NHTSA Complaint #10597806 — 2007 TOYOTA AVALON

IN JUNE 2008, I BOUGHT A NEW 2007 TOYOTA AVALON AT A LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP, HARR TOYOTA AT 100 GOLD STAR BLVD, WORCESTER, MA 01606. I HAD BEEN ENJOYING DRIVING THE CAR FOR THE PAST 6 YEARS AND HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE NEXT VEHICLE FOR MY FAMILY WILL BE ANOTHER TOYOTA AVALON. I LIKED IT SMOOTH DRIVE, NUMBER OF FEATURES, PLENTY OF SPACE AND THE MOST THE RELIABILITY. ALL MAINTENANCE ON THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN PERFORMED AS REQUIRED AND I THOUGHT THAT AS LONG AS I TAKE GOOD CARE OF IT, I COULD DRIVE IT FOR MANY MORE YEARS. UNFORTUNATELY, ONE WEEK AGO, WHEN MY FAMILY AND I WERE TRAVELING ON THE STATE HIGHWAY, I-90, THE CARS SPEED DROPPED FROM ABOUT 67 MPH TO 0 IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. THE VEHICLE BECAME UNRESPONSIVE CAUSING ME A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF STRESS. I MUST HAVE BEEN BORN UNDER A LUCKY STAR? BECAUSE I WAS ABLE TO MOVE TO THE BREAK DOWN LANE WITHOUT CAUSING WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN A MAJOR ACCIDENT. I AM SURE THAT ANYONE THAT HAS HAD THEIR LOVED ONES AT A GREAT RISK WOULD UNDERSTAND MY FEELINGS. WE RECEIVED HELP FROM THE STATE POLICE IN TERMS OF TOWING THE CAR TO THE NEAREST TOYOTA DEALERSHIP, BERNARDI TOYOTA AT 1626 WORCESTER RD, FRAMINGHAM, MA. THE PROBLEM WITH A CAR WAS IDENTIFIED AS FAILURE OF THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND THE CAR WAS REPAIRED AT A COST OF $5,100. GIVEN THE FACT THAT THE CAR HAS ONLY 57,000 MILES ON IT (MINIMAL MILEAGE WHEN COMPARE TO THE ANTICIPATED LONGEVITY AND RELIABILITY OF TOYOTA) AND ONE YEAR PAST 5-YEAR WARRANTY (2008-2014) MAKES ME EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED. I WOULD APPRECIATE YOU TO STRONGLY CONSIDER REIMBURSING ME FOR THE SUBSTANTIAL COST OF THE REPAIRS THAT WERE CAUSED BY WHAT DEEMED A SUBSTANDARD ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION IN MY VEHICLE. I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR REPLY. PLEASE CONTACT ME AT THE E-MAIL ADDRESSER BY PHONE. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR