1996 Toyota Avalon XLS from North America - Comments

Brakes, brakes, brakes!! I have already replaced all four brakes twice since taking ownership three years ago. And the intermittent "clicking" noise I hear from them is rather bothersome.

The sound system is rather weak. I live in a hilly area and sometimes have difficulty pulling stations in that are more than 15 miles away.

Speakers seem to fade in and out while listening to CDs.

CD changer (trunk-mount) takes a long time to warm up and will not play in cold weather.

Also, the power antenna frequently gets stuck in its housing (or at half-mast) on frosty mornings.

Nice highway cruiser! Loves to travel at speeds over 70mph!!

Cavernous trunk! And a full-size spare under it!!!

Fit and finish of the interior is first-class! Leather still feels, smells and looks new!

This car has a velvety smooth ride, yet handles well.

But wind noise is rather intrusive at highway speeds.

Remarkably roomy! Our friends and family are always telling us how much they love riding in our car... maybe THAT'S why we always seem to drive everywhere!!!

No lumbar support for either front seat... leads to fatigue and backache on long trips (my car has the split bench).

Typical Toyota body problems! Body panels seem to lack integrity. My car dents rather easily and has numerous small rust spots just beginning in various places. Paint chips and scratches and seem to occur too easily.

Rust does not happen. laziness happens. my avalon has over 110k and has a beautiful shine. the trick is a winter and summer wax. regular hand washes and door jam cleaning are also a necessity.

Here's the whole story, from 3,000 miles to 206,000 miles. The Avalon was bought from the dealer showroom with a few miles on it, as a new car. We were told that it was the dealer's wife's personal car. This is, by far, the very best car I have ever owned and still own. I do not understand what a couple of the other people who put comments were looking for. I tend to travel as many roads off-freeway as possible because this car is fun to drive. It loves being above 70 mph and accelerates beautifully from there up. We say this V-6 thinks it's a V-8. We call the ECT tranny option the "James Bond button".

I do all of my own maintenance and inspect more often than replace parts. I have had only a few minor things to deal with. The most serious was a mysterious loss of adjustment on one exhaust valve at about 150,000 miles. I contacted the factory people when the dealer could not tell me what was going on. They had never seen this before, either. I measured and found the clearance had opened up by +.030". I made a shim to place under the puck to compensate, installed (easy to do) and it has been fine ever since. I had an annoying intermittent steering fluid leak which would leak for a couple of weeks, then go a month or more dry, then leak again. I decided that the seal on the rack must have had a piece of gravel or something moving around under it, so I removed the rack, changed the seal and as preventive maintenance, changed the dust boot also. The seal was $6 and the boot $29. It has been dry ever since. I have only changed the timing belt one time, at 130,000 miles and the spark plugs at the same time.

I have changed both half-shafts. The first was at about 138,000 miles, the other at 168,000 miles. These can be bought rebuilt with lifetime guarantee at AutoZone for just $60 each. They take about two hours to install, once you have the tools gathered together for the job.

I do have the upper strut tower "clunk" on the driver's side that seems fairly common on the passenger side of newer models, according to postings. I know what it is, so it doesn't bother me much.

I like to show people what this car looks like under the hood. It is as clean as most cars with only a few miles. There are no leaks. It is like looking at an old Caterpillar. They are always leak-free.

This car gets 30 to 31.5 mpg (trip mileage) on the 87 octane fuel. The oil still stays fairly clean between changes, which range from 3000 miles to 6,000 miles. I change the oil based upon its appearance, rather than miles. I use a little better quality oil filter than the cheap ones.

I plan to change the timing belt and spark plugs again, along with new struts at 250,000. If it hasn't failed by then, I also plan to change the water pump while changing the timing belt at that mileage. There is nothing noticeable, but I just think it will be good business.

It is noteworthy that I have the alignment checked about once a year and, at 206,000 miles, it is still within spec's. It has never needed realignment, even though I do have some unimproved road miles on the car.

I'm the guy who wrote about the Avalon at 206,000 miles. At 211,000 I traded it off. I miss the ol' girl, but love my 2005 Tundra. I really miss the 31 mpg on trips. Again, that was by far the best car I have ever owned and I have owned a lot of cars including Mercedes and BMW. While the handling and comfort are similar to those high-end cars, the maintenance (or lack of needed maintenance) makes the Toyota Avalon shine.

I was going to do a lot of preventive maintenance at 250,000 miles, like struts, hood cylinders (mine were still working, but getting a little tired), a second set of spark plugs, a second replacement timing belt, and a water pump.

Although I appreciate the prices at Auto Zone and others, I learned that the original parts are well worth the difference. More, they are affordable because the car asks for so little.

I hope that my 2005 Tundra is all that I believe that it is. I have modest income, so the reliability and value of Toyota is very much a consideration.

My wife bought her 1996 Avalon XLS new out of the showroom and it has been a fantastic car. We are now at 190,000 some odd miles and I do almost all the repairs and maintenance. So far only 1 timing belt, 1 replacement set of spark plug wires and 1 set of CV drive axlls. I had to recently change out all 4 main speakers as the cones had rotted out and I just changed out the original struts all the way around. I've only had a few other minor repairs like O2 sensors and some of the light bulbs. The rack did start to leak at about 180,000 and I read where that was a problem with them, I had that changed by a shop. I also had to replace the valve cover rubber gaskets as they got brittle and were leaking some oil on the exhaust system.

By and far a great solid well built car.

1996 Toyota Avalon - 156K miles

I agree with the posts about this being the best car I have ever owned. I purchased it in 1999 with about 38K miles and have done very little repair work. Frankly, I am not as meticulous about maintenance as I once was. I get around to changing the oil every 7-8K miles and it's always nice and clean. I am pretty particular about the oil, however. I always use Mobil 1 synthetic oil.

Timing belt was replaced at about 90K so its due for another pretty soon.

I'm going to keep it until something major breaks, but may consider the strut upgrade since the ride is getting pretty bad.

Another annoyance that I've put up with for the last 120K is the wind noise. Too bad Toyota did not take care of this for the original owner under warranty.

1996 Toyota Avalon.

I purchased my Avalon last year after totalling a Corolla, and I was worried about the 175,000 miles on it in the beginning. I'm now at a little over 197,000 miles, and I can't complain. It's the best car I've ever had. The only thing I had done on the car besides regular oil changes was to replace the radiator. I've traveled in it from Florida to South Carolina several times with no problems whatsoever. It rides just like a brand new car, and I plan to keep it until everything dies on it--whenever that is.

I have a 1996 TOYOTA AVALON XLS with well over 158,000 miles now; only 'major' issue was a transmission with a small amount of unknown metal shavings in pan; that Rx 2d cost $ 2,400, but as that's been all the major COST except for normal tires, fuel, oil, and brake pads, I still think its one of the BEST CAR VALUES that I've ever had.

All 4 Door speakers did 'rot' out a few years ago, but $200 POLK replacements were a NORMAL COST of use in my view.

I have a '97 Avalon XLS with 135K miles. that I bought in '99 with 10k miles. on it. Replaced timing belt at 130k miles., only because the dealer keep reminding me it needed to be done at 60k miles. Could never find any mention of this item in my owner's manuals under scheduled replacements. When I took it out it still looked in great condition and wonder how much longer it would have lasted. While I had the covers off, I replaced engine oil seals, idler pulleys, water pump & thermostat, drive belts, and tensioner. Car currently needs a transmission upshift solenoid, valve cover gaskets, rear struts, and has a steering fluid leak somewhere at the pump. Front strut mounts replaced under warranty and had to press the dealer to do this. Should have had the wind noise corrected under warranty, but let it slide out of warranty. Steering rack developed leak at 50k miles and I replaced that. All in all, it's been a good car that's had regular oil changes in 3-5k miles intervals.