2012 Toyota RAV4

On Friday, 1/20, I got in my vehicle, turned it on and the engine maintenance light came on. First and only time in the few months I have owned it. While driving home in heavy traffic from work in Lutz, my RAV4 uncontrollably accelerated at a full stop lurching forward towards the vehicle in front of me. It did this 4 times on my drive home to Spring Hill nearly causing multiple potentially catastrophic accidents. I stayed in the far-right lane for the duration of my drive home with the exception of two left hand turns I had to make. Each time I came to a stop I kept further distance from the vehicle in front of me. I put it in neutral, pressed firmly on the brake, once at a full stop the engine was still revving up to 4-5,000 rpms. I steered the wheels to the right to avoid the vehicle in front of me in preparation that it would not stop accelerating. It was/is not a floor mat issue, those clip into place, it was not me accidentally pressing on the gas pedal. I have 30+ years of a good driving record and experience in all types of conditions. This is something seriously mechanically and electrically wrong. This put myself and any other vehicle or pedestrian around me at great risk of major collision or bodily injury. Since this is an intermittent problem, like the abundance of other complaints, neither my mechanic nor the Toyota dealership can reproduce it.

The car lost all power to the wheels without warning. Fortunately the car was stopped at a red light but still had to be pushed out of the way in traffic with the help of strangers. The car was inspected by a Toyota service specialist who said that the splines had sheared off of the rotor and the entire motor would need to be replaced. There were no warnings (no lamps, no messages, no sounds) prior to the failure.

Check EV System - Have your vehicle checked by a dealership immediately Warning has come on several times in the past few days. RAV4 EV forum indicates this is a problem that can make the vehicle stop while driving - very dangerous. There was a recall issued for this problem in 2015, and your site indicates there are no outstanding recalls on this vehicle. Please help resolve this potentially severe problem. Thanks.

Inaudible turn signal prompt: Older drivers who drive for miles with their turn signal on is the subject of many a cartoon and common source of highway frustration. It is also a safety issue when a vehicle does not perform the turn that it is apparently signaling to make. I find myself being one of those older drivers who leaves their turn signal on. I have moderate hearing loss and do wear hearing aids, but not all the time. Perhaps my RAV4's audible prompt is quieter than others, but with road noise and the radio on I often do not hear it. A simple solution to this problem would be the ability to control the volume of the audible turn signal prompt so it could be "cranked up" to be easily heard. If dashboard lights have a dimmer control, why don't turn signal prompts have a volume control? It seems like a simple solution and with today's touch control panels one that could be added for very little cost. Thanks for considering my recommendation. It is a common safety problem that has a simple and low-cost solution.

Poor winter visibility: This is an issue with this vehicle but also with almost all other vehicles with internal combustion engines. During cold weather the defroster is ineffective until the engine warms up and provides heat. This results in two unsafe conditions 1) warming the engine up while parked, which exposes the vehicle and driver to theft ("carjacking" is an increasing crime in our area) and increases carbon emissions, or, 2) driving the vehicle while the engine is cold and having poor forward visibility. If defrosters were equipped with electric heating elements, defroster heat would be provided almost immediately. I was told that VW provided this feature for several years and it was very effective. The electric heating element could be thermostatically controlled so it would turn off once the engine starts providing heat. Since a household toaster can be purchased for $25, it should not cost manufacturers more than $15 to add an electric heating element to the defroster. Thank you for considering this recommendation. I am embarrassed to admit to the times when I drove while peering through a small patch of clear windshield . . . reasonably safe for seeing directly forward but definitely not safe for seeing side traffic or crossing pedestrians.

The mechanism that controls the up/down position of the sun visors breaks after a few years of use. As a result, the sun visors will not stay in a 'closed' position (against vehicle roof) and constantly fall halfway down obstructing proper view of the road. The drivers side sun visor broke several years ago. When I took it to the Toyota dealer they stated the only way to fix this was to replace the visor (at my expense). The cost to replace one visor was >$200. The passenger side visor has now failed to hold in place as well. Toyota assumes no responsibility for this design defect (plastic part in the visor mechanism wears or breaks). This is a safety issue due to poor design on Toyota's part. Consumers should not have to pay $200 to have these replaced.

The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a delay for the vehicle to stop when the brake pedal was depressed. The contact had to put a lot of pressure while depressing the brake pedal for the vehicle to stop. An independent mechanic was made aware of the failure. The mechanic had repaired the brake master cylinder, front and rear brake-disc rotors, and caliper in 2019. The dealer was made aware of the failure and scheduled an upcoming appointment for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 139,435.

LACK OF TIE POINTS: This is an issue with our RAV4, but it is an issue with about every vehicle manufactured recently. It is a requirement of drivers to “secure their load” but when top carrying boats it is very difficult to find suitable tie points in the front and rear of the vehicle. Could vehicle manufacturers be required to provide tie points suitable for securing loads? It could be as simple as providing smooth- edged holes in the chassis under both bumpers.