2025 Toyota RAV4

Formal Complaint to Toyota Motor Corporation (Manufacturing) Regarding: Serious Manufacturing Defect and Failure of New Vehicle Safety Customer: [XXX] Customer Contact: Phone – [XXX] | Email – [XXX] Vehicle Purchased: (New/Recently Purchased Toyota Model) Date of Purchase: [XXX] Selling Dealership: Round Rock Toyota Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) (Last 4 Digits): [XXX] ________________________________________ I. Overview of Complaint: Critical Safety Defect I am filing this formal complaint directly with Toyota Motor Corporation regarding a vehicle that, due to an apparent critical manufacturing defect, failed dangerously and repeatedly within days of purchase. This failure represents a lapse in Toyota's quality control and a serious threat to consumer safety. The vehicle, purchased new or recently, on [XXX], exhibited critical operational defects less than three days after leaving the dealership. This vehicle is demonstrably defective and unsafe, having compromised my life during a near-fatal failure on a major interstate. As the manufacturer, Toyota is ultimately responsible for the quality and safety of the product delivered to consumers. II. Factual Timeline of Critical Defects and Safety Incidents The vehicle exhibited multiple critical failures less than 77 miles and three days after purchase, severely compromising my safety and confidence in the quality of the Toyota product: •Immediate Operational Failures: The vehicle began experiencing multiple mechanical failures shortly after purchase. •Near-Fatal Highway Stall: The most severe incident involved the vehicle suddenly failing and stalling while traveling on a major interstate. This catastrophic failure is indicative of a serious underlying manufacturing or component defect and severely endangered my life and the lives of others. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

While waiting in a drive-thru with “hold” feature enabled, car vibrated abnormally and shut off by itself. When I attempted to restart the vehicle, I received an error message “Engine Stopped. Steering Power Low” and another screen also appeared that said, “Not Ready to Drive. Press Brake and Push Engine Start Switch.” I followed those instructions several times and the car wouldn’t start. Eventually had to put in neutral to get out of drive-thru. Once out of drive-thru, I once again attempted to restart the car, but this time it worked. Should mention it was raining pretty heavily outside when this happened.

The contact owns a 2025 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that upon leaving the keys in the ignition overnight, the battery was drained. The contact stated that the jumper cables were in a compartment located inside the trunk. The contact stated that due to the battery failure, the contact was unable to unlock the vehicle. In addition, there was no keyhole for the trunk of the vehicle. The contact entered the trunk through the inside of the vehicle; however, the compartment where the jumper cables were located had failed to open due to the battery failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to file a complaint. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 5,500.

Check engine light came on as well as hybrid malfunction message. While on the highway could not accel or go past 60 mph, gas pedal would then not work and speed went down, I pulled car over to breakdown lane and car abruptly stopped and would not move. Many warnings flashed and car needed to be towed. Temperature rose and ignition messages came up, steering wheel locked and car was not drivable.