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2005-2007 Toyota Avalon

14955 messages,  Last post on Mar 20, 2013 at 3:36 PM

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What is this discussion about? Toyota Avalon, Sedan

    

Messages Page 550 of 1496

#5487 of 14955 Re: To hesitate or not hesitate [motownusa] by future1

May 09, 2005 (9:02 pm)

Replying to: motownusa (May 09, 2005 6:03 pm)
"The fact is the overwhelming majority of Toyota/Lexus owners are very happy with their cars."
 
Well, I am a 2005 ES330 owner, and I am happy, as long as I am not accelerating from a stop.
 
Incidentally, Toyota recently released a new Technical Service Bulletin that addresses transmission hesitation issues in 2004-2005 Lexus ES330 (which uses the same-coded transmission as 2005 Avalon). I would not be surprised if this TSB will make it soon to Toyota's dealerships as well.
 
The improvements include (I am quoting from the TSB):
-- Reduced downshift lag when accelerating at speeds from 10 to 20 mph
-- Less gear hunting when driving on/off accelerator pedal at 20 to 30 mph
(for example: during heavy rush–hour traffic)
-- Improved response rate during heavy acceleration from a stop
 
"author never mentions the car actually hesitates when the gas pedal is pushed."
 
Ok, here is what he (the author of the Avalon's Review in USA Today says:
 
"A sometimes-indecisive transmission is the one mechanical hiccup noticed during the test drives. In stop-and-go traffic or cruising at walking speed looking for an address or street sign, the transmission can't settle on a gear. Little jerks and shudders come through as the transmission hunts for the right ratio. Disappointing in such a well-done car."
 

#5488 of 14955 Re: To hesitate or not hesitate [motownusa] by star51

May 09, 2005 (9:13 pm)

Replying to: motownusa (May 09, 2005 6:03 pm)
Motown, although you consider mentioning the hesitation problem to be "anti Toyota diatribe", when a Toyota/Lexus driver finds that his car hesitates as he, for example, tries to merge into interstate traffic flow from an on ramp and shockingly discovers that the car hesitates and then lurches forward, it is hardly diatribe but a bad accident about to happen.
 
Toyota is well aware of the problem, having already published a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) to correct the problem on the Lexus, and is expected to soon do the same for the Avalon. You can read the TSB here: link title

#5489 of 14955 Re: To hesitate or not hesitate [future1] by motownusa

May 09, 2005 (9:39 pm)

Replying to: future1 (May 09, 2005 9:02 pm)
Wow of the dozens of reviews on the new Avalon, the detractors seems to be fixated on one lonely review that mildly criticized the Avalon. The fact is if you are constantly varying speed between 5 and 25 mph or whatever you are going get gear hunting. All the naysayers seems to claim how "dangerous" the transmission is but cannot produce evidence of a single accident. Common sense dictates that with so many "defective" cars out there, there would have been couple of hundred accidents by now. And why are you posting Lexus TSB on an Avalon board ? The Avalon doesn't share the same powertrain with the ES so it is premature to think the TSB will apply to the 05 Avalon

#5490 of 14955 Re: Rust spots on garage floor [ange] by chipmunk47

May 10, 2005 (4:44 am)

Replying to: ange (May 09, 2005 7:08 pm)
Thanks for the information about the rust. It was not me that had the spots on the garage floor though. I noticed the rust at the end of the tail pipe.

#5491 of 14955 Re: Parking Sensors - Help havalongavalo-Johni [dan41] by jl618

May 10, 2005 (5:43 am)

Replying to: dan41 (May 03, 2005 4:49 am)
We also have a Blizzard Pearl and will be interested in your installation of the Awell system.

#5492 of 14955 Re: Wish someone could tell me what is wrong... [avalonkitten] by scoti1

May 10, 2005 (5:48 am)

Replying to: avalonkitten (May 09, 2005 12:58 pm)
Thank you for your description of your problem. In one of the articles about the hesitation problem, it was noted that NHTSA was considering opening an investigation. There was a hotline number listed for reporting the problem: 1-888-327-4236. You may want to call in addition to placing your written complaint.

#5493 of 14955 Re: To hesitate or not hesitate [motownusa] by star51

May 10, 2005 (5:51 am)

Replying to: motownusa (May 09, 2005 9:39 pm)
Motown, not to prolong this debate, but it doesn't seem as if anyone is "fixated on one lonely review". Rather, the hesitation problem would appear to be a topic of great concern to a sizeable number of people who have posted about it in this forum. Just do a Search on "hesitation" and you'll get the idea. Then you have to think about the untold number of Avalon owners who have not posted about the problem on this forum because they don't even know the forum exists, in fact, may not even know that the Edmunds website exists.
 
I think that sticking one's head in the sand and being in a state of denial about the problem (on an otherwise fine car) is simply not accepting reality.

#5494 of 14955 Re: To hesitate or not hesitate [star51] by motownusa

May 10, 2005 (6:35 am)

Replying to: star51 (May 10, 2005 5:51 am)
I have no intention of prolonging this debate. I just wanted to set the fact straight. The fact is the overwhelming majority of Camry, Avalon, ES, and RX owners ( including me ) are happy with our car. There are some people who are dissatisfied with their car but they are a small minority. If the Toyotas and Lexus were as "bad" as you described their would have been a national outcry by now with Congress demanding an investigation like the one with Ford and Firestone. Nobody is burying their head in the sand. If people were as dissatisfied as you claim Toyota wouldn't be able to do so well in the US.

#5495 of 14955 Re: To hesitate or not hesitate [motownusa] by mackabee

May 10, 2005 (7:36 am)

Replying to: motownusa (May 10, 2005 6:35 am)
This "hesitation problem" seems to me to be more a case of bad driving and buyer's remorse more than anything else. I can't believe TMS would go as far as changing the whole program of the transmission to appease a few complaints.
                                  
                           Mackabee

#5496 of 14955 by scoti1

May 10, 2005 (8:39 am)

There are a couple of things I want to set straight on this hesitation issue:
 
1. Some people are experiencing hesitation some are not. Any statement regarding the numbers affected, be it a large or small number, is purely speculation.
2. Just because your car does not hesitate does not mean that the problem is non-existent.
3. Some of those experiencing hesitation find it unacceptable and potentially dangerous.
4. Toyota has acknowledged that a problem exists (see the ES300/330 TSB and spokesperson comments in Pittsburgh Post Gazette articles).
5. Toyota is working on a repair (see Post Gazette article regarding software upgrade). There have also been reports of new hardware (solenoid) to remedy the problem (see bkinblk’s posts in Engine Hesitation and post 1496 in Sienna 2004+ Problems and Solutions board).

Messages Page 550 of 1496

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