This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My car was being seviced today for rear brakes and the Toyota dealer needed to unseal previous safety recall in order to perform the service. I'm being charged to undo the recall to perform the service and then to reapply the recall. I do not understand how this cost is not the responsibility of the manufacturer, Toyota. If there is a recall issued for an auto, shouldn't the recall correction allow for future auto maintenance where the recall doesn't need to undone and then reapplied?
My mother had the exact same issue reported in Toyota Manufacturer case 1707311582 and NHTSA report 11396355 from Feb 15, 2021. My mother had not reported to me, until it happened while I was driving her around Dec. 24, 2021, that her Rav. rev'd and accelerated when she applied the brake while leaving a parking spot. Here's what I've reported to my Toyota dealership where we bought the vehicle. Until last month (Nov. 21), the vehicle had an immaculate operation and maintenance record. To the repair shop "Twice in the past month, we've had brake failure, accelerator failure issues. The first time, my mother was pulling forward at less than 5 miles per hour in a parking lot. She pushed the brake pedal when pulling forward, but the car did not slow, the brakes did not engage, and instead, the RAV revved and accelerated forward. She crashed into the parked vehicle and incurred damages that already have been fixed by USAA at a service location in Richmond. The airbag did not deploy. Dec. 24, here in Churchland, I was driving with her. While coasting to a stop light at less than 10 miles per hour, I attempted to stop by pressing the brake. The car revved and accelerated to the light, I pressed both feet again, and the car continued to accelerate and I ended up running a red light and luckily we did not have an accident or cause the person behind us to rear end us. It was not until after my driving on Dec. 24 that my Mom told me she had an accident a month earlier and it was because she couldn't get the car to stop. She assumed it was her. The vehicle has almost 90k miles. Looking for recalls, because this is not normal for brakes to malfunction this way, I found a consumer article describing to my Mom's and my description to almost exact detail captured in Manufacturer case number provided above. That vehicle had approximately 77k miles. I will be contacting USAA to report the issue, this is clearly a safety issue."
While decelerating on a freeway off-ramp at approx. 25 mph, the brakes failed to stop the car. Going no more than 5 mph, I lifted off slightly then depressed them all the way to the floor; they didn't engage properly but finally slowed the car almost to a complete stop, but the engine revved and the car kept wanting to go forward. I threw the transmission into park and turned off the ignition.
Brake pedal goes very low to the floor before engaging. Seems to be a common problem that I have heard lots of complaints about for this model. In other similar cases Toyota has told customers is normal. Since this has started the brakes have been bled with no improvement. Also (probably a separate problem) both the back brake calipers had to be replaced because of leaking, first the right rear and later the left rear. Brakes were again bled each time, leak was gone but still a very low pedal.
The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. While pulling into a parking space with the brake pedal depressed, the engine revved and caused the vehicle to accelerate. The vehicle lunged forward and landed into a nearby pool. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed and taken to the C&C Dodge Toyota dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealership stated that they were instructed by the manufacturer not to tend to the vehicle involving unintentional acceleration. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided case number: 1707311582. The approximate failure mileage was 77,000.
- Marietta, OH, USA
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Parking/emergency brake became inoperative. Investigation revealed that both brake cables had corroded such that they no longer had freedom of movement at the cable end where they entered the backing plates. When I purchased replacement cables Toyota service technician commented that this was a common problem on rav 4, Tacoma, and other (don't remember) Toyota vehicles. When I purchased & examined replacement cables during repair it was apparent that new cable design was significantly different in exactly the place where old cables had failed. This was a safety problem during time period when brakes were inoperative and clearly a significant design flaw. It was ~ $400 in parts + my labor tp replace the cables as part of repairing the emergency/parking.
The alloy wheels of my 2009 Toyota Rav4 are rusted and bubbling. My car has less than 10K miles on it. I think the rusting on the tires is rusting the brake pads and rotors. Despite having less than 10K on my car, I'm told that my brakes and rotors need to be replaced. I could not stop by 4 wheel drive going less than 5 mph on an incline with light ice whereas other cars were able to stop. There's something defective about Toyota's manufacturing of their wheels. Lots of people on various forums are complaining about these rusted wheels. I think its making the cars less safe. Probably contributing to the other problems that led to recalls.
The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the brake pedal became lodged to the floor board when the brake was engaged. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician advised that the brake master cylinder failed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000. Updated 11/20/14 updated 8/17/2015
The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while applying the brakes at 45 mph, the brakes failed to respond, causing him to crash into a telephone pole. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact was thrown into the windshield and sustained numerous severe to moderate injuries. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the front end would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified and advised the contact that a field representative would be dispatched the following day to further inspect the vehicle. One month later, the representative still had not performed the inspection. The manufacturer stated that since the repairs had already begun, they would not be able to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 57,000. Updated 10/28/2014 updated 7/14/2015
The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle accelerated abnormally. The contact applied pressure to the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was then taken to an authorized dealer where it was inspected but the dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was inspected three times with no solution to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 16,500 and the current mileage was 20,000...updated 04/11/12 updated 06/15/2012
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- Lititz, PA, USA