For every car sold, owners filed 2.4 times as many complaints about the 2008 Avalon as about the typical Avalon year. Among the 6 Avalon years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2009 (0.89 per 1,000 sold) and the most about this one, the 2008 (2.13).
Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.
2.4 times this nameplate’s own median
Counted from 91 complaints filed in the first three years, of 349 ever. 95% lower bound 1.69.
The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters. The bar is how many complaints each rate rests on.
| Model year | Per 1,000 | Complaints | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2.13 | 91 | |
| 2009 | 0.89 | 31 | |
| 2010 | 0.80 | 22 | |
| 2011 | 1.15 | 33 | |
| 2012 | 0.24 | 7 | |
| 2013 | 0.94 | 67 | |
| 2014 | 1.01 | 70 | |
| 2015 | 0.36 | 23 | |
| 2016 | 0.20 | 11 | |
| 2018 | 0.42 | 14 | |
| 2019 | 1.37 | 42 | |
| 2021 | 0.32 | 6 |
Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.
| high beam | 72 | 34% | |
| extended | 30 | 14% | |
| extended warranty | 26 | 12% | |
| beam bulbs | 24 | 11% | |
| exploded | 21 | 10% | |
| bulletin | 15 | 7% |
Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.
That is not a clean bill of health, and not a criticism of the agency: investigations open for many reasons and complaint volume is only one of them.
For every car sold, owners filed 2.4 times as many complaints about the 2008 Avalon as about the typical Avalon year. Among the 6 Avalon years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2009 (0.89 per 1,000 sold) and the most about this one, the 2008 (2.13). The typical year is the median across its model years.
The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Exterior Lighting (209), Vehicle Speed Control (45), Electrical System (44). The phrases they used are listed above.
Complaint records cannot settle that on their own. They count safety problems owners chose to report to the federal government, not every repair. What they do show is how this year compares with the other Avalon years: for every car sold, owners filed 2.4 times as many complaints about the 2008 Avalon as about the typical Avalon year.
Among years with enough complaints to compare, the 2009, at 0.89 per 1,000 sold. Every Avalon year, ranked.
No guide we read covers the Avalon.
Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site: