Low beam lights randomly go out after being on for a short time. I've been battling this issue since 2013 when I bought the car. The dealer says my low beam headlights are burnt out. I can turn the headlight switch off and back on quickly and the affected light comes back on. I do this several times a day when it is dark out. I even had small LED lights mounted into my dash and wired into each low beam bulb so I can see if one goes out while driving in town at night as it can be difficult to know if one when out.
2008 Toyota Avalon lights complaints
Page 2 of 8: complaints 11 to 40 of 209, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving straight ahead at night on a highway the high beams suddenly went out and would not go on again. I switched to low beams. I later learned from a mechanic that there is a design flaw or inferior microprocessor controlling the headlights and that the low beams could also suddenly go out while in motion. This is a severe safety issue. The toyota corporation will not stand by their product and have referred me to a toyota dealer that wants over $2,000.00 to fix the safety issue. There should be a recall on this. I believe it only affects the 2008 avalon models. There are even several articles on the internet relating to this problem. I have nothing to download as I did not get a written estimate, only a telephone quote, from the toyota dealer.
1. High beams and day running lights inoperable (discovered january 2018). 2. Transmission overheated and caused car to decelerate in april 2018.
Our high beams went out at the same time. Seems to be a recurring problem
Head lights randomly go off at night when driving. If I turn them off then back on they come back on. Sometimes they stay on. Most of the time I have to repeat this off and on procedure again and again! This is a real safety hazard. I live in an area where there is not a lot of street lights, and winding roads. Why won't they make this a recall?
While driving on a highway at night both passenger and driver's side high beams failed to go on. While fuses are ok, neither high beam will go on in either the flash or permanent mode.
Passenger side head light intermittent failure. Noticeable, obviously, only when driving at night. Fails after a few minutes driving, then works normally for a day or two then fails again while driving at night. No rhyme or reason to the failures. Only occurs on low beam. Headlamp is not 'burnt out.' as I understand it, this is not a headlight issue but rather a housing issue and the entire housing and lamp need to be replaced. Why has toyota not issued a recall? This is a safety issue! Car currently has 115,739 miles on it.
The third brake light or the upper brake light works very intermittently. This is a safety issue. Most avalons on the road in this body style have the same issue with a defective third brake light. The dealer wants over $500 for the part alone. The light works once in a rare rare while. I called toyota headquarters in torrance, ca., they suggested I contact you. This occurs when sitting still or driving on streets and a highway.
The headlights randomly go out when the car is being driven. It started with one side but now both lights are going off and have done so simultaneously which is very dangerous!
While driving, the left hid low beam headlight randomly shuts off. When I cycle the on/off switch the light comes back on, but will go off randomly again. The light does this in different weather and driving conditions. No set pattern. When advised of the problem the toyota dealership said this was an problem with my vehicle and I would be responsible for the repair. I did some research online and determined the issue was not isolated to my vehicle. Many other 2008 toyota avalon owners have had this issue. A very serious safety issue. Toyota does not want to address this issue. Given the randomness that the lights turn off, this is definitely a major safety issue. A recall needs to be issued to ensure toyota fixes the problem properly.
Recently purchased a car. When driving at night the headlights randomly goe off after a few minutes. Unfortunately this issue was discovered while my recently licensed teen was driving the car... Huge safety issue! I went to dealer to have light system checked out. They informed me that the lights were broken. I asked if they could have exploded do to some system malfunction. I was assured that was not the case as they insinuated that whoever put them in is responsible for the damage, offering me a very costly solution. However they had no idea what could cause this problem. Before agreeing to any repairs, I decided to do some research. Their uncertainty left me uneasy and very uncomfortable with coming out of pocket for anything at that point and my child's safety is my top priority. Upon researching, I found out these problems are known to toyota. They extended the warranty to 72,000 miles, but, would not cover my car issue due to mileage and year surpassing that which is outlined in the warranty extension. Headlights are essential and quite frankly required by law. The extension should be applied with no mileage restraint as headlights are a major safety component of a vehicle. Every where you go dealers swear by the avalon being a cost effective and very safe choice with this issue existing, they have non the less shoved a foot right down their own throats! This should either be a recall or an extended warranty with unlimited miles. If you can't do this take the car off the market/quit letting dealers sale the car assuring unbeknownst buyers of the car's undeniable quality for christ's sake!
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota avalon. The contact stated that the passenger side headlight failed to operate. The bulb was replaced numerous times; however, the failure was not corrected. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the cause of the failure was unable to be located. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
Just about every time I drive the vehicle at night, one or both headlights will go out. In order to get the light or lights back on, I have to turn the lights off and then back on. This presents an ongoing potential hazard, especially when they both go off at once. This model is the top of the line (limited) and has the hid lights. I have read on line that I am not the only person who has experienced this problem. I further understand that toyota may have an extended warranty for this issue. This is a serious problem that could result in an accident if both lights go out and I am not able to get them on again while I am traveling on an unlit road. This last happened yesterday as I will indicate below but it has been happening for more than a few years now.
Left head light goes off after about 15 to 20 min of driving..this has been a problem with toyota for years. Why has the federal safety agency forced toyota to fix this. It seems to be a safety issue that the federal safety agency has known about for a long while. The federal safety agency ref# 10033406 and 10037591.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota avalon. While driving 55 MPH, both high beam head lamps exploded. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that both head lamp assemblies needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 41,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota avalon. While the vehicle was being serviced, the technician discovered that both headlamps were not corresponding. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that both headlamp assemblies blew out and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,187.
The high beam lights are known to explode on some 2008 and 2010 models. My high beam lights exploded with 66,000 miles on the vehicle. This problem happened while my vehicle was in motion. I routinely drive in an area with a heavy deer population. I cannot see these hazards at night with out high beams. Toyota had an extended warranty on this issue (5 years, 70,000 miles). Since my car is over warranty in years but not miles, toyota refuses to replace the headlight assemblies. They are telling me the cost will be over $2,000. I consider this a safety hazard and am very upset that toyota will not fix this problem on my $40,000 top of the line toyota. I am filing this complaint to the dot, ntsb, and attorney general. You can contact me at [xxx]. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
The headlights for the avalon only work intermittently. The lighting system will work when the vehicle is first started and after a few minutes, one of the lights will no longer work. In the dark, this creates a safety concern for oncoming cars and limits our ability to see people and other items in the road.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota avalon. While driving 65 MPH, the driver side high beam head lamp and the passenger side low beam head lamps failed to illuminate. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who diagnosed that the low beam and high beam bulbs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred and the driver side low beam head lamp failed to illuminate. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer who diagnosed that the low beam head lamp bulb needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred after four years. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 20,000.
All of a sudden the high-beam head lights stopped working when the car was in motion on the freeway. Low -beam lights work. This is a real safety hazard and is obviously a toyota engineering flaw. Toyota did have a warranty enhancement for this vehicle - 75,000 miles or 5 years, whichever comes first. My car has 52,000 miles buts is over 5 years old. Toyota is well aware of this problem and should be required to fix this, free of charge and I should not be required to pay for the fix of $2,500 plus labor, which is outrageous.
Took my car to the local dealer too have headlights looked at because a police officer pulled me over for "no headlight passenger side". When I turned the lights on for him, it came back on. Then I found both high beams burned out and the drl's also did not work. So, off to the dealer. They found both high beam bulbs exploded, and could not reproduce anything else / find any other problem. They removed the high beam bulbs but neglected to inform me. Now after some research I found out these problems are known to toyota. They extended the warranty to 72,000 miles, but, would not cover my car that I bought from them with 82,000 miles on it... My car now has 97,000 miles on it but nothing does me any good when the lights go out crossing the rocky mountains in the middle of the night... Talk about a aha moment. It is a complete safety issue wether they admit it or not.. I have bought my 3 cars for the same dealership / salesman... My life and the lives of my family are way more important than a headlight issue. I have replaced the high beam bulbs myself, now working on the low beams because I have been told they will go out soon.
All of a sudden the high-beam head lights stopped working when the car was in motion on the freeway. Low -beam lights work. This is a real safety hazard and is obviously a toyota engineering flaw. Toyota did have a warranty enhancement for this vehicle - 75,000 miles or 5 years, whichever comes first. My car has 52,000 miles buts is over 5 years old. Toyota is well aware of this problem and should be required to fix this, free of charge and I should not be required to pay for the fix of $2,500 plus labor, which is outrageous.
When coming back from a short trip I noticed that the right side low beam headlamp was out. Then one day the light was on again then the next it is out. Now it rarely comes on so I.called my toyota dealer and they said it would be at least $200 for new low beam light bulb. I then took it to a reputable repair shop and they said that the bulb was not bad but the ballast was bad. They showed me a list of complaints from on line and they said there was a recall for that problem. Toyota says there is no recall. If this is such a common and expensive problem there should be a recall. I researched several web sites and there are numerous complaints about headlight problems on the 2008 avalon. Some problems exactly like mine others a little different but all are about malfunctioning headlights.
Discover that both high beams do not function. I understand that this is an issue with the avalon, and toyota had issued a service bulletin, but has not issued a recall. While this issue is not an dire one, it is a very expensive fix. I think the number of vehicles involved my require a recall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota avalon. The contact stated that the passenger side headlight was completely distorted and inoperative. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the passenger side bulb housing assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the VIN was included in the manufacturer's recall: csc-10042925-9889 (exterior lighting), but it was expired. The approximate failure mileage was 22,919. Ma 09/03/15 the consumer stated the right side headlamp imploded. Updated 12/10/15
Toyota sent out a warranty enhancement notice about june 2012 that if you had problems with high beam headlights on my model vehicle to take the car to a dealer. Car had to be less than 5 years old a under 72,000 miles. I ask about my car and they said my mileage was to high. Within a month I found out what the problem was. The high beam bulbs would explode as mine did. I went back to toyota to ask for a waver for the repair to be done. They again said no. But would be happy to repair it for $2284.66. The cost of new headlight assemblies. It seems that the original bulb was no longer made and there was no direct replacement for it. Solution was the $2284.66 repair. I believe this is a safety issue and should be covered no matter the age or miles of a vehicle. There was no mention in the notice of bulbs exploding or that the entire assembly would need to be replaced. Very misleading on the part of toyota.
Total failure of both high beam headlights. Toyota refuses to consider this a warranty item. Although this is a safety item in n.y. State, toyota does not feel that this is a safety issue. Upon checking the internet, I find that my problem is not an isolated case.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota avalon. While driving at various speeds, the low beam head lamps functioned intermittently. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Toyota has issue with day time running lights and high beams. They will only warranty if under 72000 mile or 5 years. If they have a problem they should stand behind.
Lights just stopped working. Toyota acknowledged there was a problem with the head lights and wrote several dealer service memos concerning this problem. After talking with toyota consumer affairs that this was their problem and they should fix it, they said it was out of warranty. They even advised me that the low beams may fail. They were not concerned about my safety and told me just about to pound sand. They could care less about this, even though they're aware of the problem. My safety means nothing, even after owning 5 toyota vehicles.
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