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2003 Toyota Avalon

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most Avalon years

Owner complaints for the 2003 Toyota Avalon are substantially higher than the model-year median of 101.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

138 reports with mileage · 155 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.

  • Air Bags. Review the 184 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Vehicle Speed Control. Review the 51 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Steering. Review the 19 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

49 crash reports2 fire reports20 injury reports

Unknown Or Other complaints

4 reports
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129,000 miles · Jul 18, 2016
Unknown Or Other

TOYOTA INFORMED ME OF SAFETY RECALL 15V-043. IT REQUIRES REPLACING TWO CIRCUIT BOARDS. THE CONDITION IS THAT THE CAR CAN DEPLOY THE AIRBAGS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT WARNING AND WITHOUT ANY IMPACT. TODAY, AFTER WAITING 90 DAYS THE PARTS STILL HAVE NOT ARRIVED. TOYOTA DEALER (JOSEPH AIRPORT TOYOTA) IS UNABLE TO TELL ME WHEN THEY WI…

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TOYOTA INFORMED ME OF SAFETY RECALL 15V-043. IT REQUIRES REPLACING TWO CIRCUIT BOARDS. THE CONDITION IS THAT THE CAR CAN DEPLOY THE AIRBAGS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT WARNING AND WITHOUT ANY IMPACT. TODAY, AFTER WAITING 90 DAYS THE PARTS STILL HAVE NOT ARRIVED. TOYOTA DEALER (JOSEPH AIRPORT TOYOTA) IS UNABLE TO TELL ME WHEN THEY WILL ARRIVE. TOYOTA CORPORATION IS UNABLE TO TELL ME WHERE I AM ON THE WAITING LIST. MY LOCAL DEALER TRIES TO HELP BUT THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING. THIS IS MY WIFE'S CAR AND SHE NOW REFUSES TO DRIVE IT. SHE IS AFRAID IN IT. WE NEED TO GET THIS FIXED QUICK. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE? A COMPANY LIKE TOYOTA SHOULD SURELY HAVE SOME INFORMATION THEY COULD PROVIDE REGARDING THIS PART. IT DOES NOT TAKE THREE MONTHS TO MAKE THESE PARTS!

NHTSA ODI #10885552

Mileage unknown · Oct 2, 2015
Unknown Or Other

I RECEIVED A URGENT SAFETY RECALL NOTICE FOR SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM (SRS) ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT (ECU) ON APRIL 2, 2015 (INTERIM NOTIFICATION) TO DATE NO FOLLOW-UP NOTIFICATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED.

NHTSA ODI #10779192

156,800 miles · Jun 24, 2015
Unknown Or OtherFire

ON THE NIGHT OF 6/20, I WAS DRIVING DOWN IN LOS ANGELES WESTWOOD AREA NEAR GAYLEY AVENUE AND WILSHIRE BLVD, MY CAR SUDDENLY SLOWED DOWN THEN STOPPED. THEN THERE WAS A LOT OF SMOKE COMING OUT FROM THE HOOD, THEN TUNED TO FLAME. THIS HAPPENED 2 MONTHS AFTER I BROUGHT MY CAR TO TOYOTA OF GLENDALE FOR RECALL SERVICES RELATED TO WIRE…

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ON THE NIGHT OF 6/20, I WAS DRIVING DOWN IN LOS ANGELES WESTWOOD AREA NEAR GAYLEY AVENUE AND WILSHIRE BLVD, MY CAR SUDDENLY SLOWED DOWN THEN STOPPED. THEN THERE WAS A LOT OF SMOKE COMING OUT FROM THE HOOD, THEN TUNED TO FLAME. THIS HAPPENED 2 MONTHS AFTER I BROUGHT MY CAR TO TOYOTA OF GLENDALE FOR RECALL SERVICES RELATED TO WIRE HARNESS AND IGNITION BRACKET.

NHTSA ODI #10726997

75,000 miles · May 26, 2015
Air BagsElectrical SystemUnknown Or Other

TOYOTA HAS KNOWN OF THIS PROBLEM FOR YEARS AND HAS WORKED ON THE CAR LAST YEAR TO GIVE A TEMPORARY FIX, NOW A FEW MONTHS AGO TOYOTA SENDS YET ANOTHER RECALL FOR SAME PARTS, BUT YET THE DEALERS NOR TOYOTA HAS ANY IDEA OF WHEN THIS WILL BE AVAILABLE, MEANWHILE WE DRIVE AROUND IN FEAR OF UNNECESSARY DEPLOYMENT OF AIRBAG. WE HAVE B…

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TOYOTA HAS KNOWN OF THIS PROBLEM FOR YEARS AND HAS WORKED ON THE CAR LAST YEAR TO GIVE A TEMPORARY FIX, NOW A FEW MONTHS AGO TOYOTA SENDS YET ANOTHER RECALL FOR SAME PARTS, BUT YET THE DEALERS NOR TOYOTA HAS ANY IDEA OF WHEN THIS WILL BE AVAILABLE, MEANWHILE WE DRIVE AROUND IN FEAR OF UNNECESSARY DEPLOYMENT OF AIRBAG. WE HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH TOYOTA AND ALL THE LOCAL DEALERS AND NO ONE CAN TELL US ANYTHING, BUT ON THE NEWS THE REPORTS SAY THE AIRBAGS ARE BEING REPLACED

NHTSA ODI #10721395

Official recalls

2

15V043000 · Air Bags:frontal

Jan 28, 2015

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Toyota Corolla vehicles manufactured December 28, 2001, to May 2, 2004, 2003-2004 Toyota Corolla Matrix vehicles manufactured January 6, 2002, to April 29, 2004, 2003-2004 Avalon vehicles manufactured June 5, 2002, to December 20, 2004, and 2003-2004 Pontiac Vibe vehicles manufactured January 18, 2002, to April 27, 2004. Due to electrical noise, a component in the air bag control module may fail, causing the front air bags, side air bags, and/or seatbelt pretensioners to deploy inadvertently while the vehicle is being operated.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Inadvertent deployment of the air bags or the seat belt pretensioners increases the risk of an injury or crash.

Remedy: Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the air bag control module, free of charge. The recall began on August 24, 2015. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. GM issued an interim notification to owners on March 27, 2015. The recall began on August 24, 2015. Pontiac owners may call 1-800-620-7668. Note: This recall supersedes recalls 13V-029 and 14V-147. Vehicles that had a noise filter installed as the remedy for one of those campaigns need to have the air bag control module replaced under this campaign.

10V345000 · Steering

Jul 29, 2010

TOYOTA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2000-2004 AVALON VEHICLES. DUE TO IMPROPER CASTING OF THE STEERING LOCK BAR, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT A MINUTE CRACK MAY DEVELOP ON THE SURFACE OF THE LOCK BAR. SUCH A CRACK MAY EXPAND OVER A LONG PERIOD OF REPEATED LOCK AND UNLOCK OPERATIONS, AND EVENTUALLY THE LOCK BAR COULD BREAK.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: SHOULD THE STEERING LOCK BAR BREAK, THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD LOCK AND THE DRIVER WOULD LOSE THE ABILITY TO STEER THE VEHICLE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STEERING INTERLOCK DEVICE FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.

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

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.