2008 Toyota Avalon exterior lighting problems

“Because my instrument panel is alway illuminated, I was unaware that I was driving one night without my lights on. Now I know why I see more cars at night without their lights. Manufacturers need to fix this problem. Older cars would not turn on the panel lights if the headlights weren't on. You would think this would be an easy technology fix with since we have self driving cars now.”

“OEM high beam bulbs continuously explode. I’m not saying they just burn out, these bulbs shatter, and send shards of glass on the inside of the headlamp housing. I believe it’s a big safety risk, because for me, it happened while I was driving late at night in the dark where there are deer nearby. Brights are essential to see far and when you’re driving through hills, going up a hill you need your brights to extend higher than your normal lights do. This is a commonly complained about problem for the 2008-2010 models of this Toyota Avalon. Toyota has issued a technical service bulletin back in 2011, but it is a major defect and I believe it should be fixed regardless of whether a customer pays for a warranty or not. A mechanic told me also that they are not sure why Toyota has not warrantied vehicles with this issue. The solution is replacing the headlight housing. So there is clearly a material defect, and I believe it affects safety. Vehicles are required to have high beam headlights for a reason, and the high beams on this vehicle burn out commonly on certain vehicles, and replacing bulbs does NOT solve the problem. It is a very expensive repair as well.…”

“2008 TOYOTA AVALON. LOW BEAM ON DRIVERS SIDE GOES OUT INTERMITTENTLY. HAVE TO TURN HEADLIGHTS ON/OFF QUICKLY. WAS PULLED OVER BY CHP ON HIGHWAY, TOLD HIM JUST HAD LOW BEAMS BULBS REPLACED. HE ASKED ME TO TURN THEM OFF, THEN ON AND BOTH LIGHTS WERE WORKING. THIS WAS IN SPRING 2018 APPROX 80,000 MILES. TOOK TO MECHANIC, THEY WORKED FINE. DID NOT HAVE A PROBLEM FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS AFTER THAT, NOW AFRAID TO DRIVE AT NIGHT AS IT HAPPENS MORE FREQUENTLY AND AFRAID THAT LIGHTS WILL NOT COME BACK ON. SO MANY OF SAME COMPLAINTS ON FORUMS. I EMAILED TOYOTA AND ACTUALLY GOT A CALL BACK BUT GAL STATED THEY HAD NO RECORD OF ANY COMPLAINTS REGARDING LOW BEAM PROBLEMS. SHE GAVE ME A CASE #2008070658. ASKED IF I HAD TAKEN IT TO DEALER BUT THEY WOULD CHARGE FOR DIAGNOSIS, I TOLD HER I WOULD NOT BE DOING THAT. MY MECHANIC HAS REFERRED ME TO ANOTHER SHOP WITH A CERTIFIED A TOYOTA MASTER MECHANIC, WILL SEE WHAT HE HAS TO SAY. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY PROBLEM TO SAY THE LEAST AND DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY TOYOTA REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE IT AND STEP UP TO CORRECT PROBLEM. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AND OBVIOUSLY I AM NOT ONLY ONE WHO IS VERY CONCERNED.”

“I HAVE BEEN PULLED OVER NUMEROUS TIMES DUE TO HAVING A HEADLIGHT OUT. HOWEVER IT'S NEVER BLOWN. ONCE I SHOW THE OFFICER BY TURNING THE LIGHTS OFF FOR A FEW SECONDS THEN BACK ON THE LIGHT IS ON. FROM READING MANY TOYOTA FORUMS AND GOING TO A TOYOTA DEALER, IT IS A FAULTY WIRING SYSTEM AND TO REPAIR IT WILL COST AT LEAST $1300.00 OR MORE. IT IS A HASTLE AS WELL AS A SAFETY HAZARD. THE LIGHT DOESNT STAY ON ONCE TURNING THE LIGHTS OFF THEN ON. WITHIN A FEW MILES IT GOES OFF AGAIN AND IT IS CONSTANTLY BLOWING THE LIGHT BULBS. IN THE 3 YEARS I HAVE HAD MY CAR I HAVE REPLACED THE LIGHTS AT LEAST 7 TIMES. THE LIGHT WILL ALWAYS BE OFF WHEN I START MY CAR WITH THE REMOTE STARTER AND WHEN I START IT WITH THE IGNITION IF IT'S ON, WITHIN A FEW MILES OF DRIVING IT GOES OFF AGAIN.”

“FROM THE DAY I PURCHASED USED VEHICLE IN 2015, I'VE EXPERIENCED HEADLIGHTS THAT FLICKER AND GO OFF ONLY TO BE FULLY ILLUMINATED BY TURNING OFF THEN BACK ON. MOSTLY, IT'S THE DRIVER SIDE AND SOMETIMES THE PASSENGER SIDE; INFREQUENTLY, BOTH HEADLIGHTS ARE AFFECTED. I'VE SEARCHED THE INTERNET FOR A SOLUTION AND FOUND HUNDREDS OF SIMILAR REPORTS WITH 'SOLUTIONS' RANGING FROM SIMPLE FEW DOLLARS TO ABOVE $1000. MY LOCAL DEALER HAD THE CAR ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT OCCASIONS...TO NO AVAIL AND WAS WILLING TO 'FIX' IT FOR $1200. BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF SIMILARLY DESCRIBED ON INTERNET FORUMS, I THINK THAT TOYOTA SHOULD RECALL THE VEHICLES IF, FOR NO OTHER REASON, THAN THAT THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE.”

“I HAVE HAD CONTINUOUS PROBLEMS WITH EITHER ONE OR BOTH FRONT HEADLIGHTS GOING OFF RANDOMLY. THIS HAPPENS ALMOST DAILY AND I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR TO THE SHOP NUMEROUS TIMES. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS PROBLEM AS ON OCCASION I DO NOT EVEN KNOW THAT THE LIGHTS ARE OFF. ADDITIONALLY, I HAVE BEEN PULLED OVER BY THE POLICE AND ISSUED A WARNING WITH THE EXCEPECTATION THAT THE PROBLEM WILL BE FIXED. THIS POSES ANOTHER GREAT CONCERN AS THE MECHANIC HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE ISSUE, THEREFORE, IT CANNOT BE FIXED. THE MECHANIC HAS ALSO REACHED OUT TO THE DEALER AS WELL AS OTHER MECHANICS ALONG WITH CONDUCTING HIS OWN RESEARCH ALL TO NO AVAIL. DURING MY RESEARCH, I DISCOVERED NUMEROUS COMPLIANTS STATING THE EXACT SAME PROBLEMS THAT I AM EXPERIENCING, ALSO WITH NO RESOLVE OR REMEDY. I AM SHOCKED THAT TOYOTA WOULD PLACE PEOPLE IN SUCH DANGER AND NOT TAKE ANY ACTION TO RECTIFY THIS VERY SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP YOU MAY BE ABLE TO PROVIDE.”