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2021 Toyota RAV4

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2021 Toyota RAV4 do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 258.5.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 72 of 385 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

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.

  • Air Bags. Review the 125 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 47 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine. Review the 41 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

46 crash reports7 fire reports29 injury reports

Unknown Or Other complaints

74 reports
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Mileage unknown · Jul 12, 2023
Electrical SystemUnknown Or OtherVisibility/wiper

We have water becoming stuck in our back passenger door due to a weather strip design flaw in Toyota Rav4 Hybrids. This will begin to happen to all weather strips and eventually destroy the interior and electrical if not repaired. This is a common design flaw in newer Toyota Rav4 Hybrids and we are lucky it's just our one door…

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We have water becoming stuck in our back passenger door due to a weather strip design flaw in Toyota Rav4 Hybrids. This will begin to happen to all weather strips and eventually destroy the interior and electrical if not repaired. This is a common design flaw in newer Toyota Rav4 Hybrids and we are lucky it's just our one door so far.  I've been informed (by our Toyota Tech) that eventually all of the doors and the roof will leak due to this Toyota design flaw.   When we took the car to get fixed at the dealership, they let us know it was an expensive repair, advised it was a design flaw, other customers are affected, and allowed us time to research before paying for the repair. We may attempt it ourselves since Toyota corporate has refused a reimbursement for the repair. This is a Toyota design flaw and requires a recall. They are charging hundreds to fix this. This will literally destroy the cars electrical.

NHTSA ODI #11531866

Mileage unknown · Jun 5, 2023
SteeringUnknown Or Other

On April 29, 2023 I notice that there was a bad chemical smell in my car. I continued to try to find the issue and then I went to the back seat and discovered the floor of my 2021 RAV4 was completely flooded with water. I attempted to call Toyota but the service department was closed. I went to the local car wash to have them su…

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On April 29, 2023 I notice that there was a bad chemical smell in my car. I continued to try to find the issue and then I went to the back seat and discovered the floor of my 2021 RAV4 was completely flooded with water. I attempted to call Toyota but the service department was closed. I went to the local car wash to have them suck up the water in the meantime. I scheduled an appointment with Toyota on 5/1/2023 @3:45 to explain the issue that was going on. When I got there they serviced my vehicle and informed me that they weren’t able to find the source of a leak and they would need to keep my car. I asked would I be provided with a rental and the service advisor [XXX] told me no as this would need to be paid out of pocket. I didn’t agree and told them I’d have to bring it back. The following week I still noticed that there was water somewhere in my vehicle so I called to schedule another appointment on 5/10/2023 @3:45. This time I was connected with [XXX] who was very accommodating and set me up with a rental for one day. On 5/11/2023 I was contacted by [XXX] and he informed that they would need to keep my car for 3 weeks. He informed me that there was a lot of damage to the car and it would be fully covered. On 5/27/23 I was called and [XXX] told me I could pick up my vehicle. When I left on 5/27/23 I drove the car and when I put it in reverse my steering wheeled locked up and a message came across the screw saying “low voltage power steering.” I called the service department but they were closed until 5/30/23 for the holiday. I also contacted my service provider [XXX] and left a voicemail. He called me back 5/28/23 and informed me that he was out of town and to drop the car back of 5/30/23. I dropped the car off and they put me in another vehicle. 5/31/23 [XXX] called me back to inform me that the car was ready. I pick it up and it flooded in the inside again. I discovered there was a recall that it was never informed about and now they want me to pay. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMAT

NHTSA ODI #11525458

Mileage unknown · May 22, 2023
Electrical SystemEngineUnknown Or OtherFire

We were on a drive back from Nashville like normal. My mom had picked me up from work at around 07:15. The car started making strange sounds as we were driving down the highway. It started yelling at us to pull over to a safe spot and slowing down. All of the lights had come on flashing at this time. It didn’t even make it to th…

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We were on a drive back from Nashville like normal. My mom had picked me up from work at around 07:15. The car started making strange sounds as we were driving down the highway. It started yelling at us to pull over to a safe spot and slowing down. All of the lights had come on flashing at this time. It didn’t even make it to the shoulder; We made a stop on the triangle area for when cars come in from the exit. As soon as we stopped, smoke started engulfing us and 2 guys who saw this happening parked on the shoulder and came running out of their van with fire extinguishers and started telling us to get out. When we went around the car to check what was going on, we noticed the fire that had started from the bottom of it. They fired the extinguishers a couple of times to the bottom of it where we could see the fire but it didn’t help much so we had to retreat to a safer spot. We called 911 to ask them to send assistance. Not long after, the front half of the car was engulfed in flames. 10-20 minutes later, the fire department came to extinguish the flames. Once they got the fire under control, they towed the car to the shoulder of the road where we proceeded to salvage anything that was salvagable from the car. Where I got my hands cut up from broken shards that were littered all over the interior. We waited for awhile for another form of transportation to be able to make it home and it took a little bit due to the traffic that this incident had caused. We got the car towed back to Toyota for evaluation of the incident. It was supposed to be done within 2 months, but we still hadn’t heard anything about it going into 3. We called them to inquire about the car and the situation, and they said that they had closed the case and had to reopen it for further investigations. They had closed the case and not told us anything about it. We received an email on the 23rd of January that stated the vehicle was too far damaged for them to be able to evaluate anything.

NHTSA ODI #11523298

Mileage unknown · Apr 23, 2023
Electrical SystemUnknown Or Other

I have a 2021 Rav4 gas LE. I bought it new in May 2021 and have 38,000 miles on it. I was casually driving the car going 30-40mph when the car dashboard lit up. The first notification I got was on the screen display saying a malfunction in the charging system was detected and to stop in a safe location. Next, all my dashboard …

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I have a 2021 Rav4 gas LE. I bought it new in May 2021 and have 38,000 miles on it. I was casually driving the car going 30-40mph when the car dashboard lit up. The first notification I got was on the screen display saying a malfunction in the charging system was detected and to stop in a safe location. Next, all my dashboard lights turned on (tire pressure, traction control, check engine, ABS, brake, battery light, etc.) and got the following messages on the dashboard: - parking brake malfunction - pre collision malfunction - brake power low - stop in a safe place - secondary collision brake system malfunction - antilock brake system malfunction voltage ability - Voltage abnormality - steering power low And then finally, the “engine stopped” message when the emergency brakes engaged on their own while I was slowing down at a red light. Before this, I never got any warning lights or messages. I tried to get the car towed since jump starting the car didn’t work. The emergency brakes would not disengage in neutral. I had to call a tow truck. I took the car to the Toyota dealership. They said it was the battery and replaced it, but when I went to pick it up, the dashboard lights still wouldn’t go away even after resetting. The power locks still don’t work when the car is off and my key fob to unlock/lock also still doesn’t work. The display screen still isn’t turning on and the usb plugs in the car also aren’t drawing any power. The headlights and interior lights also don’t work. They said it’s an electrical problem but quoted me $520 to diagnose the problem ONLY since the car is now out of the 3 years/36k miles basic warranty. I have had this car less than two years and has 38k miles.

NHTSA ODI #11518522

Mileage unknown · Apr 11, 2023
Unknown Or Other

The Glass sunroof spontaneously exploded while driving.

NHTSA ODI #11516445

Mileage unknown · Jan 4, 2023
Unknown Or OtherCrashInjury

While pulling into what I thought was a parking spot, the left front wheel hit an 8" drop off. Almost immediately after the wheel was back up and level with the other wheels. The vehicle then began surging forward. I hit the brakes but they did not go down. Tried again and the same result. I then hit a hard plastic container…

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While pulling into what I thought was a parking spot, the left front wheel hit an 8" drop off. Almost immediately after the wheel was back up and level with the other wheels. The vehicle then began surging forward. I hit the brakes but they did not go down. Tried again and the same result. I then hit a hard plastic container and a brick wall. This stopped the vehicle and I was able to put it in park and turn off the engine. Truthfully, once the wheel fell went into the drop off, I had no control of the car. The brick wall has a crack in it and the container is ruined. Toyota Product Liability was called but they have not contacted me. Thankfully the wall did not collapse and no one else was injured. I have pain in left arm and shoulder but hopefully only bruising. The issue has not been confirmed by anyone and I do not know if there were any warnings because I was focused on trying to get the car stopped. There might have been some alarms, I am not sure.

NHTSA ODI #11500105

Mileage unknown · Dec 14, 2022
Electrical SystemEngineUnknown Or Other

Since I bought my brand-new car 1. the engine has stopped 5 times. 2. My windshield cracked. 3. There is low tire air pressure indicator that appears once in a while. A new battery was replaced, and it now cannot start. The message on the screen indicates: "IGNITION ON, Voltage abnormality steering power Low. Visit your Deale…

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Since I bought my brand-new car 1. the engine has stopped 5 times. 2. My windshield cracked. 3. There is low tire air pressure indicator that appears once in a while. A new battery was replaced, and it now cannot start. The message on the screen indicates: "IGNITION ON, Voltage abnormality steering power Low. Visit your Dealer." I took it the Dealer and now they are not able to find out what the problem is because I had to jam started the car for it to be towed.

NHTSA ODI #11497430

Mileage unknown · Dec 1, 2022
EngineFuel/propulsion SystemUnknown Or Other

2021 Toyota REV4 with just over 5,000 miles. I got off from a parking lot and drove 1/2 miles, The screen shown "Vehicle Alert" and asked to check engine with message "A malfunction in the electronic control of the engine, throttle, or automatic transmission has been detected". I smell very strong gasoline, then stop the vehicle…

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2021 Toyota REV4 with just over 5,000 miles. I got off from a parking lot and drove 1/2 miles, The screen shown "Vehicle Alert" and asked to check engine with message "A malfunction in the electronic control of the engine, throttle, or automatic transmission has been detected". I smell very strong gasoline, then stop the vehicle. I check the gas tank, it's normal. I opened the hood and saw a puddle of gasoline on engine part, between the battery and the engine but lower than the battery. It's so dangerous to drive with leaking gasoline so I park my car on a street

NHTSA ODI #11495574

Mileage unknown · Oct 31, 2022
Electrical SystemExterior LightingUnknown Or OtherFire

I was parked at a store, engine off. Was in there 3 minutes and another customer ran inside and said a car was on fire, the employee asked if it was mine. I ran outside and it was indeed mine. The rear tail light was all melted and on fire, billowing smoke was coming out the sides of the hatch so I opened it quickly to get the …

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I was parked at a store, engine off. Was in there 3 minutes and another customer ran inside and said a car was on fire, the employee asked if it was mine. I ran outside and it was indeed mine. The rear tail light was all melted and on fire, billowing smoke was coming out the sides of the hatch so I opened it quickly to get the fire out. The store employee put the fire out with his fire extinguisher. No prior warning lights were present when driving it before this occurred. The car is at Toyota dealer presently while they determine the cause.

NHTSA ODI #11491667

Mileage unknown · Sep 29, 2022
Unknown Or Other

Windshield cracked for no reason. I noticed very fine cracks which are spreading. I park inside of a garage and do very little highway driving. The windshield cracked in its own.

NHTSA ODI #11487148

Official recalls

1

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.

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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