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2012 Toyota Avalon Recalls & Complaints

4

open safety recalls on record

Critical

35 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 1.74 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Critical15V047000

Electrical System

constant electrical current flow may cause the sub-woofer to overheat, raises the risk of fire.

Remedy & full details

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the audio system amplifier and install a protective cover around the sub-woofer, free of charge. The recall began on July 1,2015. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Toyota Avalon vehicles manufactured February 9, 2010, to October 22, 2012. In the affected vehicles, the sub-woofer speaker located in the trunk may experience an intermittent electrical short which may cause damage to the integrated circuit (IC) in the audio amplifier. In some cases, the damaged IC may allow a constant electrical current flow to the sub-woofer.

Serious18V569000

Air Bags

If the seat belt is falsely interpreted as being buckled, in the event of a crash, the air bags may not deploy appropriately, raises the risk of injury.

Remedy & full details

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will test the seat belt assembly to verify that it is properly detecting being unbuckled, replacing the inner seat belt assembly as necessary, free of charge. The recall began September 19, 2018. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's number for this recall is J0S.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2012 Toyota Avalon vehicles. During a vehicle repair, the seat belt inner buckles may have been replaced with parts that may incorrectly tell the air bag management system that the seat belt is always buckled.

Serious13V442000

Electrical System

short circuit may cause the air bags to become disabled or inadvertently deploy.

Remedy & full details

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will seal the air conditioning condenser unit housing and install a protective cover on the airbag control module, free of charge. The recall began on February 5, 2014. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

Toyota is recalling certain model year 2012-2013 Avalon, Avalon HV, Venza, Camry, and Camry HV vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the drain hose for the air conditioning condenser may become clogged causing water to accumulate at the bottom of the air conditioning condenser unit housing. The accumulated water may then leak through a seam in the housing onto the air bag control module potentially resulting in a short circuit of the module.

Serious20V024000

Air Bags: Air Bag/Restraint Control Module

In the event of a crash, air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners that do not deploy as intended may raises the risk of injury.

Remedy & full details

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.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon, and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles. During certain crashes, the air bag electronic control unit (ECU) may malfunction, possibly disabling the deployment of the air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners.

Complaint volume

35 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

11Crashes
1Fires
9Injuries
0Deaths

Across 35 complaints. Severity Index 1.74.

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

Air Bags6 · 17%Structure · Body5 · 14%Vehicle Speed Control4 · 11%Electrical System4 · 11%Service Brakes3 · 9%Visibility/Wiper3 · 9%Unknown Or Other2 · 6%Suspension1 · 3%
  1. Air Bags — 6 reports
  2. Structure:Body — 5 reports
  3. Vehicle Speed Control — 4 reports
  4. Electrical System — 4 reports
  5. Service Brakes — 3 reports
  6. Visibility/Wiper — 3 reports
  7. Unknown Or Other — 2 reports
  8. Suspension — 1 reports
  9. Electronic Stability Control (Esc) — 1 reports
  10. Seats — 1 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 (1) · 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 · 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.