While entering the highway on ramp, as I accelerated and turned on the left turn signal, the engine stopped. The steering became very hard. I stopped, put the transmission in park and started the engine, with no problems. This is the second time in3 months this has happened when turning to the left, and activating the turn signal. In both cases, the auto headlight dimming warning lite came on. The car is well maintained, and has never been damaged in any way. The weather was clear.
The worst 2012 Toyota Avalon problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Airbags6
- Body6
- Acceleration4
- Electrical4
- Visibility4
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Airbags6
- Body6
- Acceleration4
- Electrical4
- Visibility4
- Brakes3
- Driver assistance1
- Engine1
- Seat belts1
- Seats1
- Suspension1
- Transmission1
Recalls 4
Air bags: air bag/restraint control module
- What is wrong
- 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.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash, air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners that do not deploy as intended may increase the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- 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.
Recall number 20V024000 · Recall details
Seat belts
- What is wrong
- 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.
- Risk
- If the seat belt is falsely interpreted as being buckled, in the event of a crash, the air bags may not deploy appropriately, increasing the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- 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.
Recall number 18V569000 · Recall details
Electrical system
- What is wrong
- 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.
- Risk
- A constant electrical current flow may cause the sub-woofer to overheat, increasing the risk of fire.
- Remedy
- 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.
Recall number 15V047000 · Recall details
Equipment: appliance: air conditioner
- What is wrong
- 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.
- Risk
- A short circuit may cause the air bags to become disabled or inadvertently deploy. An inadvertent airbag deployment can increase the risk of injury or the possibility of a crash. An inoperative airbag can increase the risk of injury in a severe crash. The power steering assist could also become inoperable resulting in increased steering effort and can increase the risk of a crash at low speeds.
- Remedy
- 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.
Recall number 13V442000 · Recall details
See all 4 recalls for the 2012 Toyota Avalon
Defect investigations
Electrical overstress
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect. During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (ACU) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) manufactured by ZF-TRW.  The ECU receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with manufacturer design specifications.  The ECU in the subject vehicles contains a model DS84 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which controls the communication of the crash sensor signal, firing commands (i.e., when to deploy the airbag(s) and/or pretensioners), and fault information (e.g., diagnostic trouble codes). In September 2016, FCA announced recall 16V‑668 for certain model year (MY) 2010 to 2014 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products manufactured with the subject ZF-TRW ACU.  In this recall, FCA discussed an EOS condition that resulted in a failure of the subject DS84 ASIC, which caused air bag non-deployment. FCA noted that the defect condition had only been observed in vehicles equipped with sensor harnessing routed across the front of the vehicle.  Other FCA vehicles that also used the subject ACU, but were not equipped with cross-car harnessing, had not experienced EOS failures, despite similar time in service. During the course of this investigation, ODI sent two separate Information Request (IR) letters to six vehicle manufactures (including FCA, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Toyota) and one IR letter to ZF-TRW. These IR letters resulted in ODI receiving comprehensive data from these manufacturers and suppliers. Studies of this data found that the DS84 ASIC does not have sufficient protection against negative electrical transients or electrical overstress (âEOSâ) that can be generated in certain severe crashes. An electrical transient occurs when the electrical power supplied to a circuit changes momentarily over a short duration of time.  In these severe crash cases, the crash sensors and other powered wiring can be damaged and short circuited so as to create a negative electrical transient of sufficient intensity and duration (that are outside the vehicle manufacturer's specification) to damage the ASIC before the restraint device deployment signal is received by the SRS ECU. This damaged signal can lead to incomplete or nondeployment of the air bags and/or pretensioners.  Airbag non-deployment and/or lack of pretensioner operation can increase the risk or severity of injury in a crash.A total of 8 fatalities and 14 injuries were associated with known EOS events. The common element in all investigated manufacturers vehicles is the SRS ECU containing a DS84 ASIC manufactured by ZF-TRW. The risk associated with the ASIC is equally shared among all OEMS involved in the investigation. The actual real-world risk can be mitigated by other factors which were assessed by ODI during this investigation. The first mitigating factor involves protections built into the ACU design which protect the DS84 ASIC from damage. There are multiple strategies and levels of protection employed by different OEMs that provide effective EOS mitigation. The two most common strategies at the ACU level are circuit protection diodes on the remote senor signal lines, and current limiting resistors that protect critical components. The second mitigating factor is found at the vehicle level and involves the location and routing of the wires leading from the crash sensors to the SRS ECU. If the wires are well protected in a crash and are not routed with other power wires carrying large currents, the risk for an EOS event is significantly reduced or eliminated. These design specific factors combine to produce a spectrum of risk for the vehicles equipped with ACUs using the DS84 ASIC. Given the many of years of field exposure, it is possible to divide the subject population into two groups; vehicles which have experienced EOS events, and vehicles which have not experienced EOS field events. Four of the six OEMs involved in this investigation have experienced EOS field events on at least one of their models equipped with a DS84 ASIC. All vehicle models (including the Toyota models identified in the Failure Report Summary of the opening resume for this investigation) with field events have been recalled. In an abundance of caution, ODI kept this investigation open five years to monitor field performance and did not identify any field events on vehicles not included in existing safety recalls. Given the spectrum of risk identified in this investigation and that all vehicles with a demonstrated unreasonable risk have been recalled, ODI is closing this investigation. ODI is closing this investigation with the following manufacturer safety recalls: 16V‑668, 18E-043, 18V‑137, 18V‑363, and 20V‑024. With the recall actions taken by the subject vehicle and equipment manufacturers, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exists on other model or model year vehicles outside of the recall scopes. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
EA19001
Technical service bulletins for the 2012 Toyota Avalon 292
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- Condition in which a musty odor is present
- Acid rain results from rainwater or other airborne moisture that become acidic due to industrial chemical...
- To prevent brake rotor rust from forming during transportation and storage, wheel film will be used...
- The condition known as acid rain is caused by airborne chemicals or particles in the atmosphere, which mix...
- Toyota vehicles are currently protected with RapgardTM protective film designed to protect the horizontal...
- Vehicles may occasionally be subjected to contamination by airborne iron particles shed from railroad...
- Condition in which a musty odor is present
- This Service Bulletin provides updated non-electric water pump leak inspection and diagnostic tips for...
- Toyota vehicles are currently protected with RapgardTM protective film designed to protect the horizontal...
- This is to advise of various price adjustments that will affect Toyota Genuine Motor Oil and Long Life...
2012 Toyota Avalon fuel economy
Official EPA estimates in miles per gallon (MPGe for electric). Ranges cover trims that share the same engine.
| Engine | Drive | City | Highway | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5L 6‑cyl | FWD | 19 | 28 | 22 |
What 2012 Toyota Avalon owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated that while it was hot outside, or whenever there was direct sunlight on the dashboard, the dashboard would become very sticky. The contact stated that the glare on the windshield from the reflection of the dashboard made it very difficult to see out the windshield. The contact stated that he contacted the dealer, and manufacturer about the failure, and was informed that previously there was a recall for the failure however, the recall had expired. The contact contacted the federal safety agency after researching the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000.
There is a rear windshield shade that comes up automatically during a bright or hot day. It has a button to manually bring it up or down also. Just last month the gear inside the shade is broken and it does not come down. If I manually put it down it will come up automatically when driving, causing a loud noise distracting the driver even though, the driver has not pressed the button to pull it up. Now it is stuck in up position causing loud noise when reversing. And the biggest safety issue that I see is the night driving. Since the shade is up and I cannot make it go down, the visibility in the rear view mirror is very poor or nothing. There is no way for the driver to let it stay in the down position and driving on overcast days or night time is a challenge with no visibility of vehicles behind you.
Rear sunscreen remains in up position, when lowered in reverse, it makes a loud grinding noise. Having to drive at night presents a problem with visibility when the sunscreen remains in the up position.
Tl* the contact owned a 2012 toyota avalon. The frontal airbags failed to deploy when an 18 wheeler collided into the vehicle while travelling at 65 MPH. The cause of the failure was unknown. The vehicle was destroyed and the driver and passenger were hospitalized with spinal injuries and bruises. The contact stated that while traveling approximately 65 MPH, an 18 wheeler stroke the vehicle in the middle rear when attempting to switch lanes. None of the frontal air bags deployed. The police was present and a report was issued. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics. The contact also received a recall notification for the federal safety agency campaign number: 18v569000 (air bags, seat belts) the vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was destroyed and totaled. The approximate failure mileage was 71,000.
Another driver rand a red light and I (t-boned his passenger side) was in a head on collision. I was breaking at the time, but still imagine I hit him at between 30-40 MPH. The front end crumpled as expected but the airbags did not deploy. Firefighters cut power to prevent the airbags from deploying unexpectedly afterwards. A check passenger airbag light had come on in recent days that I did not get fixed before the accident, but it should not have affected the driver side airbag I expect. Liberty mutual is currently in possession of the car (they deemed it a total loss).
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 toyota avalon. The contact stated that the vehicle started on its own. The motor was extremely loud and was a distraction to the driver. When the contact would turn off the engine, it would sometimes restart on its own. The contact called bowling green toyota (2398 scottsville rd, bowling green, ky 42104, (270) 843-4321) and was informed that a new rear shade motor was needed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not assist. The failure mileage was 37,000.
My vehicles airbags did not deploy I was hit by an 18 wheeler at a high rate of speed. The vehicle had at least 2 rear end hits by this 18 wheeler estimated at a speed in excess of 25 miles per hour faster than mine (I was going at 70mph northbound on us 75, nine miles south of tulsa oklahoma on a sunny monday at 3pm). The street was dry. The truck initially hit me on my rear and on my left rear quarter. I was spun in front of the truck and he hit me again on the rear quarter and the bumper and spun me in the opposite direction and then pushed into the guardrail at an estimated 40+ MPH. The airbags did not deploy for any of the three collisions (two in the rear and one in the front).
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 toyota avalon. Upon entering the vehicle, the contact noticed excessive water on the passenger side seat and carpet. The contact also stated that there was a mold odor in the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to freedom toyota of harrisburg (6060 allentown blvd, harrisburg, pa 17112) where it was diagnosed that the seal in the sun roof was faulty and confirmed the abnormal odor in the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
Rear deck sunscreen activates and comes up without operator activating it. And it will not go back down without manual assistance. With assistance when it does go down there is a loud grinding noise and then it will come back up. To correct this situation requires replacement of complete assembly. (dealer quoted $1674.86) or pull the fuse and deactivate the rear sunscreen. Safety issue is that sunscreen up at night or during inclement weather restricts rear vision and driver can't do anything about it unless he happens to know which fuse to pull and where it is located. When asked why toyota has not corrected this issue, dealer speculated that since this is an avalon only problem that the numbers of failures are likely small. My response was, that may be true but by researching this issue on the internet, it has been a problem since at least the mid 1990's until at least 2013 and probably beyond and toyota has not recalled or fixed the problem so far as I can tell. Regards our specific car a 2012 avalon, it is a feature almost never used and as of this date the car has less than 18000 miles on it. Mileage and age seems not to be a factor in the failures. It seems more likely a poor design of the feature itself. As far as when it happens and where, it can happen anytime the car is running, in the driveway or while driving..
Compare the 2012 Toyota Avalon
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Other model years
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Questions about the 2012 Toyota Avalon
Is the 2012 Toyota Avalon reliable?
Owners have filed 30 complaints about the 2012 Toyota Avalon, fewer than a typical Avalon model year.
What is the 2012 Toyota Avalon year score?
The 2012 Toyota Avalon scores 84 out of 100 (good). The score compares it with the other model years of the Toyota Avalon: 75 is a typical year, 50 means twice the usual complaints, and serious complaints and recalls lower it.
What is the most common problem with the 2012 Toyota Avalon?
Airbags, with 6 complaints, typically around 70,000 miles. Next is body (6).
How many recalls does the 2012 Toyota Avalon have?
4 recalls, covering air bags, seat belts and electrical system.
Was there a recall on the 2012 Toyota Avalon airbags?
Yes, 1 recall: 20V024000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the Toyota Avalon have bad airbags?
The Toyota Avalon model years with the most airbags complaints are 2003 (184 complaints), 2004 (127 complaints) and 2002 (35 complaints).
What gas mileage does the 2012 Toyota Avalon get?
Official estimates for the 2012 Toyota Avalon range from 22 mpg combined. The most efficient version (3.5L 6-cyl, FWD) gets 19 city and 28 highway.
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