Toyota RAV4 Complaints (2015)

305 consumer complaints on file.

#11462374April 27, 2022
POWER TRAIN
Light acceleration causes car to jerk and stutter while increasing speed
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11461625April 21, 2022
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:TORQUE CONVERTER
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving approximately 25-50 MPH, the vehicle was vibrating. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to continue to drive the vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated that the failure mainly occurred while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the torque converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the torque converter needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle could not be repaired under an unknown extended warranty for the torque converter as the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised as the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11461306April 19, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while his wife was driving, the instrumental panel shut down after the vehicle was pulled over. The contact mentioned there was a dark brown smoke coming from the front passenger dashboard and the front of the vehicle was on fire. The fire department extinguished the fire. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The contact contacted the dealer to inform the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 87,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11457484March 20, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:INFOTAINMENT:BLUETOOTH/WIFI
When my phone is connected to Bluetooth for hands free talking, the person I’m talking to says that they can’t hear me clearly, so much background noise. After looking this up I see several hundred people saying the same thing. It’s now a law that you can’t be talking on your cell phone to your ear, wouldn’t this be considered a safety issue? Thank you [XXX] 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
#11457207March 18, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On March 14, 2022 ( about 5:05pm)got in my car to drive to the post office to mail a package. ( less than one mile from my home) I noticed when I started the car that the computer appeared to be rebooting. It was grey and had a line at the bottom appearing to progress from left to right. I drove to post office, parked, turned off the car, locked it and went into post office. Waiting in line, a man came in and said whomever owns the silver RAV4 out front, your motor is smoking. I said that’s mine, went outside in shock, called 911 and the motor was in flames within minutes. I first noticed flames coming through crack in hood by the windsheild. I have no idea why this happened. Owned the car since 2018, never had a single issue. Car is totaled. Progressive Car insurance is investigating and will hopefully approve a fair settlement, minus my deductible.This is the most bizarre thing I”ve ever seen. Please advise if you know what I can do to at least get my deductible refunded from Toyota. Thank you By the way, I almost went to the gas station first, my tank was on E, it could have been a deadly situation had i done that first. Ps. I have a video of the fire that would not upload. If there is another way to get it to you, please let me know. Thank you.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454967March 3, 2022
ENGINE
The contact's father owned a 2015 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked unattended, the vehicle dashboard spontaneously caught fire. There were no reported injuries or property damage. It was unknown who extinguished the fire. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11454413February 28, 2022
STEERING
Power steering suddenly failed (and dash lights came on) when my wife and 6 year old son were driving down the road at highway speeds nearly causing accident. After turning car off and back on, it was restored. NHTSA Campaign ID: 15V144000 addresses this exact issue, but our VIN falls outside those included, even though its the same model year. Opened case with Toyota Corporate. Dealer says they have to reproduce issue to do anything, but being an ECU flaw, it nearly impossible to reproduce on demand.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453350February 22, 2022
STEERING
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at approximately 50 MPH, the steering wheel seized while the power steering warning light was illuminated intermittently. The contact mentioned that the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated that the vehicle was restarted and operated as designed. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided a case number. The VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V144000 (Steering). The approximate failure mileage was 77,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451003February 8, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Purchased our Rav4 (Certified Used Car) from a Toyota Dealership in January, 2018. On December 12, 2021, I went into our garage to start the car. Upon turning the ignition key, the car starter clicked and the car's starter did not turn. The instrument lights also started to blink on and off, so I turned the ignition key to the off position. I removed the battery and took it to our local mechanic who tested the battery and determined that the battery was dead and that it would not accept a charge. This battery was the second new battery that I had installed in the car, and the second one to fail. I took the dead battery back to Walmart where I purchase it, and Walmart replaced it for free under warranty. I installed the brand new battery to the car. Upon connecting both the positive and negative wires correctly to the positive and negative terminals of the new battery, the car's starter began to turn, but there was no key in the ignition when the starter began to turn. As soon as the car's starter began to turn without there being a key in the ignition, I disconnected the battery cables immediately as a precaution and I made an appointment with the service department at a Toyota Dealership nearby. I had the car towed to the Toyota Dealership. The Toyota Dealership told me there was a battery recall on the car to verify it's size. The Dealership diagnosed the car's electrical system and said that the battery was sized and installed correctly, but there was a short in the electrical system. The dealership said that they would need to remove the faulty car starter that was installed prior to me owning the car, and the dealership would need to restore the starting system to OEM specs. Total cost was $558.02 for the repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11444248December 18, 2021
STEERING
The pump failed
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11444002December 16, 2021
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would independently accelerate without warning. The contact stated no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer but was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 35,569.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11443080December 8, 2021
SERVICE BRAKES
Road conditions were perfect - sunny, dry, nice weather. I was pulling into a parking spot and when I applied the brakes, they FROZE. I.e. the brake pedal DID NOT GO DOWN. (The mats were not an issue). Then the car suddenly accelerated and went over an embankment. I was able to stop the vehicle using the emergency brake.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11442561December 3, 2021
POWER TRAIN
Our Torque convertor went in our RAV4. There is a warranty bulletin on this issue for our make/year and our vehicle fell within the years and mileage needed to be covered by this warranty but when we asked Toyota to repair it under the warranty they told us that our VIN was not on the list for free repair. We recently had our local certified mechanic replace the torque convertor out of fear if we waited for VIN to show up on list further damage would be done. We sent a certified letter to Toyota Corp along with our invoice for repair and asked if they would reconsider and cover us under warranty and the answer is no. The reason for this complaint is to document the fact that we had faulty parts and even though the vehicle met all the guidelines needed for free repair, we were still denied. The warranty bulletin is #POL17-06 this covers models 2013-2015 up to 150,000 miles. We own a 2015 with 89,000 miles. We have logged a complaint with the Federal Trade Commissioner as well as THE Better Business Burea. Thank you for your time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11440975November 18, 2021
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The electrical system failed and the car has been towed by State Farm Insurance to Cop-art Savage Vendor in Elgin Il today. My safety was at risk by fast rapidly engulfing flames coming from under the car hood.The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center that we know of. Vehicle or components have been inspected by police, and might have been inspected by our Insurance after the vehicle was towed. There was a warning battery light just before smoke came out from under the hood, then the car stopped and then flames started to come out from under the hood engulfing the front part of the car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11434953September 30, 2021
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My wife was driving her 2015 Toyota Rav4 on September 13, 2021 when the car stalled while on the interstate. She coasted to the side. It started back up so she continued to work which was off the next exit. As soon as she entered the parking lot, the Rav4 stalled again and she was able to coast in to a parking lot. As soon as she walked inside the building the Rav4 caught on fire. There were no warning lights are any indication of anything wrong with the vehicle up until this point. According to the dealer and the insurance company, the battery caught on fire. What exactly caused this I do not know. The Insurance company deemed the vehicle a total loss per the Toyota Dealers recommendation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11434578September 27, 2021
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC, ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH and attempting to depress the brake pedal, the brake pedal went to the floor. The contact stated that he had to top off the brake fluid constantly. The contact stated that the ABS warning light was illuminated. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V198000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic, Electronic Stability Control) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430552August 25, 2021
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
Slow down to make a right turn, the car completely shut off. Put on emergency lights pulled into nearest safest parking lot, braking systems failed, finally put car in park. Pulled keys out of ignition. Took a look around nothing was physically wrong, got back into vehicle started it, with no problem. Took it through the same parking lot, through the drive-thru. Started smoking at the second window, pulled back into the parking lot, shut off vehicle. Got out of vehicle to access smoke, fire started, got back int car then an explosion. Grabbed my daughter and my things the best I could. There was about two or three more explosions afterwards, the fire department came to take out the flames; this was after other employees from the same area tried to put out the fire with fire extinguishers but it wasn’t much help. It halfway burned into the ground, the Fireman had to use the jaws of life to get the hood off of the car to extinguish the fire.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11429925August 20, 2021
ENGINE
The contact owned a 2015 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while his wife was driving and making a right turn the vehicle loss motive power and stalled without warning. The contact stated that his wife coasted to the side of the road, restarted the vehicle, and several unknown warning lights flashed on the instrument panel and then disappeared. While driving through the drive-thru at McDonalds his wife was notified by an employee of an abnormal burning odor. While pulling out of the drive-thru, the vehicle stalled. The driver restarted the vehicle and pulled into a parking space and the vehicle caught on fire underneath the hood. The contact stated that after his wife removed the child from the vehicle there were a series of explosions. The Fire Department was called out and the fire was extinguished. A fire report was filed. The vehicle was towed from the scene and deemed a total loss. There was no injuries and no medical attention was needed. The dealer and the manufacturer were not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11429597August 18, 2021
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated that while driving approximately at 45 mph when they noticed the vehicle's speed began to lower as if it wanted to stall. The contact was able to pull over and turn their vehicle off. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle however the vehicle failed to restart. They noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The contact opened the hood of the vehicle to cool the vehicle down however in about 1-2 minutes they noticed flames near the engine of the vehicle. The fire department was called and put out the fire. A report was not filed. There were no injuries and no medical assistance needed. The vehicle was towed. The contact was waiting on the status of the vehicle from their insurance report. The dealer was not made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was unknown.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11427561August 3, 2021
STEERING
The power steering has recently stopped working while driving. When the car is started, the power steering works fine, but within a few minutes, it will stop working and steering has to be done manually.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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