The 2012 Toyota Avalon has 4 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 3,765,594 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 35 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the air bags. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
AIR BAGS20V0240002020-01-172,891,976 affected
Defect
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…
Consequence
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
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…
SEAT BELTS18V5690002018-08-2919,354 affected
Defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2012 Toyota Avalon vehicles. During a vehicle repair, the seat belt inner buckles may have been replaced with parts that may incorrectly tell the air bag management system that the seat belt is always buckled.
Consequence
If the seat belt is falsely interpreted as being buckled, in the event of a crash, the air bags may not deploy appropriately, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will test the seat belt assembly to verify that it is properly detecting being unbuckled, replacing the inner seat belt assembly as necessary, free of charge. The recall began September 19, 2018. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's number…
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Toyota Avalon vehicles manufactured February 9, 2010, to October 22, 2012. In the affected vehicles, the sub-woofer speaker located in the trunk may experience an intermittent electrical short which may cause damage to the…
Consequence
A constant electrical current flow may cause the sub-woofer to overheat, increasing the risk of fire.
Remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the audio system amplifier and install a protective cover around the sub-woofer, free of charge. The recall began on July 1,2015. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.
EQUIPMENT13V4420002013-10-17802,769 affected
Defect
Toyota is recalling certain model year 2012-2013 Avalon, Avalon HV, Venza, Camry, and Camry HV vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the drain hose for the air conditioning condenser may become clogged causing water to accumulate at the bottom of the air conditioning condenser unit housing. The accumulated water may…
Consequence
A short circuit may cause the air bags to become disabled or inadvertently deploy. An inadvertent airbag deployment can increase the risk of injury or the possibility of a crash. An inoperative airbag can increase the risk of injury in a severe crash. The power steering assist could also become inoperable…
Remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will seal the air conditioning condenser unit housing and install a protective cover on the airbag control module, free of charge. The recall began on February 5, 2014. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331.
Complaints by component
AIR BAGS
6
4crashes5injuries
STRUCTURE:BODY
5
1crashes1injuries
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
4
1fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
4
4crashes1injuries
SERVICE BRAKES
3
1crashes
VISIBILITY/WIPER
3
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
2
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)
1
ENGINE
1
POWER TRAIN
1
Total complaints35
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“While entering the highway on ramp, as I accelerated and turned on the left turn signal, the engine stopped. The steering became very hard. I stopped, put the transmission in park and started the engine, with no problems. This is the second time in3 months this has happened when turning to the…”
“The contact owns a 2012 toyota avalon. The contact stated that while it was hot outside, or whenever there was direct sunlight on the dashboard, the dashboard would become very sticky. The contact stated that the glare on the windshield from the reflection of the dashboard made it very difficult…”
“There is a rear windshield shade that comes up automatically during a bright or hot day. It has a button to manually bring it up or down also. Just last month the gear inside the shade is broken and it does not come down. If I manually put it down it will come up automatically when driving,…”
“Rear sunscreen remains in up position, when lowered in reverse, it makes a loud grinding noise. Having to drive at night presents a problem with visibility when the sunscreen remains in the up position.”
“Another driver rand a red light and I (t-boned his passenger side) was in a head on collision. I was breaking at the time, but still imagine I hit him at between 30-40 mph. The front end crumpled as expected but the airbags did not deploy. Firefighters cut power to prevent the airbags from…”
“Tl* the contact owns a 2012 toyota avalon. The contact stated that the vehicle started on its own. The motor was extremely loud and was a distraction to the driver. When the contact would turn off the engine, it would sometimes restart on its own. The contact called bowling green toyota (2398…”
“My vehicles airbags did not deploy I was hit by an 18 wheeler at a high rate of speed. The vehicle had at least 2 rear end hits by this 18 wheeler estimated at a speed in excess of 25 miles per hour faster than mine (I was going at 70mph northbound on us 75, nine miles south of tulsa oklahoma on a…”
“Tl* the contact owned a 2012 toyota avalon. The frontal airbags failed to deploy when an 18 wheeler collided into the vehicle while travelling at 65 mph. The cause of the failure was unknown. The vehicle was destroyed and the driver and passenger were hospitalized with spinal injuries and bruises.…”
Defect investigations
InvestigationEA19001 Opened 2019-04-19 · closed 2024-09-19
Electrical overstress
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…
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2012 Toyota Avalon as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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