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.
Since I bought the car in 2018, the car has stalled two times while I am driving on the road. That was very dangerous because other drivers almost hit me from behind. The first time I had the problem, the Toyota dealer told me that it was likely caused by bad gas. It happened again this time today. I am bringing it to the dealer again, but likely not able to get a solution. At the same time, I am scared of driving it, yet I need to drive it for work and other necessities. Happened at 32k in August 2020, and 55k in January 9, 2022.
UNKNOWN since insurance or fire department does not want to investigate. However car randomly caught on fire when driving. Could be due to a new battery installed a week prior. Driver and daughter claim as well an electrical issue with AC turning on by itself the morning of car fire which it has never done before. Driver suspects faulty battery since a new battery installed by dealer a week prior and the year before and it is not the first case late model RAV4s are caught on fire due to battery issues.
At approximately 65K miles on my 2018 vehicle, my alternator and battery have malfunctioned. The car has routine maintenance done on it, the battery had a dead cell according to the repair shop with the battery reader. The car started fine and while driving the battery picture came on dash and said malfunction to park in a safe location all lights on dash came on. I tried to turn my car off in a drive thru, it wouldn-€™t start. The repair shop says it-€™s only charging at 12.5 volts and needs to be replaced. I only have manufactured items in my car and seems puzzling to why a 2018 with way less than 100k miles on would have a battery and alternator just die.
Toyota etunes systems are apparently fatally flawed or are exquisitely attuned to planned obsolescence. My bluetooth began initializing 6 weeks ago and has not stopped since. This is a safety concern because, as a 67 year old driver, it is important to have my hands free to drive. I purchased this vehicle because of this feature. Toyota maintains the only solution to my problem is to purchase a new $1,500 radio. Because this is not just my problem but one experienced by a majority of Toyota owners, Toyota should bear the cost for replacement
- Keswick, VA, USA
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I received a consumer advisory notice from Toyota. Notice number appears to be 21TG01 and is related to battery fires. Apparently the wrong size battery was installed and Toyota issued the notice to have the battery size checked. It should be a Group 35 battery. However, a Toyota Group 35 measures 6 7/8 inches wide across and after market batteries to the best of my research are 6 3/8 inches wide. The top battery hold down that fits over the top of the battery does not fit a 6 3/8 wide battery which appears to be the standard with the exception of Toyota. The top hold down bracket is too big and does not fit properly over the top of the battery. If that makes sense.
My husband and I were driving down the road when we had warning lights and signals going off in the car and the electric was trying to reset in the car. The car was sputtering and stalled out. we managed to pull the car over as white smoke came from under the hood of the car and we jumped out and grabbed our dog as flames started to shoot from under the hood. We have never had any incident happen prior to this to indicate there would be any problems. The car is available for inspection if requested. The insurance company has not inspected the vehicle yet and is transporting it to a salvage yard for inspection.
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated while driving at 30 MPH, the brake warning light and an unknown triangle warning light illuminated. The contact continued to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic but was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that rodents had been chewing through the soy-based wiring. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred seven months later. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that rodents had been chewing through the soy-based wiring again. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000. The VIN was not available.
The contact owned a 2018 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while idling in the pharmacy drive-through line, smoke was suddenly present coming from under the hood of the vehicle. The vehicle was quickly parked before flames were seen coming from the engine compartment. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. During the incident, the vehicle was destroyed. No injuries were reported. A fire report was taken at the scene. The cause of the fire was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the incident. The failure mileage was 49,000
I was told by the Toyota dealer that my vehicle was subject to a safety recall regarding the wrong size battery having been installed and the battery must be replaced with the correct size. I was also told that I must pay for the cost of the new battery and installation. I told the service rep that I should not have to pay for any safety recall repair. Despite my objection, I was charged and had to pay for the required safety recall repair.
This is the second time it has happened, the car completely shut off and nothing worked. The first time does happen our battery was two years old and we were told to change it. After changing the battery the car worked. Six months later the car completely shut off while driving. AAA came and said it was not an issue with the battery but rather the wiring. He played around with the wiring in the car somehow turned on. This is very dangerous because it happened on the freeway. There are some fault with the wiring on this model.
Multiple times the cars front left sensor when wet, after heavy rains, will beep and flash on dash for no reason. I turn off the back up assist function and the beeping stops. Also, the rav won't engage drive on occasion when going from park to drive. After waiting a bit of time, drive appears on dash and car will go. Just this Saturday (10-16-21) after this p to d problem occurred, the engine lost ALL POWER, and drive turned off In traffic. I had to push the car out of busy 3 lane traffic while my friend turned the wheel. after 10 minutes it again engaged and we drove it home. My fear is if this electric issue occurs when Iam going 70 mph, I may crash and injure myself or others. Dealer to look at. VERY SCARY!
The first incident happened on June 9, 2021. I was turning right very slowly into a parking spot at a grocery store when the car suddenly accelerated rapidly, even when I depressed the brake very hard. My car hit a row of small trees that formed a border between the parking lot and the street. The impact was so hard that there was over $5,000 in damage to the front of the car. I was in shock as it felt like the car was out of control. The second incident July 27, 2021. Again, I was turning right to reach the exit of a parking garage at a medical clinic. I was going very slow because I was approaching the ticket booth to exit the parking garage. Just as I completed the turn, the car accelerated and lurched forward toward the arm that keeps cars from exiting. I was able to stop the vehicle by pressing the brake hard, and I did not hit the arm at the exit point. Again, it was shocking and very frightening for this to happen.
2018 hybrid battery does not hold charge. Sometimes the battery dies even where it should be fully charged and driving. Drove 5 hours straight on 7/10. Does on the highway. The car battery has been dying almost from day 1. This car is only 2 1/2 and only 20, 000 miles.
When I tried to start my vehicle this morning after a store run. the car clicked multiple times and made a weird noise, then went dead. I popped my hood immediately and saw a hole the size of a quarter next to the battery terminal and smoke was coming out the hole. I had driven it 40 miles before I had put it in park, and it drove fine before that. I have showed multiple people pictures of the battery (including mechanics) and no one had ever seen anything like that. I decided to google to see if it's a known problem/recall on the Rav4 and found that the NHTSA was investigating the batteries due to similar instances. Thankfully my car did not catch fire, and I was smart and decided not to start it again. Otherwise something bad could have happened.
We were driving when I made a right turn and suddenly the steering wheel locked on me and at the same time various warning lights lit up on my dashboard. The car slowed and I was able to regain control of the steering wheel to pull over. After driving a few miles further we once again came to a right turn and everything happened as before except with greater intensity. We tried to straighten the steering wheel for control and were able to pull over into an empty parking lot. By the time we came to a stop, which took all of just one or two minutes, smoke was coming out from under our hood. We quickly got out of our car and opened the hood to see the battery in flames. I called 911 while my husband poured his cup of water over the flames. It stalled the fire but it continued to spark until help arrived. I am certain if we had not had water the whole car would have caught on fire. The car was towed to a Toyota dealership where we were told that their was an issue with battery installation. At present it is being worked on but I have lost confidence in this vehicle especially since we got no warning that there was a problem and we could have been badly injured or killed if the circumstances had been different and we had not been able to pull over and get out or have water with us. We have since learned that this is an issue for many people who own this 2018 RAV4 vehicle. I also learned there is no recall on this issue. I hope that Toyota isn't waiting for someone to be seriously injured or die before they fix this problem.
I was waiting at the traffic light to turn green once it did I pressed the gas pedal to go and the vehicle stall and lost power completely and gave a message saying power failure and a picture of a battery after this happened the vehicle was able to start back
Car started stalling whole in motion yesterday. I haven't thought too much about it. Today in my 3rd drive of the day after I stop at a restaurant, I start the car to the surprise it just stalled and give me charging system malfunction I try to start it again with no luck. I'm far from home I call the local dealership and is closed. I will have to wait tomorrow morning to tow the car to them. I wasn't expecting this to happen in a Toyota vehicle only 3 year older. Last year they change the battery because it let me stranded something wrong with the electric system for sure.
The vehicle use purchased in Dec '18. In Dec '19 the battery went dead and was replaced. Toyota said the battery had a bad cell.. in Apr '20 the battery went bad again and was replaced. Toyota said the wrong size battery was installed the last time. In Aug '20 the battery went bad again and was replaced, Toyota said it was because of a gps devise that was installed by the selling dealership and was never made aware to the buyer. In Dec '20 the battery went bad again and was replaced. This time Toyota said it was because the car was not being driven enough. The driving pattern has been the same with this vehicle since it was purchased. If that was the problem then why was it not a problem in the first year of ownership. Also it was not a problem with the previous vehicle that was used as a trade-in on this vehicle. There seems to be an obvious problem with the electrical system of the vehicle.
Starting late aug2020 the dashboard starting to show warning lights randomly and inconsistently. All warning lights do not come at the same time but when turning the external lights on other warning lights turn on and so far the car have stalled more than 4 times while driving under 40 mph. The last 3 times the car started right after being parked and but this last time it did not and while I was waiting for a tow almost had an accident from behind me as the car that was coming behind me stopped and was hit by another car behind him. I took it to the dealer and since it is out of warranty they would not touch it and all they did was disconnect the battery so the warranting lights turn off and send me back out and with in 15 min on the road the lights started to comeback on again but the car did not die on the road. The car is barely 3 years old and only have 14,500 miles on it and it is becoming very unreliable to drive.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Woodbridge, VA, USA