10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 38,525 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.
2008 Toyota Avalon _ sudden acceleration when attempting to move car up slightly from rest while turning into a parking lot. Car was going less than 10 mph when engine revved violently & car accelerated uncontrollably & crashed into barriers & head on into a brick wall. Car had to be towed to body shop & has heavy damage.
- Staten Island, NY, USA
2008 Toyota Avalon. Stopped in traffic, foot on brake. Without warning, car accelerated forward. Pushed harder on brake and car nose-dived and collided with pu truck stopped ahead. Avalon front bumper went under rear bumper of pu. Air bag did not deploy. Floor mat still in place. $5600 damage to Avalon, none to pu.
- Louisville, KY, USA
I purchased a used 2008 Toyota Avalon limited from hornburg Jaguar dealer in santa monica on 10/29/2009. At home at 8 am, on the clear, cool day of 11/1/2009 I had the car parked in my driveway to install the garage door opener. Wanting to move the car to the street I started the car using the required proceedure for a pushbutton ignition (like on my 2007 Toyota Camry hybrid for 2 1/2 years). That is, I stepped on the brake and pushed the ignition button simultaeneously. The car started to move rapidly down my short sloping driveway (7 or 8 feet). As I pushed harder, the break pedal in effect went to the floor- no breaking at all. I hit the curb very hard on the other side of the narrow street, the rear end of the car bouncing into the air, and ended up, perhaps 10 feet beyond, hitting the front bedroom wall of my neighbor's home with considerable force and resulting in significant damage to the wall. I apparently did not sustain physical damage. I am inclined to believe there was an accelerator component problem also because I was moving so fast. The car is being repaired now physically, as is the house, and I have contacted Toyota locally in torrance and I understand someone there will follow-up on this accident within the next 4 days. I tried to duplicate the brake failure problem with my Camry hybrid and I was not able to duplicate it. When pressing on the start button and the brake at the same time I always have a firm brake on the Camry. When I duplicated the proceedure on the Avalon I found that the brake pedal went soft rapidly, the more I pushed it, to the floor. My repair shop will not drive the car until something is resolved, nor will I. I will be glad to furnish anything more you may wish to know about this incident.
- Temecula, CA, USA
- Chattanooga, TN, USA