10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
0 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

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problem #20

May 282025

RAV4

  • miles
During a rain Storm water was able to leak into my air intake box causing my air filter to become soaked. This caused my car to malfunction, come to an abrupt stop, alerting me of a "engine and steering failure" shutting my car off and becoming stranded on the highway.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #19

May 212025

RAV4

  • miles
Was driving in heavy rain after about a 35 mile commute and put the car in park. After about 5 minutes of sitting in park the car turned completely off by itself for a couple of seconds and restarted. Warning message -??engine stopped steering power low-?? popped up on dash and was visible smoke coming from under the hood with a slight burning smell. This is a first incident for the car as it has been driven for about 2 years with a little over 35,100 miles on it.

- Scottsville, VA, USA

problem #18

Jan 082025

RAV4

  • miles
My Toyota RAV 4 the power steering light comes on and says low & it always happens when it-??s heavy raining and my wipers are on. The car just stops & wont start again for about 20 mins. This is super dangerous and has happened 4 times now

- Durham, NC, USA

problem #17

May 092025

RAV4

  • miles
This problem has occurred twice now. First time: 4/19/2023 The car was brought to the car wash, I pulled into my parking spot the car shut off. When I attempted to turn the car back on the car would not start. The car showed a check engine light along with a steering wheel with an exclamation point. The dash said "Engine Stopped Steering Power Low". The car was immediately brought to the dealership after the car would start. The dealership did not find anything wrong along with no codes. The dealership assured me this would not happen while driving. Second Time: 5/9/2025 The car stalled mid driving in the rain and said "Engine Stopped Steering Power Low", car would not turnback on. Car has not been brought to the dealership again due to them not responding. This problem happening while driving puts not only my life at risk but everyone on the road.

- West Bridgewater, MA, USA

problem #16

May 092025

RAV4

  • miles
I was driving down [XXX] The car was moving along fine then when I pushed the gas it would jerk back and shake. I pulled off the highway and was able to coast into a gas station, but the engine stopped working as I was driving while cars were coming behind me. I could have been stopped in the middle of traffic with no way to get out. The power steering light came on as well as a light that said the engine was cut off. We just bought the car used with 22k miles on it and put an additional 3k miles on. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Highwood, IL, USA

problem #15

May 062025

RAV4

  • miles
Was sitting in my car in the rain and all of a sudden the engine cut off. The check engine light came on and the error message on the dashboard said " Engine Power Reduced". If I try to put it in anything but Park, it won't let me. I have never had this issue, or any issue with this car. If I had been driving, this would have run me off the road.

- Yukon, OK, USA

problem #14

May 052025

RAV4

  • miles
UNKNOWN: It happened during a heavy storm on my 40 miles to work and all the symbols lights suddenly lit up on the dashboard. The car died and the steering wheel got heavy when I tried to pull to the emergency lane. Luckily I was able to pull over, but it almost caused an accident as I was in the middle lane. I tried to start up the car again, but it would crank up, but died instantly and the dash would show "Ignition on" on the top left and "Engine Stopped: Power Steering Low". I called the dealership and talked to the service department and the service advisor think it was the battery, but he told me to try starting it after 5-10 minutes, if not, to call the tow company and tow the car to dealership for further inspection. I let it sit for 10 minutes and was able to start it back up and drove it straight to the nearest Toyota Dealership. While driving to the dealership, the car kept choking/stalling when pressing on the gas after braking. They examined with their scanners and the battery was in good condition and my car has gas (about 3/4 tank full) and they said the scans reported no issues. This is a concerning issue as I could had lost my life or possibly cause major accident and involve other people life.

- Grand Prairie, TX, USA

problem #13

May 022025

RAV4

  • miles
While raining, noticed smoke coming from under the hood, engine seemed as if it didn-??t have any power. Car shut off. While attempting to restart I seen a message in dashboard that said Engine stopped: steering power low. Took a while to get car cranked again after multiple attempts. Message in dashboard disappeared after multiple attempts to restart nor is there a message in remote application health status section.

- Monroe , LA, USA

problem #12

May 022025

RAV4

  • miles
It-??s pouring rain and my engine stopped and a message popped up saying -??engine stopped power steering low-??

- Birmingham , AL, USA

problem #11

Oct 012023

RAV4

  • miles
I was sitting in a drive thru with my car in drive, foot on break and all of a sudden it starts to shake and struggle to stay on. Then it stalls out, engine shuts completely off and my check engine light came on! The error messages on the screen read : Engine stopped, power steering low, precollision system malfunction, and parking brake malfunction. As I tried to restart it, It wouldn-??t start back up and stay on at all. After a good 20 min or so, and after being pushed out of the drive thru and my order canceled, my car starts back up as if nothing happened. Had my car checked for codes, and guess what ? NOTHING ! It-??s happened to me about 6 times in about a year and two month of owning it ! Nobody can figure out what the problem is. I also have issues randomly with my radio screen. When my phone is hooked up to CarPlay, it will sometimes kick me out and reconnect by itself, the screen completely shutting off and turning back on by itself, there-??s times I was listening to pandora and it won-??t allow me to click my station and show the song playing, and other issues. Had this happen too many times to count and within the first couple months of owning it, I took it back and they couldn-??t figure out the issue. It never happened while they had it.

- Dundalk , MD, USA

problem #10

Mar 132025

RAV4

  • miles
I came to a stop on the highway due to a law enforcement traffic slowage. As I began moving again with the rest of traffic, my car suddenly started shaking and struggling to stay on. My check engine light came on and an alert popped up for -??Engine stopped, steering power low-?? -??pre collision system malfunction-?? and -??parking brake malfunction-??. I felt fearful for my safety as I was unsure if my car would safely allow me to brake and move over to the shoulder of the road. I was really scared and had so much anxiety that I wouldn-??t be able to make it out safely. The dealer was not able to find any record of these codes popping up and could not recreate the check engine. I have pictures showing the codes to support my claim.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #9

Jan 312025

RAV4

  • miles
Car had error on dashboard of Engine stopped power steering low, car is available for inspection. Car would not start in the middle of the night while raining, had smoke coming out the front. Problem not reproduced at dealership. No other warnings were shown beforehand.

- Raleigh, NC, USA

problem #8

Dec 292024

RAV4

  • miles
This happened?on [XXX] in Oakland CA, it was a rainy day. I drove off the freeway and then parked the vehicle in the parking lot. The car was in idle mode. After about 10 minutes?the engine started to?stall, and then shut off completely. I tried to restart the engine but it failed. The dashboard showed an error message "Engine Stopped, Steering Power Low". I suspected?that rainwater entered into the engine from the air intake.? After waiting for about 2 hours, I was able to restart the vehicle, and then everything seemed to be normal. Toyota should?announce?a recall for this problem as this is very dangerous to operate the vehicle?on the freeway?on rainy?days. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Fremont, CA, USA

problem #7

Aug 192024

RAV4

  • miles
UNKNOWN. I drove my car off the dealership lot and not even 10 minutes into my ride home, as I pulled of the highway, I noticed that the RPM of the vehicle was slowing down. I pressed down harder on the gas to get it to accelerate but it just kept jerking and slowing down. Eventually I tried to get off to the side of the road and the car stopped in the middle of two lanes. The Check Engine, Battery warning and Electric Power Steering lights all came on the dashboard. There was also another error message: Engine Stopped Steering Power Low. I called the dealership and they came and towed the car. Not sure what the issue is but saw on some forums that this has happened to other RAV4 owners on used and brand new cars as well. Someone encouraged users to report it to the NHTSA so Toyota is aware of the issue.

- Dallas, TX, USA

problem #6

May 022024

RAV4

  • miles
Toyota RAV4 2023, had it not even a whole year bought it from the dealer 0miles. Today while running errands parked on the side of the road, car started to vibrate weirdly and then it shut off. I try starting the vehicle again and it just keep showing the same message -??Engine Stopped Steering Power Low-?? with the check engine light and steering wheel light on. After 30minutes I let it sit and when I tried turning the car on again, it ran perfectly but I wasn-??t risking it happening again. So I had to call Toyota roadside to tow it since the warranty still covers it. And now I gotta wait to see what-??s going on. I did my research on google and a lot of people have the same problem going on with RAV4s.

- Fredonia, NY, USA

problem #5

Apr 132024

RAV4

  • miles
I was sitting in line at a drive-thru with my wiper blades on the intermittent setting when suddenly the engine shut off and I got an error message that said -??engine shut off steering power low-??. The check engine light, battery, and steering light all came on. I turned the car off and then on again. It rumbled and then shut off again with the same message. I had to shift to neutral and push into a parking spot.

- Chesapeake , VA, USA

problem #4

Jan 182024

RAV4

  • miles
Check engine sing comes and all dash board alarms lights on and bleep and while driving it shuts off while vehicle is on motion. This vehicle operates as yellow taxi and this issues is serious concern about passengers safety on board. The vehicle took to bay ridge Toyota dealer and the technician was unable troubleshoot and solve the concern Dealer charged 200 dollars for diagnostic and car is still under warranty.

- Brooklyn , NY, USA

problem #3

Jan 262024

RAV4

  • miles
Vehicle will shut off while in -??drive-?? gear after a complete stop and will report on the dash screen -?? Engine stopped. Steering power low.-?? All other alert lights will be on and unable to change the gear into neutral to move the vehicle into a safe location. This vehicle has already done this exact issue twice and it-??s currently less than 10,000 miles on the vehicle. First incident was 2k mileage in a safe environment however the next incident was at 6880 miles. Vehicle shut down in the middle of a highway and I was unable to place the car into neutral gear to move the car to safety. Dealership has not been successful to find the source of the issue.

- Spring, TX, USA

problem #2

Aug 282023

RAV4

  • miles
As I was entering a covered parking structure, I came to a complete stop at the entrance of the gate to obtain my parking ticket. I was driving very slow less than 5 mph, and engaged the brakes as to stop to get my parking ticket before entering the parking garage. I have my foot on the brake pedal, I am at a complete stop of 0mph for several seconds now, and suddenly the engine revved and my car lunged forward a bit. I had not lifted my foot from the brake pedal, and yet the engine revved and my car lunged forwards. My passenger at the time yelled, WHOAA why are you pressing on the gas!!? So my passenger in the car at the time was also startled by this incident and felt the car surge forward. He thought that I had pressed on the gas pedal. If someone was to be in front of my vehicle they would have potentially been hit with my car, or if I had been closer to the parking entrance gate my car could have hit the gate. I am highly concerned this just occurred as this could cause a great accident or injury. I have 1,100 miles on the car. It was purchased brand new. Another issue I have been experiencing is when I engage the gas pedal, it does not accelerate and takes a few seconds to accelerate causing my forward momentum to stall out, this is an issue when I have been trying to merge into traffic and my car does not drive as I have anticipated. I am not sure if this is an issue with it being in "ECO" mode or not, but there is a stalled acceleration issue, that happens sometimes, but not always and I cannot pin point why it is happening at certain moments.

- Wolcott, CO, USA

problem #1

Dec 282022

RAV4

  • miles
Yesterday I drove an hour in the rain for the first time in my brand new 2023 rav4. I pulled into a parking lot, put it in park and all of the sudden my car starting stuttering/jerking/jolting the whole car, the rpm's were fluttering up and down between 2-3, the car engine turned on and off and car felt very weird. Check engine light and yellow explanation symbol came on with message " Engine stopped steering power low" and turned car off. Then I turned it back on and it was doing the same thing jolting me forward with the same message and also the message "Not Ready to drive" and shut the whole car back off. I could barely make it out of the drive thru to park it out of the way in a spot to wait for a tow truck. It wouldn't drive. I had to get it towed to dealership and of course when it got there it was acting normal. I got it brand new 3 weeks ago. The dealership had it for just over a day and said nothing was wrong and no codes were showing that anything happened. I am extremely concerned since something did happen! This seems dangerous especially since the codes did not record. I told them I had a trip to go on up north and there was rain/snow anticipated and they said they would be okay sending their family off in this car since everything with the car says it-??s fine

- Goodyear, AZ, USA