2008 Toyota Avalon
Complaints about this year name headlight far more often than the other years of this generation — 26% of them, about 31× the usual rate of 0.8%.
Generation 1 of the Toyota Avalon, which began in 2005 and ran to 2012. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 349 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 53 |
| Involving a crash | 23 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- beam — 29.2% of this year's complaints, against 0.9% across the other years of this generation (33.1×). Owners wrote it as: beam, low beam, beam lights, beam headlight.
- headlight — 26.6% of this year's complaints, against 1% across the other years of this generation (27.5×). Owners wrote it as: headlight, side headlight, headlight assembly, headlight assemblies.
- high — 31.5% of this year's complaints, against 6% across the other years of this generation (5.3×). Owners wrote it as: high, high beam, high beams, both high.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- headlights — 32% of complaints, 15× usual
- high beam — 21% of complaints, 52× usual
- high — 31% of complaints, 7× usual
What owners wrote
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 [VIN] WAS NOTIFIED AND A CLAIM WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE…
THE HIGH INTENSITY HEADLIGHTS DID NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE LONG-RANGE ILLUMINATION. THE HIGH BEAM LIGHTS ALSO PROVIDED POOR ILLUMINATION. THE DEALER REPLACED THE HEAD LIGHT MODULES BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE NEWLY INSTALLED MODULES ILLUMINATION W…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V743000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V396000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 09V388000 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
- 10V035000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 10V036000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 10V017000 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Toyota Avalon was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2008 Toyota Avalon? What happened to yours?
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