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When it comes time to drive a trusty SUV, many consumers turn to the 2021 Toyota RAV4 thinking it will provide everything they desire. The automaker claims this model is “both a segment leader and a segment disruptor.” On the contrary, owners experiencing some of the many problems plaguing the 2021 RAV4 are finding it negatively disruptive to their lives. Many are dealing with shattering sunroofs, cracking windshields, undersized fuel tanks, defective steering, faulty brakes, and vehicles that catch fire.
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Contents
- 1| NHTSA Complaints for the 2021 Toyota RAV4
- 2| Most Common Problems with the 2021 Toyota RAV4
- 3| Cracking & Shattering Windshields and Sunroofs
- 4| Problems with the Fuel System
- 5| Steering and Lane Departure Problems
- 6| Brake Problems
- 7| Electrical Problems Resulting in Fire
- 8| Your Lemon Law Legal Rights
- 9| Complaint Data
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NHTSA Complaints for the 2021 Toyota RAV4
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Fuel/propulsion System | |
| Service Brakes | |
| Electrical System | |
| Visibility/wiper | |
| Engine | |
| Structure:body | |
| Steering | |
| Air Bags | |
| Vehicle Speed Control |
Most Common Problems with the 2021 Toyota RAV4
Between September 8, 2020, and February 21, 2023, 99 people complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the 2021 Toyota RAV4 SUV. There are also 41 complaints that relate specifically to the Prime model and 3 to the Hybrid. Problems are varied, ranging from windshields and sunroofs cracking and exploding, and vehicles catching on fire to undersized gas tanks, brakes that fail, and steering that leads to backover prevention issues.
These main issues are seen by complainants as problems with visibility, structure, the fuel/propulsion and electrical systems, brakes, steering and lane departure, and the powertrain. Other components and systems that are identified as being problematic are airbags, the engine, exterior lighting, forward collision avoidance, latches/locks/linkages, seats and seat belts, suspension, tires, traction control system, vehicle speed control, and wheels.
Airbag problems are worth noting since several complaints state that people were injured when they malfunctioned. The husband of a woman who was injured, states that no safety devices worked when the RAV4 crashed after another vehicle ran a red light. She was wearing a seat belt, but that didn’t work properly, and the airbags didn’t deploy. The result was that she hit the dashboard and had to be transferred to a hospital in an ambulance.
Four people were injured in a crash in Florida. “The knee airbag deployed during a collision and caused devastating shin injuries. The muscle and skin were ripped off the driver’s legs revealing bone.”
Cracking & Shattering Windshields and Sunroofs
Some of the most common problems faced by owners of the 2021 Toyota RAV4 relate to windshield and sunroof or moonroof glass. Lemberg Law is already investigating complaints about defective 2021 RAV4 sunroofs that explode and shatter for no apparent reason. But windshields that crack or shatter are also proving to be an enormous problem.
We have highlighted some of the complaints about sunroofs and moonroofs in our post, Toyota RAV4 Shattering Sunroof Problem. But it’s clear that the problem isn’t going away any time soon, as this January 15, 2023, complaint from a 2021 RAV4 from Indiana shows. The sunroof “exploded and shattered” on a highway. “I heard a loud explosion sound and found the sunroof glass shattered and falling.” There were no vehicles near the RAV4 and the complaint says that nothing struck it. “I found other similar complaints online on spontaneous sunroof explosion of Toyota RAV4 and they looked similar to what I experienced. I contacted my dealer and they told me to go to a Body Shop on Monday (closed on weekends) for an inspection.” This is, of course, a common response from dealerships.
Windshield Problems
A typical complaint about 2021 RAV4 windshield cracking comes from an owner in Virginia. The vehicle was in a parking lot and “nothing hit it.” The RAV4 was only 5 weeks old at the time. It broke randomly, radiating out from the bottom edge near the wiper toward the center of the windshield.
An owner from Massachusetts also discovered a crack in the windshield when the RAV4 had been in an outdoor parking lot. “I found the windshield had a long crack.” But the dealership said it wasn’t a quality issue and, therefore, it wasn’t covered by the basic warranty.
A complaint from an owner in Arizona is more telling. While the windshield hadn’t cracked, the complaint states that it was defective and visibly distorted. “I had ordered the vehicle and put a deposit on it to hold. I didn’t get to drive it till the paperwork was done and I was driving off the lot. Within 20 minutes (the) problem was apparent.”
A brand new 2021 RAV4, the complaint states that it is a “safety hazard to drive as I can’t see properly through it, everything is blurry. Eyes can’t focus – like looking through someone else’s glasses! Makes me physically ill as well due to the continued eye fatigue/strain.” The problem was confirmed by two dealer technicians. But the dealer refused to fix it. This is because, “Every RAV currently on the lot has a defective windshield, most worse than yours!” The owner was told that “if they did fix it I could end up worse off because all the windshields are coming out defective currently, some with even worse ‘visible waves’ in the glass.”
Problems with the Fuel System
A well-working fuel system goes completely unnoticed because it is doing its job. That’s not the case with the 2021 RAV4. An increasing number of owners are complaining that their gas tanks are undersized. For example, an early complaint from an owner in Wisconsin states that you cannot fill the fuel tank completely full. “Had some tests run by Toyota and they found that there were only 12.5 gallons in the 14.5-gallon tank when the pump shuts off. I was told this was ‘within the spec’ and (was) offered no further help.”
An owner from Washington says it’s worse than that. This complaint maintains that you “can only fill 10+ gallons, not 13 or 14 gallons as they falsely claim. (The) real range of your RAV4 prime/hybrid is only 470 miles, not 600!” An owner from Pennsylvania says it takes 11.8 gallons to fill an empty tank. So the amounts vary, but the complaints all agree that they have been ripped off by claims that the RAV4 tank will hold more than it does.
As another complaint states, this discrepancy “results in us having to fill up every 400 miles when it should be closer to 600 miles.” This owner has ”complained at least four times to the dealership and escalated with Toyota HQ.” According to the complaint, the “Toyota engineers acknowledged they have seen this trend from other RAV4 Primes out in the field, but are deeming 10-gallon fill-ups a ‘normal’ characteristic of the car. This is bait-and-switch false advertising and an infuriating quality failure by Toyota.”
Claims That Gas Tanks Are Defective
Many of the complaints state that the gas tanks are “defective,” including a Washington 2021 RAV4 owner. “The gas tank does not carry the 14.5 gallons as advertised, the gas gauge cluster is inaccurate, and the mileage remaining on the dash cluster is inaccurate. These defects were not disclosed to me prior to the sale. Immediately after seeing the problem, I brought the vehicle in for service at Vancouver (WA) Toyota. They botched the repair job and the vehicle is emitting gas vapors non-stop. Over the weekend, my house was inundated with gas vapors.” Symptoms suffered by those in the “household” include “dizziness, irritability, poor eyesight, and nausea.”
Furthermore, the issue is ongoing and clearly, Toyota is aware of it because they have issued letters to dealerships stating how to fix it. For example, service bulletins 20TE06 and 20TE04talk about the fuel gauge displaying less fuel and the tank capacity being off because of the shape of the tank while the car sits on an incline. But they blame the drivers and not Toyota! They state: “These conditions can cause the fuel level to be read incorrectly and may cause the low fuel light to illuminate with more fuel in the tank than usual.”
Nevertheless, in 20TE04, they did tell dealerships that because “we at Toyota care about our customers’ ownership experience,” they will cover repair costs for this problem. This communication is dated July 12, 2021.
The conundrum is, why are 2021 RAV4 owners still complaining about this issue in February 2023?
Steering and Lane Departure Problems
Being able to control an SUV is a given that is expected by any driver. But some RAV4s act like they have a mind of their own, creating unsafe situations everywhere they go.
More than half of the steering-related complaints lodged with the NHTSA are regarded as lane departure problems. An owner from Ohio who listed the problem under Steering and Lane Departure was told by a dealer to just turn off the “lane keep” feature. “I did not buy a car with this feature to turn it off.”
The complaint states that it “will pull and yank all over the lane. This is an SUV and it is a very scary experience feeling a taller vehicle make quick adjustments and almost feel as if the steering wheel is going to be yanked out of your hands. This will happen at all speeds (when) cruise control and lane keep are active.”
An owner from Tennessee crashed after “the vehicle independently veered off to the right” and the driver lost control. The RAV4 flipped and went “down a mountain.” The driver was injured and the vehicle, with only 620 miles, wasn’t drivable. “The black box read that the accident was self-inflicting.”
Dealer Confirms That There is an Issue
An owner from Washington stated that the steering consistently steers the driver “to a road shoulder or into another lane. A less experienced driver would have crashed. The steering pull is so significant that one is unable to take a drink or turn on the radio without the possibility of an accident.” But Toyota stated that the “vehicle is operating as designed” and “some customers are overly sensitive to the safety features.” When the owner insisted that “the next incident could kill someone,” they did some digging and discovered a video from the video from this vehicle. It “confirmed my complaint that the steering had indeed hijacked the vehicle and steered into the path of a cement truck.”
Eventually, the Toyota service department apologized and said there had been a previous technical bulletin that confirmed this owner’s July 2021 complaint!
Toyota’s Steering Recalibration Bulletins
There are, in fact, two technical service bulletins (TSBs) on file with the NHTSA about this steering problem. The first was filed on March 22, 2021, and the second on March 15, 2022. The original TSD has been updated, so both are now the same.
The documents titled Tech Tip T-TT-0616-20 state that some customers experience an abnormal steering sensation that is described as pulling or drifting. The cause seems to be related to disconnecting or replacing the car battery. Basically, whenever the battery is disconnected or discharged the steering needs to relearn how to work, causing owners to need help from the dealership. The TSBs describe how “the Steering Angle Neutral Point Memorization and the Steering Sensor Zero Point Calibration must be performed.”
Brake Problems
Lemberg Law is also investigating problems reported by owners of 2021 Toyota RAV4s about brake malfunctions. It’s a major safety issue.
In addition to the comments we quoted in our post about Toyota RAV4 Brake Problems, there are some serious brake issues that have been reported in more recent NHTSA complaints. The trend we mentioned continues, with crashes and near misses. For example, an owner from Oklahoma was trying to park when the brakes failed and he hit a brick wall. The complaint states he “had no control of the car” and was injured in the crash.
Another crash, reported as a powertrain issue, comes from an owner in California. There were three children in the 2021 RAV4 LE at the time. The vehicle was in Park and the automatic hand brake had come on. But, “the RAV4 does not have a hand brake like other cars, it only has a small pull button.” The vehicle rolled down a slope and hit a tree. The complaint states that fortunately, the children were asleep in the vehicle at the time and not injured. But the “car has a lot of damage in the front area and on the driver’s side.” Also, the dash displayed messages saying “system fail (Pre-collision system).”
An owner from South Carolina tells how when approaching a traffic light she “depressed the brake pedal but failed to stop the vehicle and rear-ended another vehicle.” The airbags didn’t deploy either!
The same thing happened to a New York owner trying to stop on his own driveway. Fortunately, the car stopped as it tapped the garage door with the bumper.
There are also parking brake failure complaints and one that relates to the brake-hold feature on the RAV4.
Electrical Problems Resulting in Fire
There are all sorts of reasons for electrical system complaints including rearview mirrors that vibrate and shake and door lock actuators that fail. But the issue that stands out is vehicles catching fire.
A 2021 RAV4 owner from California was driving at about 35 mph when there was a smell of burning rubber in the cabin. He stopped, got out of the SUV, and saw flames coming from the engine compartment. The fire department extinguished the flames, but the vehicle was destroyed. Because of this, the cause of the “failure” couldn’t be determined. However, the owner stated that the vehicle had “recently been repaired after a front-end crash.”
Another owner from California states that before smoke was seen coming from the rear of the driver’s side, there were steering issues and the lights were flickering. The complaint likens the scenario to those described by owners of the 2017 model.
An owner from Iowa was parked at a store with the engine off. After 3 minutes, another customer ran into the store and said a car was on fire. “The rear tail light was all melted and on fire. Billowing smoke was coming out the sides of the hatch. So I opened it quickly to get the fire out. The store employee put the fire out with his fire extinguisher.” At the time of the complaint, October 31, 2022, the vehicle was at a Toyota dealership “while they determine the cause.”
Possible Causes of Fires
While there’s no indication of whether a cause of the Iowa RAV4 fire was found, it’s unlikely. After all, there is still an open NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) into fires like this in 2013-2018 Toyota RAV4 vehicles. NHTSA PE21005, which is referred to in the first complaint mentioned above, was opened on February 25, 2021, after the NHTSA received 11 complaints from owners. Most had taken place when the SUV was being driven and 4 took place with the ignition off. They think that these fires originated from the 12V battery area. The ODI summary states that “improper battery installation or prior front-end collision repair” seemed to be relevant factors.
Your Lemon Law Legal Rights
Do you think you have a lemon? If so, you can sit back and let the experts work out your lemon case at no cost to you. The law makes Toyota pay legal fees, and you may be able to get the lemon out of your life. Every year, auto manufacturers buy back, replace or pay cash settlements to thousands of ‘lemon’ owners. Call our Helpline or fill out a contact form and we’ll assess your problems.
Complaint Data
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Mar 21, 2023 |
| State | PA |
| Description | 2021 toyota rav4 hybrid xle premium. Purchased new from the dealer. It currently has 75,000 miles (predominantly highway). Condition: the braking mechanisms behind the firewall intermittently make a noise when the brake pedal is pressed fast (emergency) and/or released. It sounds like a seal barking when the pedal is moving either up or down. These are not your typical noises from a pad or rotor wear. Cause: at approximately 28,000 miles, the seal barking sound was there but very faint. As I added miles the sound became more frequent and louder. I did take it to the dealer who was not able to help. Environment: this seal barking sound can happen at any time and any condition, but is almost always going to happen when I want to avoid hitting an object that suddenly appears in my lane of travel and must brake quickly. Research: I've researched several toyota and lexus owner forums and found that other owners have the same issue. They described the sound as “seal barking†or “farting†(sorry for the wording, but that is what was used in the forums). Other forum members stated that it could possibly be tied to the master cylinder, brake actuator pump or abs brake pump booster (or all of them). Conclusion: I'm very concerned because this noise happens when brake components are activated and then may lead to failure. Please let me know if you need more information or an audio recording of the condition. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Mar 16, 2023 |
| State | CA |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Feb 21, 2023 |
| State | NH |
| Description | I purchased car in 12/20. The car has a 14. 5 gal sized tank, and gets avg 42 mpg -calculated by miles driven to empty divided by gas pumped when empty- as well as on dashboard display. Since purchase the car registers empty 150 or more miles sooner than the 560 dashboard estimate and than 14. 5*42 mpg. I am only able to fill less than 11 gallons when the fuel guage reads empty with less than 20 miles remaining. The service dept assures me the car is able to drive 560 on a full tank, as the fuel guage and miles-to-empty ignore a "buffer " of several gallons in the tank. It is unsafe to drive over 150 miles with the car registering no miles remaining. It is unsafe to plan a trip based on dashboard or tank size/gallons mileage, where I could run out of gas in an unsafe region. |
| Category | Carry Handle, Shell, Base |
| Date | Feb 16, 2023 |
| State | VA |
| Description | This is a rotating car seat. At first the seat would rotator from side to rear facing fine. After 5/6 weeks it didn't rotate all the way to rear facing without using the release button. Then when locked in the rear facing position when applying minimal force to the seat it rotates without the use of the release button. After removing the seat from my vehicle the seat was stuck on the side facing position and would not enter either the rear or front facing position. |
| Category | Suspension |
| Date | Feb 12, 2023 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | Rust under the hood just where the front suspension mounted. |
| Category | Air Bags, Electrical System, Service Brakes |
| Date | Jan 31, 2023 |
| State | ME |
| Description | And brakes202022 highlandar of th rcosearhosten9 & brake& steercar was freewheeling,eng. Lost stee and slbeingr |
| Category | Engine, Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Jan 29, 2023 |
| State | CA |
| Description | I was pulling into a parking space with my foot on the brake, had just touched the parking bar, and the engine started racing. The car went forward over the parking bar before I cold stop it by stomping on the brake. The only thing stopping me from going over the side of the hill was a chain link fence. Luckily the brakes worked. This is a 2021 rav4 and I have never had this problem before. I am scheduled to go into the toyota dealer to have them look at it. |
| Category | Electrical System |
| Date | Jan 21, 2023 |
| State | TX |
| Description | -rear passenger door lock actuator fails -safety risk of door not automatically locking when driving -problem has been reproduced because it has occurred more than once -no inspection has taken place -no warning lamps or messages |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jan 17, 2023 |
| State | NY |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Structure:body |
| Date | Jan 15, 2023 |
| State | IN |
| Description | The glass of the sunroof exploded and shattered when I was driving on the highway from chicago to south bend at normal speed on january 13, 2023, around 4 pm. I heard a loud explosion sound and found the sunroof glass shattered and falling. There was no vehicle around me, no impact with any objects, and the vehicle was not passing under any structures at the time of explosion. I was not injured by the incident but was really scared and had to pullover to the side. After recovering from shock, I managed to drive home with the shattered sunroof and could feel glass pieces falling on my right shoulder when I was driving. This was the first time for the issue to appear and there was no sign or symptom prior to the problem. I purchased this brand new vehicle one year ago. I found other similar complaints online on spontaneous sunroof explosion of toyota rav4 and they looked similar to what I experienced. I contacted my dealer and they told me to go to a body shop on monday (closed on weekends) for an inspection. |
| Category | Air Bags, Seat Belts |
| Date | Jan 12, 2023 |
| State | MI |
| Description | No safety devices worked during accident that cause by another vehicle driver who ran red light. Neither air bags deployed, nor safety belt worked properly during an accident. Due to these mal functions of safety devices, my wife on the passenger seat hit the dashboard badly. She was wearing the seat belt properly which was released later by the er personal at the accident location to transfer to an ambulance. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jan 04, 2023 |
| State | OK |
| Description | While pulling into what I thought was a parking spot, the left front wheel hit an 8" drop off. Almost immediately after the wheel was back up and level with the other wheels. The vehicle then began surging forward. I hit the brakes but they did not go down. Tried again and the same result. I then hit a hard plastic container and a brick wall. This stopped the vehicle and I was able to put it in park and turn off the engine. Truthfully, once the wheel fell went into the drop off, I had no control of the car. The brick wall has a crack in it and the container is ruined. Toyota product liability was called but they have not contacted me. Thankfully the wall did not collapse and no one else was injured. I have pain in left arm and shoulder but hopefully only bruising. The issue has not been confirmed by anyone and I do not know if there were any warnings because I was focused on trying to get the car stopped. There might have been some alarms, I am not sure. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 28, 2022 |
| State | FL |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Dec 20, 2022 |
| State | SC |
| Description | The contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4. The contact stated while approaching a traffic light, she depressed the brake pedal but failed to stop the vehicle and rear-ended another vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. No air bags deployed. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. The contact stated a police officer was at the site but no police report was filed. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 33,047. |
| Category | Electrical System, Engine, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 14, 2022 |
| State | MD |
| Description | Since I bought my brand-new car 1. The engine has stopped 5 times. 2. My windshield cracked. 3. There is low tire air pressure indicator that appears once in a while. A new battery was replaced, and it now cannot start. The message on the screen indicates: "ignition on, voltage abnormality steering power low. Visit your dealer." I took it the dealer and now they are not able to find out what the problem is because I had to jam started the car for it to be towed. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Dec 05, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Fuel tank does not appear to fill completely. After 10-11 gallons, the liquid may spill. In addition, fuel range on dashboard only registers 410-440 miles after filling. Because tank volume is 14. 5 gallons and hybrid mileage is 38 mpg, this indicates only about 11 gallons in tank. Complete fuel fill should register over 500 miles, even allowing for a reserve. |
| Category | Engine, Fuel/propulsion System, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 01, 2022 |
| State | OR |
| Description | 2021 toyota rev4 with just over 5,000 miles. I got off from a parking lot and drove 1/2 miles, the screen shown "vehicle alert" and asked to check engine with message "a malfunction in the electronic control of the engine, throttle, or automatic transmission has been detected". I smell very strong gasoline, then stop the vehicle. I check the gas tank, it's normal. I opened the hood and saw a puddle of gasoline on engine part, between the battery and the engine but lower than the battery. It's so dangerous to drive with leaking gasoline so I park my car on a street |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Nov 09, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The sunroof shatter while I was driving. |
| Category | Engine, Fuel/propulsion System, Power Train |
| Date | Nov 02, 2022 |
| State | FL |
| Description | Vehicle stumbles on moderate acceleration from slow speed, hesitates shifting also. Problem has persisted since new. Dealers rep "they're all like that. Can't find any problem. No warning lamps. I think there is a tsb but it seems well hidden. I feel it is a safety issue - acceleration from low speed compromised. We have 2 more 2021 rav4s in the family that do not do that. I believe toyota knows about this problem. Also had a problem with vehicle slamming violently into lower gear when coming to a stop. Dealer could not find problem. I checked vehicle and found air filter housing not properly secured. I latched it properly and that seemed to solve slamming into lower gear problem. Dealers mechanic (?) must have not latched it properly after 12 month service. No telling how much dirt was sucked into engine while that was happening. The stumbling/ drivability hesitant shifting problem persists. Several people have reported this problem. One was fixed by a dealer attending to a software problem. This is a known problem that is being ignored. This has happened since new jan 29, 2021. |
| Category | Electrical System, Exterior Lighting, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Oct 31, 2022 |
| State | IA |
| Description | I was parked at a store, engine off. Was in there 3 minutes and another customer ran inside and said a car was on fire, the employee asked if it was mine. I ran outside and it was indeed mine. The rear tail light was all melted and on fire, billowing smoke was coming out the sides of the hatch so I opened it quickly to get the fire out. The store employee put the fire out with his fire extinguisher. No prior warning lights were present when driving it before this occurred. The car is at toyota dealer presently while they determine the cause. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Oct 28, 2022 |
| State | MA |
| Description | 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 |
| Category | Tether, Lower Anchor (on Car Seat Or Vehicle) |
| Date | Oct 19, 2022 |
| State | IL |
| Description | The rear-facing snuglock lever does not hold the car seat belt or the tether belt securely in place. The car seat tips over when the car turns. It appears that some plastic is missing on the bottom of the lever. I have a video of me securing the seat belt and the belt loosening when the car seat is rocked but, am unable to upload. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Oct 18, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Oct 17, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Sep 29, 2022 |
| State | PA |
| Description | Windshield cracked for no reason. I noticed very fine cracks which are spreading. I park inside of a garage and do very little highway driving. The windshield cracked in its own. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Sep 16, 2022 |
| State | ME |
| Description | I was driving on the highway, 45 minutes into my 3 hour trip. As I was approaching a bridge, I suddenly heard a very large bang- sort of like a gunshot. I immediately looked around and noticed my moonroof in my vehicle had completely shattered. It was still held together, but I very quickly closed the moonroofs inner cover to assure no glass would fall into my car. Noticeably, there was small shards of glass all over my center console. I could hear the glass falling onto my moonroof, and could see glass flying behind me with a vehicle traveling behind. I very well could have suffered injuries/cuts if the glass had shattered onto me. Not only is this dangerous for me, but the people behind me. It could have cracked their windshield, or even given someone a flat tire. Now I am left to travel 2 hours not knowing what could potentially happen next. I took the rest of the travel slow. This happened with absolutely no warning. It was sudden, loud, and scary. I am left to pay for this now because there is no recall or warranty. |
| Category | Tires |
| Date | Sep 13, 2022 |
| State | CT |
| Description | The contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4 equipped with dunlop tire, tire line: grandtrek pt20, tire size: 225/60/r18, dot number: v4h0. The contact stated while driving 70 mph, the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving to her destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that three of 4 tires needed to be replaced. The dealer replaced the four tires. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 31,386. |
| Category | Structure:body |
| Date | Aug 31, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | I bought a 2021 toyota rav4 xle midnight black metallic, last year on july 2021 from hillside toyota in jamaica, nyc. From the very beginning since the delivery, I was not at all happy with the build quality of the car as toyotas used to be before. There were issues with paint finishing, noise from engine, and issue with pick up. I reported this to toyota as well as my dealer, hillside toyota and no one showed any interest on addressing these issues. Yesterday, I was cleaning my car and I saw that my car paint is peeling from 3-4 areas, including the driver side door and from the left side of the hood. I was really surprised to see that happening in a brand-new car. I felt like is this really happening, is it a joke? I spent almost k on a car by taking out loans just to face this? I really care about my car, and I follow all the maintenance guidelines as mentioned by toyota, but still how is this possible? I am pretty sure this is a manufacturing defect and not something that could happen from a regular wear and tear. This is the first time I am facing something from a toyota, because I always trusted this company due to its build quality and low maintenance. I also have a 2015 toyota highlander le plus, and I have never faced any issues like my rav4. I have been a long time user of toyota since I also owned a 2011 toyota camry hybrid and 2014 toyota camry hybrid and both of them were reliable too and never gave me any issues. I am really concerned with my rav4 right now because in the long run, I am not sure what else I have to face with this car. This is to kindly request you to please evaluate this matter further and please help me by fixing the paint peeling issue of the car. I have spent my hard-earned money to invest in this car and it means a lot to me. I am attaching pictures of the paint peeling as supporting evidence of my claim. Thank you for your time. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Aug 15, 2022 |
| State | FL |
| Description | The driver side mirror shakes when you drive over any bump in the road at any speed. It is amplified at speeds over 50mph. Toyota did a tsb on passenger side mirror but refused to complete the same repair on driver side. Toyota said only if the dealership acknowledged it shakes would they repair. The dealership stated the mirror shake was as expected although they tested the vehicle on a road with a 45mph speed limit. Then demonstrated another rental vehicle to say it was fine..... But who knows if that rental had the repair or not. Then toyota says my only recourse is to take the car to another toyota dealer 25 miles from my home..... And if they don't agree the mirror shakes I'm out of luck. The mirror shakes so bad on the highway it would be better if wasn't there. It's unsafe and toyota holds you hostage to fix the known issue with their own repair bulletin. It's like they don't want to pay for the repairs so tell customers nothing is wrong. I found dozens of posts online from 2021 rav4 owners and the same experience. It's also shocking to me they repaired one side when both mirrors shook to begin with. |
| Category | Electrical System, Engine |
| Date | Aug 11, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The contact stated that the owner of a 2021 toyota rav4 was driving approximately 35 mph when the odor of burning rubber was present inside the cabin of the vehicle. After stopping and exiting the vehicle flames were present coming from the engine compartment. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. The vehicle was destroyed during the incident. A fire report was taken at the scene and the vehicle was towed away. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified. The contact indicated that the vehicle had recently been repaired after a front-end crash had occurred. The contact also references an nhtsa open investigation(pe21005) for the same failure that had occurred. The failure mileage was 30,000 |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Aug 08, 2022 |
| State | PA |
| Description | I was driving and was only 5 miles from my home and I heard a loud pop like an explosion. My moonroof/sunroof had spontaneously exploded. Then I heard glass moving around as I slowly continued home. When I got home I inspected what had happened and took a picture and called the dealership I purchased the car from. I have only owned the car for 7 months. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
| Date | Aug 07, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | After proceeding from a red light, the vehicle rear ended a semi. The automatic emergency braking system did not engage. Although the forward collision warning worked by giving me visual/sound alerts, it has a tendency to be delayed. Richland county city of mansfield police inspected the vehicle report number: 22-017305 |
| Category | Electrical System, Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
| Date | Jul 30, 2022 |
| State | MA |
| Description | May 29 2022 I parked my new rav4 prime ev on an incline and left the vehicle running to keep the a/c cold & radio playing. The car was securely parked atop an incline facing up the incline while still running. While the vehicle sat idle I walked my dog waiting to clean up after him. He was taking a long time so I decided to turn off the vehicle. I walked over to the running vehicle in park, opened the driver door and pressed the off button to turn the vehicle off. This caused the vehicle to roll backwards down the incline while in the park position making a loud click noise. It made the click noise when initially it powered off and attempted to relax into the park position but did not catch, it clicked and began a roll backwards down the hill. I was caught in the driver's door jam and was dragged down the hill along with vehicle. While picking up speed it also made an audible clicking noise that witnesses recall coinciding with the increase in speed the noise increased in intensity. The vehicle dragged me stuck in the door jam into a busy 4 lane roadway where the driver door & my body met impact with a car resulting in the rav4 rolled on my foot, ankle and leg resulting in severe damage. The impact was at the driver door where I was pinned causing the door to hyperextend. The rav4 couldn't be moved once stopped due to a safety feature not allowing shifting out of park while the driver door was sensed open. I was pinned for 20 minutes+ under the front driver side wheel. The rav4 needed to be jacked up to free me. I've since had 4 major surgerys. I paid out pocket 6k to repair the rav4s cosmetic damage. Toyota they sent a tech to analyze the ecm which confirmed rolling backwards in park but due to my admission of reaching into the running vehicle and pressing off, I was told to refer to my owner manual. They gave excerpts citing "ready" position which is anytime the vehicle is on even accessory mode it's in the "ready" not to operate from outside the vehicle. Unsafe |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Jul 20, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4. The contact stated while his wife was approaching a traffic light and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to stop as needed. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the parking brake was activated to slow and stop the vehicle. The driver was then able to continue driving to her destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and made the dealer aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,900. |
| Category | Power Train, Suspension, Wheels |
| Date | Jul 18, 2022 |
| State | FL |
| Description | I have been having continuous problems with the transmission jerking and slipping passengers can also feel this. I am also experiencing vibration in the steering when you get up to high speeds around 60-80 mph. The car also has a habit of lunging forward suddenly when the gas saver light goes off which can cause it to hit other vehicles. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jul 17, 2022 |
| State | WA |
| Description | Driving 35 mph the sunroof glass shattered. There were no other vehicles going by and no rocks were seen. If the sunroof shade were open the glass would have fallen on top of the driver possibly causing injury or an accident. I have found reports of this happening to other vehicles online. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Jul 14, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | As I was on my driveway I pressed down on my brakes to stop the car but it didn't stop. I immediately pressed on the brakes all the way down to the floor of the car and the car still didn't stop. The assisted brake system stopped my car as I tapped my garage door with the car's bumper. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jul 10, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | I see other complaints on social media and I went to check my car afterward and noticed the same problem low coolant levels. My car has 3199 miles it shouldn't have low levels. I have a 2021 xse hybrid, my brother has a 2022 xle hybrid also having it worse then I do his level is lower even he has about 6k miles on the car, then it comes down to my moms 2022 xle gas car the coolant is even lower and she only has 1k miles on the car. I've called toyota usa left a message , ive also left a message in the service dept in longo toyota where I bought the car no one is working today. |
| Category | Electrical System |
| Date | Jul 09, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | In the driver's side, rear therr was smoke coming and before that occurred the lights flickered several times. There may have been steering issues before the rear fire and blinking likes as smoke started to show. The safety is due to fire risk. There is some media information on the same vehicle yet 2017 vehicle year that similar electrical issue occurred. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone as it just occurred a few days ago. There were no warning lights or prior failures. |
| Category | Latches/locks/linkages:hatchback/liftgate:lock |
| Date | Jul 05, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | The contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle overnight, the following morning it was discovered that the rear hatchback door had erroneously opened. The contact stated that a severe thunderstorm had occurred over night however, the keys had not been used nor were any buttons depressed to cause the hatchback door to become unlocked. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 4,055. |
| Category | Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Jul 03, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | * the sunroof spontaneously exploded while driving on the highway. There were no cars nearby. There was nothing that hit the vehicle, further supported by the glass clearly having exploded outwards. * glass shrapnel could have hit nearby vehicles. If the interior panel was opened to the sunroof there would have been a significant amount of glass shrapnel inside the vehicle, hitting the driver and passengers. * unknown. From other vehicle owners, yes. * no, this just happened an hour ago. * none whatsoever. |
| Category | Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Jun 24, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The contact owned a 2021 toyota rav4. The contact stated while driving 65 mph and attempting to merge into the next lane, he was depressing on the brake pedal but it began to accelerate independently, and lost control of the vehicle. The contact stated he crashed into a concrete shoulder off the road, bounced off the concert shoulder, and crashed into another vehicle. The air bags did deploy. The contact stated the brake malfunction warning light was illuminated. The contact sustained injuries on his left shoulder left neck and right hip area. The contact sought medical attention for his injuries. The contact stated that 6 additional people from the other vehicle also sustained injuries but was unaware if they sought any medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not drivable. The insurance company deemed the vehicle a total loss. The vehicle was towed to his residence and then to a collision center. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 13,322. The consumer stated his dispute is what the event data recorder (edr) indicated on may 15, 2022 prior to impact of the collision, the edr was incorrect. He was trying to stop and slow the vehicle down, but there was in increase in acceleration. |
| Category | Fuel System, Gasoline |
| Date | Jun 23, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | The contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal fuel odor in the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 7,500. |
| Category | Chest Clip, Buckle, Harness |
| Date | Jun 08, 2022 |
| State | MA |
| Description | Harness strap frayed below car seat base pad where strap is not visible or accessible during routine use. Discovered during cleaning of the seat. This weakens the harness and puts the child at risk. Car seat has not been inspected. Manufacturer has not responded to warranty claim. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Jun 05, 2022 |
| State | WA |
| Description | 2021 rav4 hybrid exhibits fueling problems, consistently. Parked on level concrete, shut off, in "refuel" status, at the fuel island, it dependably suffers abject failure at attempts to refill the gasoline tank at the fuel pump. With the fuel pump nozzle set to lowest flow setting, at any moment, the fuel being pumped down the filler tube surges back up the filler tube, occasionally spilling out onto the side of the car and the ground. Other times, with the pump nozzle set to lowest flow settings, it may automatically and arbitrarily shut off after 1 gallon or 4 gallons, when the miles driven along with the fuel gauge indicates the tank requires at least 10 gallons. It is impossible to know from one fill-up to the next fill-up if the tank is full, close to full, or several gallons shy of full. Refueling the rav4 hybrid is a challenge that defeats the best mechanical and fluid dynamics aware person trying to fill the tank. This issue is ongoing and has been occurring since the vehicle was purchased new with 9 miles on the odometer in november 2020. Toyota even sent out a letter to get to dealership to have this fixed, it did nothing to solve problem. |
| Category | Service Brakes, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Jun 04, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | We have completely lost brakes on multiple occasions for a few seconds per occasion. Brake loss has occurred upon slow, even braking and on flat, dry, even pavement with no pot poles or loose gravel around. When this happens, an orange light appears on the dash, we lose brakes for a few seconds, the car regains brakes, and jolts forward with no change in foot position on the brake pedal. We have taken the car to the dealer multiple times and every single time this incident has occurred the rear right wheel speed shows about a 10% variation in speed compared to all the other wheels per the vehicle diagnostic report/record of behavior. The orange light we are seeing on the dash is the abs light. There is no feedback in the brake pedal on any occasion. This incident has occurred about 20 times so far. Our car is available for inspection. The dealer believes this is being caused by a software issue and not a faulty sensor. This car is a danger to us and anyone around us as we have needed to swerve into the shoulder multiple times to avoid hitting someone ahead of us. This needs to be fixed before it injures or kills someone. This issue has still been persistent even after taking care of the vsc recall and a reset/recalibration to the braking system. We have taken the car to the dealer for this issue on: 4/4/22, 4/15/22, 4/25/22, 5/11/22, 6/4/22. *we have been limiting our driving in this car due to the issue happening multiple times a week, that is why there hasn't been many trips to the dealer much between may and june. I want to reiterate, this doesn't sound like a defect per the dealer, it sounds like a software issue! |
| Category | Air Bags, Structure:body |
| Date | May 31, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | I was involved with an accident in may 21, 2022. The front body parts were almost destroyed (please refers to the attached photo), but the air bag still did not deployed, which is not a safe matter. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | May 28, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Today, may 28, 2022, between 11:40am and 11:45am, I was making a left at an intersection when the vehicle did not respond to my pressing of the gas pedal input. It was highly dangerous and the oncoming traffic had to slow down not to hit me. The car, which usually responds very well to my pressing the gas pedal has not responded now for a 2nd time. This is the first time I am reporting because I am realizing this is not anomalous and highly concerning as it puts my family at immediate risk of getting into an accident. Please note that I have reached out to the dealer to report his issue, however, I am not sure how to proceed should this become a continued issue down the road. My vehicle is a 2021 toyota rav4 prime xse model. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | May 28, 2022 |
| State | NH |
| Description | I was reversing. I exited vehicle the car was either not in park or fully in park. I got something from the back seat, turned around and the car with drivers door wide open was barreling towards me. I barely managed to get into the car. I do not think tjr car was reversing when I reached into the backseat. It appeared like it was a delayed reaction. The car door was damaged as it hit the side of the garage. I am so grateful nobody got hurt. Do not want this to happen to anyone else. (I run and miraculously made it inside the car. Most would not have. |
| Category | Lane Departure: Assist, Steering |
| Date | May 19, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | I have reported this issue to brunswick toyota service advisors twice. The lane keep assist will pull and yank all over the lane. This is an suv and it is a very scary experience feeling a taller vehicle make quick adjustments and almost feel as if the steering wheel is going to be yanked out of your hands. This will happen at all speeds cruise control and lane keep are active. Both times the service advisors advised me that I should just turn it off because that is what most people do. I did not buy a car with this feature to turn it off. The 2nd time I was advised I would be contacted by someone to schedule an appointment to have it looked at, no one ever contacted me. There are multiple reports of other people experiencing the same sharp adjustments and unable to keep in it's lane and this needs to be investigated. Thank you. |
| Category | Structure:body |
| Date | May 17, 2022 |
| State | MA |
| Description | I bought a new car in 2021. It is 21 toyota rav4 . The mileage is about 3900 . Now, its windshield is cracked . One day I parked my at outdoor parking lot. The second day I found the windshield had a long crack. After few days I drove my car to dealership, then they said that was not a quality issues and the basic warranty not covering the windshield. I am so upset now. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | May 11, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | All four brake rotors are defective, the metal is pitted scored and not smooth, as it should be. This increases the braking distance. The vehicle is equipped with regenerative braking thus increasing the brake service interval. With mileage at 21600 this is not normal. Upon inspection at the dealer, it was described as normal for this type of vehicle. I pointed out several vehicle in the service area as what the rotors should appear. (I have had three chevy volts with similar drivetrain and never had to replace rotors or brake pads.) I will upload photos of the rotors and dealers comments. |
| Category | Air Bags, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Service Brakes |
| Date | May 10, 2022 |
| State | MD |
| Description | My rav4 prime was in stop and go traffic. Brakes did not switch from regen braking to physical brakes. Slammed on the brakes several times, they did not slow the car enough. Eventually the brakes locked up as the rav4 rear ended the car in front. Pushing that car into the one in front of it, and that one in front of that, and that one in front of that. Causing damage to three other cars. Two other people are claiming medical, the driver went to the er. Air bags did not deploy. Taking to the repair shop. They were shocked that the air bags didn't go off given the the condition of the frame. Toyota motor north america (tmna) did an inspection to read the event data recorder (edr). Brake were applied at -1. 5 seconds before impact. And here is the weird part, saying that the abs activated then too. There was no notification, and the brakes locked up. Speed went from 46 to 21. 1 mph. This occurred at 3,573 miles on only a few month old rav4. I'm well aware of what abs feels like when it goes off. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | May 05, 2022 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other, Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Apr 25, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The 2021 toyota rav4 has extremely poor right forward visibility and obstruction by the hood and the a pillar. These cars are unsafe. The front hood does not slope down, so visibility is obstructed, and the a pillar and mirrors (rear view and front right side mirror) further obstruct views. I took a photograph of the right front view and 50% or more of the view when looking right is obstructed. These cars should be taken off the road. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control |
| Date | Apr 24, 2022 |
| State | WI |
| Description | Does not maintain cruse control speed that I set when traffic becomes heavier around the car for example…. Cruise control stops working and car slows down as vehicles are passing my car, or are driving in front of me or in back of me. It does not like traffic near by. If there's no traffic it works and maintains the set speed. |
| Category | Exterior Lighting, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Apr 21, 2022 |
| State | GA |
| Description | 1. For two different occasions the high beams wouldn't turn on at night on a dark road and rainy day. Took the vehicle to toyota but mechanic reported that he couldn't reproduce event. I had to drive very slowly with normal lights as I could. 2. For two different occasions the vehicle wouldn't start I almost had the vehicle towed but using the toyota app and the key fob was able to remote start and then start the vehicle. I can't imagine what would have happened if the car turned off in the middle of an intersection and wouldn't turn on. 3. The adaptive cruise control has a glitch that I have told toyota. If you're going over 30 mph and the vehicle in front of you has been in a complete stop for a while, the car may not stop you have to manually stop or crash. This could be extremely dangerous. |
| Category | Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Apr 11, 2022 |
| State | TN |
| Description | The windshield started cracking from the bottom (hidden by the hood line) upwards for no apparent reason. Started at 8500 miles 5 months after purchase. No chips or rocks at the point of the crack. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Apr 08, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The component that failed was the glass of my sunroof. My sunroof somehow exploded on me while I was driving. There were no vehicles or other things that would have caused rocks to fly and hit the dead center of the sunroof. If you look at the images you can tell that the glass is pointing upward and not downward. I was lucky that I had my son shade cover closed., if it was not closed I would have had large pieces of glass fall in my vehicle and potentially cause cuts and lesions from the glass. This could not be heat related as it was at 6: 58am. This problem has not been identified by any dealer or independent repair center but it's very similar to many others who have had these complaints on your website and consumer reports. The components have not been inspected by the dealer or police and there were no warning signs of any kind no visible original cracks or anything that would have caused it to do what I did. I did attempt to contact toyota but they refused to assist and told me to contact my insurance, the dealership crown toyota refused to assist and told me to contact my insurance and said that you rock must have hit. They also wouldn't repair it because they will not accept payment from my insurance company which is mercury. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Apr 05, 2022 |
| State | MT |
| Description | On our car, as well as many other new cars, unless the rear doors are unlocked, you cannot open them from the inside (or outside for that matter). It is not the child safety lock. There is no emergency egress. There is no cylinder for a key. Toyota says it's a normal function. My concern is: in an accident, and possible subsequent fire, if the electrical system is disabled (shorted battery, etc.) nobody will be able to open the rear doors from the inside nor the outside. Anybody in the rear seat will be trapped unless they can get out the window, or through the narrow opening between the seats. Even if the electrical system isn't disabled, if the passengers in the front seat are unconscious or unable to unlock the doors, the passengers in the back seat will be trapped unless they can reach the unlock button. We tested my friend's honda today and it functions the same way. Please consider looking into this as it is a very dangerous design flaw. Thank you. |
| Category | Structure:body, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Apr 03, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | While driving on the highway the sunroof spontaneously exploded outwards sending glass shards behind the vehicle and also down into the cabin. There was no impact with any objects and the vehicle was not passing under any structures. It was moderate temperature day ~60f so the roof was not especially hot or cold. There is dashcam footage available showing nothing abnormal happened at the time of glass failure. |
| Category | Traction Control System |
| Date | Mar 25, 2022 |
| State | ID |
| Description | The contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4. The contact stated that the traction control warning light would illuminate upon starting the vehicle for the second time the same day. The contact stated that the warning light would turn off whenever he released the brake pedal. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who informed the contact that they could not replicate the failure; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the front wheels were moving faster than the rear wheels. The dealer also informed the contact that the failure was due to a user error. The dealer stated that the contact could have the habit of depressing both the brake pedal and accelerator pedal at the same time while at a complete stop as the dtc codes showed that the vehicle was moving while at a complete stop. The dealer informed the contact that they could not assist with the repair of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but did not provide any assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 810. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Mar 24, 2022 |
| State | SC |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Service Brakes, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Mar 23, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | On monday, march 21, 2022, at about 11:40 am ct, I was at the walgreens pharmacy drive-thru window. I used the brake-hold feature on the vehicle. I did not have my feet on any pedals or the steering wheel. I did not get any notifications, warnings, alerts, or beeps from the vehicle prior to the incident. As I reached my arm out to get my medications and payment from the pharmacy window, the vehicle sped off (accelerated) at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was on break-hold and I did not touch anything. I was able to bring my arm inside and stop the vehicle and put it into the park position. I then put it into reverse and returned to get my medications. When I went to put it back into drive, the brake-hold indicator was still on and so I pressed the button to disable it. I drove the vehicle home and parked it. The vehicle did not roll forward. The vehicle took off at a high rate of speed and my arm was sore afterward. Luckily, there was no one in front of me at the time of the incident. The pharmacy technician stated, "that was close!" the next day, I took the vehicle into service at the toyota dealership in which the vehicle was purchased. I explained to them about the similar incidents reported I had found online and the outcomes. They kept the vehicle all day, only to get the same response as the previous complainant; they did not find anything wrong. The technician stated if any warning lights turn on to bring it in right away. He stated that it would have given you(me) the warning to keep the brake-hold on, otherwise, the e-brake would have engaged. I asked him, so how do you explain how it took off full speed ahead if it was supposed to stop, not accelerate? I am very afraid of how the vehicle accelerated during this incident. When I got the vehicle back I tried the brake-hold on my driveway; if you tap the gas pedal, it just starts to roll forward; this is not what happened on 21mar22. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Mar 20, 2022 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | While exiting an interstate and applying the brakes, the vehicle struck a small bump (pot-hole) in the roadway with the front passenger wheel. The car lurched forward and stopped slowing down. The brakes had disengaged on all wheels. After approximately 2 seconds, the car started braking again and I was able to regain control and stop. This momentary loss of braking ability could have caused me to rear end the vehicle in front had I not left excess room. The loss of brakes increased the braking distance required and could lead to the loss of control if the roadway is slick. I have been able to reproduce this issue. No abs or tcs lights illuminated. No beeps or other warning messages materialized. The car is available for inspection upon request. It appears to be an issue with the regenerative brakes switching over to the mechanical brakes when the car believes there is wheel slip. |
| Category | Electrical System |
| Date | Mar 18, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The fuel gauge reads "e" when there is still 5 gallons left in the tank. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Mar 18, 2022 |
| State | PA |
| Description | The gas gauge is inaccurate by up to 4. 5 gallons of fuel, so even when the fuel gauge displays empty it still has a large amount of fuel still in the tank. Toyota should put a software patch to resolve this issue. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Mar 18, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | There is an issue with toyota's rav4 prime fuel tank gauge incorrectly reading fuel left in the tank or prematurely stopping gasoline to fill the tank. My car is available for inspection upon request. No safety impact. Dealer confirmed issue by testing my car but says this is "working as intended". The fueling problem is consistent and not intermittent and started immediately after using my first tank of gas. Even when low fuel warning light is on, I am unable to fully fill the tank to the advertised 14. 5 gallons. Inability to fill the fuel tank impacts the vehicle's total available driving distance and forces me to make more frequent stops at the gas station. This issue could very well be due to the same design defect in the 2019-2021 toyota rav4 hybrid class action lawsuit in which toyota has admitted fault and settled the class action. |
| Category | Electrical System, Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Mar 17, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The rav4 prime's fuel system holds 14. 5 gallons, however only between 10 - 11 gallons of that is usable per the digital "miles to zero" gauge on the instrument panel. When the gauge reaches "zero" and notifies the driver to fill up, the tank only fills 10 -11 gallons and keeps 3 - 4. 5 gallons in reserve. This is a big issue because the "miles to zero" gauge reads the full tank when you fill it up (approximately 550 miles), but begins to swing drastically on miles left as you drive the car to accommodate for the 10 - 11 gallons that it actually uses. It is not an accurate gauge at all. There are two (2) potential fixes from toyota for this issue: 1. Fix it so that the digital gauge reads the "miles to zero" correctly and isn't all over the place to compensate for the 4. 5 gallon reserve, as the system currently uses 10 - 11 gallons as the read for "zero" instead of the 14. 5 gallons . 2. Fix the gas tank to actually make the full 14. 5 gallon tank usable to the driver. |
| Category | Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Mar 11, 2022 |
| State | NC |
| Description | Front windshield cracked sitting in driveway, no cracks or chips tempeture was 64 degrees |
| Category | Vehicle Speed Control, Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Mar 06, 2022 |
| State | ID |
| Description | 1. 5th generation rav4 le hybrid does not allow adjustment of intermittent wiper intervals that constitutes safety hazard. Every single vehicle on the road has had this feature for decades, its absence constitutes negligence on toyota's part. 2. Traditional and intuitive industry standard cruise control lever with push-button switch has been replaced with counter-intuitive button controls that distract attention and can hardly be operated without having looked at them. |
| Category | Tires |
| Date | Mar 04, 2022 |
| State | WA |
| Description | Feb. 26th, 2022 driving I-5 (tacoma)towards north with my wife on our way home at approximately 05:00pm (raining and windy) tire got puncture with some type of metal that cause our car swerved immediately slowdown and put my hazard light on at the same time did my best to take the closest exit as safety as possible till we made it to exit (s. 74th st.) immediately evaluate my rear driver side tire (225/65r17 michelin primacy) and it was already flat and damage due to running flat towards our exit (safety location) called my insurance roadside assistant and the same time calling our friends if someone can give us a hand/help. Statefarm roadside assistance says 1hr to 1. 5hr… while waiting for raodside assistance and one of our friend I started looking for my “spare tire/tools†sadly we only have the “spare tire and a jack†it's missing the the tire wrench so I called my salesman and ask what happen I bought a brand new car and it didn't came with a “set of tools†I didn't bother checking the trunk of our car since we bought it brand new I was confident bcoz I know my salesman since he's been our salesman ever since. Contacted the toyota dealership the following day but they just keep putting me on hold. Now I've been missing work since we don't have a car. Reason why I called dealership is to ask if they have a warranty on my tire and that help us cut a lil of trouble/expenses if our tire is still under warranty. Tire has 12,000 miles that time. Feb 27th (sunday) woke up early to get my tire fix but unfortunately costco tire service told me that they can do or repair my tire anymore. Tried contacting michelin but sadly still unlucky. Feb 28th I called out work to get my tire fix, while getting my tire fix I tried contacting toyota rodland again to ask about my tire warranty but no one answers. Texted my salesman but he answered my text late evening told me he couldn't anything about the tire, all he can do is to give me a set of tire wrench. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Mar 02, 2022 |
| State | IL |
| Description | Driving about 35 mph, I pressed break pedal approximately 50% in order to stop at the light ahead. When the car reached somewhere around 10-20 mph, the degree of deceleration sudden decreased (the car was still slowing, but the rate of slowing suddenly decreased) without any change in a degree of depression of the break pedal. The road had a couple of bumps on it, and I have noticed that this seems only reproducible when the car is going over bumps during the deceleration. I was able to find a forum that describes similar behavior related to other toyota hybrid vehicles https://forums. Edmunds. Com/discussion/5357/toyota/highlander-hybrid/highlander-hybrid-brake-problems |
| Category | Engine |
| Date | Feb 25, 2022 |
| State | WA |
| Description | Car makes a startling loud noise like a fog horn a few seconds after starting. Noise is loud enough and unexpected it has caused me to accidently press on accelerator on occasion if I have started moving. Apparently a know problem but fix is only european focused. Fortunately nothing was in front of me when this happened. Happens frequently on first startup but never every time. Tsb is be-00612t-tme need to force dealers to fix this before an accident does occur. |
| Category | Exterior Lighting |
| Date | Feb 23, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | Led headlights do not emit heat and allow ice to cover entire headlight group, blocking illumination. Problem is exacerbated with road grime in the ice. Led headlights, also, do not provide enough light spectrum to identify objects in the dark—nearly all other lights provide better/friendlier illumination to the human eye at night. Led headlights are a safety issue in the dark… made worse in icy conditions. |
| Category | Electrical System:adas:autonomous/self Driving |
| Date | Feb 16, 2022 |
| State | GA |
| Description | Lane keeping assistance over corrected and caused an accident that resulted in total loss of my vehicle. My tire crossed white line , I was trying to gradually adjust to keep from over correcting. The lane keeping assistance caused the steering to pull in the opposite direction and would not allow me to correct. The more I tried to get back in the lane the harder the lane assistance pulled in the oppposite direction. It ultimatley jerked the steeing wheel in the opposite direction a caused me to hit a tree head on. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 16, 2022 |
| State | VA |
| Description | Very loud train horn sound. Tsb issued in other countries like finland, but not usa. Finland tsb be-00612t-tme |
| Category | Seat Belts, Seat Belts:status Indicator Switch |
| Date | Feb 12, 2022 |
| State | CO |
| Description | The car had a front passenger and two rear seat passengers, one right and one left. In the middle rear seat there was a tray of cupcakes weighing ~2lbs. As we were driving at night in a complex area of freeway onramps and offramps an alarm started to deploy, beaping steadily. I glanced down at the multi-info-display (mid) and couldn't tell what the alarm was, and I was driving at around 55-60mph, at night. Over the next 45 seconds or so the alarm increased in frequency to the point of starting to sound outright urgent. I finally saw noticed three tiny icons in the lower right part of the mid, amidst an array of other lit icons and indicators, representing the 3 rear seats, and the center one was not illuminated. The car's sensing system apparently determined the seat was occupied but the occupant not belted in. I told everyone to check seatbelts. By now everyone in the car was in a state of near panic as all belts were secured. At the last few seconds, distracted by the urgency of this alarm and trying ascertain what the heck it was, I nearly struck traffic cones and had to swerve to miss them. Thank fate as I swerved to get back into my lane (cones were cordening off a whole lane which I was heading into) and didn't run into another vehicle--it easily could have resulted in a crash. I visited a car owner forum and here is a comment from another owner, "... Toyota doesn't need to have such an obnoxious seatbelt warning system -- even just for the front-seat occupants -- in which the sound gets louder and louder and louder; it's about the worst I've seen in any brand...." other seatbelt alarms in my experience sound, then stop, then restart, but never escalate like this one. The combination of an atypical satbelt alarm that escalates to the point of urgency, combined w/ a hypersensitive seat occupant sensor confirmed by others, difficult to focus on while driving alarm icons , makes this design potentially disastrous as my story suggests. |
| Category | Engine, Structure:body, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 09, 2022 |
| State | NC |
| Description | 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 |
| Category | Fuel System, Gasoline:storage |
| Date | Feb 01, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Toyota rav4 2021 fuel tank capacity should be 14. 5 gallons as per manufacturer but never managed to pump close to 12 gallons. Called dealer but refuse to acknowledge the defect |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Jan 31, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | When the vehicle goes over a pothole (or bad road condition) while you are braking, the brakes don't work for a second, the car feels like it is surging. I almost hit the car in front. This happens a lot. It's the exact same problem problem with the 2010 prius. |
| Category | Structure:body |
| Date | Jan 26, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | Vehicle's hood has adhesive separation. The defect is located at the bottom of the hood closest to the windshield. Air infiltration is causing the inside of the hood to flex at speeds higher than 40mph. This flexing will cause adhesive in other parts of the hood to separate and fail as well, which will in turn will increase the air infiltration and drag on the hood itself which will more than likely affect the hood latching system. This is a major safety concern that the company tells me is a "characteristic" of the vehicle. |
| Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Jan 23, 2022 |
| State | AZ |
| Description | I had 2 sudden acceleration incidents. The first occurred 10/6/21. My car lurched forward & hit a pole. I was with my mom who saw me press the brake, which did not engage. My car has an auto-braking system which did not function as designed. I took it to toyota. They determined there were no issues w/the vehicle. I insisted there was something wrong & warned this will happen again & could be much worse. I felt defeated but hoped it was an isolated glitch & hoped for the best. Fast forward 2 months to 12/13/21 I was in a drive-thru using the hold button, which is a feature that holds the brake in place, so my foot was not on any pedal. All of a sudden, my car began to accelerate & the brakes would not engage. An error message on the dash said “brake malfunctionâ€. I could not stop the car. I put in park, but it did not stop the car. The car jumped the curb & drove into oncoming traffic & hit two cars. They were traveling north, I was traveling west. It's a miracle another car did not hit & kill me. The most frightening experience of my life. I had the car towed to toyota as the front wheel blew out & could not be driven. Another inspection was done & once again toyota came back with “they could not find anything wrong with the vehicle.†and added that the brakes were never engaged, which is an outright lie & utterly insane. I spoke to an attorney & what he told me was quite eye opening. He has been practicing product liability law for 30 years. He told me the letter received from toyota was a standard letter that all car companies respond with. They never admit a problem unless forced to, usually by the govt, to do a recall after enough people file a complaint. I really believed toyota would tell the truth. I never imagined they would lie & participate in a cover-up. They would rather fight you in court. As mentioned earlier, my car has an auto braking system, so why didn't it work? Clearly it malfunctioned. My hope is that this deceit by car manufacturers ends. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Jan 23, 2022 |
| State | VT |
| Description | While braking there is a brief release, which I believe happens when car switches from regenerative to friction braking. It feels like I have taken my foot off the brake for a moment, but I have not. Result is car briefly stops braking, which can cause loss of control. Has happened consistently for months, less pronounced with hard vs soft braking |
| Category | Visibility:sun/moon Roof Assembly |
| Date | Jan 20, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4 hybrid. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 mph, the sunroof exploded, and fragments of glass fell inside the cabin of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and was diagnosed with needing the sunroof replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000. |
| Category | Steering |
| Date | Jan 19, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | Purchase vehicle 2 weeks ago and the tire pressure light has come on 2 times, along with the truck sliding at turns, it also is very bumpy and unstable on expressway, very scary. Would like to get another vehicle. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jan 10, 2022 |
| State | AZ |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Jan 03, 2022 |
| State | WA |
| Description | Toyota of portland sold me a used 2021 rav4 hybrid xse with a defective gas tank. The gas tank does not carry the 14. 5 gallons as advertised, the gas gauge cluster is inaccurate, and the mileage remaining on the dash cluster is inaccurate. These defects were not disclosed to me prior to the sale. Immediately after seeing the problem, I brought the vehicle in for service at vancouver (wa) toyota. They botched the repair job and the vehicle is emitting gas vapors non stop. Over the weekend, my house was inundated with gas vapors and my household and I experienced dizziness, irritability, poor eyesight, and nausea. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Jan 03, 2022 |
| State | MD |
| Description | During inclement weather (snow) this morning, I went to brake and it felt like my car sped up instead of slowing down. I tried pressing my brakes again and it did the same thing again. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 18, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | I was driving down an open road when I suddenly heard a loud rattling noise and a huge explosion. Luckily, there wasn't any cars around us and we weren't going very fast. As you can imagine this was very shocking and distracting and I was eventually able to pull over to the side of the road to investigate what had happened. I had my 9 month pregnant sister as well as my 4 month infant in the car. What we found was the sunroof of my car had exploding upwards and there were shards of glass everywhere. We had been experiencing extreme weather conditions the past few days and had to assume this to be the cause. There was no one around us nor anything above us and my car is kept under a carport. An external force would not cause the sunroof glass to explode upwards, it would be the exact opposite and smashed downwards. |
| Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes |
| Date | Dec 17, 2021 |
| State | NY |
| Description | To whom this may concern, I have had many problems with the toyota rav-4. I had so many problems with my 2017 rav 4, that I under pressure upgraded to the 2021 le version. I have had many problems with the breaks. I have brought it in (3) times to be serviced since I purchased it in march of 2021. The breaks are still squeaking. I have also had problems with the electrical system. The dash panel comes on, and abruptly shuts down when it feels like it. My wipers also come on intermittently. Every time I try and talk to toyota about this they tell me there is nothing wrong. This same thing happens with the 2017, until my breaking mechanism stopped. I am looking for someone to look into this matter because these are dangerous conditions and unacceptable especially for new cars. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other, Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Dec 13, 2021 |
| State | IL |
| Description | I found the moonroof of my 15-day old 2021 toyota rav4 spontaneously exploded while sitting parked in my driveway. As the shade that covers the moonroof was open, I incurred minor abrasions from not realizing that the "s**t on my console" was not dust or fuzz, but tiny shards of broken glass that I had already swiped with my hand. There is a large, jagged hole near center on the rear section of glass and the entire moonroof is shattered. Strangely, the glass around the hole is bowed outward as if something was shot through from the inside of the vehicle. Thankfully I was not driving & did not have my kids in the car with me when it happened because there would have been definite safety issues for me, my passengers, and any others out on the road with me. The car was last used about 6:30pm on saturday, 12/11/21 and not used again until about 11:15am on monday, 12/13/21. It spent the time not being used parked towards the rear of my driveway, shaded by my house. There are no trees or other possible falling hazards near my driveway and nothing found in or around my car to suggest a projectile/object was involved. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 13, 2021 |
| State | WA |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 12, 2021 |
| State | MA |
| Description | 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 |
| Category | Electrical System, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 10, 2021 |
| State | CO |
| Description | 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. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 09, 2021 |
| State | NY |
| Description | 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.) |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Dec 08, 2021 |
| State | FL |
| Description | Water is leaking into the cabin from around the roof rails, this could lead to water getting into the side airbag system and causing a failure in the airbag system. |
| Category | Seats |
| Date | Dec 04, 2021 |
| State | PA |
| Description | My 2021 toytoa rav4 hybrid limited has memory seat buttons. However they don't light up at night or even if the headlights are turned on. There are two memory seat buttons. In a scenario where there are two drivers and one is a larger driver with more girth, and the second is a much slimmer driver, there will be significant distances between the positions. At nightime(or whenverer it is dark, when the larger driver sits in the vehilce and accidentally presses the power seat memory button for the slimmer driver(this can happen since toyota decided not to illuminate the button in any way(at least they should have did it while the vehicle is in the parked position), the larger drive can get squished, hurt, possibly even die as the seat moves forward toward the steering wheel. Now in the toyota manual, it does say that if any power button is pressed again, the seat should stop. What actually happens is that the driver becomes panicked and pressed the button over and over again and the seat continues closer to the steering wheel. I was able to stop this the first time by pure accident by reaching between the door and the seat to my seat position controls. This is an accident waiting to happen! Toyota needs to illuminate the power seat buttons (at least in the parked position). The seat memory buttons cannot to be used in any other driving position so we are thankful for that. There may be other trims and years of the rav4 that have this issue. The best way to understand this issue is to experience this for yourself. Get a car with memory seat positions. Have two positons set, one positon will be very close to the steering wheel. Have a larger driver with more girth sit in and then press the button for the slimmer driver's postion. Do this at nightime. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Nov 26, 2021 |
| State | TN |
| Description | I have a 2021 toyota rav4. There is a noise in the b pillar. The sound is faint, dealership has replaced the entire seatbelt. The noise is still there. Today was the 4th time to the dealership, the technician drove and service advisor both was in the vehicle today and all of a sudden they can't hear anything. The driver side mirror also shakes when driving and by just shutting the door. My safety concerns are both the b pillar and mirror shaking. I'm concerned the b pillar may not have been properly welded and may fail in a collision the rattle started at 22 miles and now has approximately 1800 miles. |
| Category | Lane Departure: Assist, Steering |
| Date | Nov 14, 2021 |
| State | CO |
| Description | We bought our new 2021 toyota rav4 hybrid on sept. 1, 2021, but didn't drive it on a highway until oct. 4, 2021. On that day, I was driving on interstate hwy 70. I entered that highway near copper mountain, co and was driving east to return to denver. It is a big highway with wide, well marked lanes. I set my cruise control speed to 63 mph. Almost immediately, I noticed that the lane centering steering adjustment system seemed to be taking the car from close to the left lane line to close to the right lane line, and back and forth. A couple of times, it even drifted to or over the lane line and triggered the land departure alert alarm. At first, I tried to overcome the automated lane centering adjustment by manually steering against it, but the swaying back and forth across the lane became increasingly wide and violent. I was unable to control it. It was terrifying. For a moment, I was sure that I would crash. I don't know if I hit the brake pedal, but I did quickly press the cancel button on the cruise control, and that ended the swaying back and forth. The whole experience lasted probably less than one minute, and at no time did I notice any alarms or warning signals. I took the car to my dealership and asked them to check the functioning and settings of the cruise control and lane tracing assist functions. They told me that my settings were normal and that everything was working properly. I informed toyota customer service about the problem and told them of my near crash. They consulted with my dealership's service department and repeated that everything was working properly. Neither the dealer nor toyota customer service offered any explanation of reasons for my near crash. I have continued to drive the car, but I have tried to disable all the "safety" features that allow the car to take control of my steering. I am afraid to try to reproduce the problem myself, and I am quite sure that my dealer did not attempt to do that either. |
| Category | Tires, Tires:pressure Monitoring And Regulating Systems |
| Date | Nov 09, 2021 |
| State | KS |
| Description | P225 / 60 r18. Passenger rear tire blew out driving at highway speeds (75-80 mph). The car swerved back and forth across lanes almost into the median and then to the shoulder a couple of times and almost flipped before I was able to pull to the shoulder and stop. Another driver stopped to make sure I was ok and said he also thought I was going to flip more than once. I did not notice any warning lights prior to the incident. There were a couple of times prior to the failure that it felt like the car was swerving slightly - I thought possibly due to wind or different texture of the road surface, then the tire blew. The entire inside wall of the tire is separated from the tread. The dealer has not inspected the tire yet. I am ordering a set of new tires - I don't trust these and never want to go through that again. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Oct 18, 2021 |
| State | IN |
| Description | Moon roof exploded and shattered while driving down the road in normal conditions, no other issues. Vehicle is less than 3 months old with 7,000 miles. It sounded like a gun shot and only because I reacted without panic did it not cause me to have an accident because of the major distraction. Pulled over and no other damage. Had to drive 45 miles per hour to my destination or glass would have sprayed on anyone behind me. Currently, had to tarp and duct tape damage because dealership will not fixed under warranty unless I can prove it was a defective glass/part. My dealer did text me and I have it that there are problems but it's so hard to prove it will be my expense out of pocket. I would appreciate any help on other toyotas having a similar problem and wanted to officially report to help out the next person if I can't obtain proof of a defective part. |
| Category | Air Bags |
| Date | Oct 07, 2021 |
| State | FL |
| Description | The knee airbag deployed during a collision and caused devastating shin injuries. The muscle and skin was ripped off the driver's legs revealing bone. |
| Category | Air Bags, Service Brakes |
| Date | Sep 07, 2021 |
| State | VA |
| Description | The contact owns a 2021toyota rav4 hybrid. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 mph, the vehicle failed to stop while the brake pedal was depressed which resulted in the contact crashing into two parked vehicles where it eventually came to a stop after crashing into a curb. The contact was also concerned that the air bags failed to deploy. The contact stated no warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed and the vehicle was towed to a local mechanic and then towed again to a local dealer where it was awaiting diagnosis. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000. |
| Category | Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Aug 17, 2021 |
| State | AZ |
| Description | Defective windshield, visible distortion, is available for inspection. (brand new vehicle) safety hazard to drive as I can't see properly through it, everything is blurry. Eyes can't focus - like looking through someone else's glasses! Makes me physically ill as well due to the continued eye fatigue/strain. I"m not sure it's even possible to drive it more than half an hour, I wouldn't risk it. Problem is confirmed by the dealer, both technicians that inspected said distortion is visible. Dealer said won't fix because "every rav currently on the lot has a defective windshield, most worse than yours"! Was told this was not their first complaint about the bad windshields. And if they did fix it I could end up worse off, because all the windshields are coming out defective currently, some with even worse "visible waves" in the glass. I had ordered the vehicle & put a deposit on it to hold, I didn't get to drive it till the paperwork was done and I was driving off the lot. Within 20 minutes problem was apparent. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control, Service Brakes, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Aug 11, 2021 |
| State | FL |
| Description | While using cruse control. It did not slow the vehicle. I could not turn it off. The brakes would not work. I ran thru an intersection against the light. Bounced over the median. I turned off the ignition, still coasted about 1/2 mile. Finally I jammed the gear shift lever into park. Toyota has the vehicle for inspection and reading of the black box. The consumer stated the vehicle did not have any warning signs of the failure. Warning messages did display during the failure, which were "cruise control inoperative", "brake failure", and "lane departure". |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Aug 08, 2021 |
| State | MA |
| Description | Since buying this 2021 toyota rav4 hybrid vehicle in 12/2020 gas tank only takes about 10-11 gallons of fuel when refueling , whereas tank capacity is 14+gallons. This leads to trickle filling to get a full tank which toyota advises against as unsafe. Toyota has agreed to pay for fixing this manufacturing defect for 2020 model rav 4's with the same manufacturing defect, but so far toyota holding back issuing authorization to fix the 2021 rav4 hybrids . Car available for inspection upon request. Toyota dealer wants me to pay for diagnosis, manufacturer unwilling to pay for inspection of this safety risk despite paying for it in 2020 rav4's with same defect. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings, Lane Departure: Warning, Steering |
| Date | Aug 06, 2021 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | I was driving on us1 near dover, de towards 307 south boardwalk avenue unit 202, rehoboth beach, delaware, 19971. I was driving at around 60 mph and following the traffic flow. I suddenly could not steer the car, the car swayed to the left, hit the curb and came to a stop after I applied breaks. On reviewing its safety issues, I came across this article. Https://www. Motorbiscuit. Com/the-2021-toyota-rav4-prime-is-dangerously-bad-at-emergency-steering/ |
| Category | Power Train:automatic Transmission:lever And Linkage:floor Shift |
| Date | Aug 02, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Me ([xxx]) and my 3 children went on a trip from july 25- july 30 to sequoia national park & yosemite national park . On wednesday , july 28 around 1:30 pm we were at yosemite park and I pulled over to take some photos of the beautiful park(nature) . I made sure my children , the car and myself were in a correct parking spot , I put my rav4 le in park position (p) and the car automatically put on the hand break and it makes a loud noise, letting me know it's safe . The rav4 does not have a hand break like other cars , it only has a small pull button. Anyways the car was in park position with the automatic break , I stepped out the vehicle and walked toward the front of the car and my rav4 just stared to roll down and hit a tree . I ran inside the car to stop it but it was too late . The rav4 had crashed into the tree with my 3 children, they were all asleep when it happen and lucky no one was hurt. The car has a alot of damages in the front area and on the drivers side . The dash was all lit up with messages saying system fail(pre collision system) information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6). |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jul 19, 2021 |
| State | GA |
| Description | June 25, 2012 driving to work at about 7:35 in the morning going about 45 mph my moon roof exploded. No others cars were around me and nothing hit my car or moon roof for this to happen. I called the police for a report if I needed it, but I did not. I drove it to the dealership after this happened and spoke with the sales manager that I had bought the car from in january. My car was only 5 months old. They replaced my moonroof and gave me a rental car and said it would be covered under warranty. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other, Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Jul 18, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Rear windshield shattered on a parked car. We closed the passenger doors after getting in and the rear windshield started falling off in pieces |
| Category | Lane Departure: Assist, Lane Departure: Warning, Steering |
| Date | Jul 06, 2021 |
| State | WA |
| Description | New 2021toyota rave4 vehicle would take over steering and turn left or right from the center of the lane. This issue would consistently steer you to a road shoulder or into another lane. A less experienced driver would have crashed. The steering pull is so significant that one is unable to take a drink or turn on the radio without the possibility of an accident. The last incident steered me into the path of a cement truck nearly causing an accident. Had I not been extra cautious, an accident would have occurred. The "vehicle is operating as designed" and "some customers are overly sensitive to the safety features" was the conclusion of vancouver wa toyota service and advised to return the vehicle when an incident reoccurs. I insisted the next incident could kill someone. Service spoke to someone and apologized that in fact a past tech bulletin (2019-2021) was released by toyota addressing this issue. Service obtained a video from the vehicle and confirmed my complaint that the steering had indeed hijacked the vehicle and steered into the path of a cement truck. My concern of serious bodily injury or death is substantiated and documented by vancouver wa toyota and toyota corporation. Respectfully [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6). |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Jun 25, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Measuring from when the "low fuel" light comes on, our rav4 prime is only accepting 10 gallons of gasoline when refueling (car is advertised having a 14. 5 gallon tank). This results in us having to fill up every 400 miles when it should be closer to 600 miles. Complained at least four times to the dealership and escalated with toyota hq - toyota engineers acknowledged they have seen this trend from other rav4 primes out in the field, but are deeming 10 gallon fill-ups a "normal" characteristic of the car. This is bait-and-switch false advertising and an infuriating quality failure by toyota. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jun 21, 2021 |
| State | VA |
| Description | I purchased a brand new toyota rav 4 in may 2021 and during the test drive car did not see any issues at all. This is related to the backup camera during the test drive we did not place installed on the car. Recently I take a car to koons toyota in tyson corner and the service manager said he is aware of this and there is nothing they can do about it. Now we have the rear license plate installed and can only see 3/4 of the screen the other 1/4 of the screen shows the rear plate, view nor clear %100. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Jun 06, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The drive to empty estimation of remaining miles is not accurate. Regularly shows less miles than actual for hv mode. For example, after fuel fill up, the display read 508 miles dte. I drove 38 and then it read 448. It should have said 470, thus it had a 22 mile discrepancy. 1 or 2 miles is fine, but an over 5% difference is not. |
| Category | Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Jun 03, 2021 |
| State | VA |
| Description | Windshield crack sitting in parking lot, nothing hit it( I. E. No rocks, no chips, no nothing). It broke randomly, radiating out from the bottom edge near wiper toward center of windshield. Yes, available for inspection upon request could have happened when driving. It has not yet been confirmed by dealer (pending), insurance, or other third party the new vehicle was only 5 weeks old. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | May 26, 2021 |
| State | NY |
| Description | A few months ago I experienced multiple instances of my car self-starting while parked in my garage. I contacted the dealer and then toyota. In april I received an email/letter stating that the problem had been corrected. However, just this week the problem returned, starting twice two days ago. I have just notified toyota again and await a response, but due to the safety implications of this issue I am notifying the nhtsa. The safety implications of a car starting without provocation are obvious; for example, a child could climb inside and move the gear lever; should the vehicle's ev mileage be unavailable, thus starting in hybrid mode, co--especially in a closed garage--would be of major concern. The april 23 letter that I received from toyota stated that it had solved the problem, thus verifying the problem's existence: "dear laurel becker: we are writing in regard to your request for support with the toyota app. We are happy to confirm that your concern has been resolved. We have sent you a reset password link titled "your password is ready to reset" just in case you need it to gain access. Please reset your password, then log back in to the app. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience." by the way, I never received the password link but did not follow through, as I had no trouble logging in to my account. The vehicle has had no inspections for this issue. There were no warnings, other than the after-the-fact notification that the car had started remotely. |
| Category | Engine |
| Date | May 14, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | The contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4. The contact stated while the vehicle was stationary, there was an abnormally loud grinding sound coming from the engine. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to cabe toyota (2849 long beach blvd, long beach, ca 90806, (562) 595-7411) where it was diagnosed with nothing needing to be replaced. The contact stated that the dealer replaced the battery however, the failure persisted. The contact related the failure to an unknown recall. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The contact was informed that the vin was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000. |
| Category | Steering, Suspension |
| Date | May 14, 2021 |
| State | TX |
| Description | My 2021 toyota rav4 have design problems with suspension system. Where if the freedom over 55mph the car will be unstable, bumpy and shaky. I am really scared to drive my car on the hwy. I heard mist 2021 rav4 have the same problem. Toyota needs to have a recall to fix or change suspension system with a firm one asap. Thank you. |
| Category | Lane Departure: Blind Spot Detection |
| Date | May 10, 2021 |
| State | WA |
| Description | No audio warning. Blind spot monitoring (bsm) flashing is not visible when sunlight directly reflects into mirror. Audio alert is available, but limited to cross traffic alert which uses same sensors. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | May 10, 2021 |
| State | PR |
| Description | Just bought this vehicle on january and with just over 4k miles this warning came up.. Parking brake malfunction.. Turned off then on the car and same warning... Called the dealer for inspection asap.. |
| Category | Air Bags |
| Date | Apr 30, 2021 |
| State | NY |
| Description | In a 4 car pile up. Hit in rear x2 by a large van while sitting in traffic on nj parkway foot on break and pushed into car in front of me x2. Airbags did not deploy. |
| Category | Steering |
| Date | Apr 30, 2021 |
| State | TN |
| Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2021 toyota rav 4. The contact stated while driving at 45 mph, the vehicle independently veered off to the right and the contact lost control of the steering of the vehicle. As a result, the vehicle veered off to the right flipping over a cinderblock causing the vehicle to fall down a mountain top. The air bags did deploy. A police report was filed. The contact sustained a broken right ankle and a fractured disk in her back that required medical attention. The vehicle was not drivable and was towed to a junkyard. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure and informed the contact that the black box read that the accident was self inflicting. The failure mileage was 620. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Mar 28, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | During its first fuel tank fill-up (at 909 miles, on 3/14/2021), new 2021 rav4 prime se fuel tank accepted less than the expected amount of gasoline. Starting at near-empty, only nine (9) gallons was accepted. At the second fill-up (on 3/22/2021), only four gallons could be added, and the fuel nozzle was ejected from the tank, spilling gas. Second attempt could not add any more gas. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Mar 25, 2021 |
| State | FL |
| Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the gear shifter disengaged, preventing the contact from shifting gears. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to toyota of deerfield beach (1441 s federal hwy, deerfield beach, fl 33441) where it was diagnosed however, nothing was replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000. The vin was not available. |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Mar 18, 2021 |
| State | AL |
| Description | Tl* the contact received a 2021 toyota rav4 as a loaner vehicle from serra toyota (1300 center point pkwy, birmingham, al 35215) as his personal vehicle was awaiting remedy repairs for nhtsa campaign number: 20v682000 (fuel system, gasoline). The contact stated that while driving the loaner vehicle at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started jerking while accelerating. The dealer was made aware of the issue however, the contact was informed that there was no other loaner vehicle available. The contact informed the manufacturer and a case filed. The failure mileage was 2,935. The vin was unavailable. |
| Category | Electrical System, Structure:body, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Mar 17, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | There is a rattling sound coming from the driver's door when the car is stationary and the door is swung closed. The rearview mirror of the door has significant shaking while the car is in motion, so this is a safety hazard. The speaker in the driver's door makes a static or crackling sound when music is off. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Mar 09, 2021 |
| State | PA |
| Description | Car had a low fuel indicator on (approx. 15miles distance to empty left on a dashboard). Upon refueling, the car only took about 11. 38 gallon of fuel to refill the empty tank. This is very annoying as I just bought this car new thinking it has 14. 5 gallon fuel tank capacity but in reality it has a defective fuel tank and it only takes about 11 gallon of fuel. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Mar 08, 2021 |
| State | WA |
| Description | The gas tank of 2021 rav4 hybrid does not fill in as advertised. Toyota advertises that it can take 14. 5 gallons of fuel, however when the fuel low warning light is on and you try to fill the full tank, it never takes more than 10 gallons, thus there's discrepancy of 4 gallons. This reduces the car's advertised range from 550 miles to less than 400 miles. Toyota claims this is a design mistake and doesn't offer any fix. |
| Category | Electrical System, Lane Departure: Assist, Lane Departure: Warning |
| Date | Mar 05, 2021 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Vehicle battery completely dead after only 3 days of not being driven. Vehicle would not start and could not be jump started. Vehicle is only 2 months old. Wireless charging does not charge consistently. Intermittent connection only and gets very hot. Usb phone connection randomly disconnects and reconnects. Occasionally the voice command prompt on center control is activated and stays connected when connecting a phone through usb and cannot exit to see information display. Remote start from fob will not work. Lane departure system too sensitive and takes over steering of car causing countersteering from driver control. |
| Category | Lane Departure: Assist, Steering |
| Date | Feb 26, 2021 |
| State | OK |
| Description | This vehicle has intermittent operation of its lane keep assistance. One activated, it regularly will do the opposite of keeping your lane. It has run me off the road and also into the lane of oncoming traffic. I have reported to the dealer but they couldn't replicate it. I have escalated to the dealer as this happens very frequently and is in safe. Upon activation of the lta, it turns the steering wheel approx 15- 20 degrees and immediately takes you out of the lane. The lane departure system kicks in and then tries to bring you back and this goes on and on with clearly marked lanes. If I didn't apply quite a bit of force to prevent the departure I could have well been an incident. The vehicle was in motion, going down a well marked interstate highway, night and day time, no rain or snow/ice. The vehicle recognized the lane departure (beeps) but it was the vehicles system that drove the car out of the lane (with my hands on the wheel of course). A video can be shared upon request. |
| Category | Wheels |
| Date | Feb 20, 2021 |
| State | FL |
| Description | I recently purchased a 2021 toyota rav4. The first week I owned it I experienced a flat tire. When I attempted to air it up the valve stem broke and the tire went completely flat. The valve stem is one unit and connected to the tire pressure monitoring system. I learned that the stems are made of aluminum and subject to breaking due to the soft metal. Toyota refused to cover the expense saying it was driver error. The technician at the shop where the tire was plugged told me this happens quite a bit. I was shocked that toyota would install such cheap metal on their cars. This is a road hazard and can easily leave one stranded. My cost was nearly 0. The breakage was not my fault. It was a problem of soft aluminum. I believe these stems should be recalled and replaced with high quality steel. Thank you. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 11, 2021 |
| State | MD |
| Description | Passenger heated side mirror cracked from cold weather. Not impacted by accident or negligence from I or someone. When heated mirror was on I noticed a crack appearing. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Feb 09, 2021 |
| State | NH |
| Description | I am experiencing inconsistent brake feel after abs actuation during slow and steady application of the brakes on rough or slick road surfaces. Stopping distances are increased compared with my expectation for a given pedal force. Please note that the 2010 toyota prius had a similar issue, and a recall was issued under nhtsa campaign 10v039000. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Feb 03, 2021 |
| State | WI |
| Description | Cannot fill fuel tank completely full. Had some tests run by toyota and they found that there were only 12. 5 gallons in the 14. 5 gallon tank when the pump shuts off. I was told this was "within the spec" and offered no further help. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Jan 24, 2021 |
| State | MA |
| Description | Have a 2019 ams 2021 rav4 hybrid xse that will not fill to its 14. 5 gal capacity. Toyota needs to make a formal announcement here to acknowledge the issue and a timeline on a fix. With noting, the dealership said it took 14 gal on initial fill when purchased, so not sure what to think here - can provide photos as well |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Jan 19, 2021 |
| State | FL |
| Description | Car has 750 miles from new. Fuel guage display 3/4 full when tank is actually full.. Causes overfilling and lack of trust in guage reading. Also causes charcoal filter to fill with gas. Causing it to fail. In addition check engine light to display generating numerous faults comes. All require immediate dealer attention. No drive condition. |
| Category | Electrical System, Lane Departure: Assist, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Jan 15, 2021 |
| State | OH |
| Description | 1. Car wouldn't start. Left stranded without vehicle. 2. Cruise control turned off and would never turn back on for the duration of my 30 minute drive. 3. The cruise control accelerated past the set limit. It was challenging to get it to stop accelerating. It didn't stop right away either. Scared me to death. 4. Instrument panel was flickering bright to dim constant and then settle at dim during daylight hours in the broad daylight. 5. Phone charger not working properly. My phone is not moving around either. 6. The entire radio system wouldn't work. No sound or anything during my entire duration of drive. 7. The remote start barely works ever but I can start ericks truck. It doesn't recognize the door lock/unlock most of time either. 8. Lane assist seems like it's fighting itself. It basically makes the steering wheel shakey feeling when it's on and bounces back and forth. 9. When any iphone is plugged in flashes between carplay to regular mode every 3-5 seconds. 10. Receiving message that hybrid battery low. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Jan 13, 2021 |
| State | OR |
| Description | When the low fuel light comes on it only takes 10 gallons to refill. This gives me a range of 400 miles on a tank of fuel. I was expecting a reserve amount of fuel after the low fuel light comes on to drive to a fuel station but only using 10 gallons out of a 14 gallon tank seems wrong. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other, Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Jan 03, 2021 |
| State | ID |
| Description | This issue happened on 12/31/2020. I was driving to work this evening. I came onto an onramp during my drive and I began increasing my speed to 70mph. As I'm accelerating I started to notice a whistling sound coming from the sunroof . I instantly assumed that my husband had accidentally opened the sunroof and had not closed it back up all the way. (we have not had this car very long at all so we are still learning which buttons do what.) as I pull back the cover I notice that there are shards of glass falling onto my lap from the sunroof. I was in complete shock and pulled over to make sure I was not mistaken. Sure enough the sunroof had shattered and there was glass everywhere. I have no way of explaining how this happened and I am very frustrated that I have to make a claim on a car I have had for maybe a month and a half and even more upset that I cannot explain how this actually happened. I was also surprised that there were people having similar issues with the sunroof! |
| Category | Power Train |
| Date | Dec 09, 2020 |
| State | CA |
| Description | My spouse was driving the car and she complained to me that our new 2021 rav4 suddenly lurches when slightly accelerating from a rolling stop. I then drove with her and witnessed the same issue although I could not replicate it myself. I took the car to the tustin toyota dealership (from where I purchased the car) but they were not able to find any issues or replicate the problem. That being said the cars are so new that it may just be that there aren't enough new owners yet to report the problem. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Oct 23, 2020 |
| State | TN |
| Description | Driving new 2021 toyota rav4 and the sunroof blew out for no apparent reason. |
| Category | Visibility:sun/moon Roof Assembly |
| Date | Oct 15, 2020 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2021 toyota rav4. The contact stated that while his wife was driving approximately 75 mph, the glass sunroof suddenly exploded. During the failure, the sunroof was closed. The local dealer valley high toyota located at 14612 valley center dr, victorville, ca 92395 and the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,500. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Oct 13, 2020 |
| State | VA |
| Description | Both side mirrors shakes at 40 miles or above. |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System, Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Sep 08, 2020 |
| State | WA |
| Description | With 4 miles left on hv range/dte, I filled my first full tank at costco. Pump read 10. 82 gallons. Now hv range is showing 544 miles. I got about 39. 9 mpg on first tank (without ev) which is in line with epa. But my real hv range from full to empty was only 10. 9 x 39. 5 = 430 miles. If you add ev miles of 42, then you get around 472 miles. Not 600. Their mpg claims are valid. But their gas tank/ range claims are clearly overstated. Real range is only 472. Not 600. Which is disappointing, you might go on a road trip with your family, and be stuck in middle of no where because their range claims were overstated. They marketed this to be close to being 600 mile range. When it can hardly go 472 when gas tank shows empty. Toyota is callous and negligent in resolving this issue so far. I was dissed by my toyota dealer for the same issue with prius prime. Now rav4 prime has he same issue, and I am hearing the same with rav4 hybrid owners. You can only fill in 10+ gallons. Not 13 or 14 gallons as they falsely claim. Real range of your rav4 prime/hybrid is only 470 miles not 600!! |
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About the Author:
Brian Jones spent more than 20 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
See more posts from Brian Jones
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