2021 Toyota RAV4

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a swishing sound coming from the front passenger’s side door. There was water inside the door's body cavity. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

This complaint is being filed as a follow-up to a previously submitted NHTSA complaint regarding door lock failures on my 2021 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. Since the original complaint, a second door has now failed. In addition to the front passenger door, the rear passenger-side door will no longer lock or unlock electronically using the key fob or interior power lock button and must be locked manually. When attempting to lock the vehicle, the vehicle emits a warning beep indicating a door is unsecured, even though some doors appear locked. Upon inspection, the rear passenger door was found unlocked. This issue appears to be progressive, affecting multiple doors. Doors may appear locked when they are not, creating a security concern.

I am reporting a safety defect involving the front passenger door lock actuator on my 2021 Toyota RAV4 XLE Hybrid. The front passenger door will not lock or unlock using the key fob or the interior power door lock button. The door must now be locked manually. This defeats the vehicle’s automatic locking system and creates a safety and security concern. This condition prevents all doors from being secured properly when driving or when parked. A passenger may believe the door is locked when it is not, increasing the risk of unauthorized entry, theft, or passenger safety issues. The failure occurred during normal use and without warning. The vehicle has been properly maintained. I have learned that multiple Toyota RAV4 owners have reported similar door lock actuator failures, indicating a potential widespread defect. This issue occurred shortly after the factory warranty expired. Due to the safety implications, I believe this issue warrants investigation and possible recall or manufacturer repair program. “This failure occurred without warning and with no dashboard alerts.”

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while attempting to roll up the front driver's side window, the contact noticed water on the window. The contact then inspected the rear driver's side and passenger's side windows and noticed that water was clogging the doors. No warning light was illuminated. Neither the dealer nor an independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that it was a known issue but there was no related recall. The approximate failure mileage was 74,000.

The driver door on my 2021 Toyota RAV4 has an automatic unlock feature that unlocks the door when you approach the car with the key in your pocket. This feature has malfunctioned to the point that I cannot open the door at all, even with the key fob. I have to either manually remove the physical key from the fob and open the door that way, or else enter the vehicle from a different door and unlock manually from inside. This causes a significant delay in my ability to enter the vehicle and could pose a safety risk if I or my wife (who usually drives it) needed to exit a dangerous situation quickly. I’m told this malfunction is the result of a faulty door actuator, and repairs would cost over $300. I’m also told it’s a common bug among RAV4’s from 2018 to 2024. It seems there’s no recall because Toyota is under the impression that it isn’t common enough. Well I’m reporting to let someone know that it is at least one vehicle more common than you previously believed. Also, it’s 2025. I don’t think I should have to pay over $300 for doors that work.

The component that failed/malfunctioned is the rear hatch. The hinges seem to have misaligned and result in the rear hatch not closing properly. Safety is put at risk because the vehicle notifies the driver through a beep system that the rear door is not fully closed properly and does not shut off until forcefully closed manually. The problem has been produced both by the dealership at an AutoNation and an independent autobody repair shop. The vehicle/component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance, representatives, or others besides the ones mentioned in the previous sentence. There were no apparent symptoms or problems prior to the failure. The misalignment appeared approximately two years after the original purchased from the dealership and is an ongoing issue.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the rear passenger's side door made an abnormal sloshing sound. Upon inspection, the contact discovered water inside the door. The contact unplugged the rubber seal under the rear passenger door to release the water. The contact was concerned about corrosion of the door and an electrical system failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle after a rainstorm, there was an abnormal water swishing sound inside the vehicle. Upon inspection of the vehicle, the contact discovered water leakage coming from the bottom of both the rear driver’s and passenger’s side doors. The contact stated that the windows and doors were closed during the rainstorm. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

While driving on the freeway with outside temperatures of about 89/90F, at about 67-68 mph, our passenger window randomly exploded and shattered. There was no prior damage to the window or any indication that a rock, projectile or other debris had hit the window. Prior to this incident, we had observed that the passenger window would rattle inside the door pocket/window frame when the car was in motion. When the window shattered, it did so instantly without any warning, as if it had exploded, startling us. As we continued driving, the outside air started pulling apart the shattered window, causing the broken window glass to fall apart into thousands of little pieces that ended up all over the passenger, driver, and back seats, which were also occupied with children [XXX] and [XXX] old). This was a very scary and traumatic experience for us, as things could have taken a turn for the worse and we could have been seriously injured. Luckily, we had nothing more serious than minor cuts in the aftermath. However, our family and especially our children were very affected by this incident and our car suffered damage to the outside body and some more minor damage on the inside from the glass flying off from the shattered window. We believe the rattling of the window caused it to eventually explode and shatter. We believe the rattling is due to some kind of manufacturing error: either improper installation or possibly low quality glass material or incorrect size to match the door frame or a missing part that should hold the window securely. We would like our car inspected for any further damage not visible to the eye (such as glass inside the door pocket and the safety of the door window retainer of the passenger door as well as a check of the integrity of the rest of the car’s windows to check that they are property installed and secured in place to prevent rattling. The driver side window in the car continues to rattle and we fear that this incident may occur again. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM