I took my 2005 Avalon to a Toyota dealership back in March for tire change, brakes and general maintenance. A couple of days after getting the car back, it started making this rattling noise like a car does if the emergency brake is left on while driving. The noise emanates from the right back tire side. I have taken it back four times already but the noise always come back after a few days. They still have not been able to figure out what the exact problem was or do and will not tell me. At this point I am at a loss as to what to do. Any idea what this noise could be. It can get very loud at time and it does not happen in the morning.
I’ll appreciate if someone could please help me i am not sure if anyone has seen my question yet
I’m sure that many others besides myself has seen the post, but like me, the thought is that you’ve been to the dealer 4 times, and the noise keeps coming back.
I’ll see if I can come up with an idea or two, though. Let’s get some more information. What, exactly, did the mechanics at the dealership DO to the car that fixed the noise for a couple days? Did they do the same thing each time?
When, exactly, does this noise present itself? Turning, going straight, over rough road, over smooth road, … ?
You state the noise started after having the brakes worked on. You also keep going back to the dealer. While they apparently did the work that started this noise, are they looking into it for free? If not, then you should probably cut your losses with them now, and see if a local mechanic can help…as they’ve clearly not been able to.
More info, and I’ll see what I can come up with. Maybe others will chime in. No promises, though.
Thanks a lot. This is how it all went down.
We had the 4 tires changed, alignment, balancing and all. Had the rear brake changed. Oil change and the regular maintenance . $2000 worth plus change. A couple of days after the noise started it sound like the right tire was about to burst. They said to bring it back in and said something about spark plug an.n charged me a.n extra $150. The noise stopped each time for about 3 days each time I take it back and start all over.but they have not been able to tell me what the problem was.
The noise is usually late in the day it starts small then progressively get louder. My guess is they damaged something and don’t want to own up to it and hope I will eventually do what you suggested. Cut my losses, but I am afraid this may be big and once I take it somewhere else they are off the hook.
PS: the noise is on and off… I also think when is warm
Hope this help.
I had a similar problem after some brake pads had been installed on a 2000 Ford Windstar that used to own. I had a rattle in the left front wheel. The work had been done at a small independent shop that specialized in brakes. I took it back a couple of times and supposedly they installed some springs that went behind the pad. I finally went to an independent tire shop where I also do business. It was the brake pad rattling in the caliper. My tire shop fixed it for nothing. If your Toyota Avalon has disk brakes in the back, you may have the same problem.
Thanks. I will be sure to mention that. I am hoping for more inputs before I take it to another shop.
So one time when you took it back, they mentioned spark plugs. Did you get any paperwork from this dealership? If not, next time you do go back, talk to the service manager (not the service rep), and get the history of your vehicle. They’re supposed to put everything they do into their computer. Don’t just take it back for service. Sit down, and talk to him. Tell him this keeps going on, after several visits, and you just can’t afford to pay for them to guess and pawn you off. If they bent something, fine, you’re not there to “make them pay”, you just want your car fixed.
Your approach will determine how willing he is to work with you. I know I can be a real jerk sometimes, and I always manage to work something out with people, so I’m sure you can, too.
From what you say, they worked on that corner, and a couple days later it started making this noise. 4 visits later, it’s still making noise. This shouldn’t be that hard for a dealer.
“… This shouldn’t be that hard for a dealer. …”
Unless it is something else entirely - like the road surface.
Some 2005 & 2006 Avalons Have Rear Upper Strut Mounts That Develop Clunking Or Rattling.
Apparently “revised” parts were made available for these cars and a production line change was made, installing these parts on Avalons built after a specific VIN.
The parts were replaced free of charge only for customers who complained while their car was under the 36/36,000 warranty.
Your mention that " It can get very loud at time . . . " leads me to belive this could be what you’re hearing. I can imagine this sound resonating through the shock tower portion of the body of the car.
If this is what is causing the noise then I doubt the dealer did anything to cause it, but rather it was a parts problem from the factory.
How many miles on this car ? A good time to try new upper strut mounts would be at the time you renew the struts.
CSA
After you have driven the car and hear the noise, pull off the road and kick the right rear tire. If, when you kick the tire, you hear the noise, it is most likely something in that wheel. If you don’t hear the noise when you kick the tire, rock the car up and down and see if you can produce the noise.
Thanks guys . I will put all these information together before going back to another shop. Knowledge is power.
One important question . I take the highway to work everyday. Should I start taking alternate routes until I get this fixed? I fear my tire might burst one of these days while on the highway.
To answer the question on mileage, it is about 105k. This however is the first Mechanical problem I have had and my first time with thus dealership. I say mechanical bcos there are a lot of electronic issues not counting the clicking sound in my wheel since purchase that seemed to bother no one except me. But that’s a whole other story.
Thanks agaiin everyone for your time and help.
If it were me, I’d stick to the well traveled roads. While the highway may seem a bad place, at least you’ll be seen if you break down. Stay in the right lane, and keep it slow if necessary. Going mostly straight may be far better than lots of bends and turns, too.
Of course, that’s making some assumptions about your roads.
Chase
Makes sense.
If your car has disc brakes on the rear, and they replaced the pads or took the rear brakes apart for any reason, my first guess is that they didn’t put them back together with all the spacers, or they put the spacers in the wrong order. Every car make & model is a little different on how the brake parts go together, plus it sometimes changes from model year to model year, and if the mechanic wasn’t experienced with the 05 Avalon, they might have made a mistake. It’s sort of like when you take something apart then put it back together and you have extra parts left over. Don’t you wonder where the extra parts went?
An experienced mechanic – espeically when not familiar with the car – will always do one side at a time, leaving the other side untouched, so when this extra part problem happens, it almost always does, then he can look at the untouched side and see where the leftover stuff is supposed to go.
If you can’t get the noise to stop, suggest you take it to the dealership. While the dealership is more expensive, for the most part the mechanics ONLY work on one make of car, and that makes them super-experts on your car. The neighborhood shop simply is not able to match the dealership expertise for that particular make.
I took my 2005 Avalon to a Toyota dealership back in March…
…I have taken it back four times…
Update. I took my car to Pepboys a week ago today. The guy had the noise and said it was the rear brake and roto and said the roto I just paid for as an extra job when the problem first started was not new. I paid for a new set of brake and roto. Am going to wait another week to make sure the noise is not coming back before I decide what to do with this dealership.
If the problem is actually the brake and roto I may be headed to BBB. Isn’t that just awful?
What may be just as awful is the amount of time you will waste communicating with the BBB.
The BBB is essentially a club for businesses, and they do not have any real regulatory power and absolutely no punitive power over member businesses. Their most serious penalty is to refuse to accept dues from repeat offenders, and since this private organization thrives on the dues of their members, they rarely do this.
To make a long story short, the investigative report in Smart Money magazine about the BBB concluded that “few consumers have actually been helped by the BBB”.
Guess I should just be glad finally got it resolved. Time will tell.
Thank you