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What 52 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Toyota Avalon

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (52)Crash / fire / injury (8)Brakes (15)Driver assistance (10)Airbags (8)Electrical system (7)Speed control (7)Engine (4)Body & structure (3)Electronic Stability Control (esc) (3)Fuel system (3)Tires (3)

1 of 52 complaints match · Engine · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

May 27, 2020BrakesEngineCrash

ON MAY 25TH, 2020 I WAS PULLING INTO A TACO BELL DRIVE THROUGH. IT WAS LOCATED UP A LITTLE HILL. AS I DROVE UP THE HILL I HIT A LITTLE CURBING. I BACKED UP AND ADJUSTED THE CAR TO MISS THE CURB. WHEN I PUT THE CAR INTO DRIVE IT LURCHED FORWARD AT A HIGH SPEED. SEEING I WAS GOING TO HIT THE CAR IN FRONT, I HIT MY BRAKES. THE CAR DID NOT STOP UNTIL I HAD HIT THE CAR IN FRONT WITH A LOT OF FORCE. THAT CAR WAS THROWN INTO THE TRUCK IN FRONT OF IT. THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A HUGE SCARE! I PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE SO I COULD OBSERVE THE DAMAGE TO MY CAR THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. WHEN I DID SO THE CAR ACCELERATE AT FULL SPEED IN REVERSE GOING BACK DOWN THE HILL AND HEADED STRAIGHT FOR A DRUGSTORE. THE CAR WAS MAKING A WHIRING SOUND, LIKE WHEN YOU REV UP THE ENGINE. I PUSHED THE BRAKES TO THE FLOOR BUT THE CAR WOULD NOT STOP BUT KEEP GOING FASTER! I PUMPED THE BRAKES SOME MORE BUT IT WOULD NOT STOP. WHEN I SAW I WAS HEADED INTO THE STORE, I TURNED THE WHEELS TO AVOID IT AND TRIED BRAKING AGAIN WITHOUT STOPPING. I FINALLY HIT THE STOP ENGINE BUTTON BUT NOT BEFORE THE CAR HIT A PARKED TRUCK IN THE STORE LOT WHICH STOPPED IT. IT WAS THE MOST FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD. I AM NOW AFRAID TO GET INTO A CAR. I WAS TOO UPSET TO TAKE PHOTOS. I WILL LIST THE CRASH REPORT IN THE FILE BELOW. *TR *BF *TR

NHTSA ODI 11326182

Working with the data? Download all 52 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 15, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2015 Toyota Avalon verdict →