Toyota Avalon 2008-2010

vegaslee

No trade.
Factory Window Sticker
XLS 31,375.00
Navigation 2940.00
Power pass seat & seat heaters 740.00
VSC/TRAC 650.00
Carpet Floor Mats 199.00
Delivery 660.00
Total $36,564.00
Dealer Add On Sticker
"Environmental Protection Package = paint sealer + door edge guards $1,295.00
Window tinting 199.00
Total $38,058
SALES PRICE = $31,988.00
I know others will argue the value of the dealer's environmental protection package. Still, I am a very happy buyer.

1984

where did you purchase your avalon?

vegaslee

Centennial Toyota
Las Vegas
Work through the internet department. :shades:

spencer327

Checked distance measured aginst mile marker as you suggested.
I found that all mile markers are not created equal( route 95 ). Very difficult to get a real number since the odometer only records tenths. You have to extrapolate and try to measure the difference between the odometer tenth and the mile marker. Best estimate is that the odometer is slightlylong ( measured mile is slightly shorter than odometer). 1 second at 70 MPH. Certainly not scientific results with a large amount of inaccuracy.
Gas mileage on return, Georgia to Long Island 945 miles
High 31.5 low 28.8 Avg 30.6

kheern

Does anyone know what the dealer holdback is for a 2008 toyota Avalon

fin

Thanks for the confirmation. It appears that the 2008 models have a somewhat more accurate odometer than the '05 to '07's but the error is still there. I have checked mine on four different interstates. It's always off.

The good news here is that you will still be covered under the 3/36 warranty even though you will have about 37k showing on the car. Probably meaningless, but every little bit helps. And you are getting even better gas mileage than you posted. wow... !

tjc78

My '06 is definately off too. I remember when this was first posted, I didn't believe it until I checked it myself. What I can't understand is how the speedo is accurate but the odo isn't. Wouldn't they run off the same sensor?

fin

You will actually have about 37k on the car and 36k showing. A free 1k extra miles under warranty from Toyota.

fin

You would think it's impossible for the mileage and the speed to be different...but it happens. We just came back from our condo in Florida and passed two road construction radar speed displays. These were in AL and they said 64/65 as we passed with the needle on 65. Same as the ones in TN when we go to Nashville. The speed is dead on... but the miles covered, off by 3% in my '07 Limited. We have used mile markers in 4 states. Always off.

Even adjusted, I still can't get 30 mpg. Got 28.9 this time. But we do travel 75+ outside the construction zones, so...maybe that's some of it. Now at 18k miles and only oil changes and tire rotations. Perfect so far.... enjoy your Avalons all.

wwest

I have beaten "paced" speeding tickets because the "wet-behind-the-ears" officer was not aware that "calibrating" the speedometer with another car's radar early in the morning with the tires COLD was not valid for pacing with them once warmed and therefore more highly inflated.

Perhaps your tolerances are out of whack due to factory tire inflation vs your own.

fin

Nothing would please me more than to post that the tire pressure is responsible for errors in the mileage travelled or the speed indicated... but I have been a Nitrogen user for years. My tire store services a large truck fleet and uses N all day long. Tires set at 33 will read 33 a month later. And of course there is little change due to temperature as you drive...so....

Again, the speed is right. TN, GA and AL radar speed warning signs all say the same thing - 65 at an indicated 65. But after just 5 miles of running the mile markers you can look back and barely see the last marker when the car odo turns the 5th mile. It appears the '08's may have a little more accurate odo. Maybe.

Your observation that temp affects tire pressure is absolutely right and extreme temp changes probably have a greater affect than most people realize on tires filled with ordinary compressed air. It is really noticeable on a FL interstate in July, less so in winter. Perhaps we have raised awareness here - of both odo error and tire pressure importance...

mdm4

Does anyone know if you can swap the XLS springs onto a Touring Strut? A friend has a 2008 Touring and would like to soften the ride a bit. I know that the struts between the two models have different part numbers but will it work and will it provide a softer ride? In working on older cars I know that changing the springs have always played an important role in ride quality more so than just changing the shocks. Any information would be greatly appreciated

ppatterson

I was speaking with a service representative at a locate Toyota dealer who was also familiar with the Honda brand. I asked him to outline the benefits of one brand over the other. He indicated that Toyota is gradually replacing rubber timing belts with metal timing chains; he believed that all 2008 Toyota engines have the timing chains. He also indicated that Toyota engines are designed to be of the "non-interference" design -- the event of a broken timing belt won't require expensive engine replacement. Does anyone have any information on that? Thanks.....

floridasteve

Curious,
has anyone in the Southeastern states purchased an extended Warranty from other than the dealership. According to Toyota Financial's website I can't buy one-instead I have to buy an over-inflated one with reduced coverage from a secondary source through the dealer. Also are extended warranties mobile i.e. are transportable when one moves from state to state.
Thanks in advance for any info that can be passed my way.

fin

Search some of the Avalon forums for "extended warranty". You will find a wealth of information. You can buy a Toyota extended warranty from any Toyota dealer regardless of where you bought the car. Try Toyota of Greenfield as a start. This assumes your car is eligible for a Toyota factory extended warranty, and yes, the warranty goes where you go in the lower 48.

Someone else will need to explain the off brand warranty, never had one. Also know that many people do not recommend this product on a car make that is very reliable, such as Honda, Toyota, etc. It is a total waste of money for most, but if want the peace of mind.... ok.. Hope this gets you started.

pcomeaux

"No trade.
Factory Window Sticker
XLS 31,375.00
Navigation 2940.00
Power pass seat & seat heaters 740.00
VSC/TRAC 650.00
Carpet Floor Mats 199.00
Delivery 660.00
Total $36,564.00
Dealer Add On Sticker
"Environmental Protection Package = paint sealer + door edge guards $1,295.00
Window tinting 199.00
Total $38,058
SALES PRICE = $31,988.00"

Looks like a fair price, but it certainly looks like the dealer made some of their money back on the environmental package and other options.

pcomeaux

To add to the information on this forum, two days ago, I purchased a 2008 Silver Pine Mica Avalon Limited, with absolutely no options (not even floormats). The dealer is in Dallas, TX. My purchase price was $32,650, plus TTL.

kirkkempen

I'm planning to buy an Avalon in the next few days, and am trying to decide between the Leather an Cloth seats. I'm concerned that the loose fitting pleated leather on the seat bases will wear prematurely due to wrinkling. Any comments?

gilseidman

I just purchased a 2008 Avalon Limited and there is no mention of replacing a timng belt in the service manual, which goes up to 120,000 miles. I would assume this car has a timing chain since my 1995 Avalon recommends changing the belt every 60,000 miles.

scott101

I am considering buying the 08 Avalon Limited. Does the new 6 speed still have the transmission issues?? I have talked to several 05-07 owners who hate their cars because of the transmission hesitation and advised me to stay away.

rpfingsten

Kirkkempen.... I have an 07 XLS with leather.. Have had the car now for about a year and a half and the leather seats still look brand new, no wrinkling what so ever. no problem at all with the stitching.

Roland

tjc78

You are right the 05+ Avalons use a timing chain.

tjc78

Same here two years in on my '06 XLS and the leather looks great.

spencer327

The 2008 has a different transmission than earlier years. Thats the reason I bought one. I was avoiding the 5 speed since I had a 2004 Highlander with the 5 speed. I have a 2008 XLS, Now have almost 4000 Miles on it. So far The transmission is great. Shift points are smooth, no hesitation, no jerking at stop signs. Very happy with this vehicle.

wwest

According to the NCF, New Car Features, at techinfo.toyota.com the engine/transaxle ECU in your new Avalon "watches" the rate at which you lift your foot, release pressure on the gas pedal, in order to decide what your next move might be and shift or not shift the transaxle accordingly.

If I have read and comprehend the information correctly then after a period of acceleration a slow and easy lift of foot pressure from the gas pedal would likely indicate you wish to enter cruise "mode" and an upshift would be the appropreate action by the ECU.

On the other hand a QUICK lift of foot pressure would more likely, probably, mean you want to slow down and the appropreate action by the ECU in that case would be to leave the transaxle in the lower gear you were just using for acceleration, obvious that would aid in the slow down rate due to engine compression braking.

Possibly a FINAL answer to the 1-2 second downshift delay/hesitation bugaboo that's been haunting Toyota and Lexus for the past 5 or more years.

But it probably means the ECU must "learn" the (new) driver's normal motions insofar as gas pedal use each and every time the car is started.

gilseidman

I just purchased the 08 Avalon Limited and I have not be able to detect any transmission issues. The shifting has been silky smooth and the car is so quiet, that you do not know it is running. Read the reviews of the new 08 Avalon owners on the Edmunds new pricing blog if you need more convincing.

gilseidman

I received my 2008 Avalon Limited without the body side moldings that I had ordered. I was told by the dealer that they were defective. I called Toyota and was told that they were having trouble with those moldings and they were trying to correct this issue. Is there anyone who had problems with these moldings coming off, loosening or breaking? Is there anyone who has them on order for these reasons?

floridasteve

Curious,
has anyone noticed that the map info with regard to streets seems to be out of date-lines shown to represent streets but without any name associated with the lines. (08 Limited)
Would appreciate any comments.

Thanks.

floridasteve

I too order the moldings but the dealer told me they were having a problem with the adhesive. I was told to call back every few weeks-meanwhile they have my money. It's hard to fathom that they can build a car but can't get moldings to stick to the car.

roy100

I have just started having problems with transmission slipping in my 2008 Avalon XLS. I purchased it in October, 2007, and it has about 3300 miles. Just the other night, the transmission started slipping ( i.e., engine revving about + 500 - 700 rpm and then settling back down) when the car shifts from 2nd to 3rd and from 3rd to 4th. I have noticed that if I push harder on the accelerator, it tends to slip less often. Previously, I had noticed on cold mornings, the car would take a long time to shift from 2nd to 3rd, but only when it was cold.

I'm taking my car to a local Toyota dealer tomorrow ( the one I bought it from is about an hour drive so I plan to start having Toyota looking at this locally).

I'll post my results and would be very interested to hear from others who are having this problem and what responses they are getting from the dealer.

fin

Not sure about the '08's but... My '07 Limited, now a year old, had no side moldings from the factory. They were ordered by the dealer and installed about 3 weeks after the car was delivered. The installer said then that some moldings from the factory, in grey, would not stay on the car. And some cars came back in with the paint coming off the moldings after a few weeks. The ones he put on are fine... color, paint still on, no problems after a year. Interesting situation. :confuse:

mackabee

Looks more than fair to me. It looks like a grand under invoice. The protection package costs the dealer $39.00 dollars plus an hours work from the prep guy. Door edge guards are a waste of money IMHO. After time they leave a residue or discoloration on your door edges. Just look at it as you got the pro pack, door edges, and window tint for free.
Mack

mackabee

The moldings are not made by Toyota, they use an outside supplier and unfortunately for customers the supplier did not provide a good molding so Toyota stopped putting moldings on the Avalon until they get a different supplier. The moldings are put on at the port or the dealership, not at the factory.

mackabee

In cold mornings the car will take longer to upshift, this is by design and not a defect. Once the engine is warmed up the ECU then makes the car shift to a higher gear.
Normal idle rpms are around 700-1000 rpm once the vehicle is warmed up. When cold the rpms will be much higher than go down as the engine warms up.

Try driving it in sequential shift mode, this will reset the computer. Then shut the car off and restart it with the shifter in D. Try this and let us know what happens.
Mack

doug3030

Steve; Noticed the same on a recent trip to Texas. Missed some streets in towns due to no name indicated. Checked w/ Toyota and was told there are so many new streets going in, they can't keep up. Pretty sad when even newest expressways were bit shown. Informed the new updated disc will have more info on them. Cost: $250.00.
Hope this helps

doug3030

I recently bought a 2008 Avalon Limited with the Blizzard Pearl paint. After driving on a trip,I have to touch up numerous chips in the front end paint. Is this a paint defect? Anyone else have this problem?

nimimi

I have had an '08 LTD for less than three months and I've spotted only three small chips in the front bumper so far. However, I had an '06 LTD for 25 months and its front bumper had small chips that were too numerous to count. The color of both cars is blue mirage metallic.

I don't know if it's poor quality paint or if it chips because of the plastic bumper but it definitely is prone to damage from road debris.

gilseidman

Does anyone know the replacement battery size and number for the smart key on the 2008 Limited? I think it might be a good idea to carry a spare battery in your glove compartment when the battery eventually dies. I know I could pry open the smart key to check it, but I would rather not try that until it would be necessary.

wwest

The type of battery you have in the key would probably degrade in performance in "storage", shelf life, just as fast as the one in the key itself.

neil5

I replaced batt they are cheap. My 2006 stopped lighting up but worked fine. I made the dealer get me a new one under warranty before it runs out. No real problems (I had the shifting issue resolved with the Transmission TSB upgrade). Now the car has been a dream for 30k miles. Great milage, peppy, great electronics and Bluetooth nice and BU camera the best thing I did...I owned a BMW before and They practically pay me to own this car. Free loaners, I use synthetic oil (costco Mobil1), and hit my dealer pretty hard. Now dealers in my area are beginning to give lifetime transmission and powertrain warranties to lure in customers (NE Florida).

roy100

I took the car to the dealer. The car did not exhibit to slipping behavior on the way to the dealer, nor in the two different test drives they took it on. They think that that transmisson was trying to "re-learn' my driving habits. The car has run fine ever since. The dealer's Tech Manager tried hard to make it fail, and he and the Service Manager spent time with me to go over the issue and to indicate that if the problem happens again I should call and bring it right in to show them the problem. Overall, I felt that the Service Managers were helpful and serious about addressing a problem if it was there.

tzuppe

On my 2008 I have always had trouble reading the oil level on the dipstick even when doing it first thing in the morning before starting the car. I use Mobil 1 5w-30 and when I pull the dip stick, wipe it off, and put in/out to take a reading, the oil was always smeared from the bottom of the dip stick to 2 inches above the full mark (I had the correct 6.4 Qts. in when changing oil and filter). Was book wrong on amt? was dip stick the wrong length? was oil pan wrong size??

Answer - none of the above. I Googled "problem reading dipstick" and found the answer. It seems the Avalon dipstick has a very slippery chrome like finish that does not allow the oil to stick properly to get a true reading. The solution was listed as an old trick that told me to use some fine emery cloth on the dip stick. I pulled the dip stick out, wiped it off, rubbed it with the emery cloth cloth for 15-20 seconds, wiped it off and put it back in to take a reading. When I pulled it out, there was a perfect line just above the highest raised bump marking the full level. Problem fixed!!!!

vegaslee

Does anyone know the procedure to turn the automatic door locking feature off?

tjc78

I believe only the dealer can do it now. There is alot of things they can change (headlight delay, etc).

fin

The '07's have instructions about this in the owner's manual. Several settings are possible. Not sure about the 2008's. You might look in the manual, if you haven't already. This is a handy feature, hate to see it deleted for some reason. :confuse:

phibbs

I rented a 2008 Avalon for four days. I am trying to do some careful checking before buying a car - this time. I noticed an odd thing almost every time I slow down. As the car coasts to a stop it will "surge" forward suddenly (at approx 20 mph). This change in deceleration was startling enough to make me stab on the brakes. It felt like something uncontrollable was happening. Of course the brakes worked fine and stopped the car, but the sudden change in deceleration was disconcerting. This would happen regardless of whether I was just coasting to a stop, or braking gently to a stop. I could still feel the surge. Was this the transmission kicking out of gear and into a "neutral"? Is this typical for the Avalon? I saw one reference in the archives to a similar thing on 2003 Avalon.

mackabee

The tranny is down shifting so your engine rpms go up making it feel like a surge. Nothing wrong with it.
Mack

wwest

According to the shift pattern/schedule in the repair manual as you coast down, ~10-0 MPH, to a stop with the throttle fully closed the transaxle will upshift into a higher gear. That's why you feel as if the car has just been "bumped" slightly from behind. It will do the same thing, "slingshot effect" throttle close = upshift, at 40-30MPH coastdown.

There are only two possible explanations for this...

Extend the coasting distance and therefore improve FE slightly.

Eliminate the potential hazards of engine compression braking on a FWD vehicle.

I vote for the latter one.

There is yet a third possibility.

Sometime late in the last century Toyota/lexus eliminated one of the ATF line pressure holding/sustaining accumulators for reasons of space saving. Without the accumulator a downshift cannot be accomplished readily since the engine is now at idle and there is insufficient ATF pressure to hold the downshift clutches fully engaged.

Upshift = less engine compression braking torque to couple.

Or there is the "D" answer, all of the above.

mackabee

wwest, so now the tranny upshifts instead of downshift?
I'm am totally confused now.
:sick:
Mack

tjc78

He is right... it definately is an upshift (or maybe just neutral). When you are playing in "S" mode and downshifting yourself you can definately feel a difference. Nevertheless once you are used to it, you don't even notice it. I have been driving my '06 for 2 years now and 20K and the tranny shifts great. A little different than say a GM 4 speed, yes, bad... I don't think so.