2018 TOYOTA AVALON — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 25 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (4 complaints · 16.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 7
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 4
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2017 →
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 4 of 25 owner complaints (16.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 4 complaints, 16.0% of reports AIR BAGS 4 · 16.0% · 3 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 12.0% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 3 · 12.0% STEERING: 3 complaints, 12.0% of reports STEERING 3 · 12.0% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 2 complaints, 8.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 · 8.0% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 4.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 · 4.0% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 1 complaints, 4.0% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 · 4.0% FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: 1 complaints, 4.0% of reports FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 · 4.0% LANE DEPARTURE: 1 complaints, 4.0% of reports LANE DEPARTURE 1 · 4.0% SEAT BELTS: 1 complaints, 4.0% of reports SEAT BELTS 1 · 4.0% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 8 complaints, 32.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 8 · 32.0% 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 4 16.0% 3 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 3 12.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 3 12.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 8.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
LANE DEPARTURE 1 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 1 4.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 8 32.0% 0 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 2018; the first recall shown was reported in Jan 2020. 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2019-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 2018 Oct 2025 Recall campaign 20V012000 ◆ Recall campaign 20V012000 Recall campaign 20V024000 ◆ Recall campaign 20V024000 Investigation EA19001 ● Investigation EA19001 Investigation EA19001 ● Investigation EA19001 Investigation DP22005 ● Investigation DP22005
  • Campaign 20V024000 was reported 184 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 2
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2019-Q2 Owner reports 2
2019-Q3 Owner reports 3
2019-Q4 Owner reports 1
2020-Q1 Owner reports 1
2020-Q2 Owner reports 1
2020-Q3 Owner reports 2
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q1 Owner reports 1
2021-Q2 Owner reports 2
2021-Q3 Owner reports 1
2021-Q4 Owner reports 1
2022-Q4 Owner reports 2
2023-Q1 Owner reports 1
2023-Q3 Owner reports 1
2025-Q4 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 20V012000
Recall campaign 1 20V024000
Defect investigation 1 EA19001
Defect investigation 1 EA19001
Defect investigation 1 DP22005
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 20V012000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
    Remedy:
    Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump, free of charge. The recall began May 4, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 20TB02 and 20TA02 for Toyota vehicles and 20LB01 and 20LA01 for Lexus vehicles.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 20V024000

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    Consequence:
    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.
    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.
    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 25 complaints · page 1 of 1

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