2012 Toyota Avalon Recalls, Complaints & Specs

4 safety recalls list the 2012 Toyota Avalon, and owners have filed 30 complaints with NHTSA. Check your own VIN below.

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4 safety recalls for the 2012 Toyota Avalon

Most recent first. Recall repairs are free at any authorised dealer. Click a recall for the full defect, consequence and remedy text.

1. Air bag/restraint control module (air bags)

   NHTSA 20V024000 Reported January 17, 2020 2,891,976 vehicles potentially affected Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing

   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.

   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…

2. Seat belts and air bags

   NHTSA 18V569000 Reported August 29, 2018 19,354 vehicles potentially affected Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing

   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.

   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…

3. Electrical system

   NHTSA 15V047000 Reported January 28, 2015 51,495 vehicles potentially affected Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing

   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 integrated circuit (IC)…

   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…

4. Air conditioner (equipment) and 2 other components

   NHTSA 13V442000 Reported October 17, 2013 802,769 vehicles potentially affected Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing

   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 then leak through a…

   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…

30 owner complaints filed with NHTSA

Owners of the 2012 Toyota Avalon have filed 30 complaints with NHTSA; 8 describe a crash and 1 describe a fire. Reports cite 6 injuries and 0 deaths. The average mileage at failure in those reports is 42,253 miles. Complaints peaked in 2015 with 10 filed that year.

Most-reported components

• Air bags6
• Structure: body5
• Electrical system4
• Vehicle speed control4
• Service brakes3
• Visibility/wiper3
• Unknown or other2
• Electronic stability control (esc)1

What owners are reporting

“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 engi”

Owner complaint to NHTSA, May 5, 2023 · Power train

“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 sta”

Owner complaint to NHTSA, April 14, 2022 · Structure

Fuel economy and specs

EPA ratings for the 2012 Toyota Avalon. Ranges cover every tested configuration.

Compare Toyota Avalon model years

Recall and complaint counts for every Toyota Avalon model year in NHTSA's database.

Checking a specific 2012 Toyota Avalon

Other Toyota models

• Camry18,189 complaints
• Prius12,516 complaints
• Corolla11,739 complaints
• RAV49,385 complaints
• Sienna8,549 complaints
• Tacoma8,440 complaints
• Tundra6,922 complaints
• Highlander5,745 complaints

Source: NHTSA recall and complaint databases and EPA fuel economy data, October 2026. Complaint counts are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. Recall counts are safety campaigns that list this model year; whether a particular car was already repaired depends on its VIN. How this data is compiled.