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2015 Toyota Avalon

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2015 Toyota Avalon do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 101.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

20 reports with mileage · 21 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Forward Collision Avoidance. Review the 9 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Service Brakes. Review the 9 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Air Bags. Review the 7 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

7 crash reports0 fire reports2 injury reports

What owners actually said

41 reports
Mileage unknown · Nov 25, 2021
Structure

The body of the car, clunks when making a right or left turn while leaving the road and entering a slightly raised or lowered entry. A very clear clunk sound occcurs emanating from the overhead, just behind the driver's seat. It doesn't happen every time, but is increasing in frequency. I don't know if this is or will be a sa…

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The body of the car, clunks when making a right or left turn while leaving the road and entering a slightly raised or lowered entry. A very clear clunk sound occcurs emanating from the overhead, just behind the driver's seat. It doesn't happen every time, but is increasing in frequency. I don't know if this is or will be a safety risk. This has not been witnessed or confirmed by Toyota and cannot be verified by inspection because it is inaccessible, behind the overhead. It first occurred and was reported around the 50,000mi servicing.

NHTSA ODI #11441665

Mileage unknown · Oct 31, 2021
Tires

Tire Size 225/45 R 18. The tire had slightly over 3,000 miles on it. 1. Rear driver side tire that is in my possession and available for inspection, but is in 2 parts. 2. My wife and I traveled from Brandon, MS to Birmingham, Al for a medical appointment early the next day. In Tuscaloosa, Al driving in right hand lane approximat…

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Tire Size 225/45 R 18. The tire had slightly over 3,000 miles on it. 1. Rear driver side tire that is in my possession and available for inspection, but is in 2 parts. 2. My wife and I traveled from Brandon, MS to Birmingham, Al for a medical appointment early the next day. In Tuscaloosa, Al driving in right hand lane approximately 60 MPH the handling became rough, the tire blew out, causing loss of control and throwing the vehicle in center lane, fortunately no other vehicle was there, I regained control and moved to side of road without out any physical injury. 3. After attempting to change the tire, a wrecker had to be called and towed to the only tire store open, Firestone. The technician removed the tire and said the tire separated and was replaced with a new tire. 4. Upon returning home, the tire was taken to my dealer who inspected the tire, said it was too torn up (2 pieces) to tell if it was structural failure and Continental would not do anything. He said if tires fail it is in 1st 1,000 miles and something must have been hit. I advise that nothing was hit, that Continental needed to know about the tire. He offered no further assistance. 5. Tuscaloosa & Birmingham are roughly 50 miles apart, a little prior to reaching Tuscaloosa, the low tire sensor came on, which it will do occasionally, did not notice any change in how the vehicle handled and planned to have it checked out at a Continental dealer in Birmingham the next day.

NHTSA ODI #11438793

Mileage unknown · Oct 21, 2021
Steering

The steering tilt lock mechanism is failing. Vibrates loose while driving. It is a non-wear item. Toyota had to recall 2009-2012 models of Avalon for the same problem. My vehicle is a 2015 and is out of warranty and only has 50,000 miles. I did have a service center check it and they confirmed the problem. You can repair t…

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The steering tilt lock mechanism is failing. Vibrates loose while driving. It is a non-wear item. Toyota had to recall 2009-2012 models of Avalon for the same problem. My vehicle is a 2015 and is out of warranty and only has 50,000 miles. I did have a service center check it and they confirmed the problem. You can repair this non-wear item you must replace the complete steering column assembly. With parts and labor the cost is @ $1500. Whatever they did to redesign the mechanism since the 2012 model year to fix the problem was not effective. Toyota responded to my letter and declined to take any responsibility.

NHTSA ODI #11437591

45,000 miles · Apr 26, 2021
Seats

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER'S SIDE CONTROL CASING FOR THE ELECTRONIC ADJUSTABLE SEATS LOOSENED AND DETACHED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALER SAVANNAH TOYOTA (11101 ABERCORN ST, SAVANNAH, GA 31419 ) WHO REPLACED THE CASING HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE CAUS…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER'S SIDE CONTROL CASING FOR THE ELECTRONIC ADJUSTABLE SEATS LOOSENED AND DETACHED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALER SAVANNAH TOYOTA (11101 ABERCORN ST, SAVANNAH, GA 31419 ) WHO REPLACED THE CASING HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 45,000.

NHTSA ODI #11414062

89,000 miles · Apr 14, 2021
Tires

HAVE TOYO EXTENSA AS II TIRES ON CAR WITH APPROXIMATELY 10,000 MILES ON TIRES. ON INTERSTATE 69 IN HOUSTON RUSH HOUR WITHOUT WARNING THE LEFT REAR PASSENGER TIRE BLEW OFF RIM. LEFT AT 70MPH WITH ONLY RIM ON THE BACK TIRE. I DID SAFELY PULL OVER AND NO HARM TO MYSELF OF VEHICLE. THE TIRE ONLY HAD RUBBER LEFT AROUND RIM. WAS IF TI…

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HAVE TOYO EXTENSA AS II TIRES ON CAR WITH APPROXIMATELY 10,000 MILES ON TIRES. ON INTERSTATE 69 IN HOUSTON RUSH HOUR WITHOUT WARNING THE LEFT REAR PASSENGER TIRE BLEW OFF RIM. LEFT AT 70MPH WITH ONLY RIM ON THE BACK TIRE. I DID SAFELY PULL OVER AND NO HARM TO MYSELF OF VEHICLE. THE TIRE ONLY HAD RUBBER LEFT AROUND RIM. WAS IF TIRE WAS A PIECE OF PAPER THAT BLEW AWAY. NO EXPLOSION, NO LOW TIRE NOTICE ON CAR PRIOR TO TIRE COMING OFF THE RIM. THERE WAS NO OTHER SIGNS OF TROUBLE LIKE CAR CAR SHAKING, WOBBLING OR ANY OTHER WARNING. I DO HAVE PICTURE OF RIM AND WILL KEEP REMAINING 3 TIRES. I HAVE NEW PURCHASED NEW TIRES.

NHTSA ODI #11408017

79,000 miles · Jun 10, 2020
Service Brakes

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 35 MPH AND DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO STOP IMMEDIATELY CAUSING THE BRAKING DISTANCE TO BE EXTENDED. THE BRAKE SENSOR WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT YET DETERMINED. TOYOTA OF IRVING LOCATED AT 19…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 35 MPH AND DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO STOP IMMEDIATELY CAUSING THE BRAKING DISTANCE TO BE EXTENDED. THE BRAKE SENSOR WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT YET DETERMINED. TOYOTA OF IRVING LOCATED AT 1999 W AIRPORT FWY, IRVING, TX 75062, WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 79,000.

NHTSA ODI #11328191

118,000 miles · May 27, 2020
EngineService BrakesUnknown Or OtherCrash

ON MAY 25TH, 2020 I WAS PULLING INTO A TACO BELL DRIVE THROUGH. IT WAS LOCATED UP A LITTLE HILL. AS I DROVE UP THE HILL I HIT A LITTLE CURBING. I BACKED UP AND ADJUSTED THE CAR TO MISS THE CURB. WHEN I PUT THE CAR INTO DRIVE IT LURCHED FORWARD AT A HIGH SPEED. SEEING I WAS GOING TO HIT THE CAR IN FRONT, I HIT MY BRAKES. TH…

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ON MAY 25TH, 2020 I WAS PULLING INTO A TACO BELL DRIVE THROUGH. IT WAS LOCATED UP A LITTLE HILL. AS I DROVE UP THE HILL I HIT A LITTLE CURBING. I BACKED UP AND ADJUSTED THE CAR TO MISS THE CURB. WHEN I PUT THE CAR INTO DRIVE IT LURCHED FORWARD AT A HIGH SPEED. SEEING I WAS GOING TO HIT THE CAR IN FRONT, I HIT MY BRAKES. THE CAR DID NOT STOP UNTIL I HAD HIT THE CAR IN FRONT WITH A LOT OF FORCE. THAT CAR WAS THROWN INTO THE TRUCK IN FRONT OF IT. THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A HUGE SCARE! I PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE SO I COULD OBSERVE THE DAMAGE TO MY CAR THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. WHEN I DID SO THE CAR ACCELERATE AT FULL SPEED IN REVERSE GOING BACK DOWN THE HILL AND HEADED STRAIGHT FOR A DRUGSTORE. THE CAR WAS MAKING A WHIRING SOUND, LIKE WHEN YOU REV UP THE ENGINE. I PUSHED THE BRAKES TO THE FLOOR BUT THE CAR WOULD NOT STOP BUT KEEP GOING FASTER! I PUMPED THE BRAKES SOME MORE BUT IT WOULD NOT STOP. WHEN I SAW I WAS HEADED INTO THE STORE, I TURNED THE WHEELS TO AVOID IT AND TRIED BRAKING AGAIN WITHOUT STOPPING. I FINALLY HIT THE STOP ENGINE BUTTON BUT NOT BEFORE THE CAR HIT A PARKED TRUCK IN THE STORE LOT WHICH STOPPED IT. IT WAS THE MOST FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD. I AM NOW AFRAID TO GET INTO A CAR. I WAS TOO UPSET TO TAKE PHOTOS. I WILL LIST THE CRASH REPORT IN THE FILE BELOW. *TR *BF *TR

NHTSA ODI #11326182

60,000 miles · Mar 11, 2020
Air BagsCrash

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 40 MPH, THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF HER MADE AN ABRUPT STOP; CAUSING HER TO REAR END THE VEHICLE. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY UPON IMPACT. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE CONTACT NOR THE OTHER DRIVER WERE INJURED DUE TO THE ACCIDENT AND NO MEDICAL ATT…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 40 MPH, THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF HER MADE AN ABRUPT STOP; CAUSING HER TO REAR END THE VEHICLE. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY UPON IMPACT. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE CONTACT NOR THE OTHER DRIVER WERE INJURED DUE TO THE ACCIDENT AND NO MEDICAL ATTENTION WAS REQUIRED. THE CONTACT WAS INITIALLY ABLE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE HOME; LATER ON, THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND REPAIRED. UPON INVESTIGATION, THE CONTACT DISCOVERED THAT THE VIN WAS INCLUDED IN NHTSA RECALL NUMBER: 20V024000 (AIR BAGS) WHICH SHE ASSOCIATED WITH HER FAILURE. THE CONTACT SPOKE WITH DOWNTOWN TOYOTA OF OAKLAND (4145 BROADWAY, OAKLAND, CA 94611) AND MAITA TOYOTA OF SACRAMENTO (2500 AUBURN BLVD, SACRAMENTO, CA 95821) WHERE SHE WAS INFORMED THAT THE PARTS REMAIN UNAVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 60,000. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE.

NHTSA ODI #11317604

Mileage unknown · Mar 6, 2020
Air BagsSeat Belts

TOYOTA HAS ISSUED A RECALL NOTICE WHICH STATES THAT THERE WILL BE SEVERAL MONTHS UNTIL A DEFECT IS DEALT WITH THAT COULD CAUSE A FATALITY AND IN THE MEANTIME RENDERS THE CAR WORTHLESS.

NHTSA ODI #11316632

40,000 miles · Feb 11, 2020
Fuel/propulsion SystemService BrakesVehicle Speed ControlCrash

ON FEB. 5, 2020 AT ABOUT 6:30 AM, MY WIFE WAS PULLING UP BEHIND CARS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT, AS SHE APPLIED THE BRAKES TO STOP, THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED, SHE PRESSED THE BRAKES AS HARD AS SHE COULD, THE CAR CONTINUED TO DRIVE FORWARD HITTING THE CAR AHEAD OF HER IN LINE. SHE COULD HEAR THE CAR ENGINE RACING AND TRIED TO PUT …

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ON FEB. 5, 2020 AT ABOUT 6:30 AM, MY WIFE WAS PULLING UP BEHIND CARS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT, AS SHE APPLIED THE BRAKES TO STOP, THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED, SHE PRESSED THE BRAKES AS HARD AS SHE COULD, THE CAR CONTINUED TO DRIVE FORWARD HITTING THE CAR AHEAD OF HER IN LINE. SHE COULD HEAR THE CAR ENGINE RACING AND TRIED TO PUT THE CAR IN PARK, BUT IT WENT INTO REVERSE AND RAPIDLY MOVED BACKWARDS, EVEN WITH HER FOOT ON THE BRAKE, HIT THE CAR BEHIND HER. SHE THAN ONCE AGAIN TRIED TO UP THE CAR IN PARK, BUT PUT IT BACK IN DRIVE AND THE OUR CAR ACCELERATED FORWARD AGAIN FILL SPEED HITTING THE CAR AHEAD FOR A SECOND TIME, ALL THE TIME HOLDING HER FOOT DOWN AS HARD AS SHE COULD ON THE BRAKE. AFTER HITTING THE CAR AHEAD FOR THE SECOND TIME, SHE PUSHED THE ENGINE STOP BUTTON AND THE ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING AT FULL RPM. SHE NOTED THAT THERE THE FRONT TIRES WERE SMOKING ALOT SINCE THE TIRES WERE ROTAING EVEN THOUGH THE CAR WAS AT A STOP, DUE TO THE ENGINE RACING FULL RPM. POLICE WERE CALLED AND THEY DISPATCHED A TOW TRUCK FOR OUR CAR. THE POLICE NEVER ARRIVED, THE TOW TRUCK LOADED OUR CAR AND TOWED IT TO THE AAA STORAGE YARD .

NHTSA ODI #11308465

Official recalls

2

20V024000 · Air Bags: Air Bag/restraint Control Module

Jan 17, 2020

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon, and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles. During certain crashes, the air bag electronic control unit (ECU) may malfunction, possibly disabling the deployment of the air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: In the event of a crash, air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners that do not deploy as intended may increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ECU and install a noise filter between the air bag control module and its wire harness, as necessary, free of charge. Owners were notified of the safety risk beginning March 2, 2020. A second letter notifying owners of the remedy repair will be mailed between March 16, 2020 and June 27, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 20TB03, 20TA03 and 20TA05.

15V728000 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Crash Imminent Braking

Nov 3, 2015

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Avalon and Avalon Hybrid vehicles manufactured October 19, 2012 to October 27, 2015 and 2013-2015 Lexus ES350 and ES300h vehicles manufactured June 18, 2012 to July 6, 2015. The affected vehicles are equipped with a Pre-Collision System (PCS) as optional equipment. In these vehicles, the PCS may unexpectedly activate and apply the brakes when the radar detects a steel joint or plate in the roadway as an object.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A vehicle that unexpectedly brakes increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace certain PCS components, free of charge. The recall began on July 28, 2016. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this campaign are F1V and F2E.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

1

EA19001 · Electrical Overstress

Opened Apr 19, 2019 · Closed Sep 19, 2024

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Air Bags: Air Bag/restraint Control Module

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect.  During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (ACU) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) manufactured by ZF-TRW.  The ECU receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with manufacturer design specifications.  The ECU in the subject vehicles contains a model DS84 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which controls the communication of the crash sensor signal, firing commands (i.e., when to deploy the airbag(s) and/or pretensioners), and fault information (e.g., diagnostic trouble codes). In September 2016, FCA announced recall 16V-668 for certain model year (MY) 2010 to 2014 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products manufactured with the subject ZF-TRW ACU.  In this recall, FCA discussed an EOS condition that resulted in a failure of the subject DS84 ASIC, which caused air bag non-deployment.  FCA noted that the defect condition had only been observed in vehicles equipped with sensor harnessing routed across the front of the vehicle.  Other FCA vehicles that also used the subject ACU, but were not equipped with cross-car harnessing, had not experienced EOS failures, despite similar time in service. During the course of this investigation, ODI sent two separate Information Request (IR) letters to six vehicle manufactures (including FCA, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Toyota) and one IR letter to ZF-TRW.  These IR letters resulted in ODI receiving comprehensive data from these manufacturers and suppliers. Studies of this data found that the DS84 ASIC does not have sufficient protection against negative electrical transients or electrical overstress (“EOS”) that can be generated in certain severe crashes.  An electrical transient occurs when the electrical power supplied to a circuit changes momentarily over a short duration of time.   In these severe crash cases, the crash sensors and other powered wiring can be damaged and short circuited so as to create a negative electrical transient of sufficient intensity and duration (that are outside the vehicle manufacturer's specification) to damage the ASIC before the restraint device deployment signal is received by the SRS ECU.  This damaged signal can lead to incomplete or nondeployment of the air bags and/or pretensioners.  Airbag non-deployment and/or lack of pretensioner operation can increase the risk or severity of injury in a crash.A total of 8 fatalities and 14 injuries were associated with known EOS events. The common element in all investigated manufacturers vehicles is the SRS ECU containing a DS84 ASIC manufactured by ZF-TRW.  The risk associated with the ASIC is equally shared among all OEMS involved in the investigation.  The actual real-world risk can be mitigated by other factors which were assessed by ODI during this investigation. The first mitigating factor involves protections built into the ACU design which protect the DS84 ASIC from damage.  There are multiple strategies and levels of protection employed by different OEMs that provide effective EOS mitigation.  The two most common strategies at the ACU level are circuit protection diodes on the remote senor signal lines, and current limiting resistors that protect critical components. The second mitigating factor is found at the vehicle level and involves the location and routing of the wires leading from the crash sensors to the SRS ECU.  If the wires are well protected in a crash and are not routed with other power wires carrying large currents, the risk for an EOS event is significantly reduced or eliminated. These design specific factors combine to produce a spectrum of risk for the vehicles equipped with ACUs using the DS84 ASIC.  Given the many of years of field exposure, it is possible to divide the subject population into two groups; vehicles which have experienced EOS events, and vehicles which have not experienced EOS field events. Four of the six OEMs involved in this investigation have experienced EOS field events on at least one of their models equipped with a DS84 ASIC.  All vehicle models (including the Toyota models identified in the Failure Report Summary of the opening resume for this investigation) with field events have been recalled.  In an abundance of caution, ODI kept this investigation open five years to monitor field performance and did not identify any field events on vehicles not included in existing safety recalls. Given the spectrum of risk identified in this investigation and that all vehicles with a demonstrated unreasonable risk have been recalled, ODI is closing this investigation. ODI is closing this investigation with the following manufacturer safety recalls: 16V-668, 18E-043, 18V-137, 18V-363, and 20V-024.  With the recall actions taken by the subject vehicle and equipment manufacturers, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exists on other model or model year vehicles outside of the recall scopes. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.