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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
10 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
53,733 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2005 Toyota RAV4 engine problems

engine problem

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2005 Toyota RAV4 Owner Comments

problem #12

Oct 012022

RAV4

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On 10/1/2022 in Berwick, PA while pulling into the Dollar Tree parking lot, smoke appeared in the passenger cabin and the vehicle accelerated on it's own. The brakes were applied and the vehicle continue to accelerate. The vehicle went down through a yard, across a road through another parking lot and crashed into a high curb before stalling out. The airbags deployed. My mother was transported to the hospital and is still in ICU with broken ribs, cuts and bruises. She was able to steer the vehicle away from a parked car, a person on a bicycle and missed a rose bush, no one else was injured in the incident. A police report has been completed, the vehicle is still in the custody of the towing company and has not been released to the insurance company.

- Berwick, PA, USA

problem #11

Jun 042014

RAV4 4-cyl

  • miles
2005 Toyota rav 4. consumer writes in regards to first unintended acceleration dealership examination reported no defects, second unintended acceleration caused accident with several vehicles. The vehicle was totaled. The first incident occurred, when the consumers wife was driving. After she shifted to drive, after backing out of a parking space, the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward with incredible speed and spun out of control, went into circles and collided with a nearby unoccupied vehicle. A police report was not filed. The second incident occurred, while the consumer was driving, the vehicle suddenly surged forward with the engine racing. He tried to stop, but to no avail. The consumer collided with the rear of another vehicle. His vehicle bounced off and to the left, and then hit several other vehicle. Updated 01/25/17/17.

- Lewes, DE, USA

problem #10

Sep 152015

RAV4

  • 122,000 miles
Rav4 was total stopped on a stop sign. On taking the foot off the brake paddle to move ahead on green signal, even before the foot touched the accelerator paddle the vehicle accelerated at high speed into the vehicle in front. The driver has been driving this Rav4 for few years and has a very clean driving record and was at regular university stop. The damage was so bad that the vehicle was totalled by insurance. The damage looks like a high speed impact. A old 2005 Rav4 with 122000 miles on it cannot move that fast even if tried. The damage speaks for itself. The police officer was informed that the incident was confusing and later thinking back, it looked impossible to be because of human error even if tried. The household has clean record (no tickets, no accidents from us) on 3 vehicles for past 15 years. The incident happened on a regular daily university stop where the vehicles are driven slowly anyways. The damage speaks for itself that the vehicle had uncontrollable situation. Incident happened moving from a dead total stopped vehicle (0 mph). But the damage looks like the vehicle crashed in with a high speed. Both the driver and the other driver were confused, as noted to the attending police officer.

- Farmington Hills, MI, USA

problem #9

Feb 212014

RAV4 4-cyl

  • 55,266 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was parking, 10 minutes early, entering the spot at about 1 mph, my foot on the brake. My car lurched over a large curb and launched itself into a building. As it was lurching into the building, I kept my foot on the brake, put the car into park and pulled on the parking brake with my right hand and arm. These actions stopped the car as it crashed into the glass and metal front windows. I had been driving without any accidents, not even a ticket, for 38 years. After the accident I had Toyota inspect the car. Their finding was that the "accelerator pedal operated smoothly and returned to its idle position without any sticking or hesitation, " and that the inspector "was not able to duplicate your concern." I do not believe this determines anything with regard to this accident. I do know that my experience as a driver and my ability to stop the car kept this accident from being far worse. As a result of my actions to stop the car, my right arm suffered severe nerve damage. I still believe to this day that this was an incident of sudden acceleration.

- Portland, OR, USA

problem #8

Feb 032014

RAV4

  • 70,000 miles
As I exit the highway on sharp off ramps or take other similar tight turns, vsc trac sensor lights turns on and off and I can hear grinding noise when traction control auto-engages and disengages. The roadways have never been slick or wet and this issue has occurred at various speeds (30-50 mph).

- La Jolla, CA, USA

problem #7

Nov 152013

RAV4

  • 136,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle erroneously accelerated and crashed into the rear of another vehicle. The contact stated that he attempted to depress the brake pedal, but the failure recurred and the contact crashed into the vehicle a second time. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 136,000.

- Ontario, CA, USA

problem #6

Aug 312010

RAV4 4WD 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 72,330 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Rav4. While the contact was shifting into park, the engine revved and the rpms increased. The vehicle crashed into a metal post and building. A passenger was slightly bruised. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact filed a complaint with the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 72.330 updated 01/26/11 updated 03/28/11

- Macks Creek, MO, USA

problem #5

Jan 102009

RAV4 4-cyl

  • miles
It is very difficult to control acceleration from a stop while driving my Rav4 in stop and go traffic. This has been true since I purchased the car with about 40,000 miles on it. I removed the floor mat with no change. I have been told by two Toyota dealerships (one had the car for evaluation for a day and charged me a diagnosis fee and for a rental car) that this is normal. This is a potentially dangerous condition and clearly a safety hazard. I hold a commercial drivers license and have had many years of experience driving a wide variety of vehicles and have never encountered this problem. It is only a matter of time before the car hits something. Toyota must address this issue. Until this problem is remedied there is the real risk of something or someone being damaged or hurt (or worse). Update: On March 3, 2010 I delivered the car to dick dyer in columbia, SC at Toyota's request. The regional technician inspected the car that day. I have since been contacted by the general manager and informed that Toyota is flying a team of engineers from California to evaluate the car next Monday, March 15, 2010. Updated IVOQ 05/28/10. The consumer believed the electronic software, interface design was flawed. The throttle pedal and the engine did not accurately track each other. There was a delay, which resulted in an abrupt and excessive engine response. Updated 09/26/12

- Eastover, SC, USA

problem #4

Mar 032010

RAV4 4WD 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 99,200 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while pulling into the parking spot at approx 1-2 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb and crashed into a building. There were no injuries. A police report was taken. She had not noticed any problems with sudden acceleration before that failure. She called the manufacturer and was told that they a representative would inspect the vehicle. The vehicle had not been inspected to date. The current and failure mileages were approximately 99,200. Updated 5/6/10 updated 06/24/10.

- Martinsville, VA, USA

problem #3

Mar 032010

RAV4

  • 22,000 miles
Toyota 2005 Rav4 car accelerated when getting ready to stop.

- Bradley Beach, NJ, USA

problem #2

Apr 152009

RAV4

  • 38,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Rav4. While driving approximately between 1-10 mph on normal road conditions; proceeding to turn make a left at an intersection there was an unintended increase in acceleration. The driver applied pressure to the brake pedal and the vehicle failed to slow down. Suddenly, the vehicle crashed into an opposing vehicle. There were no personal injuries. The police was called to the scene. He was able to drive the vehicle. The vehicle has not been repaired for the body damages. The failure mileage was 38,000.

- Roanoke, VA, USA

problem #1

Dec 032008

RAV4

  • 30,000 miles
We were approaching our garage when all of the sudden our 2005 Toyota Rav4 accelerated without me pushing the gas petal. We drove through the front of our garage, causing substantial damage to our garage and the SUV. Both garage doors had to be replaced and the front of our garage had to be reframed and dry-walled inside. My husbands 1977 Jeep-CJ7 that has been totally restored was damaged and had to be repainted. The SUV suffered damage requiring a new passenger door, new passenger side trim, new side mirrors, new headlights, and repainting of the front half of the SUV. We contacted the police and they said since the damage was done to our property no report needed to be filed. We did take pictures for the insurance company which we still have, and we can obtain a copy of the report from the insurance company and or the body shops. We also contacted the Toyota dealership and questioned whether there were any recalls or problems with any other Rav4S and they said no. We have noticed on several occasions that there seems to be some times when the throttle seems to accelerate while we are driving down the road, but nothing as severe as the accident. With the recent recalls of Toyota we are very concerned about another incident occurring and for the safety of lives.

- Kokomo, IN, USA

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