2003 TOYOTA AVALON — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 289 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (165 complaints · 57.1%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 49
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 28
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 2002 →
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 AIR BAGS appears in 165 of 289 owner complaints (57.1%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 165 complaints, 57.1% of reports AIR BAGS 165 · 57.1% · 9 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 43 complaints, 14.9% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 43 · 14.9% · 32 crash reports STEERING: 13 complaints, 4.5% of reports STEERING 13 · 4.5% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 12 complaints, 4.2% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12 · 4.2% SERVICE BRAKES: 11 complaints, 3.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 11 · 3.8% · 3 crash reports ENGINE: 9 complaints, 3.1% of reports ENGINE 9 · 3.1% · 2 crash reports 1 fire reports SUSPENSION: 8 complaints, 2.8% of reports SUSPENSION 8 · 2.8% POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 1.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 1.7% SEAT BELTS: 5 complaints, 1.7% of reports SEAT BELTS 5 · 1.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 36 complaints, 12.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 36 · 12.5% · 10 crash reports 1 fire 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)
AIR BAGS 165 57.1% 9 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 43 14.9% 32 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 13 4.5% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12 4.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 11 3.8% 3 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 9 3.1% 2 crashes · 1 fires
SUSPENSION 8 2.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 1.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 5 1.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 36 12.5% 10 crashes · 1 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 Oct 2002; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 2010. 2002-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q1: 19 owner reports 19 2010-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2010-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2011-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2014-Q3: 16 owner reports 16 2014-Q4: 23 owner reports 23 2015-Q1: 16 owner reports 16 2015-Q2: 21 owner reports 21 2015-Q3: 19 owner reports 19 2015-Q4: 31 owner reports 31 2016-Q1: 31 owner reports 31 2016-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2016-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 2002 Apr 2026 Recall campaign 10V345000 ◆ Recall campaign 10V345000 Recall campaign 15V043000 ◆ Recall campaign 15V043000
  • Campaign 15V043000 was reported 4,086 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2002-Q4 Owner reports 2
2003-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 8
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 4
2004-Q4 Owner reports 2
2005-Q1 Owner reports 3
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q2 Owner reports 2
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 2
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 2
2010-Q1 Owner reports 19
2010-Q2 Owner reports 2
2010-Q3 Owner reports 6
2010-Q4 Owner reports 3
2011-Q1 Owner reports 3
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q3 Owner reports 4
2011-Q4 Owner reports 2
2012-Q1 Owner reports 1
2012-Q2 Owner reports 1
2012-Q3 Owner reports 2
2012-Q4 Owner reports 4
2013-Q1 Owner reports 4
2013-Q2 Owner reports 3
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 2
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 7
2014-Q3 Owner reports 16
2014-Q4 Owner reports 23
2015-Q1 Owner reports 16
2015-Q2 Owner reports 21
2015-Q3 Owner reports 19
2015-Q4 Owner reports 31
2016-Q1 Owner reports 31
2016-Q2 Owner reports 8
2016-Q3 Owner reports 2
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q2 Owner reports 2
2017-Q3 Owner reports 2
2018-Q1 Owner reports 2
2018-Q2 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2019-Q1 Owner reports 2
2019-Q2 Owner reports 1
2021-Q2 Owner reports 2
2023-Q1 Owner reports 1
2023-Q2 Owner reports 1
2026-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 10V345000
Recall campaign 1 15V043000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 10V345000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    SHOULD THE STEERING LOCK BAR BREAK, THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD LOCK AND THE DRIVER WOULD LOSE THE ABILITY TO STEER THE VEHICLE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STEERING INTERLOCK DEVICE FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 15V043000

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    Consequence:
    Inadvertent deployment of the air bags or the seat belt pretensioners increases the risk of an injury or crash.
    Remedy:
    Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the air bag control module, free of charge. The recall began on August 24, 2015. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. GM issued an interim notification to owners on March 27, 2015. The recall began on August 24, 2015. Pontiac owners may call 1-800-620-7668. Note: This recall supersedes recalls 13V-029 and 14V-147. Vehicles that had a noise filter installed as the remedy for one of those campaigns need to have the air bag control module replaced under this campaign.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
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 289 complaints · page 1 of 12

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