2020 Toyota RAV4

My Engine Maintenance Required light had appeared on dashboard and found out that is my coolant bypass valve that needed to be replaced. had on online, to find that this is a issue with Toyota, that people had to have this replaced. I had purchased my vehicle back in 2021, and just had this issue 2023. I took to the dealership and was told that it was that part. they are replacing the part going through the extended warranty insurance, but this is concerning, that if this OE part has a defect, that once my warranty expires that I will have this problem again and have no way on coverage.

A known issue that has been occurring to many people with the coolant bypass valve system going out very soon after purchasing. I bought a 2020 Toyota rav4 and my bypass coolant valve has malfunctioned and needs replaced and of course is outside of the warranty. Per many google searches this is a common issue and should be addressed.

Coolant bypass valve required replacement due to faulty equipment, causing sensor to read “engine maintenance required”. Costs $650 to replace and dealership will not cover in warranty or admit fault. Many other Rav 4 owners are having same issue. This should not be on the customer, but rather Toyota for having faulty equipment in vehicle. Also “engine maintenance required” sensor will not go away. Since this is not an engine issue, this is unsafe, false alarming.

The Coolant Bypass Valve failed for my RAV4 at 59,210 miles. This was confirmed to me by Hoover Toyota. The part has not been inspected by the manufacture, police, insurance representatives, or any others. I had a message appear at 59,202 miles on my dashboard screen that said, "Engine Maintenance Required." I have already gotten Hoover Toyota to fix my part. My concern comes in part that reading through online forums, it appears this is a very regular/common problem for RAV4s (2019-2022) and seems to happen between 45,000 - 65,000 miles. If this is a known issue, I am curious as to why Toyota has not recalled this part since you wouldn't expect a car under 5 years old and driven less than 100,000 miles to have this kind of problem.

Per my research and talking with dealerships, the coolant bypass valve on this generation of RAV4’s is a known issue at 45,000 miles. Many users online and the dealership report seen many cars experiencing the same issue but it’s not currently under recall and would be a $1300 fix right now to drive my car safely without blowing up the engine.

My Toyota 2020 RAV 4 Hybrid accelerates in REVERSE when in drive mode and parked on an incline. My car ran over me on 2 occasions while outside the vehicle. Both times I pulled into my driveway, came to a complete stop, and believed I was parked and the car engine was off. Once I exited, I realized my car was still on, reached inside my car to push the off engine button, and the car IMMEDIATELY ACCELERATED in reverse (while in DRIVE MODE/not REVERSE or PARK MODE), knocked me down and pulled me under the front driver side tire and ran over my legs/body. The fire dept and police arrived to transport me to UCI Trauma Center. The car accelerated so fast that it knocked me down/pulled me under/rolled over my body, then rolled down the driveway, across the street, popped the curb and landed in the neighbor’s lawn – all from the force of acceleration in reverse while in DRIVE mode. This happens whenever the car is in DRIVE mode and you push the OFF button, the car accelerates in reverse when parked on an incline. This happens in parking lots as well with an incline. Toyota Service REFUSES to let me show them this product design defect and how the car accelerates in reverse while in DRIVE MODE when the "on/off" engine button is pushed off and the car is on a slight incline. It is a major hazard to the driver, passengers and community, whoever is standing outside and behind the car. Toyota REFUSES to memorialize this design problem. Our other Toyota cars require the car to be in park before you can shut it off and DO NOT accelerate in reverse when in the drive mode, only when in reverse mode. Toyota maintenance staff told me they are not allowed to memorialize the problem in writing; they won't come to my house to see what happened or let me demonstrate at their service facilities. The police officer told me he has seen this happen before, and that we were lucky no kids in the street were run over, which he said has happened before. How many others were run over?

Engine maintenance required notification came on. Car is only 3 years old. Dealership stated that the coolant bypass valve needs to be replaced and it could potentially cause a fire. Service professional at the dealership stated that this is a common issue and most of the time Toyota warranty doesn't want to repair it, also said that it should be recalled. I have also seen hundreds of people complain about this on Rav4 forums.