Model year record

2012 Toyota Avalon

4 recall campaigns on file for this model year. 35 owner complaints on file.

Recalls

Recall campaignNHTSA 20V024000

Air bags: air bag/restraint control module

Component
Air bags: air bag/restraint control module
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Vehicles affected
2,891,976
Reported to NHTSA
2020-01-17
Owners notified
2020-03-16

Defect description

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.

Safety 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.

Manufacturer remedy

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.

Recall campaignNHTSA 18V569000

Seat belts

Component
Seat belts
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Vehicles affected
19,354
Reported to NHTSA
2018-08-29
Owners notified
2018-09-19

Defect description

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.

Safety 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.

Manufacturer remedy

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.

Recall campaignNHTSA 15V047000

Electrical system

Component
Electrical system
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Vehicles affected
51,495
Reported to NHTSA
2015-01-28
Owners notified
2015-07-01

Defect description

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.

Safety risk

A constant electrical current flow may cause the sub-woofer to overheat, increasing the risk of fire.

Manufacturer remedy

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.

Recall campaignNHTSA 13V442000

Equipment: appliance: air conditioner

Component
Equipment: appliance: air conditioner
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Vehicles affected
802,769
Reported to NHTSA
2013-10-17
Owners notified
2014-02-05

Defect description

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.

Safety 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.

Manufacturer remedy

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.

Owner complaints

A complaint is one person's report to a federal agency. It is not a finding.

ComponentComplaintsMedian mileage
Air bags642,200 mi
Structure: body515,000 mi
Electrical system4
Vehicle speed control415,000 mi
Service brakes328,899 mi
Visibility/wiper317,500 mi
Unknown or other240,000 mi
Electronic stability control (ESC)142,200 mi
Engine137,000 mi
Power train1
Seat belts171,000 mi
Seats133,000 mi
Structure: interior panels: dashboard150,000 mi
Suspension116,000 mi
Visibility: sun/moon roof assembly160,000 mi

The 2011 model has about a quarter as many complaints as this one. The 2013 model has about a fifth as many complaints as this one. These figures reflect raw complaint counts, not failure rates. Higher-selling model years naturally receive more complaints.

Safety recall repairs are provided free of charge by franchised dealers, regardless of vehicle age or mileage. This page displays aggregated data for the model year. To check recall status for a specific vehicle, search its VIN at nhtsa.gov.