VehicleVerdict

2003 Toyota Avalon airbags problems

The 2003 Toyota Avalon has 184 airbags complaints filed with NHTSA — 52% of the year's total, and up sharply from the prior model year.

184

Airbags complaints

52%

Share of year

16

Crash-involved

1

Related recalls

Airbags complaints by year

Related recalls

15V043000AirbagsJanuary 28, 2015 · 1,006,849 units

Defect

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Toyota Corolla vehicles manufactured December 28, 2001, to May 2, 2004, 2003-2004 Toyota Corolla Matrix vehicles manufactured January 6, 2002, to April 29, 2004, 2003-2004 Avalon vehicles manufactured June 5, 2002, to December 20, 2004, and 2003-2004 Pontiac Vibe vehicles manufactured January 18, 2002, to April 27, 2004. Due to electrical noise, a component in the air bag control module may fail, causing the front air bags, side air bags, and/or seatbelt pretensioners to deploy inadvertently while the vehicle is being operated.

Consequence

Inadvertent deployment of the air bags or the seat belt pretensioners increases the risk of an injury or crash.

Remedy

Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the air bag control module, free of charge. The recall began on August 24, 2015. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. GM issued an interim notification to owners on March 27, 2015. The recall began on August 24, 2015. Pontiac owners may call 1-800-620-7668. Note: This recall supersedes recalls 13V-029 and 14V-147. Vehicles that had a noise filter installed as the remedy for one of those campaigns need to have the air bag control module replaced under this campaign.

What owners report

WHILE DRIVING 5 MPH, THE DRIVER APPLIED THE BRAKE PEDAL AND WITHOUT WARNING THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED UNCONTROLLABLY. THE DRIVER WAS NOT ABLE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND COLLIDED INTO A FENCE. BOTH FRONTAL AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION. THE…

Complaint filed with NHTSA · Airbags · April 4, 2004 · crash

Common questions

How many airbags complaints does the 2003 Toyota Avalon have?

NHTSA has 184 complaints about the 2003 Toyota Avalon airbags — 52% of all complaints filed for that model year.

Are there recalls for the 2003 Toyota Avalon airbags?

Yes — 1 NHTSA recall campaign for this model year is tied to the airbags: 15V043000.

Related

Based on NHTSA ODI data through June 2026. Complaints are consumer-reported and unverified. Updated July 5, 2026.

Compiled by Sharon Ben-Moshe, Founder.