2008 Toyota Avalon

I DON'T REMEMBER THE EXACT TIME & DATE THIS STARTED, BUT IT IS CONTINUOUS & REPETITIVE. THE HEADLIGHTS CONSISTENTLY TURN OFF WHILE DRIVING. FOR A TRIP OF ABOUT TEN MILES, I CAN EXPECT FOR ONE OR BOTH TO FAIL ABOUT THREE TIMES. IT'S DANGEROUS. I WAS TOLD THAT THE COMPANY HAS SENT NOTIFICATIONS TO THE DEALERS BUT ARE REFUSING TO ADMINISTER A RECALL. THEY OFFERED ME A $750 CREDIT TO HAVE IT REPAIRED. HOWEVER, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE MANY PREVIOUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, IT COSTS OVER $2,000 TO FIX IT (AND THAT'S NOT A GUARANTEE). THIS IS A DESIGN FLAW. THEREFORE, IT SHOULD NOT BE AFFECTED BY A WARRANTY. I'M SHOCKED AT THE VOLUME OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ISSUE WITH NO ACTIONS BY THE COMPANY. THEY ARE MORALLY (IF NOT ETHICALLY AND LEGALLY) OBLIGATED TO ISSUE A RECALL AND REPAIR THEIR R&D FAILURE. *TR

I WAS DRIVING ON A VERY DARK TWO-LANE STATE HIGHWAY USING MY HIGH BEAMS WHILE CAUTIOUSLY WATCHING FOR DEER. ALL OF A SUDDEN MY HIGH BEAMS WENT TO LOW BEAMS. THE SWITCH WORKED AND THE DASH BOARD LIGHT SHOWED THAT THE HIGH BEAMS WERE ON BUT THEY OBVIOUSLY WERE NOT ON. WHEN I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHECK THE LIGHTS IN A WELL LIGHT AREA I COULD SEE THAT BOTH BULBS SHATTERED IN THE HOUSING ASSEMBLY. THERE ARE SMALL FRAGMENTS OF GLASS SPEWED EVERYWHERE INSIDE THE CASING. EARLIER THIS YEAR TOYOTA SENT A LETTER STATING A WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT BECAUSE THEY ARE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM. THE ENHANCEMENT APPLIES FOR 72,000 MILES OR 5 YEARS FROM THE DATE OF FIRST USE, WHICHEVER OCCURS FIRST. MY CAR IS NOW 6 YEARS SO THE WARRANTY WILL NOT APPLY. I SELDOM DRIVE IN THE LATE EVENING AND I SELDOM USE MY HIGH BEAMS. I BELIEVE THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED WITHIN THE WARRANTY PERIOD IF I WOULD HAVE USED THE HIGH BEAMS MORE FREQUENTLY. THIS IS GOING TO BE A VERY COSTLY OUT-OF-POCKET REPAIR THAT OBVIOUSLY IS A SAFETY FEATURE THAT TOYOTA SHOULD PAY FOR GIVEN THE FACT THAT THEY ARE AWARE THE HIGH BEAM/DRL BULBS CAN BECOME INOPERATIVE. *TR

AFTER RECEIVING TOYOTA TSB SB-0011-10 IN APRIL 2010, I WENT IN TO THE LOCAL TOYOTA SERVICE DEPARTMENT TO CHECK IT OUT. THEY INDICATED THAT THE HIGH BEAM LIGHT BULBS COULD EXPLODE AND THAT THE ENTIRE HIGH LIGHT ASSEMBLIES NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I ASKED ABOUT GETTING MINE DONE BUT, THEY SAID BECAUSE MY CAR HAD OVER 70,000 MILES THEY WOULD NOT REPLACE THEM PER THE TSB. BUT THEY TOLD ME THEY WOULD BE HAPPY TO REPLACE THEM AT MY COST OF ABOUT $2400.00. SHORTLY AFTER THAT THE BULBS EXPLODED IN MY UNITS. WHEN I TRIED TO REPLACE THEM, I WAS TOLD THAT THE LISTED BULB WAS NO LONGER MANUFACTURED. I FEEL THIS IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE UNLIMITED MILES AS THE REPLACEMENT UNIT HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED BY THE BULB MANUFACTURER. AND THAT THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD TO PROPER OPERATION OF THE CAR. *TR

CAR IS DRIVEN ABOUT 2,000 MILES PER YEAR, CITY DRIVING AND MOSTLY DURING THE DAYTIME. NO REAL NEED FOR HIGH BEAMS WHILE DRIVING. UNSURE WHEN THE PROBLEM HAPPENED, BUT I WAS A LONG JOURNEY IN THE COUNTRY AND HIGH BEAMS WERE NEEDED. UNABLE TO HAVE THEM ON. AFTER THE TRIP CALLED THE DEALERSHIP, BROUGHT IN FOR REPAIR. WAS TOLD THAT BOTH HEADLIGHT LENS ASSEMBLIES WERE NEEDED TO THE TUNE OF OVER $900. I WAS TOLD THAT THE WARRANTY EXTENSION FOR 5 YEARS OR 72,000 MILES ONLY. AT THE TIME THE CAR WAS PURCHASED I PAID FOR THE EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR THE 7 YEAR PLAN. I WAS TOLD THAT UNDER THIS WARRANTY HEADLIGHTS WERE NOT COVERED. THIS CAR IS COMPLETELY OUT OF WARRANTY. RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET SHOWS THAT THIS CAR HAS MAJOR ISSUES WITH THE HEADLIGHT LEN ASSEMBLIES. WHY DID NOT TOYOTA ISSUES NOTICES TO THE CONSUMERS ABOUT THIS ISSUE? OR A RECALL? THERE IS A MAJOR PROBLEM WHEN IT IS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THIS MAKE/MODEL. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WERE SEVERAL CRACKS IN THE VINYL COVER OF THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG. ONE CRACK WAS ELEVEN INCHES ACROSS THE FRONT COVER. THE DEALER STATED THAT NOTHING COULD BE DONE TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE BECAUSE IT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 27,580. UPDATED 11/20/14*LJ UPDATED 12/9/14*CN THE CONSUMER STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED ON 9/26/2014. UPDATED 5/4/2015 *JS

WENT TO USE HIGH BEAMS ON DESERT ROAD TOWARDS LANCASTER CA, PUT HIGH BEAMS ON, THEY STAYED ON FOR ABOUT 3 MINUTES THEN ALL FRONT LIGHTING WENT OUT. WENT TO DEALER (ROSEVILLE TOYOTA) TO CHECK ON THE PROBLEM, DEALER SAID THEY WERE NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY EVEN THOUGH TOYOTA KNOWS OF PROBLEM. WILL COST 3,000.00 TO REPAIR WITH REPLACED HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLIES. CAR HAS ONLY 39,000 MILES ON IT AND AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. *TR

DECEMBER 2012: I NOTICED A SMALL CRACK AT RIGHT SIDE OF DASHBOARD. BY APRIL 2014 AT LEAST 10 MORE CRACKS APPEARED ON UPPER, LOWER, AND SIDE SURFACES OF DASHBOARD. SOME CRACKS EXTEND THE ENTIRE WIDTH OF THE DASHBOARD AND SOME AROUND THE AIR BAG. *TR I AM CONCERNED THAT IF THERE IS AN AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT; OCCUPANTS COULD BE INJURED BY DASHBOARD DEBRIS.