NHTSA Complaint #10544360 — 2007 TOYOTA AVALON

THE DASHBOARD ON MY 07 TOYOTA AVALON HAS BECOME STICKY, ALL CRACKED UP AND EMITTES A STICKY CHEMICAL THAT CREATES A BLINDING GLARE DURING DAYTIME HRS. ESPECIALLY WHEN ITS SUNNY OUTSIDE! I WENT TO MY LOCAL DEALER AND WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT THE CAR HE SAID THAT HIS DEALERSHIP WOULD SPLIT THE COST WITH ME OF ABOUT $800 EACH TO REPLACE THE DASHBOARD. HE SAID THAT TOYOTA HAS BEEN AWARE OF THE PROBLEM FOR SOME TIME BUT REFUSES TO ACKNOLEDGE THAT THE SUBCONTRACT THAT MADE THE DASHBOARDS USED A FAULTY MATERIAL AND SINCE THE WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED, THEY WERE NOT WILLING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I BOUGHT THE TOP OF THE LINE AVALON WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES NEW, GARAGE KEPT IT, WASHED AND WAXED IT MYSELF AND NOW THIS. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT TOYOTA WAS A RELIABLE COMPANY AND WOULD STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS, BUT FOUND OUT JUST THE OPPOSITE. NOT ONLY THE AVALON BUT THE CAMRY, COROLLA AND THE LEXUS 350 WHICH IS MADE BY TOYOTA. I HAVE SEARCHED THE WEB EXTENSIVELY AND THERE SEEMS TO BE NO 'ONE' ANSWER. SOME DEALERS ARE REPLACING THE DASH, SOME ARE OFFERING TO COVER MATERIALS AND SOME ONLY OFFERING 20% DISCOUNTS. CAN YOU CONTACT ME OR REFER ME TO THE PROPER DEPARTMENT TO SUBMIT A CLAIM FOR A REPLACEMENT. AS THIS IS CLEARLY A TOYOTA 'PRODUCT RELATED' PROBLEM, I WOULD EXPECT THAT TOYOTA WOULD HAVE A RESOLUTION TO FIX/REPLACE THE DASH AS NEEDED! SINCE I'M RETIRED AND ON A FIXED INCOME, PAYING OUT OF POCKET FOR TOYOTAS FAULTY, DANGEROUS MATERIAL IS NOT AN OPTION, I'LL MAKE SURE THAT ANYONE THAT I KNOW, AND WITH ALL THE ASSOCIATIONS THAT I BELONG TO THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE, KNOW THAT TOYOTA HAS DROPPED THE BALL ON THIS ONE! THIS HAS BECOME A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD WITH ALL THE GLARE THAT IT'S CAUSING. TOYOTA HAD BETTER HOPE THAT NEITHER MY WIFE OR I HAVE A SERIOUS CAR ACCIDENT DUE TO THEIR MISHANDELING OF ALL THE COMPLAINTS AND TURNING A DEAF EAR TO THE LOYAL TOYOTA OWNERS! *TR