2005 Toyota Avalon: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Jul 8, 2014 · Suspension · 134,000 miles · MD

At highway speed, felt vehicle push to the left, as if by a strong gust of wind. Heard intermittent clunking sound under rear of car. Upon parking, noticed rear right wheel canted inwards. After removing the rear right wheel noticed the right rear suspension arm assembly number 2 disengaged and hanging loose. Inspected the threads on the assembly and they were rusted and worn down. I googled this part failure and this failure seems exactly like that described for the toyota rav 4 that resulted in a recall.

Filed Dec 8, 2009 · Transmission · 40,534 miles · HI

My 2005 toyota avalon with the 2gr-fe v6 engine revs high, even when it's warmed up. In traffic, many times it revs high and lunges forward. Several times I braked hard to avoid read ending the car in front of me. This has been ongoing since I bought the car in 2005 as I am the original owner. I've taken it in to toyota service and the mechanics found nothing. Once I showed them a technical service bulletin from toyota which stated the exhaust manifold, oxygen sensors needed replacement and the ECM needed to be reprogrammed. It worked for a year (2007) then back to the same problem, high revving of the engine, hard shifting and lunging forward or reverse. The latest incident was today, 12/7/09 where I almost hit a pedestrian since the car revved high and lunged into the crosswalk. I had to press the brakes hard to prevent hitting the pedestrian.

Filed Sep 2, 2008 · Steering · 53,124 miles · CA

Steering column is defective per dealer. I noticed a clunking sound and vibration as I was driving. I asked dealer to check it out. They advised me I needed a new steering column at a cost of $1835. They told me it would only get worse if it was not repaired. After several phone calls between me , the dealer and toyota north america regarding warranty and safety issues, I approved the repair. The repair [ replace the steering column] was completed on august 28, 2008 and I have the replaced parts. I paid the bill. I believe that this is safety issue and should be covered by toyota even if the vehicle is 5 months out of warranty.

Filed Jun 8, 2007 · Steering · 13,600 miles · IL

Steering clunks heard while turning vehicle to the right. Auto purchased used, with manufacturer warrenty and certified by toyota to 84 months or 100,000. Vehichle currently has 14,000 miles.

Filed May 4, 2005 · 31 miles · CA

We leased a new 2005 toyota avalon.immediately,after driving 6 miles,we started hearing a clunk from the left rear. I called toyota and they said they would check it when I came back to put the spoiler on.they were able to duplicate the noise and kept the car for several days. I did get corporate toyota involved because this dealership has been untrustworthy since day one when the lease was written up wrong-they called and said they needed to replace the left rear lower sub frame and bushings because they were worn. How could it be worn if the noise started after 6 miles-by then I had driven 400 miles. They told me they had to order the parts but that the car was safe to drive. When I went to pick up the car,I asked 2 other people,the advisor and the mechanic if the car was safe to drive because I was going to drive it from san francisco to los angeles,they both said yes. As they were handing me the keys to leave,another mecjanic came runing over and said the car was dangerous to drive and I could not have it. While I was very glad the other mechanic caught the mistake,he said no one had written on my paperwork that the car was unsafe to drive,I did indeed drive a dangerous car that was not safe to drive for 2 weeks. While if this was a used car,I probably would not be writing this,but it was a brand new car! What if something would have happened to me while driving prior to me taking it in,and -god forbid-the other mechanic did not catch the mistake- I thought when we bought new cars they are to be safe to drive!