KnownCarProblems2012 Toyota Avalon Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 30 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Toyota Avalon, most often about the body and structure (20% of complaints, typically around 17,000 miles). It is 17th of 23 Avalon model years by number of complaints and has 4 recalls.
Most common 2012 Toyota Avalon problems
Body and structure
6 complaints · 20%Half of these problems showed up before 17,000 miles. Parts named most often: body, interior panels.
The trunk lid falls down even if lifted to highest point. Lid is not sufficiently counterbalanced. If on a slight incline with the nose up, the lid will not open. Dealer tells me (on two separate occasions) that it is operating as designed. Yeah, right, designed to fall on my head. Dealer refuses to do anything since…
The trunk lid is not sufficiently counterbalanced and falls closed even when raised to its upper limit. Sometimes the lid will not open from the inside switch; it unlocks, but does not open (3 failures). This failed at the dealership. The lid fell closed, numerous times, minor injury to my head (1 time). Toyota tells…
Air bags
6 complaints · 20%Half of these problems showed up before 56,000 miles.
The car would not respond to the remote, so I had to use the key to get access, then I was able to lock and unlock doors and turn on ignition.I turned ignition on and saw display flash various icons after car was started. As I was driving the dash icons flashed again. The car did not stop, so I continued driving.
My vehicles airbags did not deploy I was hit by an 18 wheeler at a high rate of speed. The vehicle had at least 2 rear end hits by this 18 wheeler estimated at a speed in excess of 25 miles per hour faster than mine (I was going at 70mph northbound on US 75, nine miles south of tulsa oklahoma on a sunny monday at…
Speed control
4 complaints · 13%2nd complaint (first complaint - #10522765) - on july 2, 2013, around 5:20 p.m., my fourth incident of brake failure occurred. I was going about 5 miles and applied brakes. Brakes failed and engine sounded like it was racing. I crashed into a the rear of a sedan which was stopped. No injuries were sustained. We were…
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, another vehicle crashed into the rear of the contact's vehicle, causing the contact to crash into another vehicle. The contact stated that after the crash, the vehicle accelerated while the brake pedal was being depressed. The…
Electrical
4 complaints · 13%Visibility and wipers
4 complaints · 13%Parts named most often: sun/moon roof assembly.
Rear deck sunscreen activates and comes up without operator activating it. And it will not go back down without manual assistance. With assistance when it does go down there is a loud grinding noise and then it will come back up. To correct this situation requires replacement of complete assembly. (dealer quoted…
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Avalon. Upon entering the vehicle, the contact noticed excessive water on the passenger side seat and carpet. The contact also stated that there was a mold odor in the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to freedom Toyota of harrisburg (6060 allentown blvd, harrisburg, pa 17112) where it was…
Brakes
3 complaints · 10%Purchased used certified-used Avalon with 28.3k miles on june 8. On june 15, the first incident occurred from parking lot to stop sign. Applied brakes and no response. Avalon sped up and had to turn the car to avoid accident. Applied brakes again and was able to stop the car. Continued home and no problems. On june…
2nd complaint (first complaint - #10522765) - on july 2, 2013, around 5:20 p.m., my fourth incident of brake failure occurred. I was going about 5 miles and applied brakes. Brakes failed and engine sounded like it was racing. I crashed into a the rear of a sedan which was stopped. No injuries were sustained. We were…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2012 Toyota Avalon recalls
Air bags: air bag/restraint control module
Risk: In the event of a crash, air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners that do not deploy as intended may increase the risk of injury.
Fix: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ecu and install a noise filter between the air bag control module and its wire harness, as necessary, free of charge. Owners were notified of the safety risk beginning march 2, 2020. A second letter notifying owners of the remedy repair will be mailed between march 16, 2020 and june 27, 2020. Owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 20tb03, 20ta03 and 20ta05.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2011-2019 corolla, 2011-2013 matrix, 2012-2018 avalon, and 2013-2018 avalon hybrid vehicles. During certain crashes, the air bag electronic control unit (ecu) may malfunction, possibly disabling the deployment of the air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners.
Seat belts
Risk: If the seat belt is falsely interpreted as being buckled, in the event of a crash, the air bags may not deploy appropriately, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will test the seat belt assembly to verify that it is properly detecting being unbuckled, replacing the inner seat belt assembly as necessary, free of charge. The recall began september 19, 2018. Owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's number for this recall is j0s.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2012 toyota avalon vehicles. During a vehicle repair, the seat belt inner buckles may have been replaced with parts that may incorrectly tell the air bag management system that the seat belt is always buckled.
Electrical: electrical system
Risk: A constant electrical current flow may cause the sub-woofer to overheat, increasing the risk of fire.
Fix: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the audio system amplifier and install a protective cover around the sub-woofer, free of charge. The recall began on july 1,2015. Owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 toyota avalon vehicles manufactured february 9, 2010, to october 22, 2012. In the affected vehicles, the sub-woofer speaker located in the trunk may experience an intermittent electrical short which may cause damage to the integrated circuit (ic) in the audio amplifier. In some cases, the damaged ic may allow a constant electrical current flow to the sub-woofer.
Equipment: air conditioner
Risk: A short circuit may cause the air bags to become disabled or inadvertently deploy. An inadvertent airbag deployment can increase the risk of injury or the possibility of a crash. An inoperative airbag can increase the risk of injury in a severe crash. The power steering assist could also become inoperable resulting in increased steering effort and can increase the risk of a crash at low speeds.
Fix: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will seal the air conditioning condenser unit housing and install a protective cover on the airbag control module, free of charge. The recall began on february 5, 2014. Owners may contact toyota at 1-800-331-4331.
Full defect summary
Toyota is recalling certain model year 2012-2013 avalon, avalon hv, venza, camry, and camry hv vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the drain hose for the air conditioning condenser may become clogged causing water to accumulate at the bottom of the air conditioning condenser unit housing. The accumulated water may then leak through a seam in the housing onto the air bag control module potentially resulting in a short circuit of the module.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Electrical overstress
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect.â during the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (acu) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) electronic control unit (ecu) manufactured by zf-trw. â the ecu receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with m
Questions about the 2012 Toyota Avalon
- What are the most common problems with the 2012 Toyota Avalon?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: body and structure (6 complaints, typically around 17,000 miles); air bags (6 complaints, typically around 56,000 miles); speed control (4 complaints).
- How many recalls does the 2012 Toyota Avalon have?
- 4 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from January 17, 2020 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2012 a bad year for the Toyota Avalon?
- It is 17th of 23 Avalon model years by number of complaints, with 30 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.