There are 6 owner-reported visibility & wipers complaints for the 2008 Toyota Avalonin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This car has a rear window shade that started going up on its on when it is hot outside. I could not locate this feature in the owners manual. I did read that a safety feature for the shade is that when car is placed in reverse the shade is automatically closed. This feature has stopped working, in fact the shade now will not even lower. I used to be able to manually assist the shade down while someone would press the switch but down it raises back up almost immediately. I checked with Google and apparently this is a common problem. I have finally pulled the fuse to keep the shade down permanently.
POWER REAR SUNSHADE GETS STUCK IN UP POSITION CAUSING VISIBILITY HAZARD AT NIGHT
THE REAR WINDOW SUNSHADE COMES UP UNCONTROLLABLY AND WILL NOT GO DOWN. I WAS DRIVING AT NIGHT AND THE SUNSCREEN CAME UP BLOCKING MY VIEW OF CARS BEHIND ME AND WAS EXTREMELY DISTRACTING. THE SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS AND THERE IS NO WAY TO GET THE SHADE DOWN.
REAR SUNSHADE STUCK IN THE UP POSITION AND WILL NOT GO DOWN AUTOMATICALLY, REDUCES VISIBILITY. *TR
THE REAR WINDOW SUNSHADE COMES UP UNCONTROLLABLY AND WILL NOT GO DOWN. I WAS DRIVING AT NIGHT AND THE SUNSCREEN CAME UP BLOCKING MY VIEW OF CARS BEHIND ME AND WAS EXTREMELY DISTRACTING. THE SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONS AND THERE IS NO WAY TO GET THE SHADE DOWN. A DEALER SUGGESTED THAT IF I CAN CRAW IN THE BACK SEAT AND MANUALLY MANEUVER IT INTO THE DOWN POSITION, I COULD REMOVE THE FUSE AND IT WOULD BECOME INACTIVE; THEREBY, KEEPING IT IN THE DOWN POSITION. I HAVE CHECKED VARIOUS WEBSITES AND CUSTOMERS ARE REMOVING THE FUSES TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. *TR
REAR WINDOW VISIBILITY IS MY PROBLEM, AT DARK AND WHEN IT RAINS IT'S NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE CLEARLY ANYTHING THROUGH MY BACK WINDOW. THE REAR WINDOW SUNSHADE IS STUCK IN THE UP POSITION MAKING IT VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE WELL THROUGH THE REAR WINDOW IN THE RAIN AND WHEN IT'S DARK. IF IT WAS STUCK IN THE DOWN POSITION THAT WOULD BE OK, BUT IT'S NOT. I'VE READ ON THE INTERNET THAT TOYOTA DEALERS HAVE CHARGED ALMOST $900. A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO TO FIX ONE. FIRST OFF THERE SHOULD BE A WAY TO LOWER IT EVEN IF IT'S NOT FIXED TO GO UP AND DOWN. I'M VERY DISAPPOINTED IN TOYOTA. WHEN I CALLED THEM ABOUT MY DYNAMIC CRUISE CONTROL NOT WORKING LAST YEAR THEY WOULDN'T FIX IT FOR FREE OR AT GREATLY REDUCED PRICE BECAUSE I WAS PAST THE THREE YEAR WARRANTY, EVEN THOUGH I HAD LESS THEN 25,000 OR 26000 MILES ON IT WHEN I CALLED. IT HADN'T WORKED AT THAT TIME FOR A GOOD 6 TO 8 MONTHS. TOYOTA DOES NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS IN MY OPINION. *TR ## VIN FAILED ##
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026