2023 TOYOTA RAV4 Complaints

A strong fuel odor was evident in the cabin, and also under the hood after operation. Vehicle use was low, approx. 6K miles from new. My wife reported this to the dealer service department. They said nothing was wrong with the vehicle. Approx. 2K miles later, I reported the same problem to the dealer. Service rep said vehicle was unsafe to drive due to over torqued and leaking fuel line. They repaired it for no charge. No fuel vapors now, but if this is a production quality issue that others have reported, only to be told nothing was wrong, I think a major fuel-combustion safety issue may be overlooked. I am submitting documentation. Also, I am concerned about health effects of sustained fuel vapor exposure over months of driving. My wife rear-ended a stopped vehicle, possibly due to cognitive impairment from fuel vapor exposure. No warning indicators were ever triggered. Thank you.

While driving down the highway at the speed limit in our town on a clear evening with no weather, the sunroof of our 2023 Toyota RAV 4 exploded. There was a loud bang and it shattered as if the glass had been under significant stress or pressure. The glass bowed up in the middle and a section the size of a small saucer dropped out. There was a rigged break along the front edge of the sun roof. There were no bumps or holes in the road - it was smooth. There were no other vehicles nearby - no one threw a rock at our car. The noise was so loud that it was disruptive and shocking and thankfully I was not in heavy traffic or an accident might have occurred. I researched the web and found numerous instances of this sunroof explosion occurring. Please get Toyota to fix this before someone is serious injured.

Check engine sing comes and all dash board alarms lights on and bleep and while driving it shuts off while vehicle is on motion. This vehicle operates as yellow taxi and this issues is serious concern about passengers safety on board . The vehicle took to bay ridge Toyota dealer and the technician was unable troubleshoot and solve the concern Dealer charged 200 dollars for diagnostic and car is still under warranty.

I was turning left pulling into my carport with my foot lightly on brake and the car suddenly accelerated forward !!! I slammed the break hard and was able to stop the car from hitting the concrete wall because my front tire hit the wall to the left and the car hit the cement parking bumper in my carport!! It scared me so bad I am afraid to drive the car in fear I could hurt someone. The dealer could not replicate the problem and sent me home with the car. I am not happy with Toyota !! The car is 8 months old with 7,000 miles on it!!

Vehicle will shut off while in “drive” gear after a complete stop and will report on the dash screen “ Engine stopped. Steering power low.” All other alert lights will be on and unable to change the gear into neutral to move the vehicle into a safe location. This vehicle has already done this exact issue twice and it’s currently less than 10,000 miles on the vehicle. First incident was 2k mileage in a safe environment however the next incident was at 6880 miles. Vehicle shut down in the middle of a highway and I was unable to place the car into neutral gear to move the car to safety. Dealership has not been successful to find the source of the issue.

I was pulling into a handicaped parking space and the car just jumped over the curb and hit the handicaped sign plowed into the landscapping. it went from 5miles an hour to 20miles an hour in 5 seconds by itself . computer took over . no air bags were deployed .

My 2023 Rav4 is having same or similar issues previously described on tsb 010920 for models 2019 to 2021. Toyota of Iowa city is saying issue is under investigation for the last 5 months.

Car loses traction over minor imperfections in the road. When braking and dropping speeds to 20-30 MPH, car will lose traction over imperfection in the road, causing the ABS to engage. The car shutters and grinds/vibrates until traction is regained. With an AWD system, a minor 6-inch drop in the road due to a pot hole or dip should not cause traction to be lost. The car consistently loses traction when braking and 1 tire runs over imperfection in the road (pot hole, dip, uneven pavement, etc.). If car drives over speed bump (which keeps tires aligned), car does not lose traction. Issue is only present if 1 tire different than the other 3 which shows instability of the vehicle. Issue has been verified by manufacturer and has shown up in the car log. Dealer said that the car recorded a loss of traction 4 times in the last month. Issue has been escalated to Toyota corporate and they do not see the sensitivity of the traction control as an issue. Issue has been persistent since the purchase of the car in early 2023. All components on the car are OEM and have only been looked at by Toyota dealers. Multiple online forums have shown that other owners face the same issues. Video proof of the issue can be provided.

I am an owner of new 2023 RAV4 and believe some of the newer 2023 & 2024 Toyota Rav4 models with ICE (non-hybrid) have a potentially dangerous defect with the transmission system, which causes these cars to jerk and stutter when the gas pedal is lightly depressed (light acceleration) when the car speed is between 15 and 40 mph and tachometer is between 1500 and 2500 RPM. The reason I believe this defect is potentially dangerous is that a few weeks ago I was going through a school zone with an active 20mph limit, and when trying to keep the speed at 20mph, experienced jerkiness, RPM jump and sudden speed bouncing (momentary jerking from lower to faster and back to lower speeds a few times in a row). Typically this issue is a lot more subtle but occasionally it is so bad that I have a momentary feeling of loosing control over the speed of the car and active school zone is the least place I'd like that to happen. Besides, these stutters are pretty bad disturbers when they occur drawing focus away from the road and onto the car itself, since it does feel like the car is about to stall. I have visited the dealership twice regarding this concern, however since these stuttering have a random nature I was not able to replicate the issue during my visits to the dealership. I have also passed this concern to Toyota USA Corporate office and they in fact have acknowledged that they received numerous complaints on the same matter and suspect the issue is in the newer 8 speed transmission system they are now installing. Unfortunately there has been no further action taken by Toyota to remedy this issue, although they are fully aware of it. Hoping you get more complains on this matter and force Toyota to take action. Thank you!

The vehicle several occasions been unresponsive to accelerate. This has happened on two separate occasions (days) in which the vehicle would not accelerate. The first occurrence was right after I purchased the car and drove it the first full day I owned it in September 2023. The second time was on Saturday December 16, 2023. When the vehicle is driven under 40 mph such as slowing for a turn, braking for a traffic light, picking up speed to enter onto a highway this problem occurs. It is when the gas is pressed down to accelerate, the vehicle does not respond by increasing the speed. The RPM's would go really high and the vehicle would receive the gas but would not "shift" and felt stuck. And the transmission was very loud. It felt like the vehicle transmission was slipping or not engaging/shifting. Adding more gas was not beneficial. The gas pedal could be pressed down to the floor and the vehicle was not responsive by shifting "gears" or picking up speed. The vehicle would not accelerate above 20 mph and the RPMs would go up. No lights or warnings were produced. The only way to get the vehicle to act normally once again was to pull the car over into a safe location, shift the car into park, shut the car off, wait for a few seconds, restart the car and proceed. In one session (driving the same day) the car repeated the inability to accelerate each time the vehicle was slowed down below 40 mph to come to a stop at a stop sign, take a turn, stop at a traffic light etc. This was dangerous as I was not able to proceed in traffic and caused other drivers to honk their horns at me, and left me stuck in intersections. This was very disconcerting and left me feeling endangered by not being able to follow the flow of traffic. Toyota Service did a diagnostic test on it twice now. The first time had torque converter codes. This 2nd time they claim there were no codes on the diagnostic test. They dropped the transmission pan and found no metal shavings.