1996 TOYOTA AVALON — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 107 complaints · 0 recalls

Verdict & Safety Summary

Most-reported system: ENGINE (19 complaints · 17.8%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 10
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 10
  • Deaths 1
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 19 of 107 owner complaints (17.8%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 19 complaints, 17.8% of reports ENGINE 19 · 17.8% VISIBILITY: 12 complaints, 11.2% of reports VISIBILITY 12 · 11.2% SERVICE BRAKES: 10 complaints, 9.4% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 10 · 9.4% STEERING: 10 complaints, 9.4% of reports STEERING 10 · 9.4% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 9 complaints, 8.4% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 · 8.4% · 5 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 7 complaints, 6.5% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 · 6.5% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 7 complaints, 6.5% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 7 · 6.5% TIRES: 5 complaints, 4.7% of reports TIRES 5 · 4.7% AIR BAGS: 4 complaints, 3.7% of reports AIR BAGS 4 · 3.7% · 4 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 74 complaints, 69.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 74 · 69.2% · 4 crash reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 19 17.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 12 11.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 10 9.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 10 9.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 8.4% 5 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 6.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 7 6.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 5 4.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 4 3.7% 4 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 74 69.2% 4 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1996. 1996-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 1997-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1997-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1999-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1996 Jul 2014 Investigation PE97018 ● Investigation PE97018 Investigation EA97015 ● Investigation EA97015 Investigation DP02004 ● Investigation DP02004
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q1 Owner reports 1
1996-Q2 Owner reports 4
1996-Q3 Owner reports 1
1996-Q4 Owner reports 5
1997-Q1 Owner reports 14
1997-Q2 Owner reports 5
1997-Q3 Owner reports 9
1997-Q4 Owner reports 8
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 4
1998-Q4 Owner reports 1
1999-Q1 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 5
1999-Q4 Owner reports 3
2000-Q1 Owner reports 3
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 4
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 3
2003-Q1 Owner reports 3
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 2
2004-Q1 Owner reports 5
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2012-Q1 Owner reports 1
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q1 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE97018
Defect investigation 1 EA97015
Defect investigation 1 DP02004
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 107 complaints · page 1 of 5

No complaints match the current filters.

EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources