On 3/3/07 my wife and I purchased a new 2007 Toyota Avalon limited. On May 9 my wife noted a noise coming from the front of the car. She took it to the dealer, who stated they fixed the car, and she pick the car up on May 14. The next day, she noticed that the car was making the same noise as before, and took the car right back to the dealer. The dealer had the car until May 26. During that time, welding was performed on the frame, which made the noise worse. The dealer ultimately decided to give us a 2nd Toyota Avalon, which we picked up on May 26, 2007. In November 2007, my wife began to notice a noise coming from the front of the 2nd vehicle. It sounded like the same noise from the 1st vehicle. She took the car to the dealer on December 13, and they supposedly fixed the problem. When my wife was driving home, the noise began again. The problem was not fixed. She called the dealer to inform them of the problem. With the holidays and other things coming up at work (she cannot keep taking time off to run to the dealer all the time), she was not able to take the car back right away (there was only around 6300 miles on the car). By the time she was able to take the car back on March 24, 2008, the problem had gotten worse. There was less than 9000 miles on the car. She took the vehicle back and they determined they needed to take out the engine and transmission and have some welding work done around the firewall. As of today, April 7, my wife still does not have her car. We believe the problem from both cars is the same, and there may be a defect in this car. We found a tsb on this car from Feb. 2003 (exterior bulletin #122), which refers to all Toyota/Lexus, that states that welding should not be done on the car, and is not approved by Toyota or Lexus. We believe this problem can compromise the structural integrity of the car, and we will feel concerned for our safety if we get this car back. This is a problem that we feel needs to be addressed.

- Hammond, IN, USA