Toyota RAV4 spongy pedal problems

Filed Apr 8, 2025 · Brakes · NY

I have put 45,000 miles on the vehicle and have had complete brakes and rotors replaced 3 times. The caliper hangs up every time. As it gets closer to replacement time, I have experienced times when I did not think my car was going to stop. Brakes are spongy and I feel like pushing the pedal down is not enough to stop the car. I have experienced this three times, and thankfully it has stopped in time to avoid collision.

Filed Feb 5, 2021 · Brakes · 60,251 miles · NJ

Last spring had $700.00 brake job on my daughters car at toyota dealer we have delt with for years.I happen to drive it one day and found brakes spongy and went within one inch of floor to stop. Just drove again and same problem !. Is this a design problem with master cylinder !

Filed Mar 30, 2019 · Acceleration · 36,100 miles · FL

2016 toyota rav4 was stopped at red light and suddenly accelerated at high RPM causing the vehicle to lung forward. Holding the brake pedal hard did not keep the vehicle from going forward. There was no traffic at the time, was stopped at a red light with brake engaged, at intersection on us17, jacksonville, fl. Very serious safety discrepancy that has potential to cause severe accident and or fatality.

Filed Sep 11, 2017 · Brakes · 13,000 miles · NC · crash

Purchased my new rav4 on 12/2017. On 8/13/2017 I was at a drive through and stopped at the end of the line and the service brake when I pressed the peddle the brake was firm and stopped correctly. The line moved and I lifted my foot off of the service brake and the line stopped and I applied the service brake peddle and had to press the peddle further than I pressed the peddle the first time I stopped in the line. While stopped in the line the second time the rav4 started to roll forward and I had to press the service brake even further to get the rav4 stop. The line moved forward and I lifted my foot off of the service brake peddle and the line stopped and when I pressed the service brake peddle the service brake peddle went to the floor and did not slow until I struck the vehicle in front of me. After the accident my service brake peddle was very spongy and slow to respond when pressing the service brake peddle. I took my rav4 on 8/14/2017 to local dealership to have my service brakes checked. When I took the rav4 in I did not have any paper work to sign. The afternoon the service advisor said my rav4 was ready. When I went to get my rav4 the service advisor said no codes and did not give me any paper work and I did not sign any paper work. When I got in to drive the rav4 away my service brake peddle was firm not spongy and responded quickly as very little movement to press the service brake peddle to stop the rav4. My service on the toyota web site service has never reported the service even today. I called the toyota and told them of this situation and the toyota representative told me to bring my rav4 back to the dealership on 8/24/2017 and he would download the event recorder and did on 8/31/2017. No issues was reported on the event recorder. Letter showed no reference that I had my service brakes checked on 8/14/2017. Service brake is spongy while stopped now.

Filed Aug 5, 2017 · Acceleration, Brakes · 4,712 miles · NY · crash

As I was approaching the mail box area in my apartment complex at approximately 15 MPH, I put my foot on the brake to turn into the parking area in front of the four metal mailboxes and put the vehicle in "park" when the vehicle suddenly lurched forward and jumped the six-inch, brick-paver curb. I crashed into the mailbox structure, completely uplifting the base that was bolted into the concrete and hit a wood trash container holder. I depressed the brake pedal harder but my vehicle would not slow down or stop and I also could not control the steering. I continued up a hill (at 45-50 MPH) consisting of tall grass, wildflowers, rocks, etc., across a walking path of woodchips and mulch, then down the hill (still with my foot on the brake) grazing the branches and leaves of a small tree before coming off the six-inch curb and back onto the street, where I hit a light post. I managed to lift the parking brake, slam on the brake again and the vehicle rolled to a stop. It should be noted that none of the airbags deployed.

Filed Jul 6, 2017 · Brakes, Engine · IL

Purchased car from st. Charles toyota il on july4, 2017 VIN [xxx]. Purchased and picked up 2017 rav4 le from them on july4th (between 11am - 3pm). Drove car from st. Charles to peoria il. Today on july6 rav4 has 194 miles. Later came to know that their service dept. Was actually closed on july 4th. Identified three problems. While driving, engine temperature gauge swayed little right from middle position. Was curious and checked dipstick today on july6 and found engine oil dip stick at abnormal low level. Picture attached. Brake pedal felt spongy, felt a drag in braking when I apply brakes. Found water dripping down on ground while A/C was running in parked position. Water dripped on ground little off from front axle. Recorded water dripping. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Jun 22, 2017 · Brakes · NV

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 toyota rav4. The contact stated that the brake pedal was spongy when applied. The vehicle was taken to a dealer (autonation toyota las vegas 6300 w sahara ave, las vegas, nv 89146 (702) 605-5801) where it was diagnosed that the brake pads and discs may need to be replaced, but they were unsure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN and failure mileage were not available.

Filed Sep 29, 2013 · Brakes · 7,000 miles · NY

I am filing a complaint about spongy brakes behavior in a 2012 toyota rav4. The problem I was experiencing were the brake pedal traveling to the floor and reduced stopping power during application. The spongy behavior of the brake pedal was also present with engine off. I report this event to two separate toyota dealerships which technicians claimed this is a normal function and this is a soft pedal design (according to the first dealership). The second dealership showed me another similar vehicle (2011 toyota rav4) and it almost did the same thing (engine off - pedal was still spongy but was less than my vehicle). Since being a ase master technician before becoming an mechanical engineer, I bleed the brakes which only helped a little and there were no fluid leaks. Finally, I researched that the ABS pump might need to be activated using a scanner to cycle the actuators that might hold air trapped inside. I took the car to my previous place on employment where I consulted this issue with the shop manager in which he agreed that this is a possibility. The shop manager performed the ABS pump cycling process with the scanner and the brake pedal became hard and firm like it suppose to be (procedure time: 5 minutes!). I am very disappointed with toyota trained technicians and any good technician knows there is no such thing as soft pedal design especially with a vacuum brake booster with engine off (hydraulic fluid is only slightly compressible!). Only vehicles with hydraulic brake booster can experience a brake pedal feeling spongy since the booster will continue to function after engine had been turned off (approx:10 ' 20 brake pedal applications ' diesel & very few gas vehicles). It seems to me toyota is skipping a step in there manufacturing process.

Filed May 23, 2012 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 32,212 miles · CA

I experienced a sudden vehicle acceleration event on april 6th. I followed toyota's investigation procedure and even met with a technical expert and we agree on the following points: the event would have shown up as two separate events in the ABS history queue. An initial vsc event (sudden acceleration) closely followed by the ABS event (my pressing on the brake pedal harder in response to the sudden acceleration) if a check of the ABS history queue would have been done immediately, both events would still have been stored in the ABS history queue. The small capacity of the ABS history queue, coupled with the recording of many frequent traction control (trac) events pushed the record of my ABS- and vsc events out of the ABS history queue. The ABS system should not engage when the vehicle is stopped or moving slowly as in my incident. So, there was a malfunction of the control system that remains unresolved. Toyota refuses to acknowledge the existence of the problem. Because the ABS system should not have engaged when the vehicle was either stopped or moving slowly, there is absolutely clear evidence that there is something wrong with my vehicle. I think toyota is engaged in a cover-up regarding the sudden acceleration problem. I request that the us federal government order toyota to do the following since they refuse to do it voluntarily or at my request: include an immediate examination of the ABS history queue in the health check. Create, and install in my rav4, a new version of electronic control software that implements the following changes: a.separate queues for each for each of the three types of ABS history events: ABS, trac, and vsc b.increased ABS history queue capacity to ensure that 90 days of each of the three types of events are stored. C.all ABS history events are time-stamped and date-stamped.

Filed May 2, 2012 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 31,212 miles · CA

This is an incident involving sudden vehicle acceleration. I was stopped with my foot on the brake in the where great mall parkway turns onto eastbound montague expwy in milpitas, ca. Despite having my foot on the brake, the vehicle began to creep forward. I responded by pressing the brake pedal harder. This caused the vehicle stability control system to engage and the brake pedal pushed through the resistance point as is typical when the vehicle stability control engages. The vehicle began to accelerate so I quickly moved the transmission selector from drive into park in order to stop the vehicle. I reported the failure to toyota motor sales USA and the complaint was assigned case number [xxx]. I followed the recommended procedure of having the vehicle inspected by the local toyota dealer, piercey toyota, on april 13, 2012. The service manager completed an inspection and submitted a report to toyota technical services. Today, may 2, 2012, I followed up with both the piercey toyota service manager and with toyota motor sales. Anthony of toyota told me, essentially, that toyota refuses to acknowledge the failure and refuses to give me a formal written response. Anthony continued by saying that if this response was not satisfactory to me, then I should get an outside counsel. I submit that the sudden unintentional acceleration problem still exists with toyota--at least with my vehicle--and that it needs to be fixed. It is my opinion that toyota is 'giving the finger' to the problem and to the united states and that toyota's failure to properly address the problem will likely kill innocent people if toyota does not find a real solution. I am prepared to submit more documents and details regarding this incident and the problem. I would like to be put directly in touch with an officer at your office so that I can enter a full and formal complaint. *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)