Problems with 2013 Toyota Avalon VISIBILITY

The vehicle was taken to a local dealership for the required 10,000 mile warranty maintenance. at this time, i showed the dealership where water marks had appeared in all four upper corners of the inside cloth liners beside the front and rear windshields. i was told the sunroof had tubes that occasionally clogged and they would clear the tubes and clean the inside cloth. over the past few months our area experienced a tremendous amount of rain. when the car was taken to the dealership for the 15,000 mile warranty maintenance, i showed the dealership where water marks appeared to have worsened in the same areas. the dealership explained that there were no clogs in the sunroof tubing and they had attempted to recreate the water leakage by running water over the car for one hour. they could not explain why the water marks kept reappearing and did not know if anyone called toyota. a representative from the dealership explained that they could not do anything else to correct the issue because there were no "recalls" pertaining to this issue. i performed a google search and discovered a blog where many people have experienced this problem and one person even had to have the headliners and cloth replaced due to water damage. the representative said there was nothing else they could do but i could report this to the nhtsa if i felt the need to seek repairs. *tr

I received a recall notice on my vehicle on february 6, 2014 and every time i have called the dealership to have my hvac assembly repaired they tell me that the parts are on backorder. i feel like they are putting me and my safety at risk by not producing a fix for this recall. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 toyota avalon. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was a constant glare from the dashboard, affecting the contact's visibility of the roadway. the contact believed the failure to be a serious safety issue since he was unable to see approaching vehicles. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician stated that he was unable to alter the design of the vehicle. however, the technician opted to clean the dashboard and windshield as a temporary remedy. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 700 and the current mileage was 767. updated 11/20/13*cn

This toyota was purchased with a sunroof top. after driving the car for two weeks we noticed the headliner was coming loose from the roof. we noticed that when you opened the sunroof the air entering the car made the roof or headliner shake and move as if to much air was getting under it causing the headliner to separate from the roof. we took the car in for service and the dealership finally told us there was a recall on these headliners and that no parts were being replaced at this time. i look at this as a major flaw and the roof coming loose should have been something the toyota should have said something about. we've had the car two weeks shouldn't they have said o by the way the roof may separate from the top of the car. no calls about the recall and they told us to take our car that they could not repair it right now. please tell everyone the roof in this car has problems an toyota is not fixing it. it's unfair to the consumer that things like this can happen and people know about it and are still allowed to sell these car if you want to buy one today. *tr

I drove to baltimore, md from cherry hill, nj on 06/16/2013 at speeds varying from 45mph - 75mph. the moment i got on to nj turnpike, the wind and road noise were loud inside the cabin. the entire time it seemed the windows of the car were open even though the a/c was on slow, windows and sunroof were closed. (i have two older cars i.e. hyundai elantra 2002 and honda accord 2005 which have less cabin noise when windows are closed). considering, this is a brand new car, high end and is supposed to be very quite, i find it a big safety risk as the noise is distracting, because i was trying to see if the windows were open, doors were properly closed and sun roof wasn't open / tilted, all the while distracting me from the road. a lot of the noise seems to be coming from around the doors and the front windshield, at one point during my journey there was a loud whooshing sound coming from the front wind shield as if there was no seal / insulation between the windshield and the body of the car. *tr

Complaint: sun glare reflection coming from dashboard, safety issue, similar to nets. on 04/01/13, james fewel toyota national hq, documented my dash glare issue under file #[xxx]: on 3-16-2013, we purchased a 2013 avalon from coggin toyota jacksonville. it has fl legal window tinting. the dash's chrome trim causes a glare issue on a sunny day, causing bright glare due to the amount of dashboard trim that is silver/chrome. it is a safety issue when there is so much glare coming from the dash area. what is toyota's recommendation is to rectify the issue? on 05/21/13, [xxx], service director, toyota avenues, responded: [xxx], i forwarded your pictures to our tech dept as well as submitted a product quality case. response back from manufacturer has been that there is nothing that can be changed at this time to keep the glare coming off of the chrome trim panels. the ref for the dealer product report is case # [xxx] if you wish to call the cust spt center to update your case. thank you, [xxx], toyota avenues [xxx]. on 05/22/2013 [xxx] at toyota hq responded: [xxx], we are sorry for the concerns this condition has caused and have forwarded your email to a case manager here in our dept. the case manager will contact you via phone before the end of business, may 23, 2013. we have documented your email at our national hq under file #[xxx]. on 05/23/2013 received a call from toyota case manager [xxx], so i sent him pictures showing the glare issue. there was never any further communication from toyota hq on it. bottom line: toyota needs to come up with a fix to this safety issue, replacing all this glossy chrome with something non-reflective. putting chrome in the dash area was a poor design. my wife often feels sick, due to the way this glare hurts her eyes. thank you. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

in the 2013 toyota avalon, driver visibility is dangerously distorted when looking through the rear view mirror at approaching cars (especially at night), due to a defect in the new 2013 engineering design of the rear glass material, rear glass contour and angle, tinting, and defrost strips. all lights (especially vehicle headlights, street lights, traffic lights, etc.) observed through the rear glass have long, bright, vertical lines radiating at the top and bottom from the main light source viewed through the rear view mirror. these vertical lines shining from all of the numerous light sources obscure the rear view vision, causing confusion for the driver in many ways: 1) not being able to correctly judge rear car distance, 2) not being able to identify the types of vehicles in the rear, 3) not being able to change lanes safely because of distortions through the rear glass panel, 4) not being able to judge how many vehicles are approaching and/or passing, and last but not least, 5) causing the driver to stare longer through the rear view mirror in an attempt to discern what is taking place behind which takes the driver's eye off of the front vision for too long. although the bright vertical lines can be seen more distinctly at dusk and night, they are also observable during the daytime if the vehicles coming from behind have front lights on, and/or the sun shines on the chrome. these radiating vertical lines take on the color of the main light source seen from behind so the driver may observe white, yellow, red, green, etc. colors. this causes confusion when trying to judge what is happening with approaching vehicles from behind. on a multi-lane highway at night, these many-colored vertical lines radiating up and down from the various types of headlights, street lights, etc. cause a confusing and dangerous situation for the driver.

failed component in this vehicle, as well as every other 2013 toyota avalon, has a distorted rear window and one cannot get a clear view of what is behind. all lines are zig-zag and everything behind is fuzzy. this is not a dispute between one car owner and toyota, but a dispute that encompasses every 2013 toyota avalon and in which the nhtsa should take interest. i have documents to prove that all these vehicles have this problem. i purchased this car 12/17/12 on a rainy, overcast day. after delivery, i noticed the window, and thinking it could be repaired by replacement, took the car to the dealer and after they checked other cars on the lot, found all had the same problem. the field service rep and i met and he drove the vehicle. he too, saw the problem. we met again, and he had met with the technical people in jacksonville, and no car had a clear window. he stated, in writing, that he would pursue a re-purchase of the vehicle. i was advised to get a case number and i did so. after working for several weeks with the case manager, he informed me that on may 17th, the directors and corporate managers were meeting and on may 20th, he would call to let me know if a window had been re-engineered to correct the problem. the correction could not be made, so arbitration papers were sent. after pursuing this, i was informed i was not eligible for arbitration because it was a design flaw. this is a defect that no mfg. should be allowed to put on the road. a very expensive car that no one should be condemned to drive because one cannot get a clear view of what is behind. on 6/13/13, i was informed toyota would not re-purchase the car, now would not do anything because they did not consider it to be a safety problem. it is. even the rep. involved thinks the car should be re-purchased. it should be re-purchased and every 2013 toyota avalon should be recalled.

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 toyota avalon. the contact stated that the rear window was distorted, causing his visibility to be minimized. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician stated that the vehicle was compliant with standards. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 7,000. updated 03/05/14*lj *tr