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2015 Toyota Avalon

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2015 Toyota Avalon do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 101.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

20 reports with mileage · 21 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.

  • Forward Collision Avoidance. Review the 9 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Service Brakes. Review the 9 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Air Bags. Review the 7 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

7 crash reports0 fire reports2 injury reports

Service Brakes complaints

9 reports
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Mileage unknown · Apr 25, 2023
Forward Collision AvoidanceService Brakes

While driving the pre-collision system (PCS) turns on unexpectedly, without any warning lights or sounds, and applies the brakes. This happens when I am driving in traffic with plenty of space between the car in front of me. I typically drive between 3-6 seconds behind the car in front of me to allow for at least 300 feet in s…

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While driving the pre-collision system (PCS) turns on unexpectedly, without any warning lights or sounds, and applies the brakes. This happens when I am driving in traffic with plenty of space between the car in front of me. I typically drive between 3-6 seconds behind the car in front of me to allow for at least 300 feet in space when driving at highway speeds. Despite leaving plenty of room for cars in front of me, on multiple occasions the car has started braking abruptly while going anywhere between 50, 40, 30, or 20 miles per hour. This can be verified for inspection upon request. Despite there being a recall for my specific year, make, and model car (2015 Toyota Avalon) for this exact issue my VIN number is not covered. Toyota is requiring me to pay out of pocket for them to 1) determine if its malfunctioning and 2) replace the system, which is a huge conflict of interest. Even though the Driver's Manual says that I can disable the PCS by clicking on the PCS on/off button within the driver's glovebox, there is no such button, only a blank button cover. Not having the ability to disable the PCS system, or worse, allowing it to continue braking while I'm driving is a serious hazard. The car can start braking while I am accelerating to merge onto expressway on-ramps, or while changing lanes at the same speed of traffic. The car can also unexpectedly brake while cars are traveling too close behind me. I want to know why my VIN was not included in the initial recall and why I now have to pay to have it looked at or repaired when its clearly malfunctioning and can't be turned off as the Driver's Manual says it can. I should not have to pay $175 an hour for several hours for a Toyota dealership to diagnosis it and then another $175 an hour for 2.5 hours for them to install the fix and whatever the new component costs. I recently bought this car at 35,500 miles and the issue immediately started occurring just as the warranty expired at 36,000 miles.

NHTSA ODI #11518883

39,000 miles · Mar 6, 2023
Air BagsService Brakes

The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop immediately and made an abnormal sound. Additionally, the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic…

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The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop immediately and made an abnormal sound. Additionally, the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 39,000.

NHTSA ODI #11510448

79,000 miles · Jun 10, 2020
Service Brakes

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 35 MPH AND DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO STOP IMMEDIATELY CAUSING THE BRAKING DISTANCE TO BE EXTENDED. THE BRAKE SENSOR WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT YET DETERMINED. TOYOTA OF IRVING LOCATED AT 19…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 35 MPH AND DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO STOP IMMEDIATELY CAUSING THE BRAKING DISTANCE TO BE EXTENDED. THE BRAKE SENSOR WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT YET DETERMINED. TOYOTA OF IRVING LOCATED AT 1999 W AIRPORT FWY, IRVING, TX 75062, WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 79,000.

NHTSA ODI #11328191

118,000 miles · May 27, 2020
EngineService BrakesUnknown Or OtherCrash

ON MAY 25TH, 2020 I WAS PULLING INTO A TACO BELL DRIVE THROUGH. IT WAS LOCATED UP A LITTLE HILL. AS I DROVE UP THE HILL I HIT A LITTLE CURBING. I BACKED UP AND ADJUSTED THE CAR TO MISS THE CURB. WHEN I PUT THE CAR INTO DRIVE IT LURCHED FORWARD AT A HIGH SPEED. SEEING I WAS GOING TO HIT THE CAR IN FRONT, I HIT MY BRAKES. TH…

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ON MAY 25TH, 2020 I WAS PULLING INTO A TACO BELL DRIVE THROUGH. IT WAS LOCATED UP A LITTLE HILL. AS I DROVE UP THE HILL I HIT A LITTLE CURBING. I BACKED UP AND ADJUSTED THE CAR TO MISS THE CURB. WHEN I PUT THE CAR INTO DRIVE IT LURCHED FORWARD AT A HIGH SPEED. SEEING I WAS GOING TO HIT THE CAR IN FRONT, I HIT MY BRAKES. THE CAR DID NOT STOP UNTIL I HAD HIT THE CAR IN FRONT WITH A LOT OF FORCE. THAT CAR WAS THROWN INTO THE TRUCK IN FRONT OF IT. THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A HUGE SCARE! I PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE SO I COULD OBSERVE THE DAMAGE TO MY CAR THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. WHEN I DID SO THE CAR ACCELERATE AT FULL SPEED IN REVERSE GOING BACK DOWN THE HILL AND HEADED STRAIGHT FOR A DRUGSTORE. THE CAR WAS MAKING A WHIRING SOUND, LIKE WHEN YOU REV UP THE ENGINE. I PUSHED THE BRAKES TO THE FLOOR BUT THE CAR WOULD NOT STOP BUT KEEP GOING FASTER! I PUMPED THE BRAKES SOME MORE BUT IT WOULD NOT STOP. WHEN I SAW I WAS HEADED INTO THE STORE, I TURNED THE WHEELS TO AVOID IT AND TRIED BRAKING AGAIN WITHOUT STOPPING. I FINALLY HIT THE STOP ENGINE BUTTON BUT NOT BEFORE THE CAR HIT A PARKED TRUCK IN THE STORE LOT WHICH STOPPED IT. IT WAS THE MOST FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD. I AM NOW AFRAID TO GET INTO A CAR. I WAS TOO UPSET TO TAKE PHOTOS. I WILL LIST THE CRASH REPORT IN THE FILE BELOW. *TR *BF *TR

NHTSA ODI #11326182

40,000 miles · Feb 11, 2020
Fuel/propulsion SystemService BrakesVehicle Speed ControlCrash

ON FEB. 5, 2020 AT ABOUT 6:30 AM, MY WIFE WAS PULLING UP BEHIND CARS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT, AS SHE APPLIED THE BRAKES TO STOP, THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED, SHE PRESSED THE BRAKES AS HARD AS SHE COULD, THE CAR CONTINUED TO DRIVE FORWARD HITTING THE CAR AHEAD OF HER IN LINE. SHE COULD HEAR THE CAR ENGINE RACING AND TRIED TO PUT …

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ON FEB. 5, 2020 AT ABOUT 6:30 AM, MY WIFE WAS PULLING UP BEHIND CARS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT, AS SHE APPLIED THE BRAKES TO STOP, THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED, SHE PRESSED THE BRAKES AS HARD AS SHE COULD, THE CAR CONTINUED TO DRIVE FORWARD HITTING THE CAR AHEAD OF HER IN LINE. SHE COULD HEAR THE CAR ENGINE RACING AND TRIED TO PUT THE CAR IN PARK, BUT IT WENT INTO REVERSE AND RAPIDLY MOVED BACKWARDS, EVEN WITH HER FOOT ON THE BRAKE, HIT THE CAR BEHIND HER. SHE THAN ONCE AGAIN TRIED TO UP THE CAR IN PARK, BUT PUT IT BACK IN DRIVE AND THE OUR CAR ACCELERATED FORWARD AGAIN FILL SPEED HITTING THE CAR AHEAD FOR A SECOND TIME, ALL THE TIME HOLDING HER FOOT DOWN AS HARD AS SHE COULD ON THE BRAKE. AFTER HITTING THE CAR AHEAD FOR THE SECOND TIME, SHE PUSHED THE ENGINE STOP BUTTON AND THE ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING AT FULL RPM. SHE NOTED THAT THERE THE FRONT TIRES WERE SMOKING ALOT SINCE THE TIRES WERE ROTAING EVEN THOUGH THE CAR WAS AT A STOP, DUE TO THE ENGINE RACING FULL RPM. POLICE WERE CALLED AND THEY DISPATCHED A TOW TRUCK FOR OUR CAR. THE POLICE NEVER ARRIVED, THE TOW TRUCK LOADED OUR CAR AND TOWED IT TO THE AAA STORAGE YARD .

NHTSA ODI #11308465

31,500 miles · Dec 23, 2019
Air BagsService BrakesUnknown Or OtherCrashInjury

I WAS HEADING DOWN SNOW GEESE SOUTH IN DUCK N.C. TO TURN LEFT ONTO WOOD DUCK DRIVE. AS I APPROACHED THE TURN, MY BRAKES FAILED AND I WENT INTO THE PARKING AREA OF 1324 DUCK ROAD. I COULD HIT A PARKED TRUCK OR HOUSE. I HIT THE TRUCK. THE AIRBAGS DIDNT DEPLOY. NONE OF THEM. IT WAS A HEAD ON COLLISION. MY CAR WAS TOTALED. THE POLIC…

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I WAS HEADING DOWN SNOW GEESE SOUTH IN DUCK N.C. TO TURN LEFT ONTO WOOD DUCK DRIVE. AS I APPROACHED THE TURN, MY BRAKES FAILED AND I WENT INTO THE PARKING AREA OF 1324 DUCK ROAD. I COULD HIT A PARKED TRUCK OR HOUSE. I HIT THE TRUCK. THE AIRBAGS DIDNT DEPLOY. NONE OF THEM. IT WAS A HEAD ON COLLISION. MY CAR WAS TOTALED. THE POLICE SHOWED UP AND WERE SUPRISED THAT THERE WERE NO AIRBAGS. THIS CONCERNS ME GREATLY. THE BRAKES FAILING WAS SCARY ENOUGH, BUT ABSOLUTELY NO AIRBAGS! *DSY

NHTSA ODI #11290892

Mileage unknown · Mar 10, 2017
Service Brakes

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V728000 (SERVICE BRAKES). THE PART TO DO THE REPAIR WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE CONTA…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V728000 (SERVICE BRAKES). THE PART TO DO THE REPAIR WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.

NHTSA ODI #10959960

Mileage unknown · Apr 14, 2016
Forward Collision AvoidanceService BrakesVehicle Speed Control

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT RECEIVED RECALL NOTICES FOR THE SERVICE BRAKES AND VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL; HOWEVER, THE PARTS WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THE PCS SYSTEM W…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT RECEIVED RECALL NOTICES FOR THE SERVICE BRAKES AND VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL; HOWEVER, THE PARTS WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THE PCS SYSTEM WAS DEACTIVATED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS WERE UNKNOWN. THE VIN WAS INVALID. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE. UPDATED 05/11/16*LJ THE CONSUMER REFERENCED THE PRE-COLLISION SYSTEM. UPDATED 06/16/16.8JB

NHTSA ODI #10855545

500 miles · Oct 7, 2015
Electronic Stability Control (esc)Service BrakesUnknown Or Other

I HAVE A SAFETY CONCERN. I BOUGHT A NEW CAR A COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE THIS INCIDENT; THIS IS WHAT I EXPERIENCED WITH THE PCS SYSTEM. IT WENT OFF WITH WARNING BUZZER, RETRACTING THE SEAT BELTS. TO MY SURPRISE, THE FRONTAL CAR WAS MORE THAN 120 TO 150 FEET AWAY!; I BELIEVE I WAS DRIVING AT ABOUT 50-55 MPH. SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST EX…

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I HAVE A SAFETY CONCERN. I BOUGHT A NEW CAR A COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE THIS INCIDENT; THIS IS WHAT I EXPERIENCED WITH THE PCS SYSTEM. IT WENT OFF WITH WARNING BUZZER, RETRACTING THE SEAT BELTS. TO MY SURPRISE, THE FRONTAL CAR WAS MORE THAN 120 TO 150 FEET AWAY!; I BELIEVE I WAS DRIVING AT ABOUT 50-55 MPH. SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH THE PCS SYSTEM, I AM NOT SURE IF THIS WAS NORMAL OR WHETHER I SHOULD BRING THE CAR IN FOR INSPECTION. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER; THEY GAVE ME A TOYOTA CASE NO. 152660366 ; MECHANIC SAID HE PERFORMED HEALTH CHECK ON THE VEHICLE AND PASSED. I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM EITHER THE DEALER NOR THE MANUFACTURER SINCE THEN. PLEASE ADVICE. ADDITIONAL INFO: VEHICLE IN MOTION ABOUT 50 MPH, CITY STREET DRIVING, STRAIGHT BROAD

NHTSA ODI #10780434

Official recalls

2

20V024000 · Air Bags: Air Bag/restraint Control Module

Jan 17, 2020

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon, and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles. During certain crashes, the air bag electronic control unit (ECU) may malfunction, possibly disabling the deployment of the air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: In the event of a crash, air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners that do not deploy as intended may increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ECU and install a noise filter between the air bag control module and its wire harness, as necessary, free of charge. Owners were notified of the safety risk beginning March 2, 2020. A second letter notifying owners of the remedy repair will be mailed between March 16, 2020 and June 27, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 20TB03, 20TA03 and 20TA05.

15V728000 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Crash Imminent Braking

Nov 3, 2015

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Avalon and Avalon Hybrid vehicles manufactured October 19, 2012 to October 27, 2015 and 2013-2015 Lexus ES350 and ES300h vehicles manufactured June 18, 2012 to July 6, 2015. The affected vehicles are equipped with a Pre-Collision System (PCS) as optional equipment. In these vehicles, the PCS may unexpectedly activate and apply the brakes when the radar detects a steel joint or plate in the roadway as an object.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A vehicle that unexpectedly brakes increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace certain PCS components, free of charge. The recall began on July 28, 2016. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this campaign are F1V and F2E.

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

1

EA19001 · Electrical Overstress

Opened Apr 19, 2019 · Closed Sep 19, 2024

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Air Bags: Air Bag/restraint Control Module

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect.  During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (ACU) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) manufactured by ZF-TRW.  The ECU receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with manufacturer design specifications.  The ECU in the subject vehicles contains a model DS84 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which controls the communication of the crash sensor signal, firing commands (i.e., when to deploy the airbag(s) and/or pretensioners), and fault information (e.g., diagnostic trouble codes). In September 2016, FCA announced recall 16V-668 for certain model year (MY) 2010 to 2014 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products manufactured with the subject ZF-TRW ACU.  In this recall, FCA discussed an EOS condition that resulted in a failure of the subject DS84 ASIC, which caused air bag non-deployment.  FCA noted that the defect condition had only been observed in vehicles equipped with sensor harnessing routed across the front of the vehicle.  Other FCA vehicles that also used the subject ACU, but were not equipped with cross-car harnessing, had not experienced EOS failures, despite similar time in service. During the course of this investigation, ODI sent two separate Information Request (IR) letters to six vehicle manufactures (including FCA, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Toyota) and one IR letter to ZF-TRW.  These IR letters resulted in ODI receiving comprehensive data from these manufacturers and suppliers. Studies of this data found that the DS84 ASIC does not have sufficient protection against negative electrical transients or electrical overstress (“EOS”) that can be generated in certain severe crashes.  An electrical transient occurs when the electrical power supplied to a circuit changes momentarily over a short duration of time.   In these severe crash cases, the crash sensors and other powered wiring can be damaged and short circuited so as to create a negative electrical transient of sufficient intensity and duration (that are outside the vehicle manufacturer's specification) to damage the ASIC before the restraint device deployment signal is received by the SRS ECU.  This damaged signal can lead to incomplete or nondeployment of the air bags and/or pretensioners.  Airbag non-deployment and/or lack of pretensioner operation can increase the risk or severity of injury in a crash.A total of 8 fatalities and 14 injuries were associated with known EOS events. The common element in all investigated manufacturers vehicles is the SRS ECU containing a DS84 ASIC manufactured by ZF-TRW.  The risk associated with the ASIC is equally shared among all OEMS involved in the investigation.  The actual real-world risk can be mitigated by other factors which were assessed by ODI during this investigation. The first mitigating factor involves protections built into the ACU design which protect the DS84 ASIC from damage.  There are multiple strategies and levels of protection employed by different OEMs that provide effective EOS mitigation.  The two most common strategies at the ACU level are circuit protection diodes on the remote senor signal lines, and current limiting resistors that protect critical components. The second mitigating factor is found at the vehicle level and involves the location and routing of the wires leading from the crash sensors to the SRS ECU.  If the wires are well protected in a crash and are not routed with other power wires carrying large currents, the risk for an EOS event is significantly reduced or eliminated. These design specific factors combine to produce a spectrum of risk for the vehicles equipped with ACUs using the DS84 ASIC.  Given the many of years of field exposure, it is possible to divide the subject population into two groups; vehicles which have experienced EOS events, and vehicles which have not experienced EOS field events. Four of the six OEMs involved in this investigation have experienced EOS field events on at least one of their models equipped with a DS84 ASIC.  All vehicle models (including the Toyota models identified in the Failure Report Summary of the opening resume for this investigation) with field events have been recalled.  In an abundance of caution, ODI kept this investigation open five years to monitor field performance and did not identify any field events on vehicles not included in existing safety recalls. Given the spectrum of risk identified in this investigation and that all vehicles with a demonstrated unreasonable risk have been recalled, ODI is closing this investigation. ODI is closing this investigation with the following manufacturer safety recalls: 16V-668, 18E-043, 18V-137, 18V-363, and 20V-024.  With the recall actions taken by the subject vehicle and equipment manufacturers, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exists on other model or model year vehicles outside of the recall scopes. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.