2014 Toyota Avalon recalls and problems

The 2014 Toyota Avalon has 4 recalls and 96 owner complaints on file with NHTSA; the most reported problem area is unknown or other.

How the 2014 compares
Fewest complaintsMost complaints

Average complaint count among 23 Avalon model years — 12th most.

4recalls
96complaints
7crashes
1fires
10injuries
14,000median miles

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA, not verified and not adjusted for sales. Ranking compares this model's own years only.

Does your car have an open recall?
Recalls apply to specific vehicles. Only a VIN lookup on NHTSA's official site shows whether yours is affected and still unrepaired.
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4 recalls

Air Bags

Jan 17, 2020 · NHTSA campaign 20V024000 · 2,891,976 vehicles

Problem: 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 & notes

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.

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Forward Collision Avoidance

Nov 3, 2015 · NHTSA campaign 15V728000 · 30,812 vehicles

Problem: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Avalon and Avalon Hybrid vehicles manufactured October 19, 2012 to October 27, 2015 and 2013-2015 Lexus ES350 and ES300h vehicles manufactured June 18, 2012 to July 6, 2015. The affected vehicles are equipped with a Pre-Collision System (PCS) as optional equipment. In these vehicles, the PCS may unexpectedly activate and apply the brakes when the radar detects a steel joint or plate in the roadway as an object.

Risk: A vehicle that unexpectedly brakes increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy & notes

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace certain PCS components, free of charge. The recall began on July 28, 2016. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this campaign are F1V and F2E.

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Suspension

Nov 7, 2014 · NHTSA campaign 14V715000 · 5,650 vehicles

Problem: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2014 Toyota Camry, Camry HV, Avalon, and Avalon HV vehicles equipped with 16-inch and 17-inch rims. In the affected vehicles, the left-side front suspension lower arm may have been incorrectly manufactured. As a result, the left side lower arm may not have enough clamping surface area for one of the bolts that secures the lower arm to the lower ball joint.

Risk: Because of the insufficient clamping force, the lower arm may separate from the ball joint, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy & notes

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the left side lower arm, free of charge. The recall began on December 12, 2014. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331.

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Fuel System

Sep 19, 2014 · NHTSA campaign 14V576000 · 15,872 vehicles

Problem: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2014 Toyota Avalon, Camry, Sienna, and Highlander and model year 2015 Lexus RX350 vehicles. Fuel may leak from the one of the fuel delivery pipes in the engine compartment.

Risk: A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source increases the risk of a fire.

Remedy & notes

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace any of the suspect fuel delivery pipes free of charge. The recall began November 17, 2014. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331.

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Recall text as published by NHTSA and the manufacturer.

What owners complain about

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA; one complaint can name several areas. Not verified by NHTSA.

Complaints by year filed

2014: 12 complaints20142015: 17 complaints20152016: 26 complaints2016262017: 7 complaints20172018: 5 complaints20182019: 8 complaints20192020: 6 complaints20202021: 6 complaints20212022: 2 complaints20222023: 4 complaints20232024: 2 complaints20242025: 1 complaints20251

NHTSA investigations

Electrical overstress

EA19001 · opened Apr 19, 2019 · closed Sep 19, 2024 · led to recall 20V024
Summary

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…

2014 vs. other Toyota Avalon years

Owner complaints by model year; the darker bar is the 2014. Click a bar to switch year.

Questions

Does the 2014 Toyota Avalon have recalls?

Yes — NHTSA lists 4 recall campaigns covering the 2014 Toyota Avalon, the latest from Jan 17, 2020 (air bags). A recall applies to specific vehicles: enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see whether yours is affected and still open.

What are the most common problems with the 2014 Toyota Avalon?

Owner complaints filed with NHTSA most often mention unknown or other (21), forward collision avoidance (18), visibility (13). Complaints are consumer reports and are not verified by NHTSA.