Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | |||
| 12/26/2012 | 40293 | ||
| I have taken my 1 month certified newly purchased vehicle for what i describe as brakes/suspension problems. according to the dealership, they cannot find any problems with the car. i have already stated that i drive with my grandkids in the car. they seem to ignore and find nothing wrong with the vehicle. i feel there is definitely a safety issue! | |||
| 10/01/2012 | 46666 | ||
| Front wheel bearing failed | |||
| 12/27/2011 | 35200 | ||
| At approximately 18:30 on december 27, 2011, i experienced an unintended acceleration event in my 2010 toyota rav4. i was stopping for a red light on pacific coast highway in seal beach, california at the corner of first street when i noticed it was difficult to apply the brake, and the car did not appear to want to stop. i applied the brake more forcefully and was eventually able to stop in the left hand turn lane, however the car kept lurching forward as if it wanted to break free of the brake. having heard the widespread publicity regarding the unintended acceleration problem in toyota vehicles, and having previously experienced the problem on one occasion over a year earlier, i thought this might be the issue. i put the car into park and the engine immediately revved up to an alarming rate. i turned off the ignition in panic before i was able to look at the tachometer. however, judging by the sound and later experimentation with revving while parked, i believe the rpm must have been in the 4000-5000 range at the time of the incident. i was particularly shaken by this event because i had already had the recall service performed that was supposedly intended to address the unintended acceleration issue. this recall service was performed may 10, 2011 at desert toyota in tucson, arizona. i had experience the unintended acceleration issue once before, but it was not nearly as dramatic. i do not recall the details, but it was in southern arizona in early 2011 and my memory is that tapping the accelerator and brake pedals restored the car's operation to normal fairly quickly. i was little concerned about it happening again since the recall service had been performed. | |||
| 11/15/2011 | 18200 | ||
| With the vehicle in park and the brake pedal depressed, the engine reved immediately to around 6000 rpm when started. i turned off the engine without shifting out of park, got out of the car, and visually checked the floormat. it was not touching the throttle pedal and the throttle pedal did not appear to be depressed. after approximately 1 minute i started the engine a second time and the same thing occurred. i then waited approximately 5 minutes, pumped the throttle pedal several times, then started the vehicle a third time. this time the vehicle started normally (engine idling). i then drove home without further reving issues and have not had any reoccurence since the incident date. i took the vehicle to a local toyota dealership for service the next day and was told that it was a floormat issue, and my driverside floormat was removed by the dealership. i disagree with this assessment. it is important to note that before i had the reving issue upon starting the vehicle, my last interaction with the vehicle was to have my foot completely off the gas pedal as i was steering the car into a parking space, when i was using only the brake pedal to moderate my speed, with no throttle pedal pressure being applied by me, and with the engine idling, as is normal. do not see how this could be a residual stuck throttle pedal issue when i returned to my automoble and started the engine to drive away. the only other factor which may (or may not) be relevent was that when i turned the engine off after parking, i did not first turn the radio off, which i usually do. i believe i was tuned to a satellite station at that time (xm). | |||
| 09/19/2011 | 26000 | ||
| On a public main street traveling 35-45 mph, started to brake to stop for a light changing from yellow to red. as the brake was applied, the engine began to rev to 5000 rpm. the brakes were holding back the car, but the acceleration was persistant. the car barely stopped before entering the intersection, but the engine remained at what appeared to be full throttle. i shifted the stopped vehicle into park on this automatic transaxle vehicle. the engine/transaxle made a significant bang as it was shifted, the engine stopped revving and the accellerator pedal shot back toward my leg hitting my ankle. at no time did my right foot leave the brake pedal. in fact, i was pressing the brake with all my strength to complete the stop. this is the third time something like this has been reported by family members. it was my first direct experience with it and the vehicle is just over a year old. it has been into the dealer for this reason and received a recall upgrade several months ago during a routine free maintenance visit. i have contacted toyota directly to terminate my lease on this and another exact same make/model/year leased the same day. i feel that toyota has not fixed the issues from 2010 and that adjustments to the floor mats and accelerator pedal are not addressing what is really wrong. the fact that both vehicles were supposed to have received reprogramming to solve this issue leads me to believe there is a software problem that remains undiscovered. | |||
| 08/28/2011 | 30000 | ||
| I was at a rest stop and in the process of unloading from the back of a toyota rav4 2010 model. the back door was fully open. with a very light wind, the door closed and i had my hand on the upper left side of the vehicle and i was looking the other way. the door caught my hand in the door. i had to use my other hand to get the door open. this should not happen. the door should either have a warning or the hinge should not allow the door to close like that. if it had been a child, there could have been damage to the hand. | |||
| 08/03/2011 | 6869 | ||
| On august 3, 2011 everything was normal. i stopped for fuel. i then started the engine and shifted into drive with my foot on the brake. the engine began racing and making loud strange noises. the steering wheel was shaking in my hands. i immediately shifted back into park and turned the engine off. i restarted the engine and everything was normal. on august 4, 2011, i took the rav4 to quality imports, a dealer in fort walton beach, florida. the dealer wanted me to see toyota's side of the story. with considerable effort on his part, he uninstalled the very heavy semi rigid aftermarket rubber mat and reinstalled it to rest on the accelerator. he then said, this is probably what happened. this very heavy semi rigid floor mat is precisely contoured to snugly fit in the exact contours of the floor board. there is no room for this mat to move, because it fits so snugly within the confines of the molded contours. the rubber mat has never moved in over 6,000 miles of driving. i have a clear soft vinyl mat on top of the heavy semi rigid mat; the vinyl mat that has never been any trouble. also, the accelerator pedal hangs above the floor mat thus making it impossible for a mat to slide on top of the pedal. the dealer then instructed me leave and obtain instructions by calling the toyota customer experience center. i called 800 331 4331; i was given case number 1108040789. the toyota representative asked me how fast i was going. i told him i was standing still with my foot on the brake; he responded, i guess you don't know how fast you were going. he instructed me to wait for a case worker to contact me. | |||
| 04/01/2011 | 13800 | ||
| I leased a 2010 toyota rav4 in march 2010. the crossover has been okay. one problem being when i am on an incline, say at a stop light and take my foot off the brake and apply the gas the rav4 rolls back like its a standard. i have asked several times when i have brought the rav4 in for service. the service dept tells me the feather both the gas and brake until i am over the incline. i spoke to several rav4 owners from 2006 thru 2011 and it seems to me its only the 2.5 litre 4cly that has the roll back. thank god i have not rolled into anyone, but feathering the gas all the time is to much. | |||
| 01/15/2011 | 5508 | ||
| Accelerated problem: i was on my way home from having maintance work completed on car. my first thought was that toyota had done some thing that created this problem. i was coasting and braking coming up to stop light, which was red, i was going about 1-2 miles per hour, when rpm's went very high. could not stop car with one foot on brake, needed to use both feet on brake peddle to get control of car, almost hit car in front of me. i was able to stop car apprx 1-2 feet from car in front of me. brakes or tires were making very loud noise. my wife said that tact was straight up, which is in the area of 7-8 thousand rpm's. motor was very loud. once i had control of car i put the car in neutral and car was still roaring, i turned the motor of. when light turned green and cars in front of me pulled away, i again started my car up and appeared to running normal. the only thing that i saw was different was a symbol came on dash board, in bottom right side. it was in yellow with a car and wavy tire tracks which i was told was the abs system. this light stayed on for several minutes and went out. on 01/17/2011, i took the car back to toyota of lake city and they said that everything checked out and could not find any problem with car and could not get to duplicate again. i was told that i could take car home, but found out later that according to toyota rules, i should not have been able to drive car home. tech was trying to get a hold of toyota head qtrs, but i found out later, toyota head qtrs was closed. not happy with this and asked for further tests. i brought the car back again on 01/26/2011 and was told that field technician ran further tests on car, toyota had the car for 2 days. i was told that everything checked out and nothing further could be done. they needed the car to accelerate again, while toyota had the car to determine what went wrong. | |||
| 04/10/2010 | 10500 | ||
| The 2010 rav4 rolls backwards while in drive. i first noticed this while stopped a red light in traffic. i took my foot off the brake and the car proceeded to roll backwards and did not stop until i applied brake pressure. i've also experienced this while stopped to remove my mail from my mail box and the car rolled backwards into the roadway while in drive. it happened again when i was in my driveway the car while in drive rolls backwards, freely, with no sign of stopping until i apply brake pressure. this is extremely dangerous and unexpected when it happens. my toyota dealership claims this is normal for this car. frankly, i don't feel safe in the car. thankfully, no one has been injured when this happens. i'm not sure if the failed component is the drive train, the transmission or the hydraulics. this really needs to be looked into by someone before anyone is killed or injured. | |||
| 11/22/2010 | 8000 | ||
| I was going about 4 mph around a grocery store parking lot and the vehicle made a loud roaring noise and accelerated. i was unable to stop accept for a concrete post in the parking lot. i had no control and no brakes. this incident has left me without a vehicle for use. this is detrimental to my daily routine including the care of my 93 year old father who has doctors appointments and other needs that require a vehicle. i have only had the car for 6 months and cannot afford to make car payments or pay $40.00 for car rental. it will be over 3 weeks before the dealership will check electronic box/the car and was told that it would be an additional 3 weeks before i would be contacted. i will not be given a rental until proof is determined. | |||
| 11/06/2010 | 406 | ||
| While driving my toyota rav 4 build sep/2010, compliance oct 2010 at 20km per hour, automatic, i was beginning to break gently and move into neutral when the engine rev up at 8000 rpm. i completed the maneuver to put the car in neutral (withing milliseconds of the problem happening) and after watching the clock showing 8000 rpm for 1 second i turned the car off. i did not suffer any injuries, but i have bad dreams about it. my wife was in the car at the time and she also witnesses the event. toyota is investigating... | |||
| 09/08/2010 | 900 | ||
| My new 2010 toyota rav4 makes squeaking noise from the rear wheel while i apply brake after a cold start. the noise goes away after applying the brakes couple of times. | |||
| 11/06/2010 | 406 | ||
| While driving my toyota rav 4 build sep/2010, compliance oct 2010 at 20km per hour, automatic, i was beginning to break gently and move into neutral when the engine rev up at 8000 rpm. i completed the maneuver to put the car in neutral (withing milliseconds of the problem happening) and after watching the clock showing 8000 rpm for 1 second i turned the car off. i did not suffer any injuries, but i have bad dreams about it. my wife was in the car at the time and she also witnesses the event. toyota is investigating... | |||
| 09/08/2010 | 900 | ||
| My new 2010 toyota rav4 makes squeaking noise from the rear wheel while i apply brake after a cold start. the noise goes away after applying the brakes couple of times. | |||
| 11/06/2010 | 406 | ||
| While driving my toyota rav 4 build sep/2010, compliance oct 2010 at 20km per hour, automatic, i was beginning to break gently and move into neutral when the engine rev up at 8000 rpm. i completed the maneuver to put the car in neutral (withing milliseconds of the problem happening) and after watching the clock showing 8000 rpm for 1 second i turned the car off. i did not suffer any injuries, but i have bad dreams about it. my wife was in the car at the time and she also witnesses the event. toyota is investigating... | |||
| 09/08/2010 | 900 | ||
| My new 2010 toyota rav4 makes squeaking noise from the rear wheel while i apply brake after a cold start. the noise goes away after applying the brakes couple of times. | |||
| 09/19/2010 | 700 | ||
| I bought the 2010 toyota rav4 this july. the car was fine until today, september 19th, 2010. today at 11:45 am, i was braking as i approached the red light going at 25mph. when i pressed the brake the car continued to accelerate. i pressed the brake even harder, the car jumped the light, and even though the car did slowed, i had to slam in order to come to a complete halt. i then pulled over and restarted the engine. although there was no accident i was very scared. at 4:30 pm the same day, i just exited the highway and was coming to the red light. i was braking at 25mph, yet the car continued to accelerate. i had to slam the brakes extremely hard and although it did come to a complete stop, i heard the engine revving. again i was very scared. no accidents occurred. | |||
| 08/30/2010 | 39000 | ||
| I was driving my 2007 toyota rav4 up a mountain dirt road in worlds end state park in sullivan county pa. i was traveling approx 15 mph. i hit the brake to slow down when the throttle suddenly went to full acceleration. i pressed hard on the brake, put the transmission into neutral, stopped the vehicle and shut off the engine. i pressed the gas pedal a few times and restarted the engine. everything seemed fine. the same thing occurred on the way down the mountain. this time i was in low gear and the brake would not hold the vehicle. it took me a few seconds to shift into neutral and shut off the engine. the road took a sharp turn to the right, which is why i hit the brake to slow down, and i just managed to stop short of going off the road into the trees. i had no further problems on my trip home. i took the car to the toyota dealer when i returned but they could find no problem. the only fault code in the system was for the battery which was ok when they checked it. | |||
| 09/01/2010 | 3100 | ||
| On september 1 i was driving in a congested area approaching an intersection with stopped traffic. as i was applying my brakes i suddenly felt my 2010 toyota rav4 lurch forward - at first i thought i had been hit from behind, but a quick glance in my rearview mirror indicated the car behind me was still at a safe distance. i quickly turned off my radio to hear my engine roaring as i was continuing to apply the brakes. i then put the rav4 in neutral while the engine continued to roar. once in neutral, the rav4 came to a stop. i then depressed the accelerator several times and the engine settled down. as i approached the intersection i was traveling at a slow rate of speed. when i applied the brakes the rav 4 was slowly coming to a stop until i felt the car lurch forward. once i began applying the brakes i did not take my foot off the brake pedal, nor did i apply any pressure to the accelerator. in addition, my carpet mat was several inches away from the accelerator pedal at all times. in my mind, this is clearly an acceleration issue that easily could have resulted in an accident if i had not put the transmission into neutral. i also filed a complaint with toyota. the toyota case number is 1009032525. | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| 2010 toyota rav4. consumer writes in regards to his ongoing problem with vehicle related to unintended acceleration*tgw note: letter from senator jack reed but was not received in the form of a controlled congressional *tgw the consumer did not experienced any failure. he would like to return his vehicle due to the recent news reports regarding the sudden acceleration in which he does not feel safe driving the vehicle.*jb | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| Letter from senator lieberman on behalf of constituent re event data recorder in his 2010 toyota rav-4 (dot/i#2020-1101 *tgw the consumer stated he would like the event data recorder removed from his vehicle. | |||
| 01/21/2010 | 1 | 01/21/2010 | |
| 2010 toyota rav4. consumer requests mediation. consumer has not had a favorable response from toyota. *tgw the consumer stated he purchased the vehicle hours before a recall was announced to the public. the consumer stated he purchased the vehicle without being informed of material information that was solely in toyota's possession which they failed to disclose. the consumer was informed his vehicle was not included in the recall. the consumer learned that there were problems with the make and model of his vehicle. *jb updated 06/01/10.*jb | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| S10 appropriate handling re removal of the event recorder in owner's 2010 toyota rav-4. *kb the consumer stated toyota responded to the attorney general office by writing in a letter that the event data recorder was tied in with the air bags and could not be removed. *jb | |||
| 03/27/2010 | 230 | ||
| To whom concern hi, my name is don martinez. i have a disconcerting and disappointing story to tell about buying a new toyota. my friend purchased a 2010 toyota rav4 5-door 4x2 suv ltd on 3/20/2010 and on 3/27/2010 the vehicle failed. the car hesitated to advance and after 2 or 3 more tries did not responded at all. so my friend called the dealer to have the dealer pick up the car. she was interested in knowing what was wrong with her new car. the car was picked up the same day 3/27/2010. on march 29, she called the dealer to find out about her new car | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| 2010 toyota rav 4. consumer request brake override system in the recalled vehicles. *tgw the consumer believed the sudden acceleration problem was due to electronics. *jb | |||
| 02/01/2010 | 1 | 01/23/2010 | |
| 2010 toyota rav4 gas pedal recall*cw the consumer wanted to know if the cts pedals are the only pedals involved in the recall, or are there others such as the denso pedals? updated 03/05/10 | |||
| 11/09/2009 | 50 | 1 | |
| I have a vibration when going between 62-70mph. have no idea from what have taken it to the dealer, they balanced the tires, we had a private tire dealer check the balance, still there. the owner of our dealership called and said she test drove two other ones, same model as ours and they do it too. in fact she said one vibrates worse than ours. we are being told this is normal, but we know, that no vibration is normal. *tw | |||