NHTSA Complaint #10326211 — 2005 TOYOTA AVALON

PURCHASED THE VEHICLE IN 2005. WITHIN 6 MONTHS THE KEY LESS ENTRY FOB WOULD NOT WORK WHEN TOUCHING THE HANDLE, AS SPECIFIED IN THE OWNERS MANUAL, WITH THE FOB NEXT TO DOOR HANDLE IN MY HAND. TURNED THE VEHICLE IN MORE THAN 5 TIMES FOR THE TROUBLE. SEVERAL TRIPS TO THE REPAIR SHOP FOR THE PROBLEM, THE REASON STATED HEREIN, WAS NOT LOGGED INTO THE SERVICE REPORT. ON AT LEAST TWO TRIPS THE SERVICE ADVISER SAID IT WASN'T A PROBLEM THEY COULD FIX. THE SERVICE MANAGER AT THE FACILITY WHERE I HAVE MY WORK DONE AND WHERE I PURCHASED IT BECOMES IRRITATED IF I MENTION THE PROBLEM WITH A CURT RESPONSE "WE CAN'T REPEAT THE PROBLEM, THEREFORE WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING." I CALLED TOYOTA TO REPORT THE PROBLEM. THEY SENT, ONE TIME, A "TECHNICAL EXPERT" TO CHECK THE VEHICLE. HE REPORTED: (1) HE COULD NOT RECREATE THE PROBLEM. (2) IT WAS OBVIOUS BECAUSE I WAS PARKING NEAR HIGH RADIO FREQUENCY AREAS. (3) YOUR FOB BATTERY MUST BE LOW. WHEN IT WAS CHECKED, IT WAS FINE. AFTER SEVERAL BATTERIES WERE REPLACED WITHIN MONTHS OF EACH OTHER, THE PROBLEM CONTINUES. I RELATED (1) I UNDERSTAND RF INTERFERENCE DUE TO FORMAL US GOVERNMENT TRAINING. THEN WHY WOULD IT MALFUNCTION IN A REMOTE FARM SITE? NO POWER LINES, NO RF TOWERS .. .I CHECKED. MALFUNCTIONS OCCURRED SOMETIMES AT SPECIFIC LOCATIONS AND THEN NEXT DAY AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME OF DAY, IT WOULD NOT? NO ANSWER. THIS PROBLEM FOR ALMOST A YEAR NEVER OCCURRED. NOW WITHIN THE LAST 3 MONTHS IT HAS STARTED AGAIN AND THERE HAVE BEEN NO CHANGES IN LOCATIONS, TIME OF DAY, DAY OF WEEK OR PARKING "SPOTS.' THIS IS VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM AS YOU CAN NOT GET INTO THE CAR WHEN THIS MALFUNCTIONS OCCURS. WHAT IF MY LIFE WAS IN DANGER? ON RARE OCCASION, AFTER USING THE HANDLE MORE THAN 6 TIMES, THE DOORS WILL OPEN. DURING THE PERIOD THAT THIS MALFUNCTION IS OCCURRING, THE ENGINE WILL NOT START WITH THE KEY LESS FOB NEXT TO THE ON/OFF STARTING SWITCH. BATTERIES ARE FINE AND NOT LOW DUE TO TESTING. INCIDENT DATE BELOW IS LAST OCCURRENCE. *TR