Toyota RAV4 Complaints (2023)

238 consumer complaints on file.

#11643057February 16, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The primary instrument display started to go out when it was cold, below 50'F. This could be mitigated by running the engine or running the defrost for a period of time to warm up the area around the display. When it was too cold this winter, that was no longer effective and the display would not come on at all. The car would drive and all of the instruments displayed on the screen would work (cruise control, etc.), but there was no way to know how fast I was going and if there were any warning lights illuminated. Running the car long enough without the display until the environment warmed, the display would come on, showing the animated start up sequence, then showing whatever speed and other car conditions were current. It took three tries for the dealership to finally see this issue, because they would put the car in the warm garage before working on it, and the display would come on. The dealership now has the car, and is seeking a replacement display, saying it is an electronic issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11642739February 14, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
2023 Toyota Rav4 hybrid (XSE) is said to have fuel tank capacity of 14.5 Gal with range in miles (city/hwy) 594.5/551.0 mi. When I first got my car, I can fuel it up to 520 mile driving distance. After a while, I can only fuel up to 430 mile, with no other accident. The tank cannot be fully fueled. This incidence has been widely observed in owners with the same year model. The actual reason is unknown. Some went to the dealership and replaced the sensor, some just got diagnosed with no issue. None of these has actually fixed the issue. The real answer could be the issue of the sensor or tank, or something else. This malfunction with unknown reason is risky for the use of the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11640212February 2, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES
I was pulling into a parking spot and my vehicle suddenly accelerated. I slammed on the brakes and the car did stop, but not before hitting a railing in front of me. There were also trees close to the railing, so the camera should have detected those as a barrier and I believe the veauto-braked, even if I had not hit the brakes. This is a safety concern because the vehicle would have plowed over any person in front of the vehicle.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11640039February 1, 2025
ENGINE, STEERING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car had error on dashboard of Engine stopped power steering low, car is available for inspection. Car would not start in the middle of the night while raining, had smoke coming out the front. Problem not reproduced at dealership. No other warnings were shown beforehand.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11637124January 20, 2025
BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
Rearview camera quit for 3-4 seconds when I was backup. There was a car in my blind spot, aft right quarter, that I couldn't see and I hit his left front panel/headlight causing $2200. damage to his car plus my car.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635581January 13, 2025
VISIBILITY:SUN/MOON ROOF ASSEMBLY
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, there was a loud sound like a gunshot coming from the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact's wife slightly opened the sunroof cover and discovered that the sunroof had shattered into pieces. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 16,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11633256December 30, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
While at stop light notices my 2023 Toyota Rav 4 LE engine was steaming. Pulled into a parking lot when Power steering fluid low warning light came on and said that the engine will stop. After I put in some power steering fluid the dash warning lights lit up, with the following warning lights: Pre-collision brake system failure, Collision brake system failure, Secondary collision system failure and check engine light came on. Had vehicle towed to dealership, they did an test and confirmed several error codes and they are waiting on Toyota engineers to provide information on cause and remedy. While at dealership was told by service adviser that there was sat least one other individual with the same issue. The dealership unfortunately don’t know the cause of the problem
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11633171December 30, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, STEERING
This happened on [XXX] in Oakland CA, it was a rainy day. I drove off the freeway and then parked the vehicle in the parking lot. The car was in idle mode. After about 10 minutes the engine started to stall, and then shut off completely. I tried to restart the engine but it failed. The dashboard showed an error message "Engine Stopped, Steering Power Low". I suspected that rainwater entered into the engine from the air intake. After waiting for about 2 hours, I was able to restart the vehicle, and then everything seemed to be normal. Toyota should announce a recall for this problem as this is very dangerous to operate the vehicle on the freeway on rainy days. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11632869December 28, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, POWER TRAIN
I slowly turned right into a parking space, braked to stop but the car didn't stop and instead lurched, jumping forward over the parking curb and hitting a small wall. My foot was on the brake pedal the entire time. It happened at 9:00am on a clear day. I was alone in the car and uninjured. Damage to the car was extensive and estimated at nearly $40,000. As a result, car was totaled by the insurance company.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11632312December 25, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was pulling slowly into my driveway and suddenly the car began accelerating on it's own. I braked and it would not stop. I ended up running into my electronic gate and hitting the side of my neighbor's house. Safety was put at risk because I could have hit a person or moving car had this not happened in my driveway. I could have caused more substantial damage to my neighbor's house. I will report this to the dealership and have it inspected. There were no warning lamps or messages or warning symptoms.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11631122December 17, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
As I was driving on the highway, the glass of my sunroof imploded. There were no other cars around nor was there any people. It sounded as if something popped above my head. I researched this incident and apparently there are other RAV4 owners that had the same problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11628401December 2, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Leaving my house and around 20 ft away the soon roof burst. Nothing hit it, i live in a rural area, asphalt road. Now toyota dealer is saying that something hit the soon roof. I checked online and there are several incidents with the same model.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11626769November 22, 2024
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. The contact stated while driving 15-20 MPH, the vehicle unexpectedly stopped. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle several times. After the failure, the engine and brake warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer and was informed to hold the key fob near the ignition. The contact turned on the hazard lights and called AAA, who towed the vehicle to the local dealer. The dealer determined there was no input and the vehicle failed to communicate. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623419November 4, 2024
VISIBILITY:REARVIEW MIRRORS/DEVICES:EXTERIOR
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. The contact stated that after remote starting the vehicle, the contact discovered that the driver’s side mirror had shattered without impact. The contact reviewed the Home Security footage and confirmed that there was no impact with the mirror to cause the failure. The dealer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the manufacturer for assistance. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and the contact was provided a case number. The contact was then referred to the NHTSA Hotline to file a complaint. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 36,600.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11622380October 28, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
A Toyota advertisement for an optional subscription service, called Drive connect, takes over the display randomly, including when I am using the display for directions with GPS. There have been many instances where I have been using the display for directions, when this banner takes over the screen, and I have to abruptly reach over and turn it off so that I can continue following the directions. I have missed turnoffs because of this. And I do not think that it is safe to have to reach over suddenly to switch the display back to GPS again. I don't see any reason why the driver should not have a choice when it comes to the displays default behavior, especially when following directions on maps with GPS
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11617270September 30, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving at about 30 mph on [XXX] on Sunday, [XXX] at [XXX] the moonroof suddenly exploded. It sounded like a gunshot and startled me. I was not going under an overpass, there were no people nearby who would have thrown anything at the car, and I was not following another vehicle. I believe the glass shattered as result of mechanical defect. The moonroof was closed at the time so I was not hit with flying glass, but the situation could have been quite dangerous had the roof been open. I also think the loud sound of glass exploding could cause other motorists to jerk the wheel in shock at the loud noise. Naturally, there were shards of glass flying off my vehicle afterward, which creates something of a road hazard for anyone following behind. I have had the moonroof inspected by the Toyota dealer. They advise that glass is not covered under warranty, which is nonsense because at the least it violates the warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. But, it is hard to prove a manufacturer's defect so I will be submitting a claim through insurance. In my opnion, Toyota should cover the repair costs as I did nothing wrong and was not hit by a foreign object. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11617067September 28, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
Under braking conditions and hitting a bump on a paved road, the vehicle will have a 1 to 3 second momentary loss of braking. At the same time, a grinding noise, similar to (if not the same as) the ABS system is heard, and the VSC light flashes. The occurrence of this problem is unpredictable, the severity is inconsistent. It happens across various ranges of brake pressure/deceleration rates and speeds. No accident has occurred to date with this vehicle, but we have had close calls. In some cases, our vehicle has inadvertently entered controlled intersections due to loss of braking. Dealer has inspected the problem but has been unable to replicate or resolve to date. Based on internet research, this appears to be a common problem. Very concerned this could occur at the wrong time and lead to an accident, causing injury or death due to behaviors of the vehicle's braking (and loss of) being outside the driver's control.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11614711September 15, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Sunroof glass blew out. Driving down road, no traffic, sounded like a shotgun blast. Pulled over and saw the sunroof had a hole and the rest was crystallized. Had the interior cover been pulled back we would have been showered with broken glass.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11609824August 20, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
The paint of the exterior body is peeling off after becoming bubble on the surface. It appears all over the body including hood, roof, doors, etc. For reference, please see attached photos. This can eventually start rusting. This has come to know only after using a car for a year and four months, which proves this needs to be addressed because it may be going to start rusting other parts of the body or structural components. Car is available for inspection, on request.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11609576August 19, 2024
STEERING, ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
UNKNOWN. I drove my car off the dealership lot and not even 10 minutes into my ride home, as I pulled of the highway, I noticed that the RPM of the vehicle was slowing down. I pressed down harder on the gas to get it to accelerate but it just kept jerking and slowing down. Eventually I tried to get off to the side of the road and the car stopped in the middle of two lanes. The Check Engine, Battery warning and Electric Power Steering lights all came on the dashboard. There was also another error message: Engine Stopped Steering Power Low. I called the dealership and they came and towed the car. Not sure what the issue is but saw on some forums that this has happened to other RAV4 owners on used and brand new cars as well. Someone encouraged users to report it to the NHTSA so Toyota is aware of the issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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