2021 TOYOTA RAV4 PRIME Complaints

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4 equipped with Dunlop Tire, Tire Line: Grandtrek PT20, Tire Size: 225/60/R18, DOT Number: V4H0. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving to her destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that three of 4 tires needed to be replaced. The dealer replaced the four tires. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 31,386.

After proceeding from a red light, the vehicle rear ended a semi. The Automatic Emergency Braking system did not engage. Although the Forward Collision Warning worked by giving me visual/sound alerts, it has a tendency to be delayed. Richland County City of Mansfield Police Inspected the vehicle Report number: 22-017305

May 29 2022 I parked my new RAV4 PRIME EV on an incline and left the vehicle running to keep the a/c cold & radio playing. The car was securely parked atop an incline facing up the incline while still running. While the vehicle sat idle I walked my dog waiting to clean up after him. He was taking a long time so I decided to turn off the vehicle. I walked over to the running vehicle in park, opened the driver door and pressed the off button to turn the vehicle off. This caused the vehicle to roll backwards down the incline while in the park position making a loud click noise. It made the click noise when initially it powered off and attempted to relax into the park position but did not catch, it clicked and began a roll backwards down the hill. I was caught in the driver's door jam and was dragged down the hill along with vehicle. While picking up speed it also made an audible clicking noise that witnesses recall coinciding with the increase in speed the noise increased in intensity. The vehicle dragged me stuck in the door jam into a busy 4 lane roadway where the driver door & my body met impact with a car resulting in the RAV4 rolled on my foot, ankle and leg resulting in severe damage. The impact was at the driver door where I was pinned causing the door to hyperextend. The RAV4 couldn't be moved once stopped due to a safety feature not allowing shifting out of park while the driver door was sensed open. I was pinned for 20 minutes+ under the front driver side wheel. The RAV4 needed to be jacked up to free me. I've since had 4 major surgerys. I paid out pocket 6k to repair the RAV4s cosmetic damage. Toyota they sent a tech to analyze the ECM which confirmed rolling backwards in park but due to my admission of reaching into the running vehicle and pressing off, I was told to refer to my owner manual. They gave excerpts citing "ready" position which is anytime the vehicle is on even accessory mode it's in the "ready" not to operate from outside the vehicle. Unsafe

Harness strap frayed below car seat base pad where strap is not visible or accessible during routine use. Discovered during cleaning of the seat. This weakens the harness and puts the child at risk. Car seat has not been inspected. Manufacturer has not responded to warranty claim.

We have COMPLETELY lost brakes on MULTIPLE occasions for a few seconds per occasion. Brake loss has occurred upon slow, even braking and on flat, dry, even pavement with no pot poles or loose gravel around. When this happens, an orange light appears on the dash, we lose brakes for a few seconds, the car regains brakes, and jolts forward with no change in foot position on the brake pedal. We have taken the car to the dealer multiple times and every single time this incident has occurred the rear right wheel speed shows about a 10% variation in speed compared to all the other wheels per the vehicle diagnostic report/record of behavior. The orange light we are seeing on the dash is the ABS light. There is no feedback in the brake pedal on any occasion. This incident has occurred about 20 times so far. Our car is available for inspection. The dealer believes this is being caused by a software issue and not a faulty sensor. This car is a danger to us and anyone around us as we have needed to swerve into the shoulder multiple times to avoid hitting someone ahead of us. This NEEDS to be fixed before it injures or kills someone. This issue has still been persistent even after taking care of the VSC recall and a reset/recalibration to the braking system. We have taken the car to the dealer for this issue on: 4/4/22, 4/15/22, 4/25/22, 5/11/22, 6/4/22. *We have been limiting our driving in this car due to the issue happening multiple times a week, that is why there hasn't been many trips to the dealer much between May and June. I want to reiterate, this doesn't sound like a defect per the dealer, it sounds like a software issue!

Today, May 28, 2022, between 11:40am and 11:45am, I was making a left at an intersection when the vehicle did not respond to my pressing of the gas pedal input. It was highly dangerous and the oncoming traffic had to slow down not to hit me. The car, which usually responds very well to my pressing the gas pedal has not responded now for a 2nd time. This is the first time I am reporting because I am realizing this is not anomalous and highly concerning as it puts my family at immediate risk of getting into an accident. Please note that I have reached out to the dealer to report his issue, however, I am not sure how to proceed should this become a continued issue down the road. My vehicle is a 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE model.

All four brake rotors are defective, the metal is pitted scored and not smooth, as it should be. This increases the braking distance. The vehicle is equipped with regenerative braking thus increasing the brake service interval. With mileage at 21600 this is not normal. Upon inspection at the dealer, it was described as normal for this type of vehicle. I pointed out several vehicle in the service area as what the rotors should appear. (I have had three Chevy Volts with similar drivetrain and never had to replace rotors or brake pads.) I will upload photos of the rotors and dealers comments.

My RAV4 PRIME was in stop and go traffic. Brakes did not switch from regen braking to physical brakes. Slammed on the brakes several times, they did not slow the car enough. Eventually the brakes locked up as the RAV4 rear ended the car in front. Pushing that car into the one in front of it, and that one in front of that, and that one in front of that. Causing damage to three other cars. Two other people are claiming medical, the driver went to the ER. Air bags did not deploy. Taking to the repair shop. They were shocked that the air bags didn't go off given the the condition of the frame. Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) did an inspection to read the event data recorder (EDR). Brake were applied at -1.5 seconds before impact. And here is the weird part, saying that the ABS activated then too. There was no notification, and the brakes locked up. Speed went from 46 to 21.1 mph. This occurred at 3,573 miles on only a few month old RAV4. I'm well aware of what ABS feels like when it goes off.

Vehicle abruptly and harshly slowed from 65mph to around 30 on the highway and multiple error lights and messages came up. After initial deceleration the vehicle seemed to drive normally. Once in a safe place to stop the vehicle was shut off and the only errors remained had been check engine and hybrid system malfunction and again the vehicle seemed to drive normally and was brought to the dealership for inspection the next day on its own power. Errors seen in dash and Head Unit: brake power low, brake support system malfunction, check engine, hybrid system malfunction, park sensor malfunction, lane trace assist malfunction, sonar malfunction, headlight system malfunction. Dealership states they need to contact Toyota as there is something wrong and they are unsure what it is at this time.

On March 19, 2022 I was attempting to make a left turn onto a five lane (including the center left turn lane) road. When the traffic cleared my car (a plug-in hybrid in EV mode) did not accelerate as it usually does, but slowly rolled into the first lane of traffic. I pushed the accelerator to the floor but it stopped in the traffic lane. I had to quickly select reverse and back out of the first lane of oncoming traffic. Luckily the car behind me had not moved up and I had room to avoid an accident. This seemed like it may have been a failure of the collision avoidance system. Our safety was definitely at risk as the oncoming traffic was moving at 40-45 mph. The problem has not occurred since and the Toyota dealer was unable to confirm or reproduce. My wife was also in the car and can verify what happened. There were no other warnings, messages or symptoms. In the three photos, the first shows the 2 motorcycles I intended to get behind when I completed my turn. The next two photos show how I needed to back up to clear the lane for oncoming traffic. I do have a 30 second video of the entire incident.