The 2018 Toyota Avalon has 2 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 4,722,728 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 31 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…
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) recalled certain 2018-2019 4Runner, Highlander, Camry, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma and Tundra, and Lexus RC 300, RC 350, GS 350, GX 460, IS 300, LC 500, LS 500, LX 570, RX 350L, and 2019 Toyota Avalon and Corolla, and certain Lexus NX 300, and ES 350…
Consequence
If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump, free of charge. The recall began May 4, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 20TB02 and 20TA02 for Toyota vehicles and 20LB01 and 20LA01…
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“Involved in a 2 vehicle accident on october 26th. My car is totaled and so is the other car. No airbags deployed and my drivers side seat belt failed to lock in the accident. I was injured and taken by ambulance to hospital.”
“Involved in a 2 vehicle accident on october 26th. My car is totaled and so is the other car. No airbags deployed and my drivers side seat belt failed to lock in the accident. I was injured and taken by ambulance to hospital.”
“Date of safety issue: july 12, 2023 location: piper glen shopping center, rea road, charlotte nc (destination was run for your life at 6416 rea road - within the shopping center). Time: approximately sometime between 1:30 and 2:00 et police report complaint # - [xxx] on july 12, 2023 I entered a…”
“Hello, my name is [xxx]. I bought my car from longo toyota in el monte about 15 months ago. The car was certified preowned and had a carfax report with no accident reported history. That is exactly why I bought the car, because this was going to be my family car. So I bought it and have been…”
“Air bag did not deploy during a major front end collision. Resulted in total loss of the vehicle.”
“Intermittently, unpredictably, for several seconds at a time, the engine almost quits, especially when accelerating so far, it has not happened in heavy traffic, but if it did, it would create a possibly major safety hazard. I have not taken it to a dealer yet. Just learned about the fuel pump…”
“At approximately 42000 miles with no significant issues and no front end damages, the steering failed as I was driving at highway speed (70 mph) on a 2 lane road approaching a 90 degree curve. The power steering warning light and a separate triangle warning light appeared at the same time as I…”
“The pre-collision braking system does not appear to work. Several times when cars in front of us have slammed on their brakes, the pre-collision braking system does not respond. We own a 2016 prius with the same feature and it always responds ' flashing a warning and applying the brakes. We…”
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 2018 Toyota Avalon as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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