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2023 Toyota RAV4

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2023 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: 12 of 153 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.

  • Electrical System. Review the 41 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Steering. Review the 26 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine. Review the 24 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

18 crash reports1 fire reports9 injury reports

Engine complaints

24 reports
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Mileage unknown · May 5, 2025
EngineSteering

UNKNOWN: It happened during a heavy storm on my 40 miles to work and all the symbols lights suddenly lit up on the dashboard. The car died and the steering wheel got heavy when I tried to pull to the emergency lane. Luckily I was able to pull over, but it almost caused an accident as I was in the middle lane. I tried to start…

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UNKNOWN: It happened during a heavy storm on my 40 miles to work and all the symbols lights suddenly lit up on the dashboard. The car died and the steering wheel got heavy when I tried to pull to the emergency lane. Luckily I was able to pull over, but it almost caused an accident as I was in the middle lane. I tried to start up the car again, but it would crank up, but died instantly and the dash would show "Ignition on" on the top left and "Engine Stopped: Power Steering Low". I called the dealership and talked to the service department and the service advisor think it was the battery, but he told me to try starting it after 5-10 minutes, if not, to call the tow company and tow the car to dealership for further inspection. I let it sit for 10 minutes and was able to start it back up and drove it straight to the nearest Toyota Dealership. While driving to the dealership, the car kept choking/stalling when pressing on the gas after braking. They examined with their scanners and the battery was in good condition and my car has gas (about 3/4 tank full) and they said the scans reported no issues. This is a concerning issue as I could had lost my life or possibly cause major accident and involve other people life.

NHTSA ODI #11659130

Mileage unknown · May 5, 2025
Electrical SystemEngineUnknown Or Other

While raining, noticed smoke coming from under the hood, engine seemed as if it didn’t have any power. Car shut off. While attempting to restart I seen a message in dashboard that said Engine stopped: steering power low. Took a while to get car cranked again after multiple attempts. Message in dashboard disappeared after multipl…

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While raining, noticed smoke coming from under the hood, engine seemed as if it didn’t have any power. Car shut off. While attempting to restart I seen a message in dashboard that said Engine stopped: steering power low. Took a while to get car cranked again after multiple attempts. Message in dashboard disappeared after multiple attempts to restart nor is there a message in remote application health status section.

NHTSA ODI #11659025

Mileage unknown · May 2, 2025
EngineSteering

It’s pouring rain and my engine stopped and a message popped up saying “engine stopped power steering low”

NHTSA ODI #11658607

Mileage unknown · Apr 25, 2025
Electrical SystemEngine

I was sitting in a drive thru with my car in drive , foot on break and all of a sudden it starts to shake and struggle to stay on . Then it stalls out , engine shuts completely off and my check engine light came on! The error messages on the screen read : Engine stopped , power steering low , precollision system malfunction , an…

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I was sitting in a drive thru with my car in drive , foot on break and all of a sudden it starts to shake and struggle to stay on . Then it stalls out , engine shuts completely off and my check engine light came on! The error messages on the screen read : Engine stopped , power steering low , precollision system malfunction , and parking brake malfunction. As I tried to restart it , It wouldn’t start back up and stay on at all. After a good 20 min or so , and after being pushed out of the drive thru and my order canceled, my car starts back up as if nothing happened. Had my car checked for codes , and guess what ? NOTHING ! It’s happened to me about 6 times in about a year and two month of owning it ! Nobody can figure out what the problem is . I also have issues randomly with my radio screen . When my phone is hooked up to CarPlay , it will sometimes kick me out and reconnect by itself , the screen completely shutting off and turning back on by itself , there’s times I was listening to pandora and it won’t allow me to click my station and show the song playing , and other issues. Had this happen too many times to count and within the first couple months of owning it , I took it back and they couldn’t figure out the issue. It never happened while they had it .

NHTSA ODI #11656674

Mileage unknown · Mar 13, 2025
Electrical SystemEngineSteering

I came to a stop on the highway due to a law enforcement traffic slowage. As I began moving again with the rest of traffic, my car suddenly started shaking and struggling to stay on. My check engine light came on and an alert popped up for “Engine stopped, steering power low” “pre collision system malfunction” and “parking brake…

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I came to a stop on the highway due to a law enforcement traffic slowage. As I began moving again with the rest of traffic, my car suddenly started shaking and struggling to stay on. My check engine light came on and an alert popped up for “Engine stopped, steering power low” “pre collision system malfunction” and “parking brake malfunction”. I felt fearful for my safety as I was unsure if my car would safely allow me to brake and move over to the shoulder of the road. I was really scared and had so much anxiety that I wouldn’t be able to make it out safely. The dealer was not able to find any record of these codes popping up and could not recreate the check engine. I have pictures showing the codes to support my claim.

NHTSA ODI #11648158

Mileage unknown · Feb 1, 2025
EngineSteeringUnknown Or Other

Car had error on dashboard of Engine stopped power steering low, car is available for inspection. Car would not start in the middle of the night while raining, had smoke coming out the front. Problem not reproduced at dealership. No other warnings were shown beforehand.

NHTSA ODI #11640039

Mileage unknown · Dec 30, 2024
Electrical SystemEngineSteering

This happened on [XXX] in Oakland CA, it was a rainy day. I drove off the freeway and then parked the vehicle in the parking lot. The car was in idle mode. After about 10 minutes the engine started to stall, and then shut off completely. I tried to restart the engine but it failed. The dashboard showed an error message "Engine S…

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This happened on [XXX] in Oakland CA, it was a rainy day. I drove off the freeway and then parked the vehicle in the parking lot. The car was in idle mode. After about 10 minutes the engine started to stall, and then shut off completely. I tried to restart the engine but it failed. The dashboard showed an error message "Engine Stopped, Steering Power Low". I suspected that rainwater entered into the engine from the air intake.  After waiting for about 2 hours, I was able to restart the vehicle, and then everything seemed to be normal. Toyota should announce a recall for this problem as this is very dangerous to operate the vehicle on the freeway on rainy days. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI #11633171

Mileage unknown · Aug 19, 2024
Electrical SystemEngineSteering

UNKNOWN. I drove my car off the dealership lot and not even 10 minutes into my ride home, as I pulled of the highway, I noticed that the RPM of the vehicle was slowing down. I pressed down harder on the gas to get it to accelerate but it just kept jerking and slowing down. Eventually I tried to get off to the side of the road an…

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UNKNOWN. I drove my car off the dealership lot and not even 10 minutes into my ride home, as I pulled of the highway, I noticed that the RPM of the vehicle was slowing down. I pressed down harder on the gas to get it to accelerate but it just kept jerking and slowing down. Eventually I tried to get off to the side of the road and the car stopped in the middle of two lanes. The Check Engine, Battery warning and Electric Power Steering lights all came on the dashboard. There was also another error message: Engine Stopped Steering Power Low. I called the dealership and they came and towed the car. Not sure what the issue is but saw on some forums that this has happened to other RAV4 owners on used and brand new cars as well. Someone encouraged users to report it to the NHTSA so Toyota is aware of the issue.

NHTSA ODI #11609576

Mileage unknown · May 2, 2024
Electrical SystemEngineSteering

Toyota RAV4 2023 , had it not even a whole year bought it from the dealer 0miles. Today while running errands parked on the side of the road, car started to vibrate weirdly and then it shut off. I try starting the vehicle again and it just keep showing the same message “Engine Stopped Steering Power Low” with the check engine li…

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Toyota RAV4 2023 , had it not even a whole year bought it from the dealer 0miles. Today while running errands parked on the side of the road, car started to vibrate weirdly and then it shut off. I try starting the vehicle again and it just keep showing the same message “Engine Stopped Steering Power Low” with the check engine light and steering wheel light on. After 30minutes I let it sit and when I tried turning the car on again, it ran perfectly but I wasn’t risking it happening again. So I had to call Toyota roadside to tow it since the warranty still covers it. And now I gotta wait to see what’s going on. I did my research on google and a lot of people have the same problem going on with RAV4s.

NHTSA ODI #11586641

Mileage unknown · Apr 13, 2024
EngineSteering

I was sitting in line at a drive-thru with my wiper blades on the intermittent setting when suddenly the engine shut off and I got an error message that said “engine shut off steering power low”. The check engine light, battery, and steering light all came on. I turned the car off and then on again. It rumbled and then shut off …

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I was sitting in line at a drive-thru with my wiper blades on the intermittent setting when suddenly the engine shut off and I got an error message that said “engine shut off steering power low”. The check engine light, battery, and steering light all came on. I turned the car off and then on again. It rumbled and then shut off again with the same message. I had to shift to neutral and push into a parking spot.

NHTSA ODI #11582816

Official recalls

3

25V744000 · Back Over Prevention:display Function

Oct 30, 2025

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2022-2026 Toyota, Lexus, and Subaru Solterra vehicles equipped with a Panoramic View Monitor (PVM) system. Please see the recall report for a complete list of models. A software error may cause the rearview camera to freeze or display a blank screen when the vehicle is in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A rearview camera that fails to display an image can reduce the driver's view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will update the parking assist software, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed January 2, 2026. Owners may contact Toyota's customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 25TB13 and 25LB06. Subaru's number for this recall is WRE25.

25V595000 · Electrical System: Instrument Cluster/panel

Sep 11, 2025

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2023-2024 Toyota Venza, 2023-2025 RAV4 Prime, RAV4, Highlander, GR Corolla, Crown, 2024-2025 Lexus TX, LS, Toyota Tacoma, Grand Highlander, and 2025 Lexus RX, Toyota Crown Signia, Camry, RAV 4 Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV), and 4 Runner vehicles. Due to an error in the instrument panel software at vehicle startup, the instrument panel may fail to display vehicle speed, brake system, and tire pressure warning lights.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An instrument panel display that does not show critical information can increase the risk of a crash or injury.

Remedy: Dealers will update the instrument panel software over-the-air (OTA) for non-PHEV vehicles, free of charge. For PHEV vehicles, dealers will inspect the instrument panel assembly, and either replace it, or update the software, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed December 5, 2025. Additional letters will be sent, anticipated in May 2026. This is a phased recall. Owners may contact Toyota's customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 25TB08 and 25TA08. Lexus' numbers for this recall are 25LB05 and 25LA05.

23V485000 · Tires:valve

Jul 11, 2023

Gulf States Toyota, Inc. (GST) is recalling certain 2023 Toyota RAV4 vehicles equipped with 17" black alloy accessory wheels. During installation of the alloy wheels, the tire valve stem may have been improperly installed or damaged. In addition, the load carrying capacity label may state the incorrect weight. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A damaged or improperly installed valve stem may allow air to leak and/or the tires to be underinflated, increasing the risk of tire failure and a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the wheel valve stems and replace the load carrying capacity modification labels, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on August 18, 2023. Owners may contact GST customer service at 1-800-444-1074. GST's number for this recall is 23R1.

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.

Go deeper into Toyota RAV4 problems