2023 TOYOTA RAV4 Complaints

After routine service at South Coast Toyota in Costa Mesa, CA, I unknowingly drove my 2023 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid for over a week with two missing lug nuts and one extremely loose lug nut on the front passenger wheel. The service performed on April 5, 2025, included an oil change, tire rotation, and full inspection. No issues were reported to me at pickup. Over the next several days, I heard increasing thumping and metallic noises from the front right wheel area, especially at highway speeds. On [XXX], while driving with children in the car, the vehicle made loud metal screeching noises and the steering became impaired—I could not complete a basic turn. I limped the car home at 4 mph. Upon inspection, I found two lug nuts missing and one so loose I could unscrew it by hand. I had the car towed back to South Coast Toyota on April 18. The dealership admitted two lug nuts were missing but failed to apologize or fully document the issue. I was told via text that the only action needed was replacing the missing lug nuts. I received no formal inspection report or confirmation that the vehicle was safe. I paid out of pocket for a third-party inspection at a separate Toyota dealership, which confirmed that the previously recommended sway bar replacement was unnecessary and that my tires and components were in better condition than initially claimed. This was a clear service-related safety failure that could have led to wheel detachment and a serious accident. I drove over 200 miles on freeways with children in the vehicle. The dealership failed to follow basic safety protocols and has not taken responsibility. I am reporting this to NHTSA in the interest of safety and accountability. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Was sitting in my car in the rain and all of a sudden the engine cut off. The check engine light came on and the error message on the dashboard said " Engine Power Reduced". If I try to put it in anything but Park, it won't let me. I have never had this issue, or any issue with this car. If I had been driving, this would have run me off the road.

UNKNOWN: It happened during a heavy storm on my 40 miles to work and all the symbols lights suddenly lit up on the dashboard. The car died and the steering wheel got heavy when I tried to pull to the emergency lane. Luckily I was able to pull over, but it almost caused an accident as I was in the middle lane. I tried to start up the car again, but it would crank up, but died instantly and the dash would show "Ignition on" on the top left and "Engine Stopped: Power Steering Low". I called the dealership and talked to the service department and the service advisor think it was the battery, but he told me to try starting it after 5-10 minutes, if not, to call the tow company and tow the car to dealership for further inspection. I let it sit for 10 minutes and was able to start it back up and drove it straight to the nearest Toyota Dealership. While driving to the dealership, the car kept choking/stalling when pressing on the gas after braking. They examined with their scanners and the battery was in good condition and my car has gas (about 3/4 tank full) and they said the scans reported no issues. This is a concerning issue as I could had lost my life or possibly cause major accident and involve other people life.

While raining, noticed smoke coming from under the hood, engine seemed as if it didn’t have any power. Car shut off. While attempting to restart I seen a message in dashboard that said Engine stopped: steering power low. Took a while to get car cranked again after multiple attempts. Message in dashboard disappeared after multiple attempts to restart nor is there a message in remote application health status section.

It’s pouring rain and my engine stopped and a message popped up saying “engine stopped power steering low”

On 2 occasions while driving on a flat straight Interstate Highway using the adaptive cruise control, with no vehicle in front of me, the vehicle has suddenly tried to stop. Pressing the Cancel button for the adaptive cruise control would not shut the system Off. When the accelerator was depressed to attempt to get the car moving forward, it continued to try to stop the vehicle even harder. Pressing the brake pedal also did not disengage the adaptive cruise control. I had to allow the vehicle to creep off the highway, then Shutdown the vehicle and then Restart to resume driving.

My engine shut off (would not turn back on!) and displayed message: “Engine Stopped. Steering Power Low”. I brought it to the dealership the next morning. I was told that the power steering was electric, they could not duplicate the message, and to bring it back if it does it again. I’m concerned because what happens if it occurs again while I’m driving on the interstate?

I drive through heavy rain for about 20 miles and I got to my mom’s house, put the car in park for about 5 minutes, when I get back in the car the car shut off when I put it in drive and was smoking. Now it will not crank up.

I was sitting in a drive thru with my car in drive , foot on break and all of a sudden it starts to shake and struggle to stay on . Then it stalls out , engine shuts completely off and my check engine light came on! The error messages on the screen read : Engine stopped , power steering low , precollision system malfunction , and parking brake malfunction. As I tried to restart it , It wouldn’t start back up and stay on at all. After a good 20 min or so , and after being pushed out of the drive thru and my order canceled, my car starts back up as if nothing happened. Had my car checked for codes , and guess what ? NOTHING ! It’s happened to me about 6 times in about a year and two month of owning it ! Nobody can figure out what the problem is . I also have issues randomly with my radio screen . When my phone is hooked up to CarPlay , it will sometimes kick me out and reconnect by itself , the screen completely shutting off and turning back on by itself , there’s times I was listening to pandora and it won’t allow me to click my station and show the song playing , and other issues. Had this happen too many times to count and within the first couple months of owning it , I took it back and they couldn’t figure out the issue. It never happened while they had it .

Was driving to work, pulled in put the car in gear. The car turns off staying low power steering fluid. Couldn’t get it to start. I go in work my shift have my brother meet me. The car starts after sitting 9 hrs and I took it to Toyota. I have only had this car a month and it does this. Low power steering shouldn’t cut an engine off. If anything it should just be hard to steer. These new cars need to be tweaked. If Toyota can’t fix this they will not get any more business from me.