2009 Toyota Avalon

Name: 2009 Toyota Avalon owner-filed safety complaints per 1,000 sold
Creator: YearsTell

For every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2009 Avalon as about the typical Avalon year. Among the 6 Avalon years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about this one, the 2009 (0.89 per 1,000 sold) and the most about the 2008 (2.13).

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.89 per 1,000

1.0 times this nameplate’s own median

Counted from 31 complaints filed in the first three years, of 91 ever. 95% lower bound 0.58.

Every Avalon model yearComplaints per 1,000 sold, first three years

This yearOther yearsToo few complaints to rankTypical year, 0.89

Against its own model years

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

Issues owners of the 2009 Avalon report

No phrase appears often enough in these complaints to describe them reliably.

When it breaks

34% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 49,920 miles, from 74 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

What NHTSA did

No NHTSA investigation covers this model year.

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.

Questions buyers ask about the 2009 Toyota Avalon

Is 2009 a good year or a bad year for the Avalon?

What problems does the 2009 Avalon have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Exterior Lighting (25), Steering (18), Vehicle Speed Control (18).

Is the 2009 Avalon reliable?

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 about as many complaints about the 2009 Avalon as about the typical Avalon year.

Which Avalon year has the fewest complaints?

Among years with enough complaints to compare, the 2009, at 0.89 per 1,000 sold. Every Avalon year, ranked.

What the used-car guides say

No guide we read covers the Avalon.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site:

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.