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2013 Toyota Avalon Recalls & Complaints

4

open safety recalls on record

Serious

187 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.81 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious15V728000

Forward Collision Avoidance: Crash Imminent Braking

vehicle that unexpectedly brakes raises the risk of a crash.

Remedy & full details

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace certain PCS components, free of charge. The recall began on July 28, 2016. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this campaign are F1V and F2E.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Avalon and Avalon Hybrid vehicles manufactured October 19, 2012 to October 27, 2015 and 2013-2015 Lexus ES350 and ES300h vehicles manufactured June 18, 2012 to July 6, 2015. The affected vehicles are equipped with a Pre-Collision System (PCS) as optional equipment. In these vehicles, the PCS may unexpectedly activate and apply the brakes when the radar detects a steel joint or plate in the roadway as an object.

Serious13V505000

Visibility:Windshield Wiper/Washer:Switch/Wiring

short circuit could cause inoperative windshield wipers, reducing driver visibility and raises the risk of a crash.

Remedy & full details

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the wiper switch assembly, free of charge. The recall began on November 8, 2013. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

Toyota Motor Engineering & manufacturing North America, Inc. (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Camry and Camry HV, model year 2013 Avalon and Avalon HV and model year 2014 Corolla vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the windshield wiper switch assembly may short circuit. As such, these vehicles fail to conform to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, No. 104, "Windshield Wiping and Washing Systems."

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

187 this model-year 9 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

21Crashes
3Fires
25Injuries
0Deaths

Across 187 complaints. Severity Index 0.81.

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

Vehicle Speed Control22 · 12%Unknown Or Other22 · 12%Visibility/Wiper21 · 11%Electrical System14 · 7%Air Bags14 · 7%Structure13 · 7%Structure · Body12 · 6%Service Brakes12 · 6%
  1. Vehicle Speed Control — 22 reports
  2. Unknown Or Other — 22 reports
  3. Visibility/Wiper — 21 reports
  4. Electrical System — 14 reports
  5. Air Bags — 14 reports
  6. Structure — 13 reports
  7. Structure:Body — 12 reports
  8. Service Brakes — 12 reports
  9. Visibility — 6 reports
  10. Forward Collision Avoidance — 6 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 (4) · 2013 · 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.