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2020 Toyota RAV4

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most RAV4 years

Owner complaints for the 2020 Toyota RAV4 are substantially higher than the model-year median of 258.5.

About this comparison →

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

195 reports with mileage · 439 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Engine. Review the 180 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 119 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Fuel/propulsion System. Review the 90 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

17 crash reports5 fire reports11 injury reports

Unknown Or Other complaints

120 reports
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Mileage unknown · Apr 8, 2022
Unknown Or Other

The windshield shattered without anything hitting it.

NHTSA ODI #11460100

Mileage unknown · Feb 9, 2022
Unknown Or Other

I was driving down the highway and without warning, my sunroof completely shattered. I did not go over any bumps, there were no trucks around me, and I did not hear anything hit my window. I just heard a very loud pop and all of a sudden there was glass everywhere inside the vehicle. Luckily I did not get into an accident but th…

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I was driving down the highway and without warning, my sunroof completely shattered. I did not go over any bumps, there were no trucks around me, and I did not hear anything hit my window. I just heard a very loud pop and all of a sudden there was glass everywhere inside the vehicle. Luckily I did not get into an accident but this was completely startling and I could have easily gotten into an accident or had glass injure myself or passengers (luckily no one else was in the car). I brought the car into a local Toyota dealership in Colorado and they mentioned that someone who had about the same mileage on their car (17,000-18,000) miles came into that same dealership a few weeks ago with the exact same issue. They told me that Toyota would not consider this a defect or under warranty if it happened after 1,000 miles. I also sent a follow-up email to a service manager at the same dealership and he said that they have seen this before and a field technical specialist has looked into it and determined that it could not be a defect if it happened after 1,000 miles. This does not seem like a freak accident if there have been multiple incidents. This is a serious safety concern.

NHTSA ODI #11451251

Mileage unknown · Jan 25, 2022
Unknown Or Other

Driving on the freeway and when randomly we hear a big bang, very loud and scary. Pulled the sunroof cover back to see that the sunroof had exploded/shattered into a million pieces. We were in alot of traffic heading to the mountains, my daughter was sitting in the back seat and this happened right above her head. Its been almos…

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Driving on the freeway and when randomly we hear a big bang, very loud and scary. Pulled the sunroof cover back to see that the sunroof had exploded/shattered into a million pieces. We were in alot of traffic heading to the mountains, my daughter was sitting in the back seat and this happened right above her head. Its been almost a month, sunroof on back order, didnt realize there was such a thing as exploding sunroofs until I searched the internet. My car is a lease and under warranty, but yet I am stuck with a $500 deductible to get this fixed. After reading all of these complaints how has this not been recalled? At the time of this happening, I had a few rocks also hit my windshield, for it to bounce off windshield and break a sunroof into a million pieces, this seems like a manufacture defect. We have turned this into our insurance company, but I feel like Toyota should cover this cost, as I had to come out of pocket for deductible and rental car

NHTSA ODI #11448781

Mileage unknown · Jan 19, 2022
Unknown Or Other

The windshield on this vehicle is extremely fragile and cracks very easily. Many drivers of this vehicle have reported the same issue online with the windshield on the newest Toyota RAV4. Toyota simply refuses to do anything using the guise of "external influence" being the cause of a windshield crack - this same logic would app…

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The windshield on this vehicle is extremely fragile and cracks very easily. Many drivers of this vehicle have reported the same issue online with the windshield on the newest Toyota RAV4. Toyota simply refuses to do anything using the guise of "external influence" being the cause of a windshield crack - this same logic would apply to a small pebble or a tapping of a finger to cause a windshield crack.

NHTSA ODI #11448009

Mileage unknown · Nov 24, 2021
Unknown Or Other

On Sunday,11/21/2021, sitting in my Toyota Rav4 TRD Off Road with my wife in an outside parking lot to a medical office, when we heard a loud pop/bang. We got out of the vehicle and discovered that the sun roof had shattered. Nothing hit my car. We were parked in it it for 15 minutes. There was nothing around the vehicle. I ta…

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On Sunday,11/21/2021, sitting in my Toyota Rav4 TRD Off Road with my wife in an outside parking lot to a medical office, when we heard a loud pop/bang. We got out of the vehicle and discovered that the sun roof had shattered. Nothing hit my car. We were parked in it it for 15 minutes. There was nothing around the vehicle. I taped the window with Gorilla Tape. Dealership inspected the car and told me the warranty does not cover glass. Dangerous situation! Potential for flying glass! There is no warning system for this type of incident.

NHTSA ODI #11441556

Mileage unknown · Nov 9, 2021
Unknown Or OtherVisibility

My name is [XXX]. My wife, myself, our 2 month old baby and our dog were driving back from a family vacation when our moon roof spontaneously exploded outward. It was an extremely loud noise and then sounded like it was raining glass. Our baby started screaming and crying from the noise. We were able to immediately and safely pu…

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My name is [XXX]. My wife, myself, our 2 month old baby and our dog were driving back from a family vacation when our moon roof spontaneously exploded outward. It was an extremely loud noise and then sounded like it was raining glass. Our baby started screaming and crying from the noise. We were able to immediately and safely pull off the freeway to examine the vehicle. Upon inspection we noticed the remaining glass on the edges of the moon roof looked as if it were being pulled upwards. We are very lucky the screen was shut and nobody got hurt. The incident occurred on a sunny & clear, early afternoon while we were on the freeway going 55mph, there were no cars in front of us or beside us for more than a half mile, we were not near or passing under a bridge or an overpass. There were no warning lights or other symptoms before the incident happened, as well as no warning lights after the fact. There was absolutely no reason this should have happened or anything that we did to cause it or to stop it from happening. I took photos of the damage immediately after and it shows the remaining glass lifting outward. I did some online searching and found that this has happened to multiple other drivers with this exact make & model of vehicle, as well as multiple other years. I brought our car into Toyota within an hour of the incident occurring. One of their employees working said that she has heard of this happening before. I see this as a recurring incident with this model of car and it is extremely dangerous. We bought this vehicle with only 5k miles on it, less than 3 months ago from a Toyota dealership. We bought this car because we have a new baby and wanted a safe family vehicle. We are now terrified that this will happen again. We never would have imagined that anything like this would happened in the first place. From my recent research I am shocked that this vehicle issue has not been recalled. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI #11439865

Mileage unknown · Oct 29, 2021
Unknown Or Other

I want an investigation on Toyota Rav4 hybrid 2020 .It has a faulty traction control system . It kicks in on every bump and start the emergency braks vehicle jerks and driver gets confused . its a safety issue and may start causing accident on high speed

NHTSA ODI #11438647

Mileage unknown · Sep 9, 2021
SeatsUnknown Or Other

I am reporting a PROBLEM - the headrests on the front driver and passenger seats will NOT stay down on my 2020 Toyota Rav4- they always slowly keep moving upwards- I guess from the natural vibrations of the road. I complained at the Toyota service department (at Wilde Toyota in Milwaukee Wisconsin) and they said that is how the…

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I am reporting a PROBLEM - the headrests on the front driver and passenger seats will NOT stay down on my 2020 Toyota Rav4- they always slowly keep moving upwards- I guess from the natural vibrations of the road. I complained at the Toyota service department (at Wilde Toyota in Milwaukee Wisconsin) and they said that is how their headrests work in the Toyota Rav4 - they don't stay down. While this may not be an issue for a tall person, an average person of 5 ft 5 inch tall or shorter would have a serious problem with their head being smacked around when the headrest won't stay down - I have never experienced a headrest that won't lock in place and stay there- I think this could be terrible if I got into an accident and my headrest was in the wrong position. I am shocked that Toyota does not care. I think you should check into this. A manager there did acknowledge he has heard of this problem before and has had a few people complain about it but they don't think it is a big deal. - they were tall men so they didn't care - they like the headrest all the way up as far as it goes.

NHTSA ODI #11432370

Mileage unknown · Jul 9, 2021
Unknown Or Other

While driving on the freeway, the panoramic sunroof exploded. I have photos showing the glass exploding up & outward (away from the vehicle), rather than downward as one would see if the glass had been impacted by a foreign object. Had I not had the sunroof screen closed glass would have come down onto myself along with any ot…

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While driving on the freeway, the panoramic sunroof exploded. I have photos showing the glass exploding up & outward (away from the vehicle), rather than downward as one would see if the glass had been impacted by a foreign object. Had I not had the sunroof screen closed glass would have come down onto myself along with any other passengers who could have been inside the vehicle, and possibly caused an accident with other vehicles. Currently the vehicle is at the Toyota dealership and I am awaiting inspection from Toyota's corporate department and my insurance company. There was no warning prior to this event occurring.

NHTSA ODI #11424057

Mileage unknown · Jul 4, 2021
EnginePower TrainUnknown Or Other

I have had issues with my 2020 rav4. I have had kickbacks during acceleration, antifreeze/coolant loss, abnormal amount of blow-by, engine runs loud at times, car shakes when I start it, weird noise from under the hood, the dash lights and screen lights went dark once. I have been to multiple dealerships not long after I bough…

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I have had issues with my 2020 rav4. I have had kickbacks during acceleration, antifreeze/coolant loss, abnormal amount of blow-by, engine runs loud at times, car shakes when I start it, weird noise from under the hood, the dash lights and screen lights went dark once. I have been to multiple dealerships not long after I bought it and they said they “could not duplicate the issue”.. when I went to them regarding the antifreeze leak they said it is normal in new cars which I know is absolute lies. I need help as they are not willing to find the issues. I have pictures and videos to back this up.

NHTSA ODI #11423418

Official recalls

6

23V865000 · Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification

Dec 20, 2023

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, Corolla, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, RAV4, RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES350, Lexus RX350, Lexus RX450H, 2021 Sienna Hybrid, Lexus ES250, 2020-2022 Camry, Camry Hybrid, and ES300H vehicles. A short circuit may develop in the Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensor, preventing the front passenger air bag from deploying.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An air bag that does not deploy during a crash increases the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the sensor as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed in February 2024. Some final remedy owner letters were mailed October 31, 2024. Letters will continue to be mailed in phases through January 2026. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 23TB15/23TA15 Lexus 23LB03/23LA03.

20V734000 · Air Bags:frontal; Steering:column

Nov 25, 2020

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Toyota Avalon and 2020 Avalon Hybrid, RAV4, and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles. Breakaway pins within the steering column, designed to absorb energy and reduce injury during a crash, could have been damaged during production, possibly affecting the performance of the driver's air bag in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: In the event of a crash, an air bag that does not perform as designed can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering column, free of charge. The recall began December 18, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TB17/20TA17.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Air Bags:frontal

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Toyota Avalon and 2020 Avalon Hybrid, RAV4, and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles. Breakaway pins within the steering column, designed to absorb energy and reduce injury during a crash, could have been damaged during production, possibly affecting the performance of the driver's air bag in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Consequence: In the event of a crash, an air bag that does not perform as designed can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering column, free of charge. The recall began December 18, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TB17/20TA17.

Steering:column

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Toyota Avalon and 2020 Avalon Hybrid, RAV4, and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles. Breakaway pins within the steering column, designed to absorb energy and reduce injury during a crash, could have been damaged during production, possibly affecting the performance of the driver's air bag in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Consequence: In the event of a crash, an air bag that does not perform as designed can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering column, free of charge. The recall began December 18, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TB17/20TA17.

20V682000 · Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump

Nov 4, 2020

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2018-2019 4Runner, 2019-2020 Avalon, 2019 Corolla Hatchback, 2017-2019 Highlander, 2018-2020 Camry, 2020 Corolla, 2018-2019 Land Cruiser, 2017-2020 Tacoma, 2019-2020 RAV4, 2019-2020 Sequoia, 2017-2020 Sienna, 2019-2020 Tundra, 2018-2020 Lexus ES350, 2017 Lexus GS200t, 2017-2019 Lexus GS350, 2019 Lexus GS300, 2018-2020 Lexus LC500h, 2019-2020 Lexus LS500, 2018-2019 Lexus GX460, 2017 Lexus IS200t, 2019 Lexus IS300, 2019 Lexus IS350, 2018-2020 Lexus LC500, 2018 Lexus LS500, 2019 Lexus LS500h, 2018-2019 Lexus LX570, 2017 Lexus RC200t, 2019 Lexus RC300, RC350, 2017 and 2019-2020 Lexus RX350, 2018-2020 RX350L, 2019 Lexus UX200, 2018-2019 Lexus NX300 vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly with an improved one, free of charge. Owners of specific models were notified that remedy parts were available starting January 21, 2021. Owners of other models will be notified as remedy parts become available. Remedy parts should be available for all affected vehicles by late March 2021. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Note: This recall is an expansion of recall 20V-012. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TA02. Lexus' number for this recall is 20LA01.

20V373000 · Steering:electric Power Assist System

Jun 24, 2020

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2019-2020 RAV4 and 2020 RAV4 Hybrid vehicles equipped with electric power steering (EPS). Water may enter through the steering gear box cover and cause a loss of electric power steering assist.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A loss of power steering assist could increase steering effort at low vehicle speeds, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the power steering gear box, free of charge. The recall began August 17, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TB11 / 20TA11.

20V286000 · Suspension:front:control Arm:lower Arm

May 20, 2020

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2019-2020 RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles. The front lower suspension arms may have cracks, which may result in the suspension arm separating from the front wheel assembly.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If a suspension control arm breaks, it can result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace both front lower suspension arms, free of charge. This recall began August 10, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's interim numbers for this recall are 20TB08 / 20TA08.

20V064000 · Engine And Engine Cooling

Feb 6, 2020

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020 Toyota Avalon Hybrid, Camry, Camry Hybrid and Lexus ES300h and 2019-2020 RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles equipped with 2.5L 4-Cylinder engines. Porosity in the engine castings may result in cracks than can allow coolant to leak internally and/or externally.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A coolant leak can cause the engine to overheat and cause a vehicle stall in conventional gasoline vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash. Additionally, for all involved vehicles, the engine may get damaged mechanically, possibly resulting in an engine oil leak, increasing the risk of a fire.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the engine including the engine block, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began April 3, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TA04. Lexus' number for this recall is 20LA02.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.

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