2005 Toyota Avalon

THREE DIFFERENT ELECTRICAL SHORTS IN A 2005 TOYOTA AVALON LIMITED WITH LESS THAT 5000 MILES. THE SHORTS WERE IN THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH, THE ENGINE CONTROL UNIT, AND THE FUSE BOX. THE FIRST AND THIRD SHORT PREVENTED THE CAR FROM STARTING. THE SECOND SHORT CAUSED THE ENGINE TO STALL WHILE TRAVELING AT 55 MPH ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY. IT IS A MIRACLE THAT THERE WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT. THE SWITCH, ENGINE CONTROL UNIT, AND FUSE BOX HAVE ALL BEEN REPLACED. THE CAR HAS BEEN TOWED 4 TIMES DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF OWNERSHIP. *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

THIS IS A FOLLOW UP ON THE INCIDENTS REPORTED UNDER 10142940. WHEN STARTING TO SLOWLY PROCEED FORWARD BEHIND HEAVY TRAFFIC AT A STOP LIGHT THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY SURGED FORWARD. I PLACED TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL AND ENGINE REV'S TO ~7000 RPM BEFORE I COULD SHUT IT OFF. TRIED RESTARTING THE ENGINE ABOUT 6 TIMES WITH IT IMMEDIATELY GOING TO ~7000 RPM. ON ABOUT THE 7TH TRY THE ENGINE STARTED NORMALLY AND RAN NORMALLY UNTIL I REACHED HOME (ABOUT 4 MILES). CALLED DEALERSHIP AGAIN AND THEY DID NOT PARTICULARLY WANT TO SEE VEHICLE AS I COULD NOT REPORT ANY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMING ON. I INSISTED ON AN APPOINTMENT AND WAS PUT OFF UNTIL NEXT WEEK. THEY CLAIMED THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM WITH TOYOTA AVALONS AND CAMRY'S EXCEPT FOR MY VEHICLE. CALLED THE DEALER/ZONE CUSTOMER RELATIONS AND PLACED COMPLAINT BUT THEY ALSO DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO EXCEPT CALL TOYOTA ENGINEERING. *NM SEE ALSO VOQ 10142940. *DSY

VEHICLE IS 2005 TOYOTA AVALON FEATURE IS ENGINE SENSOR THAT CAUSES ENGINE TO SHUT DOWN ENGINE WHEN OPERATING TEMPERATURE IS EXCEEDED OR OIL PRESSURE DROPS BELOW TOYOTA DETERMINED LEVEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN INTO TOYOTA FOR 5,000 OIL CHANGE THAT MORNING. SERVICE WAS NOT PROPERLY DONE BY TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. IN OPERATING THE VEHICLE, THE OIL AND ENGINE LIGHTS TURNED ON. WHILE OPERATING VEHICLE ON HIGHWAY TRYING TO GET BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP, THE ENGINE SHUTDOWN WITH NO WARNING TO THE DRIVER OR VEHICLES BEHIND THE AVALON. A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT WAS BARELY AVERTED. THE AVALON ABANDONED DRIVER ON HIGHWAY AND IMPEDED TRAFFIC. VEHICLE HAD TO BE PUSHED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BY POLICE WHILE OTHER OFFICERS CONTROLLED TRAFFIC. OIL FILTER WAS REPLACED AND THE OIL WAS CHANGED. THIS IN NO WAY LIMITS THE FACT THAT DUE TO DESIGN, THE ENGINE CAN SHUT DOWN WITH LITTLE TO NO WARNING TO THE DRIVER OR THE VEHICLES FOLLOWING. WHILE IT IS NICE THAT THE ENGINE CAN SAVE ITSELF, IT SHOULD NOT BE AT THE COST OF INJURY TO THE DRIVER OR CAUSING AN ACCIDENT DUE SUDDEN DECELERATION WITHOUT WARNING TO OTHER DRIVERS. THERE WAS NO PROPERTY DAMAGE OR A CRASH DUE ONLY TO QUICK REACTIONS OF THE DRIVER IN THE VEHICLE BEHIND THE AVALON. *JB

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

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 TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM BECAUSE TOYOTA DOES NOT MANUFACTURE ANY EQUIPMENT SOLUTIONS FOR THEM TO APPLY. I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH TOYOTA'S RESPONSE AS I CONSIDER THIS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. I'M FORTUNATE THAT I DIDN'T DRIVE OFF THE ROAD AND INTO A DITCH. THE NEXT TIME I HAVE TO DRIVE IN A SNOW STORM YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT I WON'T BE DRIVING THE AVALON. *JB

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