This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Bought used in Feb 2013. Used little until May. Headlights off and on without warning. Got progressively worse. Took to dealer and they had to install new headlight assembly as per toyotaservice bulletin 0044-10 at a cost to me of $2600. Calls to Toyota corporate and Toyota extra care resulted in there maintaining that though they knew the problem existed (they even designed a new system) but maintained it was my responsibility and at my cost. For sure most manufacturers would have issued a recall.
When driving, my car has the drl option that utilizes the high beams at a lower voltage during the day. About a couple weeks ago I noticed that my high beams seemed to not be working which is very odd for both bulbs to be out at the exact same time. Sometimes, I need my high beams on dark curvy roads in the area that I live in. I called my dealership(capital Toyota) about it and of course they swept it under the rug of: "we havent heard of that before" the service writer was gratious enought to give me a Toyota Corp. Number 18003314331. So I called and through a couple holds they proceeded to tell me that due to "legal" (you would think that they would be concerned "legally" that owners are having issues seeing at night due to an substandard parts)resonsibilities they would not cover my car in what they are calling an extended warranty soley for the headlight issue they are fully aware of. They said the warranty was for 5 years from the date the vehicle was put into service. My car is one month past said date. Keep in mind that I purchased this car in early June '13. So I was not aware nor did I receive any sort of notification that there was anything that needed to be done or it would have. In fact when I purchased this vehicle I called my local dealership to see if it needed to be caught up on any recall's/tsb's and they said "no". this is a big safety issue that needs to be brought to the national recall level of service if Toyota does not see the need in fixing something beyond my control. From what I understand about the issue, simply replacing the highbeam/drl's will not fix the issue. Not to metion the fact that I could receive a ticket by the police for my high beams not working properly. Please keep me informed of any forthcoming information.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated that the low beam headlight malfunctioned and would fail sporadically. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 71,500 and the current mileage was 78,697. ## VIN passed ## Toyota Avalon 2008 ##...updated 11-12-13
Low-beam headlights fail intermittently and randomly, including when needed most on dark winding roads creating a severe safety hazard. Temporary solution is to turn off headlights and turn back on to restore lights. Failure is occurring more frequently. Toyota acknowledges problem but refuses to correct for vehicles with more than 75K miles. It costs over $1500 to repair, which is not covered by manufacturer extended 100K mile warranty. They claim it is a wear issue. A full recall must be issued before someone is severely injured or killed. Many similar complaints are found on-line. Manufacturer knows it is problem.
High beams worked sometimes and not other times. Now the high beams and daytime running lamps are completely out. While getting service at the dealer last year, I asked them to check the high beams, but they just said that they were working at the time and they couldn't find any problem at the time. Now that they have stopped working all together - I went to a new dealer and they said that Toyota was aware of the problem but didn't do a recall to notify owners, instead Toyota just replaced the headlight assemblies as new customers went into dealers with headlight problems. Then Toyota extended the replacement to cars up to 40K miles. When I complained to the original dealer who couldn't find any problem, my car was well under 40K miles; however, now I'm told that it will cost $2,600 to fix since the car is now over 40K miles! why didn't Toyota proactively alert owners to this problem so the lights could be replaced? I will never buy another Toyota product again.
- South Orange, NJ, USA
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Headlight on low beams goes out while driving. Will come back on if the car is turnd off and restarted. Happens multiple times. Replaced that light, now the other light started doing the same.
High beam headlight bulb bursts. Seems to be a well referenced design flaw the Toyota has failed to recall. 21300 exterior lighting:headlights:high/low beam dimmer switch bulletin no:tsb-0044-10 date of bulletin:08/16/2010 summary description: Toyota: High beam/drl bulb inoperative. On some vehicles, the high beam/drl bulb may become inopertive or shatter. A newly designed high beam/drl housing assembly (including the applicable bulb) is available in the event this condition H.
On February 27, 2013 I noticed that both high beam headlights were not working. At that time our 2008 Avalon had about 73,000 miles on it. After doing some research on the internet, I learned that Toyota had a known problem with the headlight assembly mechanism on the 2008 Avalon and had extended the warranty to address this issue in certain circumstances. I contacted my Toyota dealer and was informed my car was not eligible for this assistance due to the age and mileage. On May 3, 2013, I noticed that my driver's side low beam light was not working. I did some additional research and learned that the progression of the known headlight assembly problem would eventually lead to the intermittent failure of all head lights. I called two repair locations and received quotes in excess of $2800 to replace the headlight assembly mechanisms. I then called Toyota's customer service number and was informed that Toyota would not do anything to assist fixing a known safety defect.
Vehicle experiencing the inoperative of daytime running lights(drl) and high beam and low beam bulbs. Previously replaced bulbs. Problem continues after bulb being replaced. Lights return to normal operation when switched to off position and back on. No specific patterns of occurrence. Explanation by dealership when checked was that they did not detect a problem at the time of service. Note entered by service advisor stated "electrical problem".
Driving in dark 2-lane country road, needed high beam for safety and better visibility. High beams did not turn on. During the trip almost hit a coyote but was able to avoid due to driving 45 mph (20 mph below posted speed limit). Also, due to slowed speed we constantly were creating a long queue behind us causing many vehicles to unsafely pass us, thus creating another potential hazard. Went to the dealer to fix problem but it would cost $2000 to fix! Toyota was aware of this problem (service bulletin#tsb-0044-10) and they did extend the warranty, but they wouldn't honor that in our car because we were 2 months past the extended warranty period. That was the only time we needed to use the high beam after owning it for 6 months, so the problem could have happened way before the end of the warranty period. Toyota customer service of course was not willing to step up and or at least partially pay for the repairs. Their customer care representative was very indifferent. Toyotas have definitely slipped in quality and customer satisfaction. I will not recommend any other Toyota to my friends and relatives.
Evening interstate headlights fail at 65 mph then return after headlight switch is cycled to off and back on.... third occurrence in as many months. No recall info on Toyota website. Over 100 complaints on same issue. Does someone have to be injured or killed before this problem is addressed"?" original owner, maybe not for much longer. Get off your butt Toyota and address this dangerous situation.
Left headlight works for only about five minutes then turns off but turns back on right away if I turn off then on all lights dealer replaced light in August 2011 but within a few months same problem is occurring. Return to dealer got only a denial of any "ongoing" problems reported (edmunds says otherwise from many irate Toyota owners). Dealer only offered to replace the built again ($178) or "charge labor to ck the full electrical system (ignoring that only the headlight electrical assembly need be checked and that the assembly can be replaced for around $300.) dealer really wants to ignore the problem and just sell more bulbs. This is likely my last Toyota (after having four.)
We have a 2008 Toyota Avalon. The highbeam lights were hardly used and they went out one night at the same time. We brought the car to a dealership and they had the bulbs replaced. They did tell us that bulbs usually go out one at a time but had no explanation why both went out at the same time. We indicated that the user's manual suggested to look at other parts as burned bulbs would usually be caused by a problem in the electrical system. We were told it was only the bulbs. We just learned after the visit that Toyota had sent a bulletin to the dealers about the problem that some 2008-2010 models have a problem with the bulb housing, not the bulbs and the fix is to replace the housing. However, this is not a recall.
We were driving on mountain roads in a snowstorm at night, and discovered we did not have high beams. We took the car to our mechanic once we returned from our trip, and were told that both high beam light bulbs were shattered. Our mechanic told us that this is a issue that Toyota is aware of, and that they had issued a service bulletin in January of 2010 for this specific problem. We purchased this car pre-owned certified from a Toyota dealership in February of 2011 (more than a year after the service bulletin was released). This problem should have been taken care of before we purchased the vehicle, since the dealership was aware of the service bulletin, and the car was "certified." We were told that the repair would cost $2,400, and was not be covered under our extended warranty. This is a very dangerous problem with this vintage Avalon that should warrant a recall, not just a service bulletin.
During a routine 70000 mile maintenance check I had the dealer look into a flickering driver-side head light. They said the bulb was going bad and also discovered that my high beams didn't work. Toyota said the problem is inherent to 2008-2010 Avalons because of a poorly engineered head-lamp assembly and the cost to fix the problem would be $2820.85.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated that the high beam headlights exploded after the vehicle was parked. There was broken glass all around the headlights. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that there was no recall for the failure. The manufacturer was notified and a claim was filed. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 53,000.
I bought a 08 Toyota Avalon limited from carmax in May 2012 with an extended warranty. Within 30 days of purchase I was told by my coworker that my headlight was out. I looked at the reflection in the glass but wasn't sure that the light was out. I turned the headlights off and on again, got out of the car inspected the light and both were illuminated. I returned to car to carmax, reported what I thought were small things, vibration in the tire, chipped paint. I verbally complained about a short in the cigarette lighter and the headlight going out but implied that the issue had been corrected. I was not aware of the hid headlight issue. Throughout the next few months I worked the midnight shift. I drove the car 10 min to work. The rest of the time was mostly daylight driving. On Oct. 1, 12 I started driving the car at night. Days had become shorter and it got darker earlier. During the next few weeks I noticed poor illumination at night and was constantly switching my headlights from the on position to off and back on again. I had knee surgery Oct. 25, 2012 and didn't drive for a week. Nov 19, 12 I visited the Toyota dealership in catonsville, md. I advised that my lights were turning off intermittently. Toyota dealership suggested new bulbs claiming that the bulbs going out was an indicator that they were going bad. I'm no genius but it didn't make sense that bulbs still illuminated when they're bad. After insisting that the explanation made no sense and contacting Toyota motor corporation. The dealership reevaluated the headlights and found that the headlight assembly was bad. Tmc evaluated my claim and advised that they would pay for half the cost of replacement of the headlight assembly, $1500. Although I had the car 7 months it was out of the already tmc extended warranty of 5 yrs. But under the warranty mileage of 7200 miles. The tsb # for this is 004410.
While driving on the freeway one or both headlights flicker then turn off. This happens all the time and the only way to get the lights to come back on is to turn them off and then back on again. It is getting progressively worse and the dealer said I have to bring the car in for evaluation when the lights go out. Unfortunately I have to do this during business hours when it is dark to know that my lights are out. And when both lights go out it isn't a good idea to leave them off so I can drive to the dealer. Both bulbs have burst in the past and have been replaced twice by the dealer. This time the new bulbs don't appear to be bursting but just turning off by themselves. The burst bulb problem started occurring when I had less than 20K miles but now the dealer said both light housings needs replaced at my cost of over $5000.
Headlights turn off unexpectedly and also flicker. Started off with one light turning off and now both lights will turn off. Afraid to drive in the dark. Switching lights off and back on will start them back but they may go right back out. Is more frequent now.
Lost both high beam lighting while driving in a snow storm at night, on a dark mountain road in Oregon. I have 2002 Chevy silveraldo pickup with over 150,000 miles and no headlight problems ever. The last known headlight failure I had was on my 1957 Chevy around 1970. You would think headlight problems in todays cars would not exist, ever! I checked all four fuses per Toyota's maintanance manual, and they are good. I see there are several complaints on Toyota's. seems like they would fix our problems before there is a fatality. Thanks
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kenai, AK, USA