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.
I bought a NEW rav-4 toyota last year, 2022 model. I have about 10,500 miles on it and suddenly my moon roof (back sun roof) shattered. There was nothing around to throw rocks up on top of my car so its nearly impossible for it to be from an "outdoor influence". I decided that I would open up a claim with Toyota, they have not even tried to advocate for my side; in fact no one asked for my side of the story until I said no one had asked me. It is not under warranty because its the moon roof and it is from "ware and tare" but no where does it say glass is not covered, and then they said that it would be covered only if proven from a manufacture/car fault or malfunction. My moon roof has no point of impact, hence the thought it was caused by pressure. Then I looked it up, this has happened to 100s of people on their rav4 2021, some of which got it covered by Toyota. I have been talking to a case manager (after weeks of trying to reach one) and he basically said that even if I send them these reports of it previously happening he won't bother looking at them; and that the specialist team are bias to Toyota so they will also say its outside causes. I have been pushed around, looked down on, and not advocated for. They also won't do ANY repair on my car until Toyota says okay, or I file an insurance claim, so they have had my car for 2 weeks doing nothing on it. Not only that they upsold me on the moon roof, encouraged me to do it, my $500 upgrade is now costing me $5000 dollars to fix. This is a dangerous reoccurring problem, what if my shade wasn't closed and the glass hit myself or passengers, of if cars behind me ran over glass chunks and caused flat tires or window chips etc. In addition the way the situation has been handled makes me and my Toyota loyal family not want to buy a Toyota again!!
There seems to be an issue on these body styles on Toyota Rav4 where there is an opening in lower bumper and rocks and road debris come in and put a hole in the AC Condenser. Toyota is aware of these issues but will not address and the customer is out $1500 repairs. I consider this a safety issue because every time this happens Freon is released into the atmosphere and the government is very concerned with this as is evident by the license and safety mechanisms in place for technicians handling the freon and repairs.
I was driving on I-91 in stop-and-go traffic when, all of a sudden, my RAV4 stalled. A warning chime sounded and the battery light, check engine light, and power steering light all illuminated. In the 4.2 inch screen in the gauge cluster, the following message displayed: "Steering Power Low"..."Shift to P". A second message displayed and said: "Engine Stopped"..."Shift to P". I attempted to restart the vehicle up to 8 times and it finally restarted. I quickly drove the car to the shoulder and out of the way of traffic. There were three of us in the car (myself and my two kids) and we almost got hit two times because visibility was poor due to rainy conditions and mist from passing cars. Throughout all this, I had the Auto Start/Stop feature disabled, so the car should not have shut off on its own. We had to get the car towed because we were worried that the problem would reoccur. We hope the problem could be rectified by our local Toyota dealer, because we do not want to drive it again in fear of the problem reoccurring while on the roadway. We are reporting this to bring awareness to this issue, and to make sure nobody else will have to face this situation and potentially be put in harm's way. (The attached photo is a general picture from somebody else, but my car had the same EXACT warning lights and messages. We could not take a picture because we were focusing on trying to get the car to turn on and move it to the shoulder by any means possible).
I purchased the car last July. Up to December, the car performed fine. Starting in December when I used the car heater repeatedly due to subzero temperatures, I noticed a burning smell coming from the vents. I was afraid that the engine or car would catch fire. I called the Tansky Toyota dealership and was told to bring the car in. They checked the car and I was told the smell was identified as engine coating which is burning off and it may take up to 4-6 month for the smell to go away. When I asked about the effects of the burning smell on my health, the assigned service adviser told me that -??if Toyota put it there, it is fine-??. In February, the smell in the enclosed car cabin got so bad that I felt nauseous, my eyes were burning, and I had metallic after taste in my mouth. When I took my car to the Tansky dealership, I was told that what I am smelling is a new car smell. Just to prove it, the assigned service advisor asked random dealership employees to sit in my car and to confirm that the car has a so called -??new car smell-??. When I asked if they could do something about the smell I was told to take the car to an independent car shop. The dealership was dismissive of my concerns. I had new cars before and none of them produced the so called -??new car smell-?? when I used the heater. I contacted Toyota and requested an independent inspection. The inspection was scheduled at the same dealership and when I received the report, it basically said that the inspector could not duplicate the problem so my concern was dismissed. Unfortunately, during independent inspection, my car was not tested in subzero temperature to replicate the problem. My main concern is the effect of the burning chemicals on my health and possibly ability to operate the car safely. No one was able to tell me what kind of chemicals are in the engine coating. At the time of purchase, I was not told that the car has engine coating which will gradually burn off via heater vent into the cabin.
The moonroof glass shattered unexpectedly with no impact or previous damage while driving on the Highway. The vehicle is only 3 months old has not been involved in any accidents or incidents. If the interior moonroof shade was not closed the glass would have dropped all over the interior potentially harming myself and any other passengers in the vehicle.
On 11-9 the vehicle had an unintended acceleration that resulted in a collision. The vehicle was brand new. On 11-8 the vehicle had another unintended acceleration with a different driver where no collision was involved. Toyota is ignoring the problem.
When driving the car on a highway around 45 mph or above you can hear a excessive wind noise near driver window. There are several posts about this issue reported by various owners. This excessive wind noise makes fatigue and tiredness which can have impact on drivers ability and may result in health issues.
Unknown crack on exterior front windshield. The vehicle is nearly a month old and always garage kept. Discovered hairline crack from drivers pillar to halfway towards the rear view mirror.
On May 13th, 2022, I was in my garage and inside the vehicle in park mode, when I suddenly heard a little crack sound coming from the windshield. It was very faint, but I heard it. Then I noticed that it was the windshield and it had a little crack. On May 19, 2022, I took the vehicle to Elmhurst Toyota and they stated that a rock hit the windshield which is false. I am certain that it is a defect of the windshield in the RAV4's. I am not the first person to complain about the faulty windshield on these models and truly believe that is very unsafe. This needs to be investigated as it can cause a car accident if cracked on the highway.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kaysville, UT, USA