2020 Toyota Avalon: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2020 Toyota Avalon
On the 2020 Toyota Avalon, the failure owners report most often is shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure, with 2 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 5,000 miles.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 10 named failure modes on the 2020 Toyota Avalon, and the three most-reported carry 38% of everything filed.
Shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure leads with 2 reports and about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other fuel system problem follows with 2 reports.
Stalling while driving follows with 1 report, median 1,900 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into transmission (3), fuel (3) and adas (3).
The mileage the reports cluster at
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 3 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
How bad it is when it goes
Across the named modes, 2 mention a crash and 2 a fatality. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 8.23, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure at $250–$1,400, other fuel system problem at $300–$2,200, stalling while driving at $300–$2,500 and complete transmission failure at $2,800–$8,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
31% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure | transmission | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,400 | High |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Stalling while driving | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 2k | — | 0.0 | $300–$2,500 | Critical |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| Fuel pump failure | fuel | 1 | 1 | — | 4k | — | 0.0 | $600–$2,600 | High |
| Cruise control failure | adas | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,400 | High |
| Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure | steering | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $700–$2,600 | High |
| Sunroof failure or glass breakage | body | 1 | 1 | — | 9k | — | 0.0 | $700–$4,500 | High |
| Other driver assistance problem | adas | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,800 | High |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Unclassified problem | other | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2020 Toyota Avalon draws about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 70th percentile of complaint rates among 2020 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 33,330 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2020 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
Recalls on the 2020 model year
NHTSA has issued 3 recall campaigns covering the 2020 Toyota Avalon, affecting an estimated 56,834 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover air bags:sensor:occupant classification, steering:column and fuel system, gasoline:delivery:fuel pump. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION
999,901 vehicles 2023-12-20- Defect
- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, Corolla, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, RAV4, RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES350, Lexus RX350, Lexus RX450H, 2021 Sienna Hybrid, Lexus ES250, 2020-2022 Camry, Camry Hybrid, and ES300H vehicles. A short circuit may develop in the Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensor, preventing the front passenger air bag from deploying.
- Consequence
- An air bag that does not deploy during a crash increases the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and replace the sensor as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed in February 2024. Some final remedy owner letters were mailed October 31, 2024. Letters will continue to be mailed in phases through January 2026. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 23TB15/23TA15 Lexus 23LB03/23LA03.
STEERING:COLUMN
161 vehicles 2020-11-25- Defect
- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Toyota Avalon and 2020 Avalon Hybrid, RAV4, and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles. Breakaway pins within the steering column, designed to absorb energy and reduce injury during a crash, could have been damaged during production, possibly affecting the performance of the driver's air bag in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
- Consequence
- In the event of a crash, an air bag that does not perform as designed can increase the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering column, free of charge. The recall began December 18, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TB17/20TA17.
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP
1,525,742 vehicles 2020-11-04- Defect
- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2018-2019 4Runner, 2019-2020 Avalon, 2019 Corolla Hatchback, 2017-2019 Highlander, 2018-2020 Camry, 2020 Corolla, 2018-2019 Land Cruiser, 2017-2020 Tacoma, 2019-2020 RAV4, 2019-2020 Sequoia, 2017-2020 Sienna, 2019-2020 Tundra, 2018-2020 Lexus ES350, 2017 Lexus GS200t, 2017-2019 Lexus GS350, 2019 Lexus GS300, 2018-2020 Lexus LC500h, 2019-2020 Lexus LS500, 2018-2019 Lexus GX460, 2017 Lexus IS200t, 2019 Lexus IS300, 2019 Lexus IS350, 2018-2020 Lexus LC500, 2018 Lexus LS500, 2019 Lexus LS500h, 2018-2019…
- 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 assembly with an improved one, free of charge. Owners of specific models were notified that remedy parts were available starting January 21, 2021. Owners of other models will be notified as remedy parts become available. Remedy parts should be available for all affected vehicles by late March 2021. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Note: This recall is an expansion of recall 20V-012. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TA02. Lexus'…
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
Better and worse years of the same car
Across the 25 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1996 comes out best at 55 and 2019 worst at 77.
Within the 2019–2022 generation specifically, 2021 is the strongest year at 72 and 2019 the weakest at 77.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2019-2022 generation, 2021 Toyota Avalon scores best at 72 and 2019 Toyota Avalon worst at 77.
The limits of complaint data
13 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 13 reports, 3 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 23% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2020 Toyota Avalon?
The most-reported failures are shifter, linkage or stuck-in-park failure (2 reports), other fuel system problem (2 reports) and stalling while driving (1 report, median 1,900 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Which year of the Toyota Avalon is best?
Within the 2019–2022 generation, 2021 scores best at 72 out of 100 and 2019 worst at 77. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed