7.8% of complaints about the 1998 Toyota Avalon came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 1998 vehicle — around the middle of the 180 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 4.8 yr in service. The most-reported system is air bags (17 complaints), typically at 2.4 yr or about 50,000 miles.
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, MINI VANS AND PASSENGER VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A THEFT DETERRENT SYSTEMS (TDS) SUPPLIED BY AUDIOVOX CORPORATION AND DISTRIBUTED BY SOUTHEAST TOYOTA DISTRIBUTORS, INC. IN THE STATES OF ALABAMA, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. THE ALARM WIRING HARNESS PLUGS INTO THE VEHICLE'S IGNITION SWITCH AND THE VEHICLE'S IGNITION SWITCH WIRING HARNESS PLUGS INTO THE ALARM HARNESS TO COMPLETE THE CIRCUIT. A PERCENTAGE OF THE FEMALE TERMINALS USED IN THE ALARM CONNECTOR WERE FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE, CAUSING AN 'OPEN CIRCUIT' CONDITION WHEN MATED TO T
THIS CONDITION CAN CAUSE INTERMITTENT PERFORMANCE OF THE VEHICLE'S ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS SUCH AS THE DASH WARNING LIGHTS AND/OR HVAC FAN SPEED CONTROLS. ALSO, THE VEHICLE MAY NOT RUN SMOOTHLY AND COULD STALL.
EQUIPMENT DESCRIPTION: AFTERMARKET THEFT DETERRENT SYSTEMS USED ON 1998-1998 TOYOTA RAV4, AVALON, AND SIENNA MODEL VEHICLES DISTRIBUTED BY SOUTHEAST TOYOTA DISTRIBUTORS, INC. IN THE STATES OF ALABAMA, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. THE ALARM WIRING HARNESS PLUGS INTO THE VEHICLE'S IGNITION SWITCH AND THE VEHICLE'S IGNITION SWITCH WIRING HARNESS PLUGS INTO THE ALARM HARNESS TO COMPLETE THE CIRCUIT. A PERCENTAGE OF THE FEMALE TERMINALS USED IN THE ALARM CONNECTOR WERE FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE, CAUSING AN "OPEN CIRCUIT" CONDITION WHEN MATED TO THE MALE IGNITION SWITCH TERMINALS.
THIS CONDITION CAN CAUSE INTERMITTENT PERFORMANCE OF THE VEHICLE'S ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS SUCH AS THE DASH WARNING LIGHTS AND/OR HVAC FAN SPEED CONTROLS. ALSO, THE VEHICLE MAY NOT RUN SMOOTHLY AND COULD STALL.
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
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.*AK
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.
CONSUMER WAS GOING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION THEN WAS HIT ON THE LEFT FRONT CORNER OF THE VEHICLE. NO AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. POLICE WAS CALLED. CONSUMER WAS INJURED. *AK