1998 Toyota Avalon from North America - Comments

I was disappointed with Toyota and the local dealer when they refused to fix, under warranty at 36000 miles, the oil sludge problem that caused the car to quit running. My wife had the oil changed at Walmart and did not keep receipts of the oil changes. The dealer and the Toyota factory rep told me that there was not a design problem with the engine and that we had caused the problem. Further, they inferred that my wife was a lier. However, for $2500 they would repair it. Great. I had the engine repaired elsewhere for $800 and then sold the lemon at a loss. Now I find out that there is a class action lawsuit against Toyota for oil sludge buildup with this model and others. The engine is inherently defective. Toyota lied to me and the local dealer in North Little Rock lied to me. I will never own another Toyota product of any kind. We have switched to Kia Amanti. The Koreans are doing what the Japanese used to do. The 100,000 mile warranty is 3 times better than Toyota. However, since Toyota didn't honor their 36,000 warranty to begin with it is a moot point. Toyota has made an enemy and I have a long memory.

Toyota lied to you, to my friends and to half of their customers, check out this: http://www.geocities.com/toyota_camry_06.

Toyota are within their rights to decline warranty work if the vehicle hasn't got a complete Toyota service history.

We have owned a cream-and-taupe 1998 Toyota Avalon XLS with sunroof and gold-lettered ID since it was new. It's still beautiful although it has gone 111,645 miles. It's a wonderful car and has never let us down. (Of course, it has always been serviced at a certified Toyota dealer.) Besides, it drives like a dream. Backseat passengers never fail to comment on the roominess and smoothness of the ride.

Our only complaints? That Toyota's newer Avalons don't have the eye appeal and the stand-out design features of our Avalon.

I have owned a 1998 Avalon since March of 1998. No problems except the air conditioning leaking a couple years ago. The car is just shy of 203,000 miles and there are still no problems to report. It's always been serviced by our Toyota Dealer and it's been a great car!

1996 Avalon here: 260,000 miles runs well. 1998 Avalon 130,000 miles... ran well until smashed up in a big crash... protected its occupants and that is all that matters.

I have a 1999 Toyota Avalon with 172,000 miles. The car has been perfect. I bought it on January 5, 2005 with 78000 miles. All I have had to do is replace brakes, tires, shocks, oil, filters and timing belt at 115,000 miles. I love this car. Someday, (sniff, sniff) I will have to replace it but I do not find any of the newer Avalons appealing.