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2018 Toyota RAV4 electrical complaints

Page 5 of 5: complaints 101 to 130 of 130, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2018 Toyota RAV4 electrical problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Sep 23, 2021 · Electrical · 28,600 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the contact attempted to start the vehicle however, the vehicle would not start. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the battery was drained and needed to be replaced. The dealer replaced the battery however, the failure recurred several weeks later. The vehicle was towed back to dealer who inspected the vehicle again and diagnosed that the battery was not charging correctly due to the high-power amp fuse being blown. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 28,600.

Filed Aug 10, 2021 · Acceleration, Brakes · WA · crash

The first incident happened on June 9, 2021. I was turning right very slowly into a parking spot at a grocery store when the car suddenly accelerated rapidly, even when I depressed the brake very hard. My car hit a row of small trees that formed a border between the parking lot and the street. The impact was so hard that there was over $5,000 in damage to the front of the car. I was in shock as it felt like the car was out of control. The second incident July 27, 2021. Again, I was turning right to reach the exit of a parking garage at a medical clinic. I was going very slow because I was approaching the ticket booth to exit the parking garage. Just as I completed the turn, the car accelerated and lurched forward toward the arm that keeps cars from exiting. I was able to stop the vehicle by pressing the brake hard, and I did not hit the arm at the exit point. Again, it was shocking and very frightening for this to happen.

Filed Jul 11, 2021 · Electrical · CA

2018 hybrid battery does not hold charge. Sometimes the battery dies even where it should be fully charged and driving. Drove 5 hours straight on 7/10. Does on the highway. The car battery has been dying almost from day 1 . This car is only 2 1/2 and only 20, 000 miles .

Filed Jun 24, 2021 · Electrical · IN

When I tried to start my vehicle this morning after a store run. the car clicked multiple times and made a weird noise, then went dead. I popped my hood immediately and saw a hole the size of a quarter next to the battery terminal and smoke was coming out the hole. I had driven it 40 miles before I had put it in park, and it drove fine before that. I have showed multiple people pictures of the battery (including mechanics) and no one had ever seen anything like that. I decided to google to see if it's a known problem/recall on the Rav4 and found that the federal safety agency was investigating the batteries due to similar instances. Thankfully my car did not catch fire, and I was smart and decided not to start it again. Otherwise something bad could have happened.

Filed May 19, 2021 · Brakes, Electrical · TX · fire

We were driving when I made a right turn and suddenly the steering wheel locked on me and at the same time various warning lights lit up on my dashboard. The car slowed and I was able to regain control of the steering wheel to pull over. After driving a few miles further we once again came to a right turn and everything happened as before except with greater intensity. We tried to straighten the steering wheel for control and were able to pull over into an empty parking lot. By the time we came to a stop, which took all of just one or two minutes, smoke was coming out from under our hood. We quickly got out of our car and opened the hood to see the battery in flames. I called 911 while my husband poured his cup of water over the flames. It stalled the fire but it continued to spark until help arrived. I am certain if we had not had water the whole car would have caught on fire. The car was towed to a Toyota dealership where we were told that their was an issue with battery installation. At present it is being worked on but I have lost confidence in this vehicle especially since we got no warning that there was a problem and we could have been badly injured or killed if the circumstances had been different and we had not been able to pull over and get out or have water with us. We have since learned that this is an issue for many people who own this 2018 RAV4 vehicle. I also learned there is no recall on this issue. I hope that Toyota isn't waiting for someone to be seriously injured or die before they fix this problem.

Filed May 12, 2021 · Electrical · 21,000 miles · OH

I was waiting at the traffic light to turn green once it did I pressed the gas pedal to go and the vehicle stall and lost power completely and gave a message saying power failure and a picture of a battery after this happened the vehicle was able to start back up

Filed Apr 11, 2021 · Electrical · 47,000 miles · FL

Car started stalling whole in motion yesterday. I haven't thought too much about it. Today in my 3rd drive of the day after I stop at a restaurant, I start the car to the surprise it just stalled and give me charging system malfunction I try to start it again with no luck. I'm far from home I call the local dealership and is closed. I will have to wait tomorrow morning to tow the car to them. I wasn't expecting this to happen in a toyota vehicle only 3 year older. Last year they change the battery because it let me stranded something wrong with the electric system for sure.

Filed Apr 3, 2021 · Electrical · 4,874 miles · OH

The vehicle use purchased in dec '18. In dec '19 the battery went dead and was replaced. Toyota said the battery had a bad cell.. In apr '20 the battery went bad again and was replaced. Toyota said the wrong size battery was installed the last time. In aug '20 the battery went bad again and was replaced, toyota said it was because of a GPS devise that was installed by the selling dealership and was never made aware to the buyer. In dec '20 the battery went bad again and was replaced. This time toyota said it was because the car was not being driven enough. The driving pattern has been the same with this vehicle since it was purchased. If that was the problem then why was it not a problem in the first year of ownership. Also it was not a problem with the previous vehicle that was used as a trade-in on this vehicle. There seems to be an obvious problem with the electrical system of the vehicle.

Filed Mar 18, 2021 · Brakes, Electrical · 14,500 miles · GA

Starting late aug2020 the dashboard starting to show warning lights randomly and inconsistently. All warning lights do not come at the same time but when turning the external lights on other warning lights turn on and so far the car have stalled more than 4 times while driving under 40 MPH. The last 3 times the car started right after being parked and but this last time it did not and while I was waiting for a tow almost had an accident from behind me as the car that was coming behind me stopped and was hit by another car behind him. I took it to the dealer and since it is out of warranty they would not touch it and all they did was disconnect the battery so the warranting lights turn off and send me back out and with in 15 min on the road the lights started to comeback on again but the car did not die on the road. The car is barely 3 years old and only have 14,500 miles on it and it is becoming very unreliable to drive.

Filed Mar 5, 2021 · Electrical · 30,000 miles · AL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota rav4. The contact stated while driving at 55 MPH, when the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated she saw smoke exit the hood. The contact was able to park on the side of the road. The vehicle was not drivable. The vehicle was towed to her residence. The contact called local dealer eastern shore toyota (29732 frederick blvd, daphne, al 36526: (251) 250-0161) and were made aware of the failure. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

Filed Mar 4, 2021 · Electrical · 7,000 miles · VA

Constant battery failure on 2018 rav 4. Replaced jan 2020 and again march 2021. All the lights lit up, bells & whistles then dead. Have called triple a so many times we are out of service unless upgrade plan. Dealer states car not driven enough (despite driven several times per week) but dealer would not state how much car should be driven to avoid battery failure issue. Also noted squirrel had built nest under the hood with insulation. Notified dealer of all & they replaced battery which was not included in warranty that is active. Vehicle was stationary. Concerned as others having same issue and some with battery explosion/fire. My mom is elderly and concerned about her being stranded out and about or worse fire hazard.

Filed Aug 24, 2020 · Electrical · WV

The keyless is not friendly for the deaf. Need to something for the right and safe. Thank you.

Filed Jun 14, 2020 · Acceleration, Electrical · 47,800 miles · ME · crash

Pulled into driveway and had foot on break. Going very slow to park . Went to put car into park and car lunged forward and hit garage. Backed up and car went very fast so had to move forward again out of road. Put car into drive and cat surged forward and out of control. Able to avoid garage but car went beside garage, and into slight drop off. I was able to stop car by flooring break and putting into park. Called police they made report, called roadside service and towed to downeast toyota in brewer maine. It's now going to have information pulled and researched to determine what happened. No pictures. A lot of damage to front and maybe underneath. Car went over a cement block.

Filed Feb 20, 2020 · Electrical · 160 miles · NV

Next day after I bought the vehicle, I brought the SUV back to the dealer (centennial toyota of las vegas ) with problem on the gate opener. Dealer replaced the control module in the rear view mirror but the problem did not get resolved. Brought it back to the dealer again and the technician came with me to reprogram the control but cant resolved the problem. I was told that I need to buy a remote control for the gate compatible with the SUV control systems. We have two gates which means t I have to buy the controls. I tried to return the vehicle but the next day I found the vehicle in my drive way, with a note saying the problem was on the gate. Still further made the complain to the main toyota manufacturers office to no avail, still insisting that the problem was in the gate control. However the control button for the garage work properly. Still the problem is unresolved at this moment.

Filed Dec 2, 2019 · Electrical · 16,000 miles · PA

The lane departure warning system works intermittently at night on a wet roadway. The vehicle was on a four lane road with two lanes in each direction. Speed was around 45mph. Lane departure warning works above approximately 32mph. The system would not recognize the white shoulder line on the right hand side of the vehicle or the dotted white line on the left hand side of the lane. This was the second time this had happened to me. The other time was approximately a month ago.

Filed Nov 10, 2019 · Electrical · 6,750 miles · PA

While driving the car shuttered then stopped while in traffic and check engine light and charging system malfunction error message appeared. I coasted over to side of road. Restarted car to get home and this same thing happened 3 more times until I got home and parked it. We ran the car in the driveway and the same thing happened 3 more times. Since it is sunday afternoon will have to call toyota on monday. After reading online about similar issues...I'm afraid to drive the car again. It seems toyota has no fix or has acknowledged it as a problem.

Filed Jun 4, 2019 · Electrical, Visibility · 17,000 miles · VA

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota rav4. While attempting to drive the vehicle, all the warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to checkered flag toyota (located at 5301 virginia beach blvd, virginia beach, va 23462, (757) 490-1111) where it was diagnosed that the soy wires attracted rodents who were eating the wires. The dealer replaced the wires. In addition, the contact stated that the washer fluid hose was eaten by the rodents. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the washer fluid hose was replaced. The contact was informed that they could not use anything else to prevent the rodents from eating the wires and advised the contact to get an exterminator. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided case number: [xxx]. The approximate failure mileage was 17,000. 'parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).'

Filed May 8, 2019 · Electrical, Engine · 8,652 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota rav4. While driving 20 MPH or less, the vehicle has stalled when the accelerator pedal was released in moving traffic 5 times. The failure occurred four times in april, 3 times while driving to work. The contact took the vehicle to toyota escondido (231 e lincoln pkwy, escondido, ca 92026, (760) 300-1112) to be diagnosed and three abnormal codes appeared, which indicated rough idling and failure with the vehicle starting. The manufacturing was contacted and could not locate a failure. The contact wrote to the dealer's owner and requested that they extend the warranty; however, the request was denied. The manufacturer promised to call the contact back, but did not call. The failure mileage was 8,652. *bf consumer stated toytoa was unable to establish a root cause. 'parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).'

Filed May 2, 2019 · Electrical, Transmission · 8,940 miles · CA

My 2018 toyota rav4 has stalled 5 times while driving on city streets in moving traffic, first time in feb 2019 while driving home from work, in april three times while driving to work and one time while driving home from work(rush hour). All documented with toyota. Occurs when I take my foot off the gas while driving, and difficulty restarting after it stalls with loss of power and sputtering. 'charging system malfunction' warning msg appeared on dashboard(I took photo and emailed to toyota). I followed instructions in 2018 toyotal rav4 owner's manual "stop the car immediately...continuing to drive the vehicle may be dangerous". Had car towed to toyota immediately. 3 trouble codes were recorded p1603(engine stall), p1604 startability malfunction, and p1605(rough idling), however they were unable to determine root cause of stalling and refused to keep my car to do further analysis despite the fact that I told them I did not feel safe driving vehicle, and my car is still under comprehensive warranty coverage. I contacted corporate, and they restated dealer conclusions and would not allow me to speak to a field tech specialist. I then emailed and wrote a letter to vp sales of toyota, andrew gilleland. Rep from executive office called me. I asked for toyota to provide me with either transportation assistance and a no cost-to-me extended comprehensive warranty until the underlying cause is determined and without further stalling incidences, or a replacement vehicle. He refused, despite all the significant potentially dangerous safety issues in a vehicle with less than 9,200 miles. Toyota does not appear to be concerned with reliability, peace of mind, and most of all safety. I have a case # with toyota. I recently discovered there are several other reports on this site with same stalling issues as my car.

Filed May 2, 2019 · Electrical, Transmission · 8,940 miles · CA

My 2018 toyota rav4 has stalled 5 times while driving on city streets in moving traffic, first time in feb 2019 while driving home from work, in april three times while driving to work and one time while driving home from work(rush hour). All documented with toyota. Occurs when I take my foot off the gas while driving, and difficulty restarting after it stalls with loss of power and sputtering. 'charging system malfunction' warning msg appeared on dashboard(I took photo and emailed to toyota). I followed instructions in 2018 toyotal rav4 owner's manual "stop the car immediately...continuing to drive the vehicle may be dangerous". Had car towed to toyota immediately. 3 trouble codes were recorded p1603(engine stall), p1604 startability malfunction, and p1605(rough idling), however they were unable to determine root cause of stalling and refused to keep my car to do further analysis despite the fact that I told them I did not feel safe driving vehicle, and my car is still under comprehensive warranty coverage. I contacted corporate, and they restated dealer conclusions and would not allow me to speak to a field tech specialist. I then emailed and wrote a letter to vp sales of toyota, andrew gilleland. Rep from executive office called me. I asked for toyota to provide me with either transportation assistance and a no cost-to-me extended comprehensive warranty until the underlying cause is determined and without further stalling incidences, or a replacement vehicle. He refused, despite all the significant potentially dangerous safety issues in a vehicle with less than 9,200 miles. Toyota does not appear to be concerned with reliability, peace of mind, and most of all safety. I have a case # with toyota. I recently discovered there are several other reports on this site with same stalling issues as my car.

Filed May 2, 2019 · Electrical, Transmission · 8,940 miles · CA

My 2018 toyota rav4 has stalled 5 times while driving on city streets in moving traffic, first time in feb 2019 while driving home from work, in april three times while driving to work and one time while driving home from work(rush hour). All documented with toyota. Occurs when I take my foot off the gas while driving, and difficulty restarting after it stalls with loss of power and sputtering. 'charging system malfunction' warning msg appeared on dashboard(I took photo and emailed to toyota). I followed instructions in 2018 toyotal rav4 owner's manual "stop the car immediately...continuing to drive the vehicle may be dangerous". Had car towed to toyota immediately. 3 trouble codes were recorded p1603(engine stall), p1604 startability malfunction, and p1605(rough idling), however they were unable to determine root cause of stalling and refused to keep my car to do further analysis despite the fact that I told them I did not feel safe driving vehicle, and my car is still under comprehensive warranty coverage. I contacted corporate, and they restated dealer conclusions and would not allow me to speak to a field tech specialist. I then emailed and wrote a letter to vp sales of toyota, andrew gilleland. Rep from executive office called me. I asked for toyota to provide me with either transportation assistance and a no cost-to-me extended comprehensive warranty until the underlying cause is determined and without further stalling incidences, or a replacement vehicle. He refused, despite all the significant potentially dangerous safety issues in a vehicle with less than 9,200 miles. Toyota does not appear to be concerned with reliability, peace of mind, and most of all safety. I have a case # with toyota. I recently discovered there are several other reports on this site with same stalling issues as my car.

Filed May 2, 2019 · Electrical, Transmission · 8,940 miles · CA

My 2018 toyota rav4 has stalled 5 times while driving on city streets in moving traffic, first time in feb 2019 while driving home from work, in april three times while driving to work and one time while driving home from work(rush hour). All documented with toyota. Occurs when I take my foot off the gas while driving, and difficulty restarting after it stalls with loss of power and sputtering. 'charging system malfunction' warning msg appeared on dashboard(I took photo and emailed to toyota). I followed instructions in 2018 toyotal rav4 owner's manual "stop the car immediately...continuing to drive the vehicle may be dangerous". Had car towed to toyota immediately. 3 trouble codes were recorded p1603(engine stall), p1604 startability malfunction, and p1605(rough idling), however they were unable to determine root cause of stalling and refused to keep my car to do further analysis despite the fact that I told them I did not feel safe driving vehicle, and my car is still under comprehensive warranty coverage. I contacted corporate, and they restated dealer conclusions and would not allow me to speak to a field tech specialist. I then emailed and wrote a letter to vp sales of toyota, andrew gilleland. Rep from executive office called me. I asked for toyota to provide me with either transportation assistance and a no cost-to-me extended comprehensive warranty until the underlying cause is determined and without further stalling incidences, or a replacement vehicle. He refused, despite all the significant potentially dangerous safety issues in a vehicle with less than 9,200 miles. Toyota does not appear to be concerned with reliability, peace of mind, and most of all safety. I have a case # with toyota. I recently discovered there are several other reports on this site with same stalling issues as my car.

Filed Feb 28, 2019 · Body, Electrical · 10 miles · NJ · fire

I was driving to work around 740am on 287 south just past rt 24. Dashboard has "4wd" warning and smoke coming out from hood. I quickly moved to the shoulder and fire broke out before car came to full stop, all within one minute. I barely escape the car and called police and fire dept. They came and put off the fire. There are two explosions before the fire was put off.

Filed Feb 20, 2019 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 7,000 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 toyota rav4. While driving approximately 65 MPH in snow and icy conditions, the warning messages suddenly displayed indicating that the brakes and safety features were not available, and instructed the driver not to drive the vehicle. When the vehicle was turned off and restarted, it resumed normal operation. The cause of the failure was not determined. Love toyota (215 e. Fairmount ave, lakewood, ny) was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 7,000. *bf consumer let the car sit for 15", cleared the ice off. The technician stated feature were satellite enabled and probably the ice intersected with the signals.

Filed Feb 10, 2019 · Electrical, Engine · 4,700 miles · GA

While driving the car just shut down and the code read charging system malfunction, we had it towed to the dealership and they erased the codes but they acknowledged they existed however they said there is nothing wrong and want us to continue driving this vehicle with no assurance it will not happen again

Filed Jan 2, 2019 · Electrical, Engine · GA · fire

After purchasing our brand-new 2018 rav4 from authorized toyota dealer, we were heading back home. On our way, we noticed burning smell followed by black smoke filled front side of the cabin. I quickly moved my car to the right side parking lot. While changing the lane I could not even see the right mirror because of the black smoke in the cabin. As soon as I parked the car and we got off the car, within a few seconds flames from the hoods were noticed I called emergency service (911) and to our disbelief to watch our new car burning in front of us. It was only 15 mins drive from dealer when we the incident happened. It took only 10 mins to see my car was destroyed by flames. I could not get anything out from front or back seats

Filed Oct 1, 2018 · Electrical, Engine · 3,500 miles · NJ

While driving on saturday morning 9/29/18, I stopped at a stop light and my 2018 toyota rav4 lost all engine power while in traffic. The computer video screen showed the message "charging system failure\malfunction". I then attempted to restart the vehicle and it did not crank over, I waited a few seconds, made another attempt , the vehicle started. I pulled over and parked the vehicle, looked up the error message in the car manual and it instructed me that it was a serious problem and to take the vehicle immediately to the nearest toyota dealer. I then took the vehicle to my local dealer, they ran a vehicle diagnostic report, they found no error messages or voltage problems with the vehicle. They offered no reason for the loss of vehicle power. The service manager stated that they could only diagnose the vehicle so far and that they would need "corporate" to send someone out to do further diagnostics on the black box. On 10/1/18, I opened a problem report with toyota USA and was given a case#. .

Filed Aug 22, 2018 · Electrical · 500 miles · MN · fire · 1 injury

My rav4 caught fire in the middle of the night while parked on the street in front of my house. It had been parked for 12+ hours. After burning for about 10 minutes, it exploded with a force so great that it lifted the car onto the curb, knocked over a firefighter, and damaged our boat parked 10 feet across the street. The inspector from the fire department determined the initial fire was from faulty electrical wiring but said he had never seen a car explode in his 25 years on the force. Toyota conducted their own investigation and agreed it was electrical but could not determine fault due to the severity of the damage

Filed Apr 13, 2018 · Electrical · 1,980 miles · FL

I am very disappointed. I bought a rav4 2018 in february of this year, it has only 1,900 miles and is already at the dealer after taking my kids to school I went back home and I usually do I activate the vehicle alarm but it did not work. The keys does not activate or dis-activate the vehicle alarm and when the car is on the tire pressure sign started to blink. The dealer staff said that one of the computer is not working right. At this moment they don't know what is going on and ironically is not time for the first payment yet.

Filed Mar 5, 2018 · Electrical · 980 miles · MN

The vehicle was stationary in a driveway for approximately 2 hours. After pulling away from the house, dash panel indicators were showing malfunctions on brake systems, aws, etc. It showed that all computer systems were malfunctioning. I drove immediately to the dealer. Inspection showed that the wire harness on the vehicle had been chewed apart, off, and insulation had been removed. I investigated the internet on this problem and it seems that several vehicle makes and models were affected. It seems that the manufactures were using a food based ingredient in the insulation of the wires, (soy). This is attracting rodents, (squirrels) to this for food. It could happen anywhere, parked at the post office, grocery store, your friends house, etc. My vehicle only has 980 miles. I have never had this before. What would happen if the wires catch on fire or your car stops on the freeway because of this issue. Can this be investigated? At this point, what's going to keep this from happening again. We've had several toyota vehicles in the past and did not have any wire harness problems.

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