general problems of the 2008 Toyota Avalon

Oem high beam bulbs continuously explode. I’m not saying they just burn out, these bulbs shatter, and send shards of glass on the inside of the headlamp housing. I believe it’s a big safety risk, because for me, it happened while I was driving late at night in the dark where there are deer nearby. Brights are essential to see far and when you’re driving through hills, going up a hill you need your brights to extend higher than your normal lights do. This is a commonly complained about problem for the 2008-2010 models of this Toyota Avalon. Toyota has issued a technical service bulletin back in 2011, but it is a major defect and I believe it should be fixed regardless of whether a customer pays for a warranty or not. A mechanic told me also that they are not sure why Toyota has not warrantied vehicles with this issue. The solution is replacing the headlight housing. So there is clearly a material defect, and I believe it affects safety. Vehicles are required to have high beam headlights for a reason, and the high beams on this vehicle burn out commonly on certain vehicles, and replacing bulbs does not solve the problem. It is a very expensive repair as well. What kind of car manufacturer doesn’t recall or acknowledge a material defect or design flaw in such a crucial safety feature or a vehicle such as headlights? it’s an expensive, annoying, and dangerous issue that continues to happen. There are so many complaints about this high beam issue for the 2008 year. In my mind this really reduces Toyotas reputation and credibility since they did not and will not recall these headlights. We just have to deal with their faulty design. Fix your mistakes instead of making customers foot the bill for your poor craftsmanship. This is pathetic.

Headlights and fog lights go off while traveling. May or may not come back on when switch is reset. They go off unpredictably and may be at a very inopportune time causing collision.

Rear sun shed break very fast makes a lot of noise. It can't be disabled without causing other problem such as engine light on and cruz control disabled and all kind of sensors that need to be replaced. Its very dangers and frustrating.

July 30, 2018 while in parking space I turned on ignition and heard a mild pop, the looking towards passenger seat I saw white smoke rising between chair and window and smoke coming from under seat. It smelled as if doming was burning. I turned ignition off. Smoke stopped. I did not see anything under the chair. I checked movement of chair and it was ok. I called Toyota: no idea of cause and claimed no recalls. I mentioned what I saw on line, to no avail. I observed 6/2/2016 recall: 16v396000 and 11/19/2014 # 14v743000. I would like these heating wires on both sides to be disconnected to prevent possible fire while driving. Thank you.

I have had continuous problems with either one or both front headlights going off randomly. This happens almost daily and I have taken the car to the shop numerous times. This is a very dangerous problem as on occasion I do not even know that the lights are off. Additionally, I have been pulled over by the police and issued a warning with the excepectation that the problem will be fixed. This poses another great concern as the mechanic has not been able to diagnose the issue, therefore, it cannot be fixed. The mechanic has also reached out to the dealer as well as other mechanics along with conducting his own research all to no avail. During my research, I discovered numerous compliants stating the exact same problems that I am experiencing, also with no resolve or remedy. I am shocked that Toyota would place people in such danger and not take any action to rectify this very significant problem. I would appreciate any help you may be able to provide.

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!.

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 850. 865. 5203. Tim swope, 617 kilcullen dr. , niceville, FL 32578.

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.

While driving down a two lane country highway at night with my bright lights on, I hit a bump and the bright lights simultaneouslywent off. Fortunately, my low beams then came on. I tried several different things including flicking the lights, stopping the car and turning the lights off/on. The brights no longer work. I did check to see if they exploded as reported by many others in this database, but they do not appear to have. They just do not work. Living in a very rural area of northern wisconsin, bright lights are a necessity. I called the dealer who services my car and they pleaded ignorance with regard to know problems with the headlights on this vehicle. They suggest I bring the car in to replace the bulbs. I will attempt to replace the bulbs myself before I will pay for the assembly mentioned in the many other complaints. This is a huge safety issue for me and my wife as car/deer collisions are rampant where we live. If the bulbs have not exploded yet, I'm sure they will when I have my first collision with a deer I did not see because I had no high beam lights. This is definitely a safety issue that needs to be addressed. If we were to lose low beams also, we would be stranded and unable to drive.

From the day I purchased used vehicle in 2015, I've experienced headlights that flicker and go off only to be fully illuminated by turning off then back on. Mostly, it's the driver side and sometimes the passenger side; infrequently, both headlights are affected. I've searched the internet for a solution and found hundreds of similar reports with �solutions� ranging from simple few dollars to above $1000. My local dealer had the car on several different occasions. . . To no avail and was willing to �fix� it for $1200. Because of the number of similarly described on internet forums, I think that Toyota should recall the vehicles if, for no other reason, than that this is a significant safety issue.

I put on my brights while driving at night, on a dark part of the interstate. After a while they went out. . . Immediately and simultaneously. The left hand side stalk controls the headlights ("on" and "auto-on" positions), and brights. Notably the brights are a separate bulb. The "auto-on" (if it gets dark) was the setting for which they went out. I pulled over at an exit, tried the brights again after turning off my headlights and putting them to the "on" setting (as opposed to "auto-on"), and the brights did not work and actually turned off my regular headlights. This is dangerous. I see it is not the first time this problem has been reported. I found Toyota had a quiet, unannounced service upgrade for faulty design, did not advertise it, recall it, or send a warning note or offer to fix to owners, and arbitrarily set the limitation at 5 yrs / 72,000 miles. If they acknowledged a problem, why put a limit on something that is not safe? thank you for your time.

Went to use high beams on desert road towards lancaster CA, put high beams on, they stayed on for about 3 minutes then all front lighting went out. Went to dealer (roseville Toyota) to check on the problem, dealer said they were not covered by warranty even though Toyota knows of problem. Will cost 3,000. 00 to repair with replaced headlight assemblies. Car has only 39,000 miles on it and an extended warranty.

I was utilizing the high beam lights periodically on a dark evening. Near the end of a 1 hour and 45 minute trip, the high beams gave a slight flicker and went out. Upon examination today, both lights had blown or shattered. I ordered new bulbs today with $35 each.

I was driving in a rural area in illinois where we have a lot of deer, so I flipped on my high beams for better visibility. I had purchased the car with 87,000 miles on it that summer and may not have even used them yet. The high beams stayed on for a few seconds and then flashed and went back to low beam. I checked them upon arriving home and could see that they shattered. I replaced these with bulbs from o'reilly auto - using gloves to avoid touching them - these high beams were seldom used but worked. It is now November of 2014 and these also failed; did not shatter but failed to illuminate. I assume they are burned out. I am concerned that I may never be able to use the high beams for safety on this otherwise fantastic car. I have avoided using the high beams ever since I replaced them the first time, so I am not sure when they actually quit working this time.

Low beam light flickered on and off, tried the high beam lights of which neither would come on. Took the car to the dealer the next day. The dealer tried new bulbs which immediately blew out. The dealer said that both light assemblies were defective and needed to be replaced at a cost of $ 1400. 00 each. Was advised that Toyota knew that these lights were defective and issued the service bulletin tbs #0044-10 rev 1 extending their warranty from 36,000 miles to 72,000 miles but would not recall them. This car was 1600 miles past the warranty so was not covered. If Toyota thinks that lights going out while driving down the highway at night is not a safety issue, I don't know what is.

Lost both high beam lighting while driving in a snow storm at night, on a dark mountain road in oregon. I have 2002 chevy silveraldo pickup with over 150,000 miles and no headlight problems ever. The last known headlight failure I had was on my 1957 chevy around 1970. You would think headlight problems in todays cars would not exist, ever! I checked all four fuses per Toyota's maintanance manual, and they are good. I see there are several complaints on Toyota's. Seems like they would fix our problems before there is a fatality. Thanks.

Hid high beam headlight on driver's side failed. Light was replaced in may, 2011. Hid low beam headlight on passenger side failed on 12/13/11.

The low beam headlights (hid bulbs) go out intermittently while driving. We have replaced the hid bulbs and the problem has continued. The vehicle has been taken to a local Toyota dealer for evaluation. They have been unable to say definitively what the issue is. They want to change the bulbs (total cost of $800) in order to make a determination of whether the problem is with the bulbs or not. Since the problem has continued the vehicle can't be safely driven at night for long distances for fear the lights will go out. This is a major safety issue that Toyota does not seem to want to acknowledge nor resolve.

Over the course of 1 month both high beams exploded while driving at night. Bulb chips are inside the assembly. Headlight leveling system not functioning on 1 side, light is pointing to the ground.

Sept. 11, 2011, while parked, at night, automatic headlights on, both high beam headlight lamps exploded. The very next day, I took my Avalon to the dealer and was told that since the car was above 36,000 miles, that the repair would cost $2,700. I was told that both lamps and assemblies must be replaced. I was presented a toyoto service bulleting stating that both assemblies must be replaced. Got no options from the dealership. Nov. 9, 2011, I received a warranty enhancement notice stating that my warranty was extended to 75,00 miles and the it covered the head lamps and assemblies. It took until Jan. 10, 2012, to settle this issue. The lamps and assemblies were replaced by the company and I received a full reimbursement.

While driving with with the low beam headlights on either the right or the left light went out. Replaced both hid lights but issue keeps coming back. When I turn the light off and then on the lights come back on. However after a couple of minutes one of the lights go off again. It seems to be random, but some times both go out this is an obvious safety issue. Called Toyota to file a complaint as the dealer did not want to take care of this. Toyota frankly told us that this is not their issue. Looking at many other owners having the same issue this is a safety defect. We live in the mountains and without lights you have very dangerous situations especially in the winter. P. S. This is not the high beam issue but rather the normal head light.

It started off with my low beam hid lights on my passenger side. . . It would burn very dim and sometimes go out completely. I would turn the lights off and then back on and the light worked somewhat, it would burn but it was dim. A few months later the light completely stopped working so I used my high beams when possible. About a month or two after that (late August/early September 2011) my high beam on the driver side stopped working and it was replaced a little over a year before it stopped working. So that left me with a low-beam on the driverside and a high-beam on the passenger side. A few weeks after the high-beam went out on the driverside the high-beam on the passenger side went out leaving me with only a low-beam on the drivers side and fog lights. And everytime a light went out I was driving down the road and noticed my lights got dim.

On June 24, 2011 we took a trip to arkansas. As we were going in the mountains, we found that we had no high beams on our headlights. On returning to fresno we took it into the Toyota dealer and he informed us that the headlight had exploded and would cost $2500 to replace. After a discussion with the dealer and Toyota, the dealer fixed them. Then in September 2012 the driving lights went out. We took the car in to the Toyota dealer and he informed us that they have exploded again. They want $2500 to replace them again. I do not understand why they want to charge the customer when it is a manufacturing problem. Can you imagine driving on back roads at night (which we do) and have the lights go out? I think this is a safety issue and makes it a very expensive car to operate yearly. I understand that this is a ongoing problem with the 2008-2010 models with hd headlights.

Vehicle experiencing the inoperative of daytime running lights(drl) and high beam and low beam bulbs. Previously replaced bulbs. Problem continues after bulb being replaced. Lights return to normal operation when switched to off position and back on. No specific patterns of occurrence. Explanation by dealership when checked was that they did not detect a problem at the time of service. Note entered by service advisor stated "electrical problem".

Failure: high beam/drl bulbs hir1 9011. In November 2010, the right front hid low beam bulb was flickering and failed. As part of the right front hid low beam bulb replacement, I decided to replace both oe toshiba high beam/drl bulbs with philips¿ replacements. Toshiba no longer manufactures the hir1 9011 bulbs. This move was strictly a precautionary action. Kept the toshiba bulbs as spares. Within 6 months one philips¿ hir1 bulb failed in the drl mode and the other bulb failed in the high beam mode. Reused the toshiba bulbs.

2008 Toyota Avalon defect - high and low beam head lamp assembly in my 2008 Toyota Avalon, I lost my high beams and my left low beam headlights while driving at night. Upon checking bulbs, both high beam 9011h1r1 bulbs blew out (shattered). I found the TSB notice on line (TSB-0044-10) and went to Toyota seeking Toyota to fix the defect. They told me the cost was $2,400 to replace both headlight assemblies. They did offer to split the cost 50/50 with me but I declined stating that it was a defect and was occurring in 2008, 2009 and 2010 Toyota Avalon. In other words, it was a design defect and they should fix it for free. Toyota declined stating it was not a recall but a TSB. This is a safety issue because I lost not only my high beam headlights without warning, but also my left low beam head lamp. Toyota should classify this as a 'recall' and not a TSB.

My 2008 Toyota Avalon headlight(s) are blinking out but when I switch to the automatic made it comes back on.

Two years ago both bright headlights failed. Dealer replaced bulbs at my expense. On 3/12/2012 both bulbs on the drivers side failed. Dealer said the vehicle had defective headlight assembly that Toyota knew about that had to be replaced ($1265. 30) at my expense because vehicle had over 50000 miles (car now has 85000 miles). I called Toyota and they confirmed that this was true. My question to Toyota was, if I was driving on a busy highway at night and both defective assemblies failed wouldn't my safety be in jeopardy and if so why wasn't this car recalled?.

I owned a 2008 avolan. It caught fire Dec. 7 2009 and burned up. I thought I needed to report this to someone. I don't want this to happen to someone else, and the result could be death. I got hurt bad but I am better now.

Headlights flicker and then go out completely. This is a repeated issue. Headlights on both sides will go out while driving. Sometimes the headlights will come back on; other times will not. This is applicable to the low beams as well as the high beams. Have notified Toyota and they will not address the issue properly. Toyota will not admit there is a defect in the equipment in the 2008 Avalon. Many other Avalons in this model year are experiencing similar issues. This is a significant safety issue.

I own a 2008 Toyota Avalon xl, purchased 01/24/08. Recently, while turning, I hit a pothole. The alarm system started and the car accelerated. I could not get the alarm or the car to stop, even though I was braking. I finally put the car in park and turned off the key. The motor made a sound as though it was dying and finally stopped. I restarted the car and continued without further incident.

Musty wet smell inside car when heater or air conditioner fan is turned on. Off and on smell of overheated electrical wires.