RecallRadar

Home → Toyota → Avalon → 1997

1997 Toyota Avalon Recalls & Complaints

1

open safety recall on record

Serious

155 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.68 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious97V156000

Service Brakes, Hydraulic:Power Assist

THIS CAN RESULT IN THE ELIMINATION OF VACUUM ASSIST TO THE BRAKES THAT CAN INCREASE STOPPING DISTANCES AND COULD LEAD TO A VEHICLE CRASH.

Remedy & full details

DEALERS WILL INSTALL A NEW DESIGN BRAKE VACUUM HOSE.

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES ORIGINALLY SOLD OR CURRENTLY REGISTERED IN THE STATES OF ALASKA, COLORADO, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, IOWA, KANSAS, MAINE, MICHIGAN,MINNESOTA, MONTANA, NEBRASKA, NEVADA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW YORK, NOTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMONT, WISCONSIN, AND WYOMING. A CONDITION CAN OCCUR WHERE ACCUMULATED MOISTURE CAN TEMPORARILY FREEZE IN THE BRAKE VACUUM HOSE IF THE VEHICLE IS USED IN EXTREMELY COLD CLIMATES FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME.

Complaint volume

155 this model-year 8 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

17Crashes
0Fires
13Injuries
2Deaths

Across 155 complaints. Severity Index 0.68.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Steering · Rack And Pinion24 · 15%Suspension · Front · Macp…11 · 7%Suspension · Front10 · 6%Tires9 · 6%Vehicle Speed Control8 · 5%Steering · Rack And Pinio…6 · 4%Suspension6 · 4%Power Train · Automatic T…5 · 3%
  1. Steering:Rack And Pinion — 24 reports
  2. Suspension:Front:Macpherson Strut — 11 reports
  3. Suspension:Front — 10 reports
  4. Tires — 9 reports
  5. Vehicle Speed Control — 8 reports
  6. Steering:Rack And Pinion:Rack — 6 reports
  7. Suspension — 6 reports
  8. Power Train:Automatic Transmission — 5 reports
  9. Engine And Engine Cooling:Engine:Gasoline — 4 reports
  10. Steering — 4 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 (2) · 1999 (2) · 2000 (2) · 2001 (2) · 2002 (1) · 2003 (2) · 2004 (3) · 2005 (7) · 2006 (7) · 2007 (6) · 2008 (6) · 2009 (7) · 2010 (7) · 2011 (1) · 2012 (4) · 2013 (4) · 2014 (4) · 2015 (2) · 2016 (3) · 2017 (2) · 2018 (2) · 2019 (4) · 2020 (3) · 2021 (2) · 2022

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.

From the same data desk

Independent sites, same maintainer, same open-data standards.

TireFit
Is that tyre actually right for your car?
2,808 fitment guides
FuelFacts
What that trip really costs in fuel
Live consumption data
CostCompare
What things cost, city by city
2,123 comparisons