Two problems related to door latch have been reported for the 1998 Toyota Avalon. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The form does not cover what I need to tell you. Our 11 year old son decided to sit in the car and finish eating his breakfast while we went ahead and entered the church on Sunday. My wife pressed the lock button on the fob. My son was totally unable to get the door open when he finished his biscuit. The alarm would sound when he tried to open the locked door and he could not get out. Luckily some other people noticed what was going on and the priest made an announcement in the church and we went out and unlocked him. We all got a good laugh. I can easily see however how this could have turned into a disaster if we had left him in an abandoned parking lot at night, etc. . . No escape. There needs to be a safety release from the inside and Toyota people need to point out this possiblity.
Driver's side door handle fell apart while opening the door without excessive force being used.