10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
14 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
7 / 2
Average Mileage:
40,494 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2001 Toyota Avalon:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #21

Mar 202014

Avalon

  • 140,000 miles
The contact owned a 2001 Toyota Avalon. While driving 5 mph, the vehicle accelerated without warning. As a result, the vehicle crashed into a store window. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained chest injuries that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000.

- Westlake, OH, USA

problem #20

Mar 202014

Avalon

  • miles
2001 Toyota Avalon. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle unintended acceleration. The consumer stated as he pulled into a parking space, at less than 5 mph, with his foot on the brake, the vehicle suddenly accelerated at a high rate of speed. The vehicle did not stop even with his foot on the brake at full force and eventually he crashed onto a large 12 by 10 window of a building some 50 feet away. The air bags did not deploy. The consumer suffered some bruising. The vehicle was totaled.

- Westlake, OH, USA

problem #19

Jun 102013

Avalon

  • 104,000 miles
The contact owns a 2001 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated after the vehicle stopped moving and he released his foot off of the brake pedal, the rpms increased, the vehicle jerked forward and suddenly accelerated. The contact was forced to depress the brake pedal with excessive force in order to come to a stop. When the failure recurred the contact placed the vehicle in neutral. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was.

- Rockville, MD, USA

problem #18

Dec 192011

Avalon

  • 60,000 miles
The contact owns a 2001 Toyota Avalon. The contact started the ignition and as the accelerator pedal was engaged, the vehicle exhibited a sudden increase of acceleration without warning. The vehicle rapidly increased speed and could not be stopped even though the brakes were applied numerous times. The vehicle swerved off the road uncontrollably and crashed into three curbs before accelerating down a slight embankment. The rear driver's side, front driver and passenger side tires exploded. There was no personal injury and a police report was filed of the incident. The vehicle was declared as destroyed and towed to a savage facility. The manufacturer was notified of the unintended acceleration. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

problem #17

Oct 102010

Avalon

  • miles
The contact owns a 2001 Toyota Avalon. While decelerating approximately 5 mph, the vehicle suddenly surged forward which resulted in a crash; the vehicle did not stop accelerating until the contact took the key out of the ignition. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle had not been inspected or repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The current and failure mileages were unknown.

- San Gabriel, CA, USA

problem #16

May 032010

Avalon

  • 98,000 miles
The contact owns a 2001 Toyota Avalon. While pulling into a parking space at 5 mph with her foot applying the brakes, the vehicle abnormally accelerated and crashed into a brick wall. The air bags deployed upon impact but there were no injuries. The vehicle was destroyed. The vehicle was towed by the insurance company and the manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 98,000.

- Springfield , VA, USA

problem #15

Oct 072009

Avalon

  • 100,800 miles
Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) on Oct. 7, 2009, at about 3:00 pm edt on a sunny day in bradenton, fl, I was driving alone while sober, alert, and healthy at about 35 mph on a paved side road [xxx] approaching a red stoplight at U.S. 41 so. With 2 or 3 cars stopped ahead of me for the light. About 100 yards before the stoplight, I applied my footbrake, [xxx] (ok when inspected &driven a week earlier as part of oil change &general checkup). The foot pedal went to the floor, with no braking effect. I swerved to the left of the cars ahead of me and made a sharp left turn when I reached U.S. 41, to avoid hitting/being hit by oncoming traffic. My car rolled over and crashed. I hit my head on the car's roof[xxx]. I never lost consciousness, but the pain was terrible. I bled, upside down, for about 10-15 minutes, fearing another crash from oncoming cars, hanging from my seatbelt. A bystander stanched the blood eventually. The paramedics showed up in an ambulance& took me to the emergency room at manatee memorial hospital in bradenton. The dr. Cleaned very painful glass shards from my multiple scalp wounds, then put in five staples& released me. Two sheriff's deputies interviewed me& said my car's tire-marks showed signs of acceleration. I denied accelerating; it made no sense to me until recent stories in the newspaper about Toyota brake problems and sudden unexplained acceleration in other cases. A friend picked me up. The next day I went to the garage of elmer's towing, which had towed my totally wrecked car. I asked for the foot brakes to be checked. They were normal. I found this very puzzling; it only made sense recently as I read and heard on tv about similar problems by other with Toyota. Shelly devane of elmer's is a witness to the report of ok brakes. I strongly believe that an intermittent electronic problem with the brakes caused the wreck. I did not file this complaint earlier because the evidence is circumstantial & the car now gone.

- Bradenton, FL, USA

problem #14

Apr 012009

Avalon

  • miles
2001 Toyota Avalon. Consumer states unintended acceleration. The consumer stated his daughter was attempting to park the above referenced vehicle, when it accelerated out of control and hit a fence. The consumer drove to work the next day and she noticed she could not accelerate more than 45 mph. Updated 05/25/10.

- Findlay, OH, USA

problem #13

Oct 252009

Avalon 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 38,829 miles
The contact owns a 2001 Toyota Avalon. While driving 5 mph into the driveway the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The vehicle crashed into the garage. No one was injured during the crash. The vehicle suffered damage to the bumper. The contact stated that her foot was on the brake pedal while the vehicle was accelerating. The contact does not know what caused the vehicle to accelerate. The failure mileage was 34,700. Updated 4/13/10 updated 0/17/10

- Walla Walla, WA, USA

problem #12

Nov 262005

Avalon

  • 60,000 miles
On 11/26/2005 I experienced an acceleration problem with my 2001 Toyota Avalon while backing my car into our garage. While slowly backing in, the car accelerated & I backed into our family room wall. I put the car in drive, the engine continued to rev up and the car shot out of the garage like a bullet (one neighbor witnessed it). I quickly turned to avoid a 2nd neighbor's brick house across the street, braking didn't seem to help. I hit a 3rd neighbor's car parked in his drive and ended up in a 4th neighbor's drive on my side of the street!. as I got out of the car, I remember saying to the 1st neighbor that I couldn't stop the car. It's a miracle I didn't hit neighbor #2 who is always out in his yard, any one of a number of kids or people who walk their dogs in the neighborhood or another vehicle coming down the street. I was also not injured. There was damage to our house, my car and my neighbor's car. I was told by someone at Toyota orland park, il (where my 2008 Camry is being serviced today) that the acceleration problem in the 2001 Avalon is of a different nature than the current problems.

- Orland Park, IL, USA

problem #11

Jun 232001

Avalon 6-cyl

  • 200 miles
On June 23, 2001 my father was driving a two-week-old 2001 Toyota Avalon on wv route 2 near huntington, wv. According to eye witness accounts, my father was driving North at an accelerating speed and quickly came upon another northbound car from the rear. He cut over in the oncoming lane, passed the car, returned to the northbound lane and continued out of sight. The driver of the car estimated my father was traveling probably 90 mph. At the intersection of three mile and wv route 2, my father's car left the right side of the roadway, continuing at a high rate of speed across a grassy yard and over a knoll, where the car became airborne and flipped multiple times according to a second witness. The car tore through some tree limbs, then sheared a telephone pole and came to rest in the ditch next to the highway. My father was killed instantly. After leaving the highway, the vehicle traveled 250' across the grassy area, then went airborne and traveled another 278' before landing in the ditch next to the highway. There was never any good explanation for why he was traveling that fast prior to the accident, but in light of the recent news about the Toyota sudden acceleration problems, we now believe my father's death was the result of a faulty vehicle. I have the etcs (electronic throttle control system) module from the car in my possession. Updated 04/05/10 updated 08/06/10 updated 9/29/2011

- Elkview, WV, USA

problem #10

Nov 202008

Avalon 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 45,000 miles
Avalon XLS V6 automatic transmission 46,000 miles I had just backed out of my garage and I stopped to lower the garage door. The car was in still reverse and I went to accelerate and the gas pedal went to the floor and the car went backward in reverse all the while I was trying to stop it with the brake pedal. I went in a full 20 foot circle and was about half way through a second circle when my husband reached over and turned the key 1 click to kill the engine. We tried to figure out if I had put my foot on both the brake and accelerator but it was almost impossible to do it with my small foot. We looked under the hood and found nothing out of order. Finally, we started the engine and carefully moved the car back into the drive way and continued on our errand. My 2001 Avalon now has 47,000 miles which is less than 500 miles per month. We damaged the front driver fender and wheel rim when we went up against our house and we had it repaired.

- Broken Arrow, OK, USA

problem #9

Aug 102007

Avalon

  • 60,000 miles
I had at least 3 occasions where my Toyota Avalon gas pedal stuck. I took my car to the Toyota dealer and told them about it. They took it for a drive and said there was nothing wrong. My car is a 2001 Avalon.

- Westport, CT, USA

problem #8

Nov 222000

Avalon 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 441 miles
The contact owns a 2001 Toyota Avalon. She noticed that the engine began surging whenever the brakes were engaged on 25 occasions since November 2000 intermittently. She would depress the brake pedal and the rpms would rapidly increase; however, she would shift the vehicle into park and turn it off. She took the vehicle to the dealer more than ten times but the dealer could not duplicate the failure. She provided detailed information to a Toyota representative. The dealer stated that they could not repair the vehicle since they could not duplicate the failure. The current mileage was approximately 41,390. The failure mileage was 441. Updated 03/04/10. Updated 09/16/10

- Springfield, VA, USA

problem #7

Apr 092007

Avalon 6-cyl

  • 75,000 miles
Let me explain first, I can't substantiate the claim I am making about the possible cause of the accident that killed my wife when driving a 2001 Toyota Avalon. The reason the accident occurred is that she did not stop at an intersection controlled with a stop sign. The accident occurred in callahan county, Texas at the intersection of fm 1750 and highway 36 on April 9, 2007 at approximately 8:30 pm. She drove under the trailer of an 18 wheeler, was killed instantly and dragged under the trailer for 800 to 900 fit. It took the abilene fire departments expertise to remove her body from the wreckage. The local volunteer fire departments did not want to attempt it. There were no skid marks. She had driven this route countless times and was aware of the stop sign. I checked cell phone records and there was no evidence that she could have been on the phone. Admittedly she was upset. She was driving from abilene to mexia, Texas to be with her elderly mother who was in a diabetic coma when she last spoke to someone. However, she was a good driver. I can't believe that she was so distracted to allow this to happen. In light of the recent recall by Toyota, I believe that her Avalon suddenly accelerated out of control. No skid marks were at the scene only cutouts in the payment that were caused by her car as it went under the trailer. Why no skid marks? as shown on consumer report internet video, the brakes are not able to slow the car down as it is accelerating and skid marks would not have been possible. There is no other explanation in my mind as to how she could have missed the stop sign. The car was out of her control and it killed her. If you would like to have the VIN, please contact me. I will pull it out of the records I have. Thank you for your consideration and any response. This is such a tragedy that until the recall left me without any explanation that was believable. I now believe I know what happened. Updated 03/08/10 updated 07/06/10.

- Abilene, TX, USA

problem #6

Jun 232004

Avalon

  • Automatic transmission
  • 100 miles
Intermittently at a stop vehicle surged. Consumer had to press hard on the brake pedal and put vehicle into park to stop. The cosumer stated the dealer was unable to duplicate the problem.

- Van Nuys, CA, USA

problem #5

Dec 152003

Avalon 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 28,000 miles
Speedometer was not working properly, it provided wrong information. Dealer notified. Dealer stated sorry no warranty.

- Sea Girt, NJ, USA

problem #4

Jul 132002

Avalon 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 40,000 miles
While traveling on the highway and without prior warning the engine and vehicle skid control light appeared on the dashboard. The dealer informed the consumer there was a problem with the fuel tank cap which caused the lights to illuminate. The lights illuminated at least five times, and the dealer was unable to resolve the problem. Also the vehicle lunged forward at times, however the dealer found no problem.

- Vincennes, IN, USA

problem #3

Mar 012003

Avalon

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
While driving, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, the consumer loss control of the vehicle and hit a pickup truck and crashed into a tree. The driver sustained minor injuries, and passenger in pickup truck sustained major injuries. Vehicle was badly damaged.

- Westminster, CA, USA

problem #2

Mar 012003

Avalon

  • miles
While driving at 35 mph vehicle suddenly accelerated out of control hit a pickup truck, and then hit a tree. The driver applied the brakes, but brakes failed to stop vehicle. The passenger in the pickup truck sustained injuries as well as the consumer.

- Westminster, CA, USA

Read the next 1 complaints »