10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 11
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 1
Average Mileage:
18,348 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #21

Sep 212020

RAV4

  • miles
Fan blower motor for the A/C broke down around 50,000 kms, this is a premature break down. I did'nt get a chance to bring it for repair until my odimeter reached 70,000kms so the dealership declined the warranty repair.

- Delta, WA, USA

problem #20

Apr 152020

RAV4 4-cyl

  • 18,500 miles
2017 rav 4 struck a concrete light post in parking lot. Car was moving forward approximately 20 mph, impacted driver's side front and fender. Air bags did not deploy. No collision alarm sounded. Entire front panel destroyed, major electrical sensor damage, driver's door unable to open. Hood damaged. Suspension bent. Driver suffered major bruising and chest pain. Both elbows impacted something in collision.

- Gainesville, VA, USA

problem #19

Mar 052020

RAV4

  • 16,000 miles
While I was driving home from work on Thursday, March 5, 2020, I smelled smoke. I looked at the temperature on the dashboard and it showed that the temperature was a little below the middle line indicating the vehicle was not hot. I continued driving for a couple more blocks and continued to smell smoke so attempted to pull over into a parking lot. When I tried to pull over, the vehicle stopped on its own so I was half way between the street and parking lot. I saw smoke come out from under the hood of the vehicle. About two minutes later, flames started coming out from under the hood. The vehicle caught fire.

- Seattle, WA, USA

problem #18

Feb 112020

RAV4

  • 35,000 miles
Auto high beams stopped working dealer needed to replace the headlight stalk on steering wheel

- West Chester, PA, USA

problem #17

Mar 012020

RAV4

  • 37,000 miles
Drivers side door lock stopped working car only has 37,000 and is 31 months old. Dealer wants $1000 to repair.

- West Chester, PA, USA

problem #16

Nov 102019

RAV4

  • 22,910 miles
Vehicle died in the middle of the road while driving normally. The vehicle was on a city street.

- Charlotte, NC, USA

problem #15

Aug 182019

RAV4

  • 27,220 miles
The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Rav4. While driving approximately 10 mph, the vehicle stalled. In addition, the traction control and charging system malfunction indicators illuminated. The vehicle was able to restart and was taken to Toyota of hollywood (6000 hollywood blvd, hollywood ca, 323-498-2260) to be diagnosed. The results were unknown. The vehicle was being repaired under warranty. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 27,220.

- Los Angels, CA, USA

problem #14

Jul 012019

RAV4

  • 36,000 miles
Ignition remains on when I exit vehicle if forget to push off button with my key in pocket. Car not running when I leave so it is easy to forget and engine can/will restart at later time. This has happened at least two times in driveway. If in happened when I put in garage and went to bed in room over garage it could present a carbon monoxide hazard.

- South Windsor, CT, USA

problem #13

Mar 272019

RAV4

  • 44,329 miles
I had to visit Toyota because my radio will turn on by itself, when I park. Even after visiting Toyota for an update, my radio will change on its own, not from the steering wheel) but on its own.so it is not fixed. Wipers will turn on then stop. There seems to be a device behind the dash that I can hear clicking on and off well after the ignition is off or while the car is idle for a bit. My climate control changes on its on even though it works fine most of the time. It is as if my car is receiving additional commands from another source. Last week, at night, I witnessed two men standing in the middle of the street, somehow activating car alarms from random cars. Just yesterday, not far from where I live a driver "lost control" and ran into two homes. The driver was thrown from the car, while the car and the house caught on fire, that was strange to hear about. If there is something that can be done for my car, please let me know what to do. Thank you.

- Aston, PA, USA

problem #12

Jan 312019

RAV4

  • 8 miles
On 01/31/19 I was driving my 2017 Rav4 on freeway about 4 miles then local about 5 blocks I heard noise on my car so I stopped. It turned out I had a flat on my front passenger tire. I replaced it with spare and the 'low tire pressure' light just came on. I then realized why the ltp light never came on before I replaced with spare. I took the Rav4 to pasadena Toyota to run the diagnostic check to find out why ltp light never came on when I was driving on a flat. The diagnostic found 'nothing wrong' and the system didn't record anything. They also told me the tire suffered 'run flat damage' and not repairable. I then called Toyota customer svc. Case # 1902010530, case manager derek. Derek just informed me on 2/11/19 that the ltp light will not come on when the tire sudden lost pressure and turn flat (owner's manual pg 571). I asked him why the light didn't come on when I drove it on flat for a while to cause the run flat damage. Wasn't the tire pressure low enough when it's flat? he said the light will not come on when it's flat. This sounds very dangerous if the warning light doesn't send out signal even when it's flat. However pasadena Toyota svc advisor told me the system is supposed to check the pressure every 30 seconds. This conflicts with what derek told me. If I only drove with flat for 30 seconds locally it would not have caused 'run flat damage'. I was especially driving slow locally on 1/31/19 because of the traffic. I must have driven it more than 30 seconds (to cause the run flat damage) but the system failed to detect it and sent me the warning. I keep the damage tire in case further investigation is needed. We also had another electrical issue with this 2017 Rav4 when it was only 6 months old. A warning light came on for no reason so we brought it to dealer to check on 10/30/17. Again, the diagnostic found nothing. Can I trust my dashboard?

- San Marino, CA, USA

problem #11

Feb 012019

RAV4

  • 12,978 miles
Power transmission, safety issue, the power transmission will not shift in a timely manner to proper gears, in cold weather, this is a safety issue, when entering the freeway after leaving work, the car will only go 30 mph at 3,500 RPM. Until the car warms up, this has never happened before, and now it is. Toyota dealer confirmed that the shift points are higher than normal, when first started in the morning, and per the dealer well it takes awhile for the car to warm up before it will go to normal shift points, and allow the transmission to function normally. Well 30 mph at 3500 RPM, this is not normal, and this is a safety issue, so when you leave work your car will only go 30 mph on a 60 mph freeway. The dealers response is after it has been running and warmed up it will work normally. There is nothing normal about this issue, never had this issue last winter now all of a sudden having this issue this winter.

- Painesville, OH, USA

problem #10

Jan 172019

RAV4

  • 12,921 miles
When it is raining, or snowing and for some reason, the sensors get wet from the bumper, crosstraffic alert or backup or side warning, the whole system shuts down. Driving on the freeway and it is raining and the whole computer just froze, and lost all sensors and a failure alert showed up on the dashboard, along with the cars transmission have a hard time shifting as exiting the free way. This is total computer failure but after exiting the freeway and driving down a road, and at a stop light put the transmission in neutral and shifting back to drive, all the computer errors cleared. Took it to the dealer and of course they found nothing. This is dangerous for blind spot warning sensors to go out the pbm sensor said failure and there is an electric harness issue with this car where the wires either were not insulated or nick along with the computer model to the transmission. There is faulty insulation, this happens only on occasion and not all the time, and every now and then there is a computer issue, the clears itself. Also the clock was losing time. Due to the electrical issues this is a safety issue, . when everything shuts down when the car is being driven is a safety issue. Yet, shifting the transmission cleared the errros off the dash.

- Painesville, OH, USA

problem #9

Jan 302019

RAV4

  • miles
The transmission, is not shifting properly in even mildly cold weather. Had the car for two years, and now the tranmission, is not shifting properly when you first start it up. The engine rpms are at 3,500, when doing 30 mph down the road, and pushing all the way down on the accelerator, the car will not go, there are no error lights, there is an tranmission shift issue with acceleration issue. This is dangerous because when going down a 35 mph road, there are cars that can accelerate and this car goes nowhere. Start the car after being parked outside in cold weather, waited 5 minutes before driving the car, and it is still not responding properly. There have been electrical issues with this car, and now the transmission will not shift and go into gear properly, not sure if its the computer program, or gear issue. Never had this problem until the second year of ownership. Owned the car since it was brand new. This is a safety issue, with the car not being able to go the proper speed limit, and the dealer is trying to say oh, it takes a while for the car to warm up, did not have that problem last winter being left out all day and night. There is an electronic control module for the transmission, and the gears this is a safety issue that Toyota needs to address, the car will not even accelerate properly because of this transmission issue and if you do accelerate you can end up ruinning the engine.

- Painesville, OH, USA

problem #8

Dec 012018

RAV4 6-cyl

  • 38,000 miles
The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Rav4. While driving approximately 75 mph behind another vehicle, the contact switched lanes and the forward collision avoidance feature immediately activated. As a result, the brakes engaged and caused the vehicle to stop abruptly. The contact indicated that the detection system activated although the preceding vehicle was more than 150 feet away. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified. The failure mileage was 38,000.

- Palm Coast, FL, USA

problem #7

Jun 202018

RAV4

  • miles
On occasion, while going from reverse to drive, the vehicle shuts down and I get a message that says "charging malfunction". it does not happen all the time. It has happened when I pull out of my driveway onto the busy street I live on. It has also happened once when I parallell parked. I have to shut the car off and then restart for it to work again. I tried to recreate the situation but cannot. I brought it to Toyota and they cannot find the problem either. Most recently it happened to me last night while pulling out of my driveway. (6-20-18) time. I purchased the car August of 2017 and it still is under warranty however I have had no luck with Toyota. Their response was we will note it in the file.

- Toms River, NJ, USA

problem #6

May 302018

RAV4

  • 6,100 miles
I was driving home and at a red light when my Rav4 started to shake and feel as though it was going to stall out. Everything shut down and I was unable to move. I received the following error on our display, "charging system malfunction". after a few seconds I was able to turn my vehicle on and proceed through the intersection. Approximately one minute later it started to stutter again. I was able to make it to my driveway before it turned off and lost power. I informed my husband what had happened and he took the vehicle out to see if the same error would occur. Within five minutes into his drive the vehicle shut off. We had it towed to our Toyota dealership, as we just purchased this Rav4 brand new nine months ago. The service department conducted multiple tests and informed us that everything was fine. It is a little unnerving to know that the vehicle I drive could completely turn off, potentially on a busy highway. The risk for serious injury or death, to me or my family, is high if this occurs. Again, to recap, the vehicle shut down while stopped at a red light and also when it was in motion.

- Verona, PA, USA

problem #5

Dec 232017

RAV4

  • 10,685 miles
While driving on a major highway at 65 mph. The engine shut off and all screens and gauges shut off for about 3 to 5 seconds then the car restarted on its own and began to accelerate quickly so I had to use the brakes to slow the car down. This event happened three times that day all on the highway and with the cruise control on.I called the Toyota dealer to have the car checked out the car was checked out no issues found. A few weeks later I got the oil changed at the dealer and after I left the dealership the roads were icy so I was driving around 25 mph when the engine stopped running and the dash went out for about 3 to 5 seconds and then the car started running again this happened again a few minutes later the cruise control was not on at this time. I called the dealer and an appointment was made to check the car again I also opened a claim with Toyota for this issue. The car was evaluated again still no issue could be found. The response from Toyota was no issue was found with the car and no further action would be taken by Toyota because nothing was found on the data recorder. This car is on a Toyota lease and I do not feel comfortable driving it and I will not let my wife drive this car my feeling is that someone could get hurt or worse and I do not want to see that happen. I have read that other ravs are having the same issue.

- Whitinsville, MA, USA

problem #4

Dec 112017

RAV4

  • 4,200 miles
I started it and noticed immediately something was wrong. Vehicle started moving and I tried to apply brake. Brake was hard initially and vehicle continued moving. Then I was able to depress the brake pedal all the way but it kept moving. With my daughter in the car I got panic. I switched to P and vehicle kept going, though slowly on the street. Then I turned power off and removed the key. At this point all dash boards lights were on and it was making a loud, wired noise. It lasted several seconds and vehicle kept moving during this time. Finally it came to a stop in the middle of the street. The vehicle has only 4200 miles. The scary thing is, brake failed for no reason and all dash board lights were on even after the key was removed.

- Chalfont, PA, USA

problem #3

Sep 022017

RAV4

  • 3 miles
The lane departure warning tone cannot be heard when driving the vehicle. There is no way to increase the volume of the warning tone as the consumer. Toyota knows this is a problem (see pg 258 of owner's manual) but refuses to fix. This is a risk to personal safety.

- Glen Allen, VA, USA

problem #2

Feb 172017

RAV4

  • 15 miles
The car is a 2017 Toyota Rav4 xle AWD. The car was a replacement vehicle for a 2015 Toyota Rav4 xle AWD that had non reparable electrical issues and was replaced by Toyota by an arbitration decision. The first day I drove the car the passive safety sense system activated while on the freeway when a car passed me on the left side. Luckily no one was behind me or their would have been an serious accident. I traded the car off 9 days later at a loss due to complete lack of trust in any Toyota product. The manufacturer and the dealer treated be horribly on the previous car that I will never own another Toyota again ever.

- Hampton, AR, USA

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