Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2011 Toyota Avalon owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 Toyota Avalon. After briefly tapping the accelerator pedal, the vehicle made a loud abnormal noise and experienced a brief period of unintended acceleration. As a result, the contact struck a palm tree at 5 MPH. There were no warning indicators illuminated prior to or after the failure. The vehicle had to be towed from the scene of the crash and taken to the dealer where it could not be diagnosed. An independent mechanic repaired the vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.
February 25, 2014, I arrived for my 2 p.m. Doctor's appt and drove very slowly into a parking space. I was constantly braking because the Toyota Avalon sport 2011 has lots of low trim in the front of the car and I did not want to scratch the car. I kept my foot on the brake, stopped the car, then opened the door to check the white line to see if I was in my parking space. Then, the motor began accelerating very rapidly. Before I could turn the engine off, the car lunged forward and I felt like I was airborne. Within seconds, the car hit the very tall heavy metal and glass doors of the doctor's office and stopped. The car was covered with glass. The metal doors of the office were damaged. Please note, the airbags did not deploy. The entire front of the car: grill, headlights, fenders and hood were damaged. Thankfully no one was injured.
On 3/25/15 the front passenger door locked and could not be unlocked with fob or switch on drivers door. After about 5-10 minutes it unlocked. Since then they same thing has happened to both rear doors at same time. When hitting the unlock button on fob the door beeps several times, but does not unlock. I gave up trying to unlock it and went to my next destination. After coming out, the rear door unlocked normally. I never know now when the doors will unlock, and am afraid I will get totally locked in or out at some point. I have an appt. On Thursday at Toyota to have it checked out. Hopefully they can find the cause. I have read online that it could be a fuse, bad relay or wiring issue. We shall see what they say.
Power door lock issue. The passenger and rear door locks do not open with the remote key nor with the door-lock switch on the driver's door. The doors had to be unlocked manually from inside the vehicle. All the doors lock when the car is put in drive. Only the driver's door unlocks when the car is put in park. The dealer is replacing the module that controls the power door locks at a cost over $1,000. There is also an issue with not being able to open the trunk with the remote key or the button in the dash. The dealer stated the same module controls the trunk and the door locks. A case has been opened with Toyota.
The passenger and rear door locks do not open with the remote key nor with the door-lock switch on the driver's door. The passengers could not enter the car. Their door had to be unlocked manually from inside the vehicle. This is a safety issue if the passenger doors need to be opened quickly from the outside. The problem disappeared after about one week. The problem started again late last month. The Toyota dealer diagnosed the problem as an open circuit in the junction block and replaced the block. They stated that the full cost of the repair was over $1000, but only charged me $120.
Tl contact owns a 2011 Lexus rx350 (na). The contact stated that when the rear door was opened, the chime did not indicate that door was open while the contact was reversing out of the garage; the vehicle door crashed into the garage door and was damaged. The dealer stated that the vehicle was not equipped with a warning chime. The contact called the manufacturer who stated that someone from the design department would contact him. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 1,300.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 Toyota Avalon. While at a stop light, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle accelerated and lost power. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was taken to multiple dealers who were unable to diagnose or repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 15V047000 (electrical system); however, the part needed to repair the vehicle was unavailable. The failure mileage was 15,000.
Passenger and two rear doors will not unlock from key fob nor master lock button. These doors must be unlocked from inside. I can disconnect the passenger switch and they will work for a short period then reoccur. The dirver's door is unaffected. I had it diagnosed by local dealer and they said was three actuators bad simultaneously. All actuators do not fail at once and for all.. There is a single component used by these doors that is failing, and working intermittently
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 Toyota Avalon. When the front passenger and both rear doors were locked, the contact could only unlock them from inside the vehicle. The dealer diagnosed that the door activators failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
I brought my vehicle into a Toyota garage on 4/13/15 for the safety recall on the rear sub-roofer. At that time, no replacement parts. Subsequently, I had the sub-roofer disconnected. I just called 7/9/15, almost 3 months later and still no replacement parts. Lousy customer service on the part of Toyota motor sales.
Related recalls
Electrical system
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…
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.
Electrical complaints in other Avalon years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2011 Toyota Avalon?
NHTSA has 25 complaints about the electrical system of the 2011 Toyota Avalon, 24% of the model year's 106 complaints. The component named most often is instrument cluster/panel (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2011 Toyota Avalon electrical problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 15V-047 (electrical system, Jan 28, 2015). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2011 Toyota Avalon electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 39,000 miles, and 27% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 3 crashes, 0 fires and 0 injuries to electrical system problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.