| 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
New car ... currently has 5,931 miles ... purchased four months ago, Aug 2017.
We have owned Avalons since 2003 ... with zero problems. Everything has worked, nothing to fix.
The 2018 Avalon Limited is the opposite.
Problems were reported to the dealer in Aug, withing a couple of days after the car was purchased.
Issues by Category:
Cruise Control
1. "Set" the cruise control to 35 mph (freeway construction zone).
Accelerate (with the foot accelerator) to 70 mph after the construction zone (do not change the cruise control while accelerating).
Set the cruise control.
The car hits the brakes and slows to 35 mph. This could lead to multiple rear end collisions.
2. "Set" the cruise control to 55 mph.
When traveling down a gradual slope ... the car brakes for a second ... then accelerates for a second ... then brakes for a second ... then accelerates for a second.
The transmission shifts through three gears, up and down and up and down (per a service tech who monitored with his computer) ... over a distance of less than a quarter mile.
The steepness of the slope may modify the times.
It may be an engineering achievement to maintain 1 mph precision, but it kills gas mileage.
3. On a recent 1,000 mile trip, the cruise control stopped working.
There was a warning light with a message that the cruise control is "not available".
The next day the cruise control started working again.
4. On the same trip, the tach jumped to 3,000 rpm at 70 mph.
Canceling the cruise control, and restarting cruise control, did not make a difference.
A few hours later it was back at 2,000 rpm. Also kills gas mileage.
--------------------------------------------------
Dashboard
5. The gas gauge light is dim. Can barely see during the day.
6. The A/C On / Off light ... Auto light ... cruise control ... etc. ... are dim. Can barely see during the day.
7. There are no knobs (only touch screen buttons) to change the heater / air conditioner. The driver must take eyes off of the road to adjust the temperature.
8. Must take off gloves to change the heater / air conditioner.
--------------------------------------------------
Fog Lights
9. There are no fog lights.
--------------------------------------------------
Warnings
10. a) The door is opened, the engine is running, there is no warning sound.
b) The door is opened, then the engine is shut off, there is a warning sound.
Normally a warning sound indicates something else is wrong. In this case, there is nothing wrong.
--------------------------------------------------
Headlights
11. The headlights, in the auto mode, jump from high beam to low beam every few seconds ... even when it is midnight ... and there are no other cars on the road.
I suspect it is the reflectors on the side of the road.
--------------------------------------------------
Misc
12. The passenger side rear seat door speaker has a distorted sound ... the dealer plans to replace.
13. The key fob does not always work to open the trunk.
14. Only two cup holders.
15. Too much bass on AM radio ... difficult to understand people speaking (unlike our Honda).
Minimizing the bass does not help.
16. One night, the car was making a noise, similar to an electric razor, but much softer.
When we started the car to back it out of the garage, the noise was muffled by the engine. When we stopped the car, the sound was gone.
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
Most of these problems, listed above, also exist on an a second 2018 Avalon Limited ... was tested with a service manager.
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
Too many electrical problems for a brand new 2018 Toyota. Hopefully they can just find a bad connection as with the heavy electronics today they just lemon law it and offer you to trade for something else.
| 0 |
This is very unusual. The auto high beams work surprisingly well on my Toyota. For the high beams to turn on automatically, you have to be above 25 mph and not have any tailights or headlights ahead of you. The car also notices stoplights and if cars are at an intersection and will sometimes turn off the high beams in this situation.
The Avalon Hybrid does sort of sound like a quiet razor every 10 seconds when you have the A/C on.
There are two cupholders in the back seat too, with two more in the back door pockets.
For the cruise control problems, remember that you have adaptive cruise control. Like in every car, you have to keep the sensors clean and free from snow or dirt for them to work properly. The sensors are behind the rearview mirror and inside the front Toyota badge. While going down a long hill, Adaptive Cruise Control does use engine braking to keep the car at a constant speed. This reduces wear and tear on the brakes and keeps the car from riding the brakes. Your brakes would be toast if you constantly rode your brakes down a hill often.
AM Radio doesn't sound good ever. Hondas have tinny sound systems in my experience. In every car except our Hondas, AM radio is extra bassy and hard to listen to.
Make sure the instument panel light setting is turned to high.
| 2 |
Always amazes me when someone advises an owner they're wrong, Lectrofuel. bhs67's had Avalons for fifteen years, and the new one is a dud. Believe him. His new Avalon is a nightmare.
What possible use is it to tell him there's four extra cup holders in the rear? How long do you think his arms are? And I bet his old car had them there too. His old AM radio worked fine too, obviously. What possible use is it to advise him of the foibles of AM radio? I mean, really, what does that have to do with anything at all relevant?
As for keeping all the sensors clear, Toyota should have accomodated that in the design, not relying on owners to constantly wipe them clean. I mean, are we soon about to be inflicted with autonomous cars stopped all over the place with grimy sensors? Toyota bears the blame for incomplete design. Purely and simply.
| 2 |
wmba, what do expect from a Toyota fanboy? The in-laws had their 2002 Avalon until it rotted the frame out and was unsafe last year. They looked at replacing it it wanted AWD and a CUV so they went with Buick Encore AWD.
| 1 |
