1998 Toyota Avalon problems
Owners have filed 205 complaints about the 1998 Toyota Avalon with NHTSA. Suspension accounts for 9.3% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of electrical system at 9.3%.
Complaints205
Crashes29
Fires1
Injuries29
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Suspension 9.3% · 19
Electrical system 9.3% · 19
Visibility 9.3% · 19
Equipment 8.3% · 17
Air bags 8.3% · 17
Vehicle speed control 7.8% · 16
Tires 6.8% · 14
Service brakes, hydraulic 6.3% · 13
Severity
Of those complaints, 29 describe a crash, 1 describe a fire and 29 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 17 model years of the Toyota Avalon in this data, 1998 sits 8th by complaint volume. 2006 draws the most.
Filings are rising — 9 in the last three years against 4 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 72,000 miles.
In owners' own words
The complete shutdown of the entire air circulating system including front defrost/defog, heat and air conditioning is documented in a service bulletin to Toyota dealers from Toyota, yet Toyota refuses to pay for the repair the vehicle if it is past the warranty period. Even though it creates a dangerous condition in not being able to defog or defrost the front windshield. Visibility
This system malfunction is a serious harzard. When the electronic temperature control system fails, the defroster also fails. The loss of defroster has put me in jeopardy many times during poor weather. Because I don't know when the failure will occur, and only own one car, I can't choose not to drive when the poor weather conditions occur. Visibility
Electronic climate control and dash lights/warnings cut off without notice and cannot be restarted unless ignition turned off and allowed to sit >1min, dealer cannot identify specific problem recommends trying to replace module for $1200 although that may or may not fix problem, more frequent failure in summer months Visibility
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…