2015 TOYOTA RAV4 Complaints

CAR WILL NOT START ON 1ST TRY. IT MAY START 2ND OR 3RD TIME WHILE HOLDING GAS PEDDLE TO THE FLOOR. LOUD POPPING SOUND FROM UNDERNEATH THE CAR. SOUNDS LIKE CHANGING GEARS ON A MANUAL. CAR HAS LESS THAN 50K MILES

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO TOYOTA OF SOMERSET (4195 S HWY 27, SOMERSET, KY 42501) AND GAMBREL TOYOTA(311 W CUMBERLAND GAP PKWY, CORBIN, KY 40701), HOWEVER, THE MECHANICS WERE UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER HAD NOT BEEN NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 23,000.

SHORTLY AFTER DRIVING WITH NO ISSUES, THE PARKED CAR STARTED TO SMOKE FROM UNDERNEATH THE HOOD. WITHIN SECONDS, A LARGE FIRE HAD STARTED WHICH COMPLETELY CONSUMED THE CAR AND ALSO SPREAD TO MY WIFE'S CAR AND THE HOUSE'S CARPORT. INSURANCE INVESTIGATOR INFORMED US THAT THE FIRE LIKELY STARTED IN/NEAR THE ENGINE TOWARDS THE DRIVERS SIDE BASED ON WHERE THE HOTTEST PARTS OF THE FIRE APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN. HOWEVER, NO CONCLUSIVE DETERMINATION WAS MADE REGARDING THE CAUSE. THE CAR WAS IN GOOD CONDITION AND HAD NOT HAD ANY MAINTENANCE WORK PERFORMED ON IT RECENTLY. THERE WERE ALSO NO SIGNS OF INTRUSION BY RODENTS OR OTHER ANIMALS. THIS HAPPENED WITH NO WARNING. I'VE ALSO SINCE LEARNED THIS HAD HAPPENED ONLY ONE MONTH BEFORE TO THE PARENTS OF ONE OF OUR CHILDRENS' FRIENDS. THEY ALSO HAD A RAV4, ALTHOUGH NOT THE SAME MODEL YEAR (I BELIEVE IT WAS A 2013). I HAVE ALSO SEEN MANY OTHER REPORTS WHILE RESEARCHING THIS ISSUE. IF THERE IS A DEFECT OR DESIGN FLAW CONTRIBUTING TO THESE FIRES, IT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED QUICKLY!

I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE ENTRANCE RAMP WHEN THE BATTERY DIED BUT THEN I WAS ABLE TO START IT BACK AND DROVE JUST A SHORT DISTANCE WHEN THE HOOD STARTED SMOKING. I PULLED OVER AND TURNED THE MOTOR OFF AND RAISED THE HOOD, AND THE BATTERY WAS ON FIRE. THE BATTERY AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEM BURNED.

HESITATES BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND GEAR LIKE GOING INTO NUETRAL FOR ABOUT 3 / 5 SECONDS BEFORE SHIFTING BACK TO FIRST. THE CAR CAN BE AT A STOP UPON STARTING IT HESITATES, OR WHEN IN MOTION AND GOING TO PASS IT HESITATES, ON CITY STREETS, HIGHWAYS AND TURNING. WE HAVE RETURNED TO THE TOYOTA DEALER 4 TIMES AND THEY DROVE THE CAR AND STATED NOTHING WRONG. THE FOURTH TIME IN I DROVE THE CAR WITH A MECHANIC AND HE WITNESS THE HESITATION, THEN THEY CHECKED THE CAR AND SAID NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. IN RESEARCHING ON LINE WE FOUND COMPLAINTS GOING BACK TO 2006 AND NOTHING BEING DONE. WHY IS TOYOTA GETTING AWAY WITH THIS. WE KNOW IT DOESN'T HAPPEN TO ALL TOYOTA'S AS WE HAD A 2008 AND IT WAS PERFECT. WE HAVE ALMOST BEEN HIT FROM BEHIND NUMEROUS TIMES AND SCARY WHEN PULLING OUT TO PASS, YOU NEVER KNOW IF THE CAR WILL TAKE OFF. CAR WAS BOUGHT USED WITH 35000 MILES ON IT IN JUNE OF 2018 AND CERTIFIED NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.

TEMPORARY LOSS OF POWER. ON A TRIP FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO CYPRESS, CA ON THE I-5 FREEWAY CRUISING AT 70 MPH A SUDDEN TEMPORARY LOSS OF POWER OCCURRED AT LEAST 30 TIMES (THIS WITH ODOMETER IN 6,000 MILE RANGE). I HAD REPORTED THIS PROBLEM TO MY TOYOTA DEALER AT APPROXIMATELY 3000 MILES. THEY SAID THEIR TECHNICIAN COULD NOT FIND ANY PROBLEM. AROUND 1/3/2020 I TOOK IT TO DEALER AND SAID I WOULD LEAVE IT THERE UNTIL THEY REPAIRED IT. I PURCHASED AN 8 YEAR EXTENDED WARRANTY IN OCT., 2014. AFTER. 4 DAYS DEALER CALLED FOR ME TO PICK IT UP. WAS TOLD THERE WAS NO PROBLEM, THEIR COMPUTER READ MY CAR COMPUTER AND FOUND THAT WHILE RIGHT FOOT WAS ON GAS AND LEFT FOOT EITHER NEAR OR ON THE BRAKE PEDAL WHEN IT OCCURRED. SINCE MY LEFT FOOT WAS RESTING ON MAT WITHOUT ANY MOVEMENT WHY DIDN'T THE LOSS OF POWER HAPPEN CONSTANTLY! THEY SAID IT WAS A SAFETY FEATURE. I SAY IT IS A DANGER.. I HAVE HAD IT HAPPEN MAKING RIGHT OR LEFT TURNS & STARTING WHEN SIGNAL TURNS GREEN. ON LINE I HAVE SEEN SAME COMPLAINTS. ONE MECHANIC SUGGESTED IT COULD BE A MASS AIR FLOW CIRCUIT MALFUNCTION. ANOTHER SAID IT COULD BE AIR FUEL RATIO SENSOR INTERMITTENTLY FAILING WHICH COULD TEST OK. NOTICE WE ONLY HAVE AROUND 6,000 MILES ON CAR WE BOUGHT IN OCT. 2014 BECAUSE PROBLEM CANNOT BE PREDICTED.

1ST OCCURRENCE 1/4/2016: DRIVING DOWN AN INTERSTATE WITH SEVERAL LANES GOING SAME DIRECTION AND THE HORN STARTED BLOWING INTERMITTENTLY 2ND OCCURRENCE 2/26/2019: HAD TURNED INTO A PARKING SPACE AND STOPPED WITH MOTOR STILL RUNNING, THEN OPENED DOOR TO CHECK IF I WAS PARKED BETWEEN THE PARKING LINES CORRECTLY AND THE HORN STARTED BLOWING 1ST OCCURRENCE: POOR CONNECTION TO HORN TO THEFT DETERRENT IN SECURITY ALARM 2ND OCCURRENCE: INTERMITTENT OPEN CIRCUIT IN PARKING ALARM HARNESS

A CRACKING NOISE IS NOTICE WHEN TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT, WHETHER STATIONARY OR IN MOTION. THE VEHICLE WAS CHECKED AT A TOYOTA DEALER AND RECOMMENDED TO REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN MOTOR ASSEMBLY AND STEERING RACK ASSEMBLY.

TWO DOORS (FRONT DRIVER AND PASSENGER SIDE DOORS) NO LONG LOCK AND UNLOCK USING THE KEY FOB OR THE AUTOMATIC BUTTONS ON THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR. ACCORDING TO OUR MECHANIC, THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE (THE LOCK ACTUATOR) WITH TOYOTAS, ESPECIALLY SUVS AROUND 2015 LIKE RAV4S AND HIGHLANDERS. ON A COUPLE OF OCCASIONS, THE DOOR LOCK ITSELF GOT STUCK AND I HAD TO FIDDLE WITH IT SIMPLE TO OPEN THE DOOR MANUALLY. SURPRISED THIS HASN'T BEEN RECALLED SINCE IT HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR A SAFETY HAZARD. COST TO REPAIR EACH DOOR'S ACTUATOR (BY MECHANIC) IS OVER $500.

WHILE IN MOTION THE SUSPENSION MAKES LOTS OF NOISE, IT ALSO FEELS VERY FIRM AND YOU CAN FEEL THE BUMPS ON THE ROAD. IT ALSO MAKES CREECKING SOUNDS ON UNEVEN ROADS. AND WHILE DRIVING IT MAKES THE CAR FEEL UNSTABLE WHEN ON ROUGH ROADS BY LOSING SOME CONTROL.