Mid-size Sedan · what it costs new, what it’s worth used, and who has one near you.
The 2003 Toyota Avalon is a mid-size sedan we track across the used market in Canada. It comes in gas (9.7 L/100 km) and hybrid (8.4 L/100 km) forms, so the main choice is fuel — the hybrid earns its premium back over enough kilometres. A 21-year-old one keeps roughly 17% of a current model's market price — what actually matters over five years of ownership.
Gas — combined
9.7L/100 km
Hybrid — combined
8.4L/100 km
Fuel / year (20k km)
$3,453
Hybrid saves
$463/yr
Typical figures. See what it costs for your commute.
Fuel economy & range: Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence — Canada). Safety recalls & owner-reported complaints: US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (public domain); complaint shares are a relative signal, not a failure rate. Prices, payments, depreciation, listing counts and dealer inventory: Conquest market data; payment estimates use market-average terms and are not an offer of credit. Independent service — not affiliated with or endorsed by Toyota.
Median market price by vehicle age
Same data pipeline, every rival — tap to open its page
Owner-reported problems and open safety recalls
Most-reported problems
Across 305 owner complaints filed on the 2003 Toyota Avalon
Share of complaints naming each system — a signal of what owners report most on this model, not a failure rate. The denominator is people who filed a complaint, not every owner. Complaints are filed with the US regulator; the same models are sold in Canada.
Safety recalls
2 campaigns issued by the manufacturer
Air Bags · Frontal
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.
Campaign 15V043000
Steering
TOYOTA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2000-2004 AVALON VEHICLES. DUE TO IMPROPER CASTING OF THE STEERING LOCK BAR, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT A MINUTE CRACK MAY DEVELOP ON THE SURFACE OF THE LOCK BAR. SUCH A CRACK MAY EXPAND OVER A LONG PERIOD OF REPEATED LOCK AND UNLOCK OPERATIONS, AND EVENTUALLY THE LOCK BAR COULD BREAK.
Campaign 10V345000
Recall campaigns are manufacturer-issued and fixed free of charge. This is the US campaign set matched by year, make and model — it is not a check against a specific VIN, and Canadian campaigns may differ.