2005 Toyota Avalon owner complaints

Steering column separating as identified in recall yet Toyota refuses to repair or replace defective parts. Id 05v227000. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 Toyota avalon. While driving 5-40 MPH, the steering wheel vibrated and he heard clicking noise when turning left or right. The dealer stated that this was a normal occurrence. There is a recall for steering: column (NHTSA campaign id #05v227000) however, the dealer stated that his VIN was not included. The failure mileage was 45,000 and current mileage was 54,000. Updated 01/29/08. *lj updated *jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 Toyota avalon. While driving approximately 20 MPH the contact heard a cracking noise coming from the telescopic steering. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technicians stated that the intermediate shaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The lever that holds the steering wheel up released on its own while driving and it happened a few different times. The approximate failure mileage was 34,000.

The steering wheel friction lever suddenly dropped and the steering wheel collapsed while the car was in motion (normal speed). Plus, there is a popping, clicking sound when turning steering wheel that you can hear and feel in the steering wheel. *tr

Telescoping steering wheel colaspses when driving.

My 2005 Toyota avalon with the 2gr-fe v6 engine revs high, even when it's warmed up. In traffic, many times it revs high and lunges forward. Several times I braked hard to avoid read ending the car in front of me. This has been ongoing since I bought the car in 2005 as I am the original owner. I've taken it in to Toyota service and the mechanics found nothing. Once I showed them a technical service bulletin from Toyota which stated the exhaust manifold, oxygen sensors needed replacement and the ECM needed to be reprogrammed. It worked for a year (2007) then back to the same problem, high revving of the engine, hard shifting and lunging forward or reverse. The latest incident was today, 12/7/09 where I almost hit a pedestrian since the car revved high and lunged into the crosswalk.

Since purchasing the avalon in early june, I have been frustrated with how the car operates between 20 and 40 miles per hour. The car does not always know what gear it needs to shift into. It will frequently race 1000 RPM ahead without any change in speed. Then suddenly it will accelerate and the RPM's will drop back to normal RPM. It seems to happen most often in rush traffic when trying to change lanes. The hesitation in acceleration will cause me to lose most of my margin of safety in the process of changing lanes. In this regard, the car is not safe. There is no way to predict when the problem will occur, and therein, lies the safety hazard. It would seem that the last effort by the service department to update my computer programming failed to achieve any level of improvemen

After the alternator and battery dies the car went right back to accelerating by itself into traffic, I contacted Toyota and explained that after the battery and alternator died the problem came right back but they seem not to care

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 Toyota avalon. The contact stated that he received notification of NHTSA campaign id number: 10v499000 (service brakes, hydraulic: foundation components: master cylinder) and contacted the manufacturer to inquire. The manufacturer advised that the parts needed to make recall repairs were not readily available and the vehicle would be in the possession of the dealer for approximately two months before the repairs were completed. The contact did not feel the repair would be performed in a reasonable time frame. The manufacturer provided a rental for the contact until the vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 46,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 Toyota avalon. The contact stated that he received a recall notice on november 19, 2010 stating that he should contact Toyota in regards to his service brakes. After calling the manufacturer they informed him that there are no parts available to actually start the recall repair. The contact was concerned about the safety risk since it had been over a month since he received his notice. There are no failures at this time. The VIN was not available.

I have a 2005 avalon and there is a hesitation between the pushing of the brake pedal and the actual braking of the car, the same is true for the gas pedal. The service manager at the dealership went on a test drive with me and told me that these actions were found in other Toyota products and there was not yet a fix on them. I had taken the car back three times and on the final repair trip the service department wrote that the car was to manufacturer specs. I have filed a complaint with Toyota and have not received a response as of yet. *jb

The rear sunshade won't go down and it's stuck in the up position hence causing poor visibility when driving at night.

I was parking my car at work. I pulled into the parking space and backed up slightly to straighten my car. When I put the car into drive to pull forward again , the car raced forward with engine revving strongly. I could not stop the car with the brake. The car crashed and pushed through a thick brick wall. The airbags did not deploy. The car would only stop after I pushed the engine shutoff button. The gearshift was hard to move after the incident. *tr

I own a 2005 avalon that has a transmission/throttle problem. Slowing from speeds in excess of 30 MPH, then accelerating moderately, the engine will increase RPM to 2500-3000 RPM and the transmission will shift into neutral until the electronic control decides to shift to a lower gear. At the shift point the car will surge forward rapidly. This surge occurs even on this vehicle with traction control. This "surge" has resulted in multiple near end collisions in city traffic. The neutral shift problem has also been encountered on occasion when entering high speed interstate traffic. 18 wheelers bearing down on you at speed while your car is turning 4000 plus rpms in neutral is frightening. The vehicle has been to three separate dealers and a complaint was registered with Toyota manuf

On 10/25/18 I was involved in a head on collision when my gas pedal hung and lurched forward while I was pulling into a parking space at a doctor's office. I had slowed down to park when my car jumped the curb and hit the building head on. It was 3:50 in the afternoon and a clear visibility day. The police report has my speed at about 20 MPH. My airbag didn't deploy, I did have my seatbelt on. It was straight front end damage to my car. As a result of the impact I am suffering from whiplash and possible (traumatic brain injury), also neck and back pain. I believe that the cause of this accident was the gas pedal 'sticking' and as a result of no airbag deployment causing more motion on my head, neck, and back.

Sulfur smell exuding from exhaust system during periods of hard acceleration. Dealer replaced catalytic converter. *jb

When I attempted to secure the driver side seat belt of my 2005 Toyota avalon after a shopping stop, I discovered that the bolt holding the seat belt to the car post had popped out and left the seat belt dangling and unusable. I surmise that it popped out when I released it after arriving at my destination. I immediately drove to the Toyota dealership where they reattached it. I do not know whether they used a new bolt or found the old one in the car. *tr

Note: I had to classify this vehicle as a camry because a selection for a 2005 avalon was not available - recently we had our first major snow storm. I was driving on the highway and within minutes my windshield wipers began to freeze up and sharply limited my visibility. I checked with the dealer service dept only to discover that Toyota does not manufacture a winter (booted) wiper blade for this vehicle. I searched the internet (trico, anco, etc. Websites) but could find no aftermarket winter blades for this model avalon. Toyota had redesigned the wiper arm and blades to accept only the expensive ($56 a set) Toyota manufactured wiper blades. I sent an email to Toyota and they responded by telling me to check with my dealers service dept. Naturally the dealer could not do anything t

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 Toyota avalon. Contact stated while parking the vehicle going up a ramp the vehicle accelerated and crashed into wall. The contact thought at the time her foot slipped on the brake pedal. The contact was not hurt and the vehicle was repaired. One year after the first incident, while pulling into the driveway the vehicle surged again. This time the contact was able to break and stop the vehicle from always crashing into the garage. Contact feels this vehicle is unsafe and refuses to drive the vehicle. Current mileage was 47,000 and failure mileage was 27,000. Updated 1/11/09 *cn updated 01/15/10.*jb

Rear strut mounts on my 2005 Toyota avalon failed at 45,000 miles. It cost over $900 to replace the rear struts and mounts. I contacted Toyota who ignored my written communication for over 1 month. I finally received the standard (off warranty of 36,000 miles) response after I sent an email. *tr