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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 14
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
11,436 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2018 Toyota RAV4 electrical problems

electrical problem

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2018 Toyota RAV4 Owner Comments (Page 3 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #20

Feb 252021

RAV4

  • 7,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Constant battery failure on 2018 rav 4. replaced Jan 2020 and again March 2021. All the lights lit up, bells & whistles then dead. Have called triple a so many times we are out of service unless upgrade plan. Dealer states car not driven enough (despite driven several times per week) but dealer would not state how much car should be driven to avoid battery failure issue. Also noted squirrel had built nest under the hood with insulation. Notified dealer of all & they replaced battery which was not included in warranty that is active. Vehicle was stationary. Concerned as others having same issue and some with battery explosion/fire. My mom is elderly and concerned about her being stranded out and about or worse fire hazard.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #19

Jan 072019

RAV4

  • 0 miles
The keyless is not friendly for the deaf. Need to something for the right and safe. Thank you.

- Chapmanville, WV, USA

problem #18

Jun 052020

RAV4

  • 47,800 miles
Pulled into driveway and had foot on break. Going very slow to park. Went to put car into park and car lunged forward and hit garage. Backed up and car went very fast so had to move forward again out of road. Put car into drive and cat surged forward and out of control. Able to avoid garage but car went beside garage, and into slight drop off. I was able to stop car by flooring break and putting into park. Called police they made report, called roadside service and towed to downeast Toyota in brewer Maine. It's now going to have information pulled and researched to determine what happened. No pictures. A lot of damage to front and maybe underneath. Car went over a cement block.

- Old Town, ME, USA

problem #17

May 232018

RAV4

  • 160 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Next day after I bought the vehicle, I brought the SUV back to the dealer (centennial Toyota of las vegas ) with problem on the gate opener. Dealer replaced the control module in the rear view mirror but the problem did not get resolved. Brought it back to the dealer again and the technician came with me to reprogram the control but cant resolved the problem. I was told that I need to buy a remote control for the gate compatible with the SUV control systems. We have two gates which means T I have to buy the controls. I tried to return the vehicle but the next day I found the vehicle in my drive way, with a note saying the problem was on the gate. Still further made the complain to the main Toyota manufacturers office to no avail, still insisting that the problem was in the gate control. However the control button for the garage work properly. Still the problem is unresolved at this moment.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

problem #16

Dec 012019

RAV4

  • 16,000 miles
The lane departure warning system works intermittently at night on a wet roadway. The vehicle was on a four lane road with two lanes in each direction. Speed was around 45mph. Lane departure warning works above approximately 32mph. The system would not recognize the white shoulder line on the right hand side of the vehicle or the dotted white line on the left hand side of the lane. This was the second time this had happened to me. The other time was approximately a month ago.

- Cranberry Township, PA, USA

problem #15

Nov 102019

RAV4

  • 6,750 miles
While driving the car shuttered then stopped while in traffic and check engine light and charging system malfunction error message appeared. I coasted over to side of road. Restarted car to get home and this same thing happened 3 more times until I got home and parked it. We ran the car in the driveway and the same thing happened 3 more times. Since it is Sunday afternoon will have to call Toyota on Monday. After reading online about similar issues...I'm afraid to drive the car again. It seems Toyota has no fix or has acknowledged it as a problem.

- East Norriton, PA, USA

problem #14

May 182019

RAV4 4-cyl

  • 17,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Rav4. While attempting to drive the vehicle, all the warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to checkered flag Toyota (located at 5301 Virginia beach blvd, Virginia beach, va 23462, (757) 490-1111) where it was diagnosed that the soy wires attracted rodents who were eating the wires. The dealer replaced the wires. In addition, the contact stated that the washer fluid hose was eaten by the rodents. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the washer fluid hose was replaced. The contact was informed that they could not use anything else to prevent the rodents from eating the wires and advised the contact to get an exterminator. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided case number: [xxx]. the approximate failure mileage was 17,000. 'parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #13

Feb 132019

RAV4 4-cyl

  • 8,652 miles
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Rav4. While driving 20 mph or less, the vehicle has stalled when the accelerator pedal was released in moving traffic 5 times. The failure occurred four times in April, 3 times while driving to work. The contact took the vehicle to Toyota escondido (231 E Lincoln pkwy, escondido, ca 92026, (760) 300-1112) to be diagnosed and three abnormal codes appeared, which indicated rough idling and failure with the vehicle starting. The manufacturing was contacted and could not locate a failure. The contact wrote to the dealer's owner and requested that they extend the warranty; however, the request was denied. The manufacturer promised to call the contact back, but did not call. The failure mileage was 8,652. Consumer stated toytoa was unable to establish a root cause. 'parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #12

Apr 022019

RAV4

  • 8,940 miles
My 2018 Toyota Rav4 has stalled 5 times while driving on city streets in moving traffic, first time in Feb 2019 while driving home from work, in April three times while driving to work and one time while driving home from work(rush hour). All documented with Toyota. Occurs when I take my foot off the gas while driving, and difficulty restarting after it stalls with loss of power and sputtering. 'charging system malfunction' warning msg appeared on dashboard(I took photo and emailed to Toyota). I followed instructions in 2018 toyotal Rav4 owner's manual "stop the car immediately...continuing to drive the vehicle may be dangerous". had car towed to Toyota immediately. 3 trouble codes were recorded P1603(engine stall), P1604 startability malfunction, and P1605(rough idling), however they were unable to determine root cause of stalling and refused to keep my car to do further analysis despite the fact that I told them I did not feel safe driving vehicle, and my car is still under comprehensive warranty coverage. I contacted corporate, and they restated dealer conclusions and would not allow me to speak to a field tech specialist. I then emailed and wrote a letter to vp sales of Toyota, andrew gilleland. Rep from executive office called me. I asked for Toyota to provide me with either transportation assistance and a no cost-to-me extended comprehensive warranty until the underlying cause is determined and without further stalling incidences, or a replacement vehicle. He refused, despite all the significant potentially dangerous safety issues in a vehicle with less than 9,200 miles. Toyota does not appear to be concerned with reliability, peace of mind, and most of all safety. I have a case # with Toyota. I recently discovered there are several other reports on this site with same stalling issues as my car.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #11

Apr 022019

RAV4

  • 8,940 miles
My 2018 Toyota Rav4 has stalled 5 times while driving on city streets in moving traffic, first time in Feb 2019 while driving home from work, in April three times while driving to work and one time while driving home from work(rush hour). All documented with Toyota. Occurs when I take my foot off the gas while driving, and difficulty restarting after it stalls with loss of power and sputtering. 'charging system malfunction' warning msg appeared on dashboard(I took photo and emailed to Toyota). I followed instructions in 2018 toyotal Rav4 owner's manual "stop the car immediately...continuing to drive the vehicle may be dangerous". had car towed to Toyota immediately. 3 trouble codes were recorded P1603(engine stall), P1604 startability malfunction, and P1605(rough idling), however they were unable to determine root cause of stalling and refused to keep my car to do further analysis despite the fact that I told them I did not feel safe driving vehicle, and my car is still under comprehensive warranty coverage. I contacted corporate, and they restated dealer conclusions and would not allow me to speak to a field tech specialist. I then emailed and wrote a letter to vp sales of Toyota, andrew gilleland. Rep from executive office called me. I asked for Toyota to provide me with either transportation assistance and a no cost-to-me extended comprehensive warranty until the underlying cause is determined and without further stalling incidences, or a replacement vehicle. He refused, despite all the significant potentially dangerous safety issues in a vehicle with less than 9,200 miles. Toyota does not appear to be concerned with reliability, peace of mind, and most of all safety. I have a case # with Toyota. I recently discovered there are several other reports on this site with same stalling issues as my car.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #10

Apr 022019

RAV4

  • 8,940 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My 2018 Toyota Rav4 has stalled 5 times while driving on city streets in moving traffic, first time in Feb 2019 while driving home from work, in April three times while driving to work and one time while driving home from work(rush hour). All documented with Toyota. Occurs when I take my foot off the gas while driving, and difficulty restarting after it stalls with loss of power and sputtering. 'charging system malfunction' warning msg appeared on dashboard(I took photo and emailed to Toyota). I followed instructions in 2018 toyotal Rav4 owner's manual "stop the car immediately...continuing to drive the vehicle may be dangerous". had car towed to Toyota immediately. 3 trouble codes were recorded P1603(engine stall), P1604 startability malfunction, and P1605(rough idling), however they were unable to determine root cause of stalling and refused to keep my car to do further analysis despite the fact that I told them I did not feel safe driving vehicle, and my car is still under comprehensive warranty coverage. I contacted corporate, and they restated dealer conclusions and would not allow me to speak to a field tech specialist. I then emailed and wrote a letter to vp sales of Toyota, andrew gilleland. Rep from executive office called me. I asked for Toyota to provide me with either transportation assistance and a no cost-to-me extended comprehensive warranty until the underlying cause is determined and without further stalling incidences, or a replacement vehicle. He refused, despite all the significant potentially dangerous safety issues in a vehicle with less than 9,200 miles. Toyota does not appear to be concerned with reliability, peace of mind, and most of all safety. I have a case # with Toyota. I recently discovered there are several other reports on this site with same stalling issues as my car.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #9

Apr 022019

RAV4

  • 8,940 miles
My 2018 Toyota Rav4 has stalled 5 times while driving on city streets in moving traffic, first time in Feb 2019 while driving home from work, in April three times while driving to work and one time while driving home from work(rush hour). All documented with Toyota. Occurs when I take my foot off the gas while driving, and difficulty restarting after it stalls with loss of power and sputtering. 'charging system malfunction' warning msg appeared on dashboard(I took photo and emailed to Toyota). I followed instructions in 2018 toyotal Rav4 owner's manual "stop the car immediately...continuing to drive the vehicle may be dangerous". had car towed to Toyota immediately. 3 trouble codes were recorded P1603(engine stall), P1604 startability malfunction, and P1605(rough idling), however they were unable to determine root cause of stalling and refused to keep my car to do further analysis despite the fact that I told them I did not feel safe driving vehicle, and my car is still under comprehensive warranty coverage. I contacted corporate, and they restated dealer conclusions and would not allow me to speak to a field tech specialist. I then emailed and wrote a letter to vp sales of Toyota, andrew gilleland. Rep from executive office called me. I asked for Toyota to provide me with either transportation assistance and a no cost-to-me extended comprehensive warranty until the underlying cause is determined and without further stalling incidences, or a replacement vehicle. He refused, despite all the significant potentially dangerous safety issues in a vehicle with less than 9,200 miles. Toyota does not appear to be concerned with reliability, peace of mind, and most of all safety. I have a case # with Toyota. I recently discovered there are several other reports on this site with same stalling issues as my car.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #8

Feb 192019

RAV4

  • 10 miles
I was driving to work around 740am on 287 South just past rt 24. Dashboard has "4WD" warning and smoke coming out from hood. I quickly moved to the shoulder and fire broke out before car came to full stop, all within one minute. I barely escape the car and called police and fire dept. They came and put off the fire. There are two explosions before the fire was put off.

- Parsippany, NJ, USA

problem #7

Feb 172019

RAV4 4-cyl

  • 7,000 miles
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Rav4. While driving approximately 65 mph in snow and icy conditions, the warning messages suddenly displayed indicating that the brakes and safety features were not available, and instructed the driver not to drive the vehicle. When the vehicle was turned off and restarted, it resumed normal operation. The cause of the failure was not determined. Love Toyota (215 E. fairmount ave, lakewood, NY) was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 7,000. Consumer let the car sit for 15", cleared the ice off. The technician stated feature were satellite enabled and probably the ice intersected with the signals.

- Jamestown, NY, USA

problem #6

Feb 062019

RAV4

  • 4,700 miles
While driving the car just shut down and the code read charging system malfunction, we had it towed to the dealership and they erased the codes but they acknowledged they existed however they said there is nothing wrong and want us to continue driving this vehicle with no assurance it will not happen again

- Pine Mountain, GA, USA

problem #5

Dec 242018

RAV4

  • miles
After purchasing our brand-new 2018 Rav4 from authorized Toyota dealer, we were heading back home. On our way, we noticed burning smell followed by black smoke filled front side of the cabin. I quickly moved my car to the right side parking lot. While changing the lane I could not even see the right mirror because of the black smoke in the cabin. As soon as I parked the car and we got off the car, within a few seconds flames from the hoods were noticed I called emergency service (911) and to our disbelief to watch our new car burning in front of us. It was only 15 mins drive from dealer when we the incident happened. It took only 10 mins to see my car was destroyed by flames. I could not get anything out from front or back seats

- Alpharetta, GA, USA

problem #4

Sep 292018

RAV4

  • 3,500 miles
While driving on Saturday morning 9/29/18, I stopped at a stop light and my 2018 Toyota Rav4 lost all engine power while in traffic. The computer video screen showed the message "charging system failure\malfunction". I then attempted to restart the vehicle and it did not crank over, I waited a few seconds, made another attempt, the vehicle started. I pulled over and parked the vehicle, looked up the error message in the car manual and it instructed me that it was a serious problem and to take the vehicle immediately to the nearest Toyota dealer. I then took the vehicle to my local dealer, they ran a vehicle diagnostic report, they found no error messages or voltage problems with the vehicle. They offered no reason for the loss of vehicle power. The service manager stated that they could only diagnose the vehicle so far and that they would need "corporate" to send someone out to do further diagnostics on the black box. On 10/1/18, I opened a problem report with Toyota usa and was given a case#..

- Lawrence Twp., NJ, USA

problem #3

Aug 172018

RAV4

  • 500 miles
My Rav4 caught fire in the middle of the night while parked on the street in front of my house. It had been parked for 12+ hours. After burning for about 10 minutes, it exploded with a force so great that it lifted the car onto the curb, knocked over a firefighter, and damaged our boat parked 10 feet across the street. The inspector from the fire department determined the initial fire was from faulty electrical wiring but said he had never seen a car explode in his 25 years on the force. Toyota conducted their own investigation and agreed it was electrical but could not determine fault due to the severity of the damage

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

problem #2

Apr 132018

RAV4

  • 1,980 miles
I am very disappointed. I bought a Rav4 2018 in February of this year, it has only 1,900 miles and is already at the dealer after taking my kids to school I went back home and I usually do I activate the vehicle alarm but it did not work. The keys does not activate or dis-activate the vehicle alarm and when the car is on the tire pressure sign started to blink. The dealer staff said that one of the computer is not working right. At this moment they don't know what is going on and ironically is not time for the first payment yet.

- Deland, FL, USA

problem #1

Mar 012018

RAV4

  • 980 miles
The vehicle was stationary in a driveway for approximately 2 hours. After pulling away from the house, dash panel indicators were showing malfunctions on brake systems, aws, etc. It showed that all computer systems were malfunctioning. I drove immediately to the dealer. Inspection showed that the wire harness on the vehicle had been chewed apart, off, and insulation had been removed. I investigated the internet on this problem and it seems that several vehicle makes and models were affected. It seems that the manufactures were using a food based ingredient in the insulation of the wires, (soy). This is attracting rodents, (squirrels) to this for food. It could happen anywhere, parked at the post office, grocery store, your friends house, etc. My vehicle only has 980 miles. I have never had this before. What would happen if the wires catch on fire or your car stops on the freeway because of this issue. Can this be investigated? at this point, what's going to keep this from happening again. We've had several Toyota vehicles in the past and did not have any wire harness problems.

- Cottage Grove, MN, USA

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