I finally pulled the trigger on the big brake upgrade mod! Every Avalon enthusiast has read about it, and everyone who’s done it, wishes they had done it sooner. But for the unfamiliar, let me break it down. The Avalon is a nearly perfect automobile, as every Avalon owner will attest. But as Toyota’s largest…
One of the very first things I bought to embellish the Avalon was this custom trunk liner. It fits perfectly, and I’m very pleased. Smartliner – Custom fit for 2013 Avalon (non-hybrid) This one was a tip mentioned on the Gadgetjq website. Adding a smart little coin holder to the dash compartment by the driver’s…
Much brighter, whiter. This was an easy upgrade. Just patiently remove the clips that hold the liner to the trunk lid to access the back up lights. You have to rotate the socket counter-clockwise to remove it. Mine were in there pretty tight, but once I’d confirmed the correct way to remove them, applying a…
Here’s another easy fix that I picked up reading through the Toyota Nation Forum: a fix for the whistling mirror problem. The 2013 Avalon has an issue that was fixed in later models. Air passing over the side mirror will generate a whistling noise at speed. Applying these sticky rubber bumpers along the bottom of…
I’d been comparing the features and functions of various dash cams, and finally settled on the Vantrue E2. It’s got GPS, Wifi, Voice Control and if you hard-wire it, a motion detecting parking mode too. It will detect collisions, and comes with a little remote button you can use to capture snapshots. There is a…
As low morning temperatures started entering the forecast, I decided to add remote start to the Avalon. It’s so decadent to settle into a snugly warm car in the early morning. I’m truly enjoying it, and glad that I did. I had been looking into it for a while. There are a few remote start…
Another helpful tip I picked up from John Lawrence was the addition of this motion-sensing battery powered LED console light. I found the smallest one I could find. I think this company used to make a smaller one, but no matter. It mounts quite nicely to the side of the console box, and doesn’t get…
Quick and easy upgrade: add a K&N Engine Air Filter. K&N Engine Air Filt Long lasting, washable. Improved my gas mileage a little bit too.
I replaced the dim vanity mirror light bulbs with brighter white LED bulbs. If you do this, I recommend that you use a plastic pry tool to remove the old bulbs because if you use a little metal screwdriver as I did, and if you touch the metal contacts with it as I did, you’re…
One of the most disappointing and commonly-encountered issues with the Avalon is failure of the rear window shade motor. Mine worked for only a couple weeks before it failed, getting stuck halfway up. Like so many others, the motor had succumbed to frailty, age and poor design. The underlying problem is reported to be a…