AutoUtility currently tracks 27 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2021 Toyota Avalon. Air Bags & Restraints issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 18 complaints (66.7% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 2 filings cite a crash.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 27 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Air Bags & Restraints (18 reports • 66.7% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (4), Engine & Cooling (4)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 0 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2021 Toyota Avalon
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Air Bags & Restraints
NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #20V734000 AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
- Campaign #23V865000 AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
Engine & Cooling
Brakes & Traction Control
Powertrain & Transmission
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2021 Toyota Avalon
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"We have received a recall for the sensors and airbag on our car back in December of 2023. Every time we call the dealership they tell us they can't get a send because the parts are not available. I cannot seem to get any movement with this. I've tried to contacting Toyota corporate but their..."
"The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Avalon. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (AIR BAGS); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was intermittently illuminated. The local dealer was contacted...."
"There is no remedy available to fix the OCS sensor in front passenger seat of our 2021 Toyota Avalon. We are scared to drive it. What are our options since Toyota will not help."
"My vehicle is under Safety Recall 23V865 (Toyota dealer reference 23TB15) due to potentially defective Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensors in the front passenger seat, which may prevent the airbag from deploying properly. The recall was issued in December 2023, and as of August 2025, there..."
"Cruise control stopped working while driving interstate speed. Would not work and all lights on dashboard came on . Proceeded to Nearest dealership and was informed that I needed a brake switch. Did not fix the problem. Have been informed that I need a wiring harness! About to spend a total of..."
Complaint History for Toyota Avalon
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2022)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Toyota Avalon | 53 | 8 | 2 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Toyota Avalon | 25 | 2 | 4 | View 2016 Problems → |
| 2017 Toyota Avalon | 14 | 2 | 2 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Toyota Avalon | 25 | 7 | 2 | View 2018 Problems → |
| 2019 Toyota Avalon | 69 | 4 | 5 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Toyota Avalon | 10 | 1 | 4 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Toyota Avalon Current Page | 27 | 2 | 2 | Current |
| 2022 Toyota Avalon | 8 | 1 | 0 | View 2022 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2021 Toyota Avalon
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 10 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tires NHTSA category: TIRES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight ra...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.