGHT OUT? I AGAIN TURNED THE HEADLIGHTS OFF AND BACK ON TO THE AUTO POSITION AND THEY BOTH CAME ON ALLOWING US TO SEE THE ROAD AGAIN. THIS TIME IT WAS THE LEFT FRONT HEADLAMP THAT WENT OUT. AGAIN, PLEASE ADD THE 2008 TOYOTA AVALON TO THE RECALL LIST ABOVE. *TR