6.0
fairly significant- Typical Repair Cost:
- $20
- Average Mileage:
- 35,650 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 4 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (2 reports)
- possibly a cabin filter (2 reports)
Basically, if you leave your AC on inside air, this will become a problem. There are reports on numerous sites on the internet. I replace the filter with one with carbon in it (to take away the smell). I am religious at leaving the vent to the outside air position. This seems to help. Apparently the moisture builds up somewhere in the AC system and then it stinks. A very annoying problem that should be addressed by Toyota.
- djhiggins, Rexburg, ID, US
Turning on the A/C causes a bad smell to fill the car. After a while it clears out. Shutting off A/C and just running air causes a bad smell to fill the car but seems to clear or I get used to it....
- justinp973, Olympia, WA, US
When I have the air conditioner on low, during the start up, it smells gross. I took it to the dealer and they put some sort of expensive treatment in to make it smell nice, but it came back again shortly after. They said that all I could do is keep bringing it back in during my warranty and they would keep treating it for free, but I later found out that even though I spent 14 grand on the car, they never included a cabin filter. I'd buy one but they cost like 50 bucks and I hate dropping any money when they should have put one in there in the first place. I'll call and see if they changed their minds yet. Again, this is not a serious problem, I just hate smelling ass when I turn on my A/C.
- Ahren R., Pasco, WA, US
HVAC system stinks of mold. Running any air causes us to have a bad cough for months afterward. We can't run heat in the winter, ac in the summer, dehumidifier when the windows fog up... it really sucks. A local shop quoted $1,500 to take the whole system apart to steam clean it. We have brought it to a detailer who ran a cleaning mist through the system, but that didn't fix it. I have seen vids on youtube of people unclogging the condensation drip tube and letting a ton of water out and this fixing their problem. I tried it but no water came out. Don't know what else to do, except suffer through it.
- kevinoman0221, Santa Rosa, CA, US