2006 Toyota Avalon: jerking or lurching

Filed Feb 10, 2010 · Transmission · 50 miles · NE

The first week I owned the car I noticed a hesitation in the accelerator followed by a lurching forward. Took it to dealer who said it was caused by the drive by wire system and would adjust to my driving in time. No adjustment occurred. I continued to make complaints to no avail until I threatened write to the federal safety agency. They then said "wait, don't do that. We'll talk to the service manager to see if he has a fix. Within 30 minutes they had recalibrated the engine control module/ECM (sae term: powertrain control module/PCM). Warranty information was: op code eg7023; description recalibrate emc (PCM); time 0.9; ofp 89661-#####; t1 26; t2 99. The results were good although I sometimes still feel almost undetectable small surges when I am driving as if I am not really controlling the speed with the accelerator. By the way, I had reported this twice before and when I read through all of the 2006 avalon reports mine was not there. Are the reports deleted after a period of time?

Filed Feb 6, 2010 · Acceleration, Engine · 5,000 miles · GA

When slowing my 2006 avalon for turn, speed bump, etc. And then accelerating there is often a lag in the transmission engaging and when it does the car lurches. I have complained many times to 2 different dealers about this since the car was new. After a year or so 1 dealer said that toyota had issued an adjustment procedure which they performed. The problem went away for a while but has returned. In light of the recent recalls and stories about possible electronic problems with these cars I wanted to add my story to the list. I consider this a serious safety issue since the lag in transmission engagement could cause an accident when making a left turn, especially if it worsens. Further, the only way I know about this latest recall is through the news - toyota has not notified me directly. This makes the third recall on this car - floor mats, vvt-I oil hose and now accelerator! Needles to say - I am not happy with my purchase and will seriously try to convince my wife to take our business elsewhere in the future! *cn

Filed Nov 16, 2007 · Transmission · 6,000 miles · KY

The transmission acts erratically at low speeds. If I am rolling through a stop sign or just in traffics at 5-10 MPH the transmission will "hunt" for a gear. Sometimes it is a hesitation and sometimes it jerks into gear, depends on how much trottle you apply. If I am stop turn right on red, have plenty of time to make a turn before an approaching car arrives, if the transmission is hunting for a gear, I have no control of the car. It might be only for 1 or 2 seconds, but it is dangerous. Repeated service trips, service manangers and even district manager has failed to get anyones' attention. Check out this web site, here are 44 people with similar problems:http://fourwheeldrift.wordpress.com/2007/01/16/toyota-avalon-transmission-problems-expose-toyotas-problem-reporting-problems/

Filed Oct 22, 2007 · Transmission · LA

I bought a 2006 toyota avalon in sept. '06. There is a serious problem with the transmission. At slow speeds the transmission slips. If I am slowing almost to a stop and then starting up again the transmission does not engage, the engine revs up, and then the car lurches forward as the transmission finally engages. We have almost been rear ended when another car is following close and thinks that I am going to move forward but can't because the transmission does not engage. I have almost had an accident because the car lurches forward after the trans slips. I also have to wait for a very large gap in traffic if I'm crossing a lane to make a left turn as I never know if the transmission will slip leaving me in the on-coming lane of traffic. We have had this lurching and slipping incident approximately 60% of the time. On two occasions when reaching speeds that would be shifting from 2nd to 3rd a very loud banging noise and lurching occurred. Unfortunately, on two visits to the dealer I was not able to recreate the problem.

Filed Mar 16, 2007 · Transmission · 5 miles · LA

Tl*- the contact stated that every time he completed a turn in the 2006 toyota avalon ( with failure mileage: 5 miles at slow rate of speed under 20 MPH, with the foot on the accelerator pedal the vehicle would not accelerate. Then, without any warning ,the transmission engaged and the vehicle jerked. The vehicle had been taken to the dealer, who stated that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and could not duplicate the problem. The current mileage was 22,109.

Filed Mar 4, 2007 · Transmission · NY

I have a 2006 toyota avalon. There is a serious problem with the transmission. At slow speeds the transmission seems to slip. If I am slowing almost to a stop and then starting up again the transmission does not engage, the engine revs up, and then the car lurches forward as the transmission finally engages. We have almost been rear ended when another car is following close and thinks that I am going to move forward but can't because the transmission does not engage. I have almost had an accident because the car lurches forward after the trans slips. We have had this lurching and slipping incident several times.

Filed Dec 11, 2006 · Transmission · 12,090 miles · NY

Dt*: the contact stated while accelerating at 10 MPH, the automatic transmission was sluggish while shifting gears, and lurched forward without warning. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who was unable to duplicate the problem. The manufacturer was alerted. Updated 01/19/07.

Filed Oct 3, 2006 · Acceleration, Transmission · 500 miles · GA

Dt*: the contact stated intermittently, while accelerating and turning a corner the vehicle hesitated, and then lurched forward. The dealership was unable to determine the cause of the problem. *ak updated 10/17/2006 -

Filed Jun 30, 2006 · Transmission · 3,500 miles · MO

I was on my way to the dealer for an oil change and to have our new (picked-up 26 jan 06) toyota avalon looked over as it had 3,500 miles. We live in the ozarks and of course it is very hilly. I normally use the "manual" mode on the automatic transmission to slow the car down as to descend the hills leading into and out of our sub-division. However, on 23 jun I just left it in the regular automatic mode and used the brakes. When I saw there was no on-coming traffic, I stepped on the accelerator to go---the RPM's jumped to over 3,000 and then the car lurched forward. Thank goodness there was no on-coming traffic--I can only imagine what might have happened. I asked the dealer to check this occurrence out--they couldn't duplicate. Since the first incident I've had the same thing happen on 4 separate occasions--always when left in the automatic mode and after you've slowed down and then press the accelerator to go. I've read on the www.edmunds.com website about others who've experienced the same thing. There is definitely something wrong and before a serious accident occurs toyota needs to fix the auto transmission problem.