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.
Spontaneous Shattering of Sunroof Glass while driving While driving westbound on [XXX] near Cambridge, Ohio at approximately 6:05 PM my wife and I heard what sounded like an explosion or shotgun blast on the roof of the car. We had a Thule cargo box on top, so my immediate reaction was it has blown open. I pulled off the road and opened the shade to the sunroof to see if the Thule box was damaged. It wasn't the box, it was the glass of the sunroof, which had spontaneously shattered. Pieces of glass rained down on us. Thankfully, the shade was closed, or, as the driver I would have been showered with glass while driving at 65 mph. Had we been in traffic when the explosive shattering of the glass occurred, this would have made it a dangerous event. Further, had we not had the shade closed, we would have been showered with glass fragments. There was no obvious cause. No cars were in front of us to have thrown up a rock. The Thule cargo box protected the glass from something falling from the sky. The only cause could be the glass spontaneously shattered. I had cleaned the car prior to our departure. I cleaned all of the glass surfaces, including the sunroof. There were no marks, visible damage, or scratches visible. I tried to take the car to a Toyota dealer in Oshkosh, WI, but they were unable to see me. When we returned to Maryland, I took it to Jim Coleman Toyota. I explained what had occurred and gave them photos. The information was sent to Toyota and they declined to cover the sunroof. I did a quick search after the incident and learned that this is not the first case of the sunroof glass of a 2021 RAV4 has spontaneously shattered. Toyota refuses to accept that the glass may have a manufacturing defect. The Toyota dealer estimates the cost of repair to be about $1900 and I have filed a claim against my USAA auto insurance. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Rockville, MD, USA
Recall has not been taken care of in a timely manner. Car might light on fire! very unsafe!
- San Diego, CA, USA
I am writing to register a complaint about the lack of resolution for the below recall number. the notice, from 3 months ago now, says not to use the electric charger for the vehicle in temperatures below 40 F. I expected a rapid rollout due to the approaching winter but instead Toyota is still saying that there is no solution. The notice specifically says there is a risk of vehicle fires. Toyota appears to know what part has to be replaced and should be required to do that in a timely manner so the car can be used as designed in a safe manner. I encourage NHTSA to look into this as soon as possible. I spoke with a Toyota representative today and was given the same vague timeline but also told it could take until Spring 2024 for a solution to be identified. Thank you for your assistance. Jul 12,2023 Manufacturer Recall Number23TB07 NHTSA Recall Number23V478 Recall StatusRecall Incomplete, remedy not yet available
- Chicago, IL, USA
On the driver's display, some Vehicle Settings menu pages do not display properly. The text either appears too dim to read or displays legibly but then disappears. The problem is inconsistent and difficult to replicate. This behavior prevents proper setting or adjustment; and may confuse the driver when vehicle is in operation.
- Long Beach, CA, USA
When I took My 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime in for a dealer service at 18,000 miles they told me my factory tires were badly cupped due to the car needing an alignment. I thought this was strange because I drive carefully, and have not hit any large potholes, and the car is practically new. I then looked on Toyota forums online and there were many reports of same tire cupping with new 2021 RAV4 Primes because they were not aligned correctly before shipping out to dealers. I asked my Toyota dealer about this, thinking they should address the issue by aligning my vehicle for no charge. They said I only had an alignment covered until 12000 miles. I think since this is a safety issue and many people have reported the same cupping issue Toyota should do something about this. This is the reason for this report.
- Endicott, NY, USA
Husband and I bought our 2021 RAV4 Prime from Toyota last Jan, brand new and I-??ve had no complaints. On Dec 27, 2022 we were running errands and all of a sudden our sunroof EXPLODED. It sounded like a gun went off right in between us and then showered us with glass residue. There were no cars around us so we immediately pull into a parking lot and notice the glass exploded up and out. We took our car immediately to a Toyota dealership within half a mile-?"they contacted the main Toyota office with our situation and Toyota insisted it must-??ve been from road debris hitting the sunroof and then the internal cabin pressure caused the glass to go up/out. However, we were driving with our sunroof tilted up and our windows down so that would-??ve been impossible as internal pressure was equilibrated with outside the vehicle. Additionally the tension point was located directly under our roof rack so would-??ve been impossible for debris to hit it at that point since it would-??ve been protected by the roof rack itself. There was no other damage done to our car. Toyota is not helping us with this situation and we are having to use insurance. After reading other similar incidences, I was shocked how many others have experienced this on Toyota nation, Reddit, and NHTSA. It-??s dangerous and is a safety concern for drivers, passengers and other vehicles on the road specifically the loud explosion sound itself, the risk for glass residue to impair vision of the driver and glass shards flying off the roof and hitting other vehicles on the road.
- Middleburg, FL, USA
The sunroof shatter while I was driving.
- Sacramento, CA, USA
My 21 rav4 prime has started by ITSELF on at least 6 different occasions I understand that my key fob has the ability to remotely start the car if a button sequence is pressed. This might be a good feature, but unfortuantely this happens by accident when my keys are in my pocket. I am unaware of this occurring until I walk into my enclosed garage and find the car running. It was not started intentionally by me. I do not get any text or warning through the connected toyota app. This is a safety risk as the car can run in the garage generating carbon monoxide which can permiate through the house As I mentioned earlier, this has happened at least 6 times on different days, so it is repeatable. I have a call into the dealer. I have spoken to toyota customer support and they told me there is no way to disable the remote start. There are no warning lights or messages that the car is running. I believe that this is a significant safety hazzard to ones health and life. I have a few suggestions 1 have a disable remote FOB start as an option through setup 2 when the car starts remotely send an alert to the toyota app or text msg to let the owner know the status. 3 have the horn sound
- Acton, MA, USA
I was driving my 2021 Toyota Rav4 Prime on the freeway. As I was exiting the freeway there was a LOUD explosion in my car that scared the hell out of my friend and I, almost causing me to get into an accident. I pulled over and got out to see what happened. As I walked around the car I checked the tires, which were fine. I did not see anything (it was dark). I could not see the roof (I am short) and the moonroof shade was closed. I got in the car and started driving again and my friend said she could hear crackling, so I pulled into a parking lot. We got out again, and my friend looked up on the top of the car and could see the moonroof had exploded. The glass was cracked around the outer edge. There was no mark where a rock would have hit it. There were no debris marks anywhere, and we did not hear anything hit it. It was an explosion that you could feel. There was absolutely no warning. I took the car in the next day to the dealer and the service agent told to come back on Monday, which is today. The service agent at the dealership agreed that there were no marks, or dings where a rock hit it. He agreed that it looked like it exploded the way it was cracked all around the outer edge of the glass. Late this afternoon they called to tell me that there is a "quality control" person coming tomorrow to look at it so they can decide whether they will honor their warranty. I also purchased the "bumper to bumper" extended warranty when I bought the car, less than a year ago. I always keep the moonroof shade open. Fortunately, I had it closed at that time or we would have at least gotten cut. I usually have my grandson in the back seat and there are glass shards in the back seat and in his car seat. If he had been in the car, my grandson would have gotten cut.
- Placentia, CA, USA
While driving on the freeway, suddenly we heard a loud noise and then felt particles dropping on us. While attempting to assess what happened in and outside of the vehicle, we noticed the sunroof/moonroof shattered and small shards of glass were everywhere. The loud sound and attempt to assess the situation could have caused an accident. We were not passing under anything like a bridge and could determine no cause for the breaking of the glass. Afterward when I could safely pull over so we could clean the glass out of the vehicle, we found no rock or other debris in my vehicle that did not belong. Only shards of glass in our hair, on our bodies, and everywhere in the car, sticking into our skin and making one passenger bleed slightly.
- Roseville, CA, USA
Vehicle abruptly and harshly slowed from 65mph to around 30 on the highway and multiple error lights and messages came up. After initial deceleration the vehicle seemed to drive normally. Once in a safe place to stop the vehicle was shut off and the only errors remained had been check engine and hybrid system malfunction and again the vehicle seemed to drive normally and was brought to the dealership for inspection the next day on its own power. Errors seen in dash and Head Unit: brake power low, brake support system malfunction, check engine, hybrid system malfunction, park sensor malfunction, lane trace assist malfunction, sonar malfunction, headlight system malfunction. Dealership states they need to contact Toyota as there is something wrong and they are unsure what it is at this time.
- Byram Township, NJ, USA
On March 19, 2022 I was attempting to make a left turn onto a five lane (including the center left turn lane) road. When the traffic cleared my car (a plug-in hybrid in EV mode) did not accelerate as it usually does, but slowly rolled into the first lane of traffic. I pushed the accelerator to the floor but it stopped in the traffic lane. I had to quickly select reverse and back out of the first lane of oncoming traffic. Luckily the car behind me had not moved up and I had room to avoid an accident. This seemed like it may have been a failure of the collision avoidance system. Our safety was definitely at risk as the oncoming traffic was moving at 40-45 mph. The problem has not occurred since and the Toyota dealer was unable to confirm or reproduce. My wife was also in the car and can verify what happened. There were no other warnings, messages or symptoms. In the three photos, the first shows the 2 motorcycles I intended to get behind when I completed my turn. The next two photos show how I needed to back up to clear the lane for oncoming traffic. I do have a 30 second video of the entire incident.
- Bluffton, SC, USA
Very loud TRAIN HORN sound. TSB issued in other countries like Finland, but not USA. Finland TSB BE-00612T-TME
- Chesapeake, VA, USA
Hello Nhtsa, It is a brand new car, while we were driving on the freeway, all off a sudden, we hard noisy drive, eventually smelled plastic. When we saw under the "Underbody plastic shield with clips loosen up" and it is handing half on the road. we were scared and it could even fire up the whole car as we smelled a burning smell. I called Toyota Custer service a couple of times and reported the issue. again called towing company took to the dealer. dealer "Town county Toyota Charlotte" Dealer manager was very rude and says it cannot be fixed, it is back-ordered, left us on the road to take out the car. It is such cheap material for Such an EXPENSIVE car. It has an 18KW battery and gas we would have been caught up in a fire in the car. We were so disappointed and shocked for a few days. # Again it is first in segment plugin EV. It makes weird noise occasionally while reversing or staring going in 10-15miles per hour. Riased 2 service tickets with toyota customer care, no response so far. First ticket: 220119002484 second ticket: 220108001683
- Charlotte, NC, USA
I was driving on a two lane highway going approximately 55mph. It was around 8pm and it was already dark out. There was nothing near me on the road. While driving, I heard a loud explosion/pop. I swerved into the opposite lane due to the sound. Luckily there were no cars oncoming. I was able to get back to the right side of the road and find a spot to stop/park. I then looked at my sunroof and it was shattered in a circular pattern. It was not from an external force.
- San Tan Valley, AZ, USA
This car makes a loud noise (train horn?) when I first begin to drive it on cold days. It makes the noise for a couple of seconds and then stops. If I leave it parked until it cools off and try to drive it again, it makes the noise again. It's very loud and disturbing. I first noticed it when the temperature dropped to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Walla Walla, WA, USA
Navigation systems are key safety systems that are optional in most cars. The navigation system with its turn by turn instruction allows the driver to focus on driving, while also listening to music or talking on the phones. There have been many times that I or anyone would get lost, miss turns without the use of such systems. While integrated satellite navigation systems are available, they are far inferior to google maps, waze and Apple Maps. I personally have been using google maps on my phone tied to Bluetooth for many years. Technology has improved where phones can be projected onto car screens using android auto and CarPlay. I have just purchased a new car to have this feature in addition to the phone based system where a could listen to radio or talk on the phone while receiving voice navigation prompts. My new car is able to provide turn by turn instructions while listening to the radio, but while on a brief call the instructions are no longer available when using android auto and google maps, the most popular navigation software. I have discussed this with Toyota, who blames it on google. Toyota is the manufacturer and should be able to make it happen. The problem is not just a Toyota problem, but it seems that it is across manufacturers. The turn by turn feature should be mandatory for projection systems like android auto and CarPlay. A switch can determine whether it is active, but it should be there. If nhtsa can require it then manufacturers can demand google and apple to fix their software. I have researched this on the internet and it is a common but important problem. Can you please look into it Regards
- Acton, MA, USA
The 2021 RAV4 Prime has a known defect with the heat pump causing an alarming sound to be heard within about a 1 minute of startup. The grinding noise causes distraction as it is extremely loud and occurs generally while backing out/maneuvering in tight areas. Toyota released a Service Bulletin in their European Market in October (numbered BE-00612T-TME - "Train Horn noise" from A/C compressor when the vehicle is started), but has not made available the same fixes in the US even months later.
- Denver, CO, USA
Please refer to NHSTA tracking #11418659 reported in May 2021. At that time, I described potential safety issues resulting from the remote start of my vehicle being initiated without my knowledge. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealership--whose employees have been very cooperative and helpful--after multiple communications with the national offices of Toyota. Though I received a letter from Toyota stating that the problem had been rectified (letter from Toyota dated 4/23/21, as quoted in my initial complaint, stated "...your concern has been resolved..."), the problem persisted. Though my suggestion regarding the initial self-start shortly after taking delivery was dismissed by Toyota, investigation at my dealership resulted in a very simple solution--the key fob was activating the remote start because the button was inadvertently pushed while in my pocket, which is exactly what I had postulated initially. Trial and error (just keeping the fob out of my pocket for a few months) now seems to validate this theory. Here are the safety concerns generated by the poor engineering of this design: 1. A single press of a single button on the fob is all that is needed to initiate a remote start, setting the scene for an unintended self start. The safety implications delineated in my initial complaint, cited above, are obvious. I have had multiple vehicles with remote starts; they required multiple simultaneous buttons to be pressed and/or multiple presses on the button(s). 2. How could Toyota have resolved the problem, as reported in their letter to me? I cannot help but doubt their integrity regarding this potentially-serious safety concern. (Please note: the data below applies to the first of many incidents of unintentional self starting.)
- Wappingers Falls, NY, USA
- Burnsville, NC, USA