Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VISIBILITY | |||
| 03/01/2012 | 60000 | ||
| Visor on driver's side falls down and blocks view of the road. will not retract to it's stowed away position. | |||
| 02/01/2010 | 50000 | ||
| The drivers side sun visor will not stay up and this creates a problem while driving to the extent where it is a visibility hazard. apparently toyota had a major problem with the sun visor on this year model but refused to do a recall on the matter. when i tried to purchase another sun visor for the vehicle i found that you can only purchase it through a toyota dealer and the price is $250.00. apparently toyota is taking advantage of customers because they know there is a problem with the sun visor and refused to fix the problem. now they are charging a ridiculous price for the replacement part because they know how many are bad. something needs to be done about this but no one seems to care. i guess when people start getting killed because of the safety hazard, then maybe someone will then decide to do something to help. | |||
| 05/01/2010 | 30000 | ||
| I own a 2006 toyota rav4. several months ago, the driver side sun visor began sagging. at first, i was able to pound it in the up position with my fist. but over time, that stopped working. it is a great obstruction to visibility. | |||
| 09/20/2010 | 90000 | ||
| I have a toyota '06 rav 4 and the sunvisor on driver side keeps falling; you hit your head each time you enter the vehicle; also, it is dangerously obstructing your view when you drive because it keeps falling. | |||
| 11/10/2009 | 45000 | 2 | |
| Rear window just shatters. it has happened twice within a period of less than one year. the car was parked and unoccupied on both occasions. nothing has been done to correct the issue other than a replacement of the window. toyota says there is nothing wrong but i've seen several forums on the web with posts from people with the exact same issue. *tr | |||
| 11/19/2009 | 66000 | 1 | |
| I own a 2006 toyota rav4. the sun visor on the drivers side will not stay up and is a true hazard while driving. it blocks my vision suddenly because it droops down into my eye line. toyota dealership wants $285 to replace? *tr | |||
| 02/03/2009 | 59177 | 1 | |
| On freeway, other motorist notified me my car was on fire! i saw excessive smoke in rearview mirror. i took the next exit which was dixon, ca off interstate 80 west in california. the side of the freeway there is grassy, did not think it was safe to stop...i stopped the car and smoke was everywhere, coming up through the hood & under the car. this was tues, 2/3/09. i has the car serviced the fri before, 1/30/09 at toyota vallejo in vallejo, ca. i called the dealership after calling aaa for a tow. the service advisor, ryan said it couldn't have been from anything they had done. but there is an 'oil hose' that had been coming off alot of the rav4's. i was already upset & that made me livid!! if it were a known problem the dealership should have checked during the scheduled maint. my car was towed to lithia toyota of vacaville #47 at 500 orange drive, vacaville, ca. work order 394212. as of yesterday, 2/12/09, the assistant service manager, megan, told me there was no tsb she was aware of, yet the part that came off (vvti oil pipe) was not found at any other dealership or supplier in the united states, and was on order from toyota in japan. i am furious that it appears toyota was well aware of this problem and has failed to initiate any steps to prevent risk to its consumers. i am asking for a full investigation which hopefully will lead to a recall of the 2006 rav4's and any other year this affects. megan, the assistant service manager at lithia toyota confirmed with my insurance adjuster, jose lara (geico 707-688-3318) the cost is covered under the powertrain warranty....what about the cost of my life, and the lives of the other motorist surrounding me??? the risk of fire is never to be taken lightly. please investigate this matter to avoid any cost of life. *tr | |||
| 11/10/2008 | 1 | ||
| Water seams to gather on the front passenger floor mat. i went to the dealership closest to me and they told me there was a leak from the windshield area and technician needs to asses the situation but since i had 37,000 miles on the car it would not be covered. the water gathers only when it rains. my first thought was that it might have been condensation from the ac but that is not the case. this is rain water entering the cabin. 2006 rav4. *tr | |||
| VISIBILITY - GLASS, SIDE/REAR | |||
| 07/01/2006 | 1 | 01/30/2006 | |
| Sat, july 1, 2006 the rear window of my 2006 toyota rav4 simply blewout sitting in our driveway. there was no traffic, precipitation or wind and temp hovered 75-80 degrees. most of glass remained loosely intact but was all shattered with a medium size hole in the right side of the rear window, with small fragments found outside of window. small pieces of glass continued to fall out. the car had been sitting cold (not running) since the evening prior (6:30pm) and was in partly shaded area. both rear driver/ passenger side windows lowered about 2 inches to circulate air. nothing was in car to contribute to internal pressure and nothing hit the car as i was witness to this event as it occurred. driveway is on a hill; car faced forward and angled down the hill toward garage (car rear end highest). large glass pieces found mostly outside of car just below window with some larger pieces laying on outside of rear door with smaller fragments on the ground below. small glass fragments found inside car below window. pictures taken. toyota contacted and questioned as to next step. toyota representative offered nothing as this was holiday weekend and nothing was available,according to toyota. auto glass repair companies called and no one available due to holiday. insurance company called, given same story again! toyota called again. can't leave car sit with broken rear window and we expect rain. asked about knocking rest of glass out as the glass needed to be cleaned up and opening needed to be secured. i explained i couldn't drive the car, it was unsafe to drive & towing was not an option as nearest toyota dealer didn't have towing capacity...and closed in an hour. knocked rest of glass out and taped up rear window opening. drove to dealer mon morning to leave rav for repair and secured rental car. told my car would not be looked at until wed. thur my car looked at and new window ordered and hoped to be here in a week or so. broken glass disposed of. *nm | |||
| VISIBILITY - SUN ROOF ASSEMBLY | |||
| 07/14/2006 | 5000 | 1 | |
| An account of incident involving explosion of sunroof on 2006 rav4/toyota rental vehicle rented from beaver toyota, 1500 st. michael dr. santa fe, nm 87505 is given below. vehicle inf. is as followings: vehicle line: 2006 rav4/sport, vehicle #: r017457, vin # jtmbd32v365017457, license #: nm 088nxp. incident: vehicle was rented for 1 week starting 11jul06 with expected return date on 18jul06. a vacation trip was planned for 2 nights in keystone, co, and 2 nights in taos, nm. on route to taos, nm from keystone, co on the morning of the 14th of july 2006, we were driving down us highway 285 south of fairplay, co traveling approx. 65 miles/hr. no other vehicles were within approximately 1 mile of us. the sunroof was opened briefly, perhaps for 2-3 minutes, but then closed. shortly after closing the sunroof, with the sun blind open, the sunroof exploded sending most of the shattered glass exteriorly. the hole in the sunroof was centrally located and measured approximately 12 in. (transverse length) x 6 in. (longitudinal length). we were unaware of an impact of any objects hitting this vehicle. on 17jul06, we spoke to mr. guerrero at beaver toyota regarding warranty, possible defect of the sunroof, and were informed that he contacted toyota. we were told us that this vehicle has had no problems with defective sunroofs. i informed mr. guerrero that i intended on reporting this incident to both toyota motor company, and to the national traffic and safety administration, because it was most likely, considering the circumstance that the sunroof exploded due to a manufacturing defect. *nm | |||
| VISIBILITY - WINDSHIELD | |||
| 10/18/2006 | 5000 | 1 | 06/09/2006 |
| This complaint involves the glass in the windshield of a 2006 toyota rav4. briefly, the glass shattered in a manner that is uncharacteristic of safety glass leaving shards and slivers of glass throughout the vehicle from the impact of a rock from the highway. i believe the tempering process left this window defective and the potential for injuries, particularly to the eyes, of drivers or passengers is more than should be allowable. *nm | |||
| 06/23/2006 | 3125 | 2 | 05/27/2006 |
| Windshield for the toyota rav 4 are cracking very easy. mine has less than 3000 and i have already repaired it once and today it cracked again. the dot rating is not right dot 20 . my pontiac is 147 and has taken much bigger hits an no damage. *nm | |||
| VISIBILITY/WIPER | |||
| 03/01/2013 | 68000 | 1 | |
| Driver's side sun visor does not stay up. it osbtructs the driver's vision and may result in an accident. *tr | |||
| 03/01/2013 | 68000 | ||
| Driver's side sun visor does not stay up. it osbtructs the driver's vision and may result in an accident. | |||
| 05/01/2012 | 65000 | 1 | |
| The rav4 has a well-known problem with the driver's side sun visor in which it will not stay in place. the visor frequently and without warning abruptly drops to a straight-down position. in this position it impairs forward visibility, and for tall drivers it can block the view of the road completely. there is also a widely-reported problem with the steering (there are 166 reports on this site at the time of my filing) which is noticed in the form of a knocking or clunking noise which can also be felt in the steering wheel. many owners, including me, are concerned that this could be a precursor to a steering component failure. *tr | |||
| 05/01/2012 | 65000 | ||
| The rav4 has a well-known problem with the driver's side sun visor in which it will not stay in place. the visor frequently and without warning abruptly drops to a straight-down position. in this position it impairs forward visibility, and for tall drivers it can block the view of the road completely. there is also a widely-reported problem with the steering (there are 166 reports on this site at the time of my filing) which is noticed in the form of a knocking or clunking noise which can also be felt in the steering wheel. many owners, including me, are concerned that this could be a precursor to a steering component failure. | |||
| 09/03/2012 | 50000 | 1 | |
| The driver side visor mechanism has broken and the visor hangs down, impairing the driver's vision. the visor is rarely used and has very little wear. it should not have been damaged by such little use. seems to be a faulty part. there has never been anything hung from the visor that could cause additional weight to the visor mechanism. *tr | |||
| 09/03/2012 | 50000 | ||
| The driver side visor mechanism has broken and the visor hangs down, impairing the driver's vision. the visor is rairly used and has very little wear. it should not have been damaged by such little use. seems to be a faulty part. there has never been anything hung from the visor that could cause additional weight to the visor mechanism. | |||