2018 Toyota RAV4

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.

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 NHTSA 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.