2018 Toyota RAV4 Reliability Report

The pedal goes soft, sinks toward the floor, or needs heavy force, and several cars fail to stop and hit something. Owners describe mushy brakes and loud scraping or screeching as early as 18,000 miles, and dealers often say they cannot find a fault. Pads and rotors wear out early, sometimes unevenly on one wheel, and front rotors overheat and warp repeatedly. Some reports pair an ABS failure message with shaking, lost power, or smoke. One dealer found a vacuum leak under the pedal.

Night visibility is the main complaint. The projector low beams cut off sharply, leaving the road ahead, hill crests, and roadside signs dark, and dealers say the lights work as designed. Automatic high beams switch themselves off or refuse to engage, and in some cars the high beams do not work at all. Auto headlights can shut off for seconds while driving. Other reports cite bulbs that keep failing, condensation inside new headlights, and brake lights that stay off while radar cruise slows the car.

Sunroof glass shatters at highway speed with a loud bang and no sign of impact, sometimes showering occupants. Windshields crack with no impact point, often while parked, and one crack starts at the camera mount. Replacement windshields are back-ordered for weeks. Owners also describe dashboard glare reflecting into the windshield in bright sun, a large blind spot at the right front pillar and mirror, and wiper blades that ice over in freezing weather.

The car accelerates on its own, at times with the driver's foot on the brake, and some of these events end in crashes. Adaptive cruise control misbehaves in both directions: it brakes hard or stops for nothing ahead, or speeds up when another car cuts in or it loses track of the car ahead. Other reports describe hesitation pulling away from a stop and hybrids losing power with overheating or malfunction warnings. Dealers frequently find no fault.

Nondeployment in serious collisions is the main pattern, including head-on impacts, a highway deer strike, and a hit from a semi truck. Most complaints here involve a crash, and several report injuries. Some drivers see an SRS or safety system malfunction message after the impact. Less often, side or curtain bags deploy when they should not, including once at under 5 mph with no collision. Several of these crashes also involve reported braking or acceleration failures.

The wheel locks up without warning, often mid-turn and with warning lights, and in some cases the car stops and the battery catches fire. Electric power steering fails and turns heavy like manual steering, and one owner reports it failing again after a repair. A failed steering lock ECU leaves one car unable to move. Other cars pull persistently to one side despite alignments, or show steering warning lights that dealers cannot trace.

Sudden shutdown while driving, followed by fire, is the most serious pattern, sometimes after flickering gauges or lost power steering. One fire starts in a parked car in a garage. Other cars lose power on the freeway and stall, sometimes showing an AWD malfunction message and dropping into 2WD mode. One car speeds up at a stop with the brake pressed and hits another car. Smaller reports describe engine heat and a foul odor entering the cabin, and a crankshaft sprocket problem causing harsh starts around 60k miles.