I was stopped at a stop sign here in town. All of a sudden, without warning, the vehicle started to experience a high degree of acceleration. My foot was firmly planted on the brake pedal only. I could not stop the vehicle till I put it in neutral. The engine then started to rev itself up uncontrollably, until I turned it off with the ignition key. I was a good 15 feet into oncoming traffic when I had stopped. I then started it up again and drove home without incident. This was a total failure of the cars expectation to remain stationary while the brake is applied and the vehicle was not moving prior to the acceleration surge.

- Suffern, NY, USA

After the check engine, vehicle stability control & 4WD warning lights displayed on my 2007 Toyota Rav4 with 89,400 miles, I went to my local Toyota dealer for a diagnosis of the problem. Upon inspection and testing, their service advisor stated, "the emissions system has malfunctioned since water has leaked into the emission system & its charcoal canister". the source of the water occurred since the fuel filler tube housing no longer was properly attached/secured to the vehicle. This allowed rwater coming down the side of the vehicle to enter through the fuel filler door by the fuel cap into the charcoal canister. To remedy the problem, the fuel filler assembly along with gaskets, some electronic and the charcoal canister required replacement for the emission system to properly function and to be in compliance with epa standards. The total cost of the repair $1,400 which Toyota would not cover since it was not under recall, nor would they consider paying under my extended 6 yr 100,000 mile warranty since that expired July 5, 2013. I find it incredible that Toyota would not pay for these repairs since they involve emissions as well as a safety issues. Based on my review of various blogs covering Rav4's, this is a common problem and Toyota admits no fault. As with all issues with Toyota they deny they have design/safety issues with any of their vehicles - sudden acceleration, steering suspension & braking. It took me repeated service visits to get them to replace the front steering rack under my extended warranty. I feel my fuel filler assembly and charcoal canister repair is a safety issue since gasoline could easily leak out down the tube on gasoline overfill and cause a fire if it reached the exhaust system. 20 yrs ago I had a similar issue with a Honda which was repaired under a recall at no charge. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. Thank you

- Mequon, WI, USA

I purchased a new 2007 Rav4 from Toyota of braintree in 2007. 1. in 2009 I could hear wind in the driver's window; I took the vehicle to be checked, Toyota service department said I was hearing things. 2.the driver's door caught fire (I had the keys with me) I had to spend $606.01 to fix it, Toyota said there was water intrusion (I thought, it probably was, because of the air leak previously reported in 2009) 3. the steering wheel felt strange when I drove, I took it back for service, the diagnosis was steering shaft internal failure which needed to be replaced; I fought to get that fixed out of warranty. 5. on November 25, 2011 I was driving, the window fell in on me and on November 26, 2011, I had to have the driver's side window regulator replaced for $338.30 7. now, oil is leaking into the muffler. (I purchase oil frequently) this vehicle is only 4.5 years old and should not have any of these major problems, when I purchased this Rav4, it was going to be my last vehicle purchase because Toyota advertises longevity of their products. I also know people who drive 1990 and 1995 Toyota products who have never had any of these problems. I was also treated very poorly during some of my repair visits. After the door caught on fire, I had a meeting with the owner of Toyota of braintree, [xxx] but his resolution was giving me $13,000 for my vehicle (which I own) and me purchasing a brand new vehicle, which meant I would have a monthly payment. I did contact Toyota headquarters in California and filed a complaint and never received any resolution. Since then I received a letter from the national center for dispute settlement stating they can't help me. Thank you for any assistance, sincerely, Toyota Rav4 owner. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Brookline, MA, USA

The vehicle makes a clunking noise turning at low speeds. Looking at similar complaints it would appear the problem is with the Rav4's manufactured in Japan. There is also a loud intermittent moaning sound coming from the rear of the vehicle, was told it could be the fuel pump. I have had it in to Toyota service several times while it was still under warranty but the cause could not be found.

- Nanuet, NY, USA

On December 20, 2010, I was pulling my 2007 Toyota rav 4 into a parking space at strip mall. I had pulled in and then backed up to pull in straighter. My foot was on the brake as I was changing from reverse to drive and I gave the car some gas to get me into the space. Suddenly, the engine revved as if the gas pedal was to the floor. The car lurched forward and crashed into the concrete base of a light pole. All this happened in the space of a few seconds and maybe 10 to 15 feet. After the car was stopped, I looked down to see if somehow I accidentally hit the gas but my foot was squarely on the brake. Friends and onlookers helped me until my husband arrived.luckily I was not injured but very shaken up. My husband took pictures from every angle plus a view of the floor area around the gas and brake pedal. The gas pedal did not get caught on the floor mat. I know this was a case of sudden acceleration, no doubt about it. After my husband finished talking to our insurance agent, we had the car towed to the Toyota dealer which happened to be only several miles away. The incident was reported to the service advisor exactly as it happened. She indicated that they ( the dealer ) had no reports of sudden unintended acceleration. We asked the dealer to investigate as it was our contention that this was not driver error. On December 21, the dealer service advisor called us back to let us know that they could not do anything else to the vehicle as Toyota experience would be conducting an investigation. We spoke to the Toyota spokesman explaining what happened and he asked us what we would like Toyota to do. We said we would like the car repaired and the acceleration module changed out at Toyota's expense. He then explained that it might take up to 74 days for them to complete their investigation. We also explained to our insurance what we were doing. We feel Toyota will drag this out to get us to use our insurance but we know what happened and we're sticking to our story.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

I have always noticed that my 2007 Toyota Rav4 seemed to have a sudden burst of acceleration when I start to move. I asked a mechanic one time if this could be adjusted and was told there was nothing that could be done. I am now wondering if the same electronic throttle control that is causing problems on the later Rav4S is on my Rav4. I bet it is the same problem. I thought there was a mechanical throttle and now I hear it is an electronic throttle. If electronic, then I would think a change in the computer code that controls the throttle would fix the a problem.

- Lakeway, TX, USA

The vsc, check engine, lsd lights came on and we brought it in for service. The charcoal canister and hose and charcoal filter all missing causing contamination to charcoal cannister contamination. We were told it wasn't covered under warranty and were charged app. $1294. The hose again feel off app. 3 weeks later and we had to bring it in again at no charge this time.

- Kaplan, LA, USA

I bought my 2007 Rav4 in November 2006 and took the car back to the dealer after a couple of months because of this humming/whistling/whining noise that others have complained. However, my humming noise is intermittent which makes it hard to find, and it seems to be more prevalent in the warmer months, not the colder months. I asked my mechanic about it, but he couldn't recreate the noise the day my car was in the shop. However, I intend to take it back there if I'm ever driving it in the area and the noise crops up again. To me it sounded like some kind of vapor pressure noise and I was initially thinking that it might be coming from my gas tank when vapor pressure built up if my tank was low on gas. But, that wasn't the case either. It will happen whether I have a full tank or almost empty tank...just not consistently. It is very annoying and I hope others write in to complain about it as well.

- Vienna, VA, USA