10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 9 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 4 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 64,130 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
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« Read the previous 20 complaints
We became aware of a recall for the vehicle for rust formation that could lead to separation of the rear suspension arms in August 2012. It's January 2013 and Toyota tells us that they are still working on a "fix." They use a lot of salt to keep our local roads clear and, as you know, salt and unprotected steel are a recipe for failure for structural components. My point? it's been long enough to come up with a solution to the problem and even when Toyota does, it will take months to effect repairs. We would appreciate your looking into to the matter.
- Indianapolis, IN, USA
We were on a major highway going home from one part of the state to another when we thought we had a flat tire. Suddenly we lost control of the car going from the slow lane, crossing the passing lane and ending in the snowy median. The rear lower suspension arm no. 1 totally failed. Our home Toyota dealer was suppose to inspect it on Dec. 5 when we had our car in for an earlier recall. They had mentioned that we were going to get a notice in the mail and it would be taken care of that day. That did not happen since the repairing Toyota dealer charged back the costs plus the towing costs to our home Toyota dealer. We just got our recall notice today. Updated 02/26/13's
- Oxford , OH, USA
Steering has play and clunk at times causing car to swerve do mechanical defect and/or over correction of the driver do to sensation of loss of steering control. After reading user forms on this vehicle it is common to the vehicle and should be recalled by Toyota to prevent fatal accidents. Recall items should include middle shaft and rack and pinion. Websites below tell people to complain to Toyota but this should be mandated by the NHTSA www.aboutautomobile.com/complaint/2007/Toyota/Rav4/steering www.rav4world.com/forums/99-4-3-mechanical/82616-steering-intermediate-shaft-clunk-solution.html.
- El Granada, CA, USA
My vehicle recently had a recall for potential rust issues with the rear lower suspension arm. Both my sway bar arms are now broken due to rust and Toyota is charging me $500 to fix the issue. The service rep at the dealership told me "this is not a safety issue but the sway bars prevent the car from rolling over." This sounds like a major safety issue to me and also directly related to the recall issue. This is the 6th recall on my vehicle and I have submitted a request to Toyota to fix this issue at no cost. Considering Toyota did not have a solution to the rear suspension recall and forced it's owners to drive with the problem for multiple months exposing us to potential danger, asking them to fix this problem at no cost is reasonable. My dealership even went as far as to tell me that if I wanted them to inspect the recall situation prior to a fix being available I would have to pay labor costs. Last time I checked, the customer should not be responsible for paying labor costs due to a recall. I would appreciate that the sway bar arms on my Rav4 are fixed at no cost. If rust causing "threads may wear, causing the arm to separate, which could result in the loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash" that resulted in my recall than it seems like the two problems are related as the parts are in similar areas of the undercarriage. Thank you for your assistance.
- South Windsor, CT, USA
I did went to dealer now they found leakage on rare shock suspension. This is because of rare lower suspension recall. Dealer saying it not part of recall. Only my wife drives car and we did took care very well. I would like to request this issue should be part of Toyota recall.. rare suspension not working properly need to replace by Toyota and making noise....
- Allentown, PA, USA
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving 35mph there was a clunking noise coming from the left rear of the vehicle. The vehicle became uncontrollable and suddenly spun out at a 180 degree and crashed into the curb. No injuries were reported. The air bags did not deploy and there was no warning light illuminating. The contact stated he inspects the vehicle and there was damages to both rims and rear tires, and the lower left control arm broke. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but the insurance company inspected the vehicle and stated it was the lower control arm and both rear rims and wheels of the vehicle. The contact stated he received a recall notice prior to the accident for recall NHTSA campaign id number: 12V373000 (suspension: Rear). However, he did not take the vehicle in for inspection of the recall. The manufacturer was notified who started a claim and then informed him a representative will be sent out to inspect the vehicle. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 83,000.
- Bristol, CT, USA
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that there was a loud noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that a link to the stabilizing bar was fractured. The dealer stated this had been a known issue. The contact asked about NHTSA recall campaign id number: 12V373000 (suspension: Rear) for the rear tie rod, but the manufacturer stated that the link for the stabilizer bar was not included in the recall. The contact had both links replaced since the dealer noticed that the one on the right was about to break as well due to it not being bolted correctly. The failure and current mileage was 93,000. Updated 12/5/12 the consumer also stated there was rust forming around the bolt. Updated 12/10/12
- Avon, MA, USA
I have taken my vehicle to the Toyota dealership to look at my rear lower suspension that I have been experiencing a loud abnormal sound when I'm on the road and getting worse and they said there is nothing wrong with my vehicle. Then I get this recall notice to get it checked out and still nothing wrong with it, but I had to put new tires on my vehicle and has caused the inside to be wearing out, on just the inside tire. I took my vehicle where I bought my tires at and they stated that even if I rotate my tires it still will continue to wear out because something is causing to wear them out. I think if something is causing this by a manufacturer problem at least some one should be responsible for this. Please if I can get someone to call me to get this resolved. I don't feel safe driving my vehicle anymore because I feel I could lose of control of my vehicle and have an accident.
- Lorenzo, TX, USA
I had heard a slight clunking noise from the rear. I pulled out of my driveway and heard a loud clunk, started down a hill and lost complete control of the car. I went from one side of the street to the other. Luckily no cars were coming. Finally a got the car stopped and returned to my garage. Looking at the rear right tire it was bent in at the top. I had to have it towed to the dealer. The dealer's diagnosis was "left rear tie-rod pulled apart". I had it replaced. We had just returned from philadelphia the day before and hate to think what would have happened had it occurred on Pennsylvania's northeast extension, traveling at 65 mph. I never even thought to report it back then and I am sure this is a result of this recall 12V373000.
- Apalachin, NY, USA
On March 29, 2012, I pulled out of my driveway & heard a clunk. Checked rear underside & saw nothing amiss. Arrived in downtown Chicago and heard 3 more clunks (when making right turns). Then the final extra loud clunk as the steering went out of control. I was on Michigan ave. In front of the hilton hotel during rush hour traffic (5 pm) doing 25 to 30 mph. Cars all around me. Gently applied brakes & emergency flashers to warn others, as I kept turning the steering wheel from way left to way right. Eased my way from center lane over to the curb. Can't believe I didn't hit anything! right rear wheel was tilted at about a 45 degree angle--top outward, bottom inward. In another 15 min. I would have been on the expressway doing 50 --60 mph. Vehicle had to be towed back to Indiana. Toyota service advisor said: "bolt rusted through. If keeping car, suggest getting left rear suspension replaced too because it is getting ready to go. A company rep is going to come out to look at it because we have had another exact failure just recently." The rep decided he did not need to see it. (I'm sure he was already aware of the bigger problem Toyota would be facing.) vehicle facts: 2007 rav-4, mileage: 43,185, one owner, garage kept (except for vacations). Last 27-point inspection: (1-21-2012) 2 months before failure. No items in the section titled "under vehicle" were even checked off as completed (good or bad). This included "suspension & steering linkage". I paid $778. To have both left & right suspension assemblies replaced & an alignment. When I asked about reimbursement from Toyota, the service advisor said "no. They consider it normal "wear & tear". note: Cases like mine are not going to show up as "traffic accidents" because I didn't hit anything or anyone. And those that are accidents could possibly be mistaken as: "over-corrective steering!"
- Hobart, IN, USA
My 2007 Rav4 driver side rear window wont go up and down. The driver side control switch for the rear driver side window does not move. The switch for the rear driver side window on the back door does not work all the time. When it does work just one tap and the rear window (driver side) goes down all the way by its self. The other three switches for the windows and the other three windows seem to work and respond how they should. Only problem is with the rear window and the switch on both the driver door and the rear window door (driver side). Also while driving to work driving aprox 10 mph my rear passenger side wheel bent in toward the wheel well. The tie rod was broke and the tie rod was very rusted. The dealer said it was a freak occurrence and fixed it while under warranty. Problem is that the other side of the rear suspension (driver side) is also rusted but they did not fix it at the same time. This happened June 14th at about 6:10 am I was not told of the recall of this tie rod issue at the time of it getting fixed. They played it off as it were a freak occurrence.. Toyota/Scion dealer of berlin city Toyota.
- Gorham , ME, USA
Both rear sway bar links broke on a well maintained Rav4 that is garaged nightly.
- Cranberry Township, PA, USA
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Rav4. The contact was driving 30 mph when the rear tie rod fractured. The vehicle became uncontrollable as the contact merged to the shoulder. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who inspected the failure and confirmed that the rear tie rod was fractured as a result of rust. The dealer replaced the tie rods. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 104,000.
- Morris Plains, NJ, USA
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota RV4. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph, there was a loud metallic noise. The contact lost control of the vehicle and was able to control the steering wheel. The contact stopped the vehicle and inspected further. The contact then noticed that the left rear wheel was on a 60 degree angle. The vehicle was inspected by a mechanic who advised that the rear wheel assembly was fractured and the tread was stripped. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and offered a new rear assembly if the contact traded in the old part. The vehicle was repaired by replacing the rear wheel assembly and performing a wheel alignment. The current mileage was 89,883. The failure mileage was 89,000...updated 09/04/12 the consumer stated while the vehicle was fishtailing she jammed on the breaks slowly stopping with in inches from parked cars. Updated 09/12/2012
- Kingston, NY, USA
When turning right at low speed, passenger side rear tie rod assembly failed and wheel turned at 45 degree angle, disabling the automobile. If this had happened on the highway, it would have caused a catastrophic accident. Dealership had previously checked a knocking noise in rear, but was unable to find a problem. I was told that this problem was a design fault and that there were not enough threads on the tie rod assembly to hold the tie rod sufficiently. I have found other reports of this tie rod failure. Should be a safety recall.
- Middletown, RI, USA
My 2007 Toyota Rav4 had a rear right wheel tie rod break while I was driving with my wife and our one year old child in the vehicle. We were on our way to see my wife's doctor for her medical condition at the time. Thankfully we had just made a turn on to the on-ramp of the garden state parkway and were moving at a relatively slow speed. I can't imagine what would have happened if we were traveling at highway speed when the tie rod broke, I might have lost control of the vehicle and had a terrible crash with serious injury (or worse) to our family and possibly other drivers on the road. After searching on the internet about Toyota Rav4 tie rod incidents, it seems that it has happened to other Rav4 drivers many times on all different model years of the vehicle. Just like us they all say they did not hit any pot holes or other objects to have caused the tie rod to break. This failing of tie rods on Rav4S seems like a manufacturing or design defect. Some action needs to be taken to address this issue before someone is killed or seriously injured from this tie rod failures on Toyota Rav4 vehicles.
- Sayreville, NJ, USA
Vehicle exhibited a clunk and ratchet sound from rear of car when driving over small bumps. Problem was reported to dealer in January 2010. While the noise was replicated, they were unable to find the source of the problem. I was assured that the suspension components were in good condition. A local mechanic was also consulted who could not pinpoint the source of the suspension noise. Approximately one year later I was driving down the road and I lost control of the vehicle. The right rear wheel kicked out and was no longer parallel with the vehicle. Car was practically immobile. The source of the problem was found to be a linkage that stripped itself out. The linkage (tie rod?) holds the wheel in place. I had both sides (right and left) repaired just in case the left side experienced similar wear. Car remains slightly out of alignment (just beyond tolerance) as linkage failure caused suspension components to warp or bend.
- Amherst , NH, USA
Replaced lower and middle steering shaft. Replaced stabilizer bar control end links, front and rear and struts.
- Milford, MI, USA
Clunking noise coming from steering mechanism. Replaced lower and middle steering shaft and front and rear end links.
- Milford, MI, USA
- South San Francisco, CA, USA