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Avalon Reliabilty

6 messages,  Last post on Sep 07, 2009 at 10:50 AM

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#1 of 6 Sr. Citizen's Questions On Avalon Reliabilty, etc., Please by bobr14 Aug 21, 2008 (10:09 am)
Hello,   Am in my 70's now, and imagine this will probably be my last car. Thinking of a new 2009 Avalon, but have a few questions, please:   My number one requirement, by far, is reliability. It would be very hard and inconvenient for me now to spend the better part of a day in a service dept waiting for repairs.   The Avalon seems to have a great reliability record, but am a bit concerned about what I have read in several newsgroups and forums re the transmission. Have heard, and have read in a few places that the 2008 models had something called or referred to as a hesitation when accelerating. Was blamed, on a transmission fault, apparently.   None of what I read was very clear on exactly what was happening, but several posters were really annoyed that apparently when they pressed on the gas to "go," there was a momentary, or longer, hesitation before anything actually happened.   Can anyone discuss this a bit more, please ?   Was, or is it, a "real problem ?   Corrected on the late 2008 and hopefully on the 2009's do you think ?   Any other comments or opinions on items I should possibly be concerned about, or the car in general, would be most appreciated. e.g., would you buy another one, what don't you like about it, etc. ?   Much thanks; appreciate it, Bob Replies to this message: tfelton (Aug 21, 2008 11:48 am) rpfingsten (Aug 22, 2008 1:55 am) amauhry (Aug 22, 2008 8:14 am)
#2 of 6 Re: Sr. Citizen's Questions On Avalon Reliabilty, etc., Please [bobr14] by tfelton Aug 21, 2008 (11:48 am)
Replying to: bobr14 (Aug 21, 2008 10:09 am) I'm in my 70s also and bought an '08 Avalon Ltd. in February and now have about 9,000 miles on it. My other Toyota is a '98 Sienna with about 210,000 miles on it. That van has been extremely reliable, however, I have kept up with maintenance. My feeling is that in a forum like this you are more likely to overwhelmingly hear about problems rather than the good points. With my Avalon I'm very happy with the overall car, the handling, ride, electronic gadgets, etc. The transmission (6 speed) is precise and the car does what I want it to do. Not many cars can match it leaving a red light. I understand the '09 is not much different from the '08. The Avalon is exactly what I wanted: a Turnpike Cruiser.   Ted
#3 of 6 Avalon Reliability, etc. by popsavalon Aug 21, 2008 (2:11 pm)
I bought an 07 Avalon in Nov. of 2006. Early on, there was a slight hesitation in the transmission shift at various low speeds. I took it to the dealer and asked for the TSB reprogramming fix that had been mentioned on this board. It took about 20 min. and the car has been fine since. Toyota did have an issue with the 5 speed that I have, but I am not sure about the new 6 speeds in the 08 and 09 models. I would assume that if there is a problem, Toyota could fix it as easily as my problem was corrected.   I have 16000 miles on the car, and it fits my needs perfectly. Very comfortable, lots of room, plenty of power, and an honest 30+ MPG on the road. Service and maint. is performed per the manual, and the vehicle has been trouble free to date.   I, too, am in my early 70's and I would recommend the Avalon to anyone who appreciates quality and comfort.
#4 of 6 Re: Sr. Citizen's Questions On Avalon Reliabilty, etc., Please [bobr14] by rpfingsten Aug 22, 2008 (1:55 am)
Replying to: bobr14 (Aug 21, 2008 10:09 am) Bobr14        Hi Bob.. let me chime in with my 2 cents worth here. Like someone else stated, there is alot of good information that comes off this board, but in some cases there seems to be some nit-picking. I'm 53 and I have never... never had a car that was "perfect". I bought my 07 Avalon 2 years ago, it was my first Toyota, and based on my limited experience, it will definetly NOT be my last. I love my Avy.. and I've owned everything from Corvairs (sp) to Cadillacs. The Avalon gives me plenty of room and comfort, very good gas mileage for a car with this kind of performance and so far... very reliable. I have had only one issue with mine, and that was a rattle in the sunroof during cold weather. And I think the dealership fixed that, won't know for sure until next winter. Other than that, I would recommend this car to anyone in the market. Good luck with your decision. oh, just one more thing, I don't have it on my car, but from what I've read, you may want to avoid getting one with navigation. Most of the comments I've read on this board about that are negative. But hey, I'm sure in all your years of traveling, you've been able to find your way around without some high tech gadget telling you where to turn. I know I have.   Roland
#5 of 6 Re: Sr. Citizen's Questions On Avalon Reliabilty, etc., Please [bobr14] by amauhry Aug 22, 2008 (8:14 am)
Replying to: bobr14 (Aug 21, 2008 10:09 am) Bob, I’m in my upper 40’s and the avy's been with me since last September. 9K miles later and no major issues to talk about. I’ve been affected, though, with the ‘subtle” rattling of some dashboard/console components. I’ve fixed those myself. Vehicle’s response to sudden acceleration is excellent. Shifting points are very smooth and MPG is also excellent (maximum 35 mpg of highway driving in my case).   Most electronic gadgets on board satisfy me, including the sound system (my rack system at home is mostly McIntosh). The exception here is the voice recognition software; it doesn’t understand a thing of what I say. The GPS is not intended for everyone (Toyota is at fault here for not double-checking on Denso). The system works great and is very accurate; I’m in love with it but the absence of a comprehensive manual makes it useless to many drivers.   Amaury '08 Limited
#6 of 6 Sunroof Rattle by azwooly Sep 07, 2009 (10:50 am)
Bobr14 - if the dealer followed the service bulletin, your roof is fixed. My 2006 had a rattling sunroof, and Toyota Dealer was unaware. Lexus Dealer was, since they had to repair many. Since Avalon is on a Lexus chassis, dealer had to have district svc mgr look at the car, and inform the Dealer of the TSB and how to repair the roof. 45,000 miles later it's not an issue.

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