2005 Toyota Avalon

2005 TOYOTA AVALON TOURING MODEL TAKEN IN 5000 MILE SERVICE WITH COMPLAINTS ABOUT A NOISE COMING FROM REAR END OR TRANSMISSION. TOYOTA COULD NOT HEAR IT UNTIL I INSISTED MECHANIC TAKE RIDE ME. MECHANIC ACKNOWLEDGED NOISE AND SAID MAYBE COMING FROM COMPUTERIZED ABS BRAKE INITIATING AT 5 MPH. WIFE PARKED AT WORK JUST COUPLE WEEKS AFTER MAINTENANCE. PULLED INTO PARKING AT WORK, STOPPED, PUT IN PARK AND IN SECONDS THE CAR LUNGED FORWARD WITH ENGINE REVVING AT HIGH SPEED; WIFE STOMPED ON PARKING BRAKE BUT BY THAT TIME CAR JUMPED OVER 10 OR 12 FOOT CURB , A FOUR FOOT SIDEWALK AND INTO A WALL JUST STOPPING AS IT HIT THE WALL. TIRE MARKS. CALL TO ELMORE TOYOTA GARDEN GROVE (ALAN/SERVICE) WHO SAID THEY HAD NO BODY SHOP AND DID NOT WANT TO SEE CAR OR NEED TO CHECK AND WORK ON IT BEFORE BODY WORK. SAID IF NO LIGHTS WERE ON THE DASH THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG. JUST LIKE THEIR ATTITUDE ABOUT THE RATCHETING NOISE SUPPOSED FROM THE ABS BRAKE SYSTEM. WIFE INSISTS SHE DID NOT THE GAS PEDAL ACCIDENTALLY . WHEN ENGINE REVELATION AFTER HITTING WALL WENT BACK TO NORMAL, CAR PUT IN REVERSE TO BACK OFF SIDE WALK. STATE FARM TOLD US NOT TO DRIVE THE CAR TO BODY SHOP. HOW DO WE FORCE TOYOTA TO FIND THE PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR.

TRANSMISSION LAGS THEN JUMPS FORWARD, TRANSMISSION SLIPS AT LOW SPEEDS NEVER SEEMS TO FIND A GEAR. STEERING AT SPEEDS BELOW 40 WILL JERK LEFT OR RIGHT DEPENDING ON THE ROAD.(SCARES YOU TO DEATH) BRAKES HAVE GRABBED AND JERKED THE CAR FROM DAY ONE THE DEALERSHIP GROUND THE ROTORS TO FIX THIS BUT IT HAS NOT RESOLVED THE PROBLEM. THE CAR HAS HAD THE POWER STEERING HOSE REPLACED BECAUSE IT LEAKED AND IT STILL DOES. THE CD PLAYER SKIP WHILE YOUR PARKED, THE STEERING WHEEL NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. WE HAVE HAD THIS CAR IN TO THE DEALER 5 TIMES WITH NONE OF THE PROBLEMS TO THE BRAKES, TRANSMISSION, OR STEERING RESOLVED. *NM

2005 AVALON MAKES A WHISTLING NOISE THAT COMES FROM THE WINDOW, AND THERE IS A KNOCKING SOUND WHEN TURNING. GEARS FELT AS THOUGH THEY WERE SLIPPING. *TS ***NAR*** THE INJECTORS MADE A LOUD TAPPING NOISE. THE FRONT END MADE A KNOCKING NOISE WHEN MAKING A SLOW LEFT TURN. THE DEALER INSTALLED WINDOW SEALS TO ALLEVIATE THE WIND NOISE. THE CONSUMER HEARD A RATTLING NOISE ON THE DASH AS IF THE DASH BOARD WAS COMING APART. *NM

I HAVE FILED A COMPLAINT WITH TOYOTA REGARDING THE HESITATION AND ERRATIC SHIFTING OF OUR 2005 AVALON. I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS DUE TO THE WAY THE COMPUTER CONTROLS THE NEW 5 SPEED TRANSMISSION IN CONJUNCTION WITH THEIR ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION CONTROL. IN RESEARCHING THIS PROBLEM,I HAVE READ WHERE MANY OTHER AVALON OWNERS HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED THIS. ON SUN.,03/12/06,I HAD JUST EXITED ROUTE 80 EASTBOUND (EXIT 27) IN N.J. AND PROCEEDED TO MERGE WITH TRAFFIC ON ROUTE 206 AND HAD TO IMMEDIATELY MAKE A LEFT TURN. AS I PRESSED ON ACCELERATOR,THE VEHICLE SIMPLY DID NOT RESPOND (HESITATION) AND, WHEN IT DID ENGAGE AFTER A SECOND OR TWO,LUNGED FORWARD. THIS STARTLED ALL IN THE CAR (MYSELF AND 2 PASSENGERS) AND WAS A VERY UNSAFE OCCURRENCE AS TRAFFIC WAS HEAVY AND MOVING FAST. THE VEHICLE HAS APPROX. 7500 MILES ON IT AND WILL BE A YEAR OLD IN JUNE,2006. I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT FOR SERVICE WITH MY DEALERSHIP ON TUES.,03/21. THEY ARE TO GO OVER THE CAR AND CHECK TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY TECH. SERVICE BULLETINS. I HAVE BEEN CHECKING ON EXISTENCE OF TSB SINCE SHORTLY AFTER BUYING THE VEHICLE. I AM NOT OPTIMISTIC. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM AND TOYOTA SHOULD BE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT! THANK YOU. *NM

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 IMPROVEMENT TO MY SATISFACTION WITH ONE EXCEPTION. SINCE THE FIRST COMPUTER UPGRADE, I HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED THE COMPLETE LOSS OF GEAR AT HIGH SPEEDS. IS THIS A PROBLEM IN ALL 2005 AVALONS? IS TOYOTA AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND DO THEY HAVE PLANS TO RESOLVE IT? SERVICED ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21. TOYOTA RESET THE COMPUTER LEARNING BACK TO FACTORY DEFAULT. TECHNICAL SUPPORT IN CA EXPLAINED THAT THERE ARE NO CURRENT PLANS TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE. ONCE THE LEARNING PROCESS DEVELOPS A BAD PATTERN, IT MUST BE RESET BACK TO FACTORY DEFAULT AND THE RELEARNING STARTED OVER. THE PROBLEM STARTED ALL OVER AGAIN AND THERE IS NO "UNLEARNING" THE PROBLEM. *JB

DT: THE CONSUMER COMPLAINED ABOUT AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. WHEN APPLYING PRESSURE TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL THE GEAR WOULD NOT ENGAGE. THE VEHICLE DID NOT SHIFT GEARS SMOOTHLY. THE CONSUMER SUSPECTED THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL. THE CONSUMER LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE WHEN ANOTHER VEHICLE PASSED. THE DEALERSHIP INFORMED THE CONSUMER THAT THEY COULD NOT DO ANYTHING BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS COMPUTER CONTROLLED. *AK (12/01/05) *SC

2005 TOYOTA AVALON - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE I JUST PURCHASED 2005 TOYOTA AVALON LIMITED. I EXPERIENCE TERRIBLE TRANSMISSION HESITATION/SLIPPAGE. IT IS GETTING DANGEROUS WHEN I HAVE TO ENTER HIGHWAY RAMP BECAUSE OF TRANSMISSION HESITATION. WHEN I COAST AT LOW SPEED, FOR EXAMPLE, I NOTICE A RED TRAFFIC LIGHT AHEAD AND TAKE MY FOOT OFF THE GAS, THE CAR THEN CONTINUES FORWARD AS IF IN GEAR AND AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME IT FEELS AS IF THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS TO NEUTRAL, THE RPMS DROP TO BELOW 1,000. THEN THE TRAFFIC LIGHT CHANGES WHEN MY SPEED IS ABOUT 5 - 10 MPH AND I SLOWLY DEPRESS THE ACCELERATOR. THE ENGINE RPMS INCREASE ABOUT 300 - 500 RPMS BUT THERE IS NO ACCELERATION. THEN THE TRANSMISSION GETS THE MESSAGE AND WE START TO ACCELERATE. *JB

WE HAD HAVE OUR 2005 AVALON LIMITED FOR 2 MONTHS NOW. WHILE THIS CAR IS AN ABSOLUTE GEM, WE HAVE EXPERIENCE THE ACCELERATION HESITATION AS DID OTHER OWNERS. WE TOOK IT IN TO THE DEALER, AND LUCKILY, HE WAS ABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. UNFORTUNATELY, HE SAID THAT THERE IS NOTHING MECHANICALLY WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE. THE ISSUE LIES IN THE COMPUTER ELECTRONICS. HE COULD CHANGE OUT THE "BRAINS" OF THE CAR, BUT IT WOULD NOT ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEM. HE ADVISED US TO CALL TOYOTA'S 800-NUMBER TO FILE A REPORT IN HOPES OF RAISING TOYOTA'S AWARENESS. *NM

I HAVE A 2005 TOYOTA AVALON PURCHASED NEW IN APRIL,2005.I ALSO HAVE AN EARLIER COMPLAINT,ODI#10119869,REGARDING HAVING TO RE SAUDER RADIO SPEAKER WIRES,REPLACING THE BUSHINGS AND LOWER SUB FRAME,AS WELL AS AIR CONDITONING,STEERING,AND RADIO PROBLEMS ALL OCCURRING IN THE FIRST 33 MILES OF OWNING THE NEW CAR.I ACCIDENTALLY FILED IT UNDER A TOYOTA SCION FOR TOYOTA CORP. PLEASE SEE THAT COMPLIANT ALSO.. THIS COMPLAINT IS ABOUT THE TRANSMISSION. IT SEEMS TO NOT WANT TO GET OUT OF FIRST GEAR.GETTING ONTO THE THE FREEWAY IS TERRIBLE,AS WELL AS DRIVING IN SLOW TRAFFIC. I HAVE TAKEN IT INTO THE DUBLIN TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID THERE IS NOTHING WRONG,IT'S JUST THAT THE SENSORY COMPUTER IN THE CAR KNOWS HOW I DRIVE AND THE GEARS FOLLOW MY DRIVING HABITS. THEY SAID THEY RESET IT,THAT MAYBE WHEN THE CAR WAS TEST DRIVEN,IT SET ITSELF TO ANOTHER DRIVER. THEY SAID TO DRIVE IT EASY FOR THE FIRST 50 MILES,THEN NORMALLY AFTER THAT. WELL, BEFORE I EVEN DROVE OFF THIER LOT,IT STUCK AGAIN-BUT I HAD TO GO TO WORK SO I CALLED THEM AS SOON AS I GOT TO WORK AND HAVE TO TAKE IT BACK IN AGAIN. THE REAL SAFETY ISSUE OCCURRED YESTERDAY,WHEN I WAS THE FIRST CAR WAITING AT A TRAIN CROSSING FOR ABOUT 3 MINUTES WHILE THE TRAIN WAS PASSING. AFETR IT PASSED,AS I WAS CROSSING THE TRACKS,IT TOOK ABOUT 15 SECONDS FOR THE CAR TO MOVE ,AGAIN STUCK AND REVING IN LOW GEAR!I HAVE ALMOST BEEN REAR ENDED ON FREEWAY ENTRANCES,RED LIGHTS TURNING TO GREEN,ANDND NUMEROURS OTHER TIMES,AND NOW ON TRAIN TRACKS!!!!SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE- I ALSO HAVE COMPLIINED TO THE DEALERSHIP ABOUT NOISES WHEN STEERING AND THEY SAID IT IS JUST THE RELEASE OF THE BRAKES.SINCE I CANNNOT DUPLICATE IT,THEY SAY THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO- IT IS NOT THE BRAKES BECAUSE IT HAPPENS WHEN I AM MAKING SHARP TURNS.