2015 Toyota RAV4 UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
There were two recalls on paint chipping off the body of the car. The last one ended in Nov 2025 I think. BUT...there are many of us who had no idea there was a paint recall, me included. I brought my Rav (great car btw, no issues with how it runs at all) thru a car wash over Thanksgiving, and two softball size paint chips came off, probably due to high pressure water. I then researched the paint and found out that there WAS a recall but I just missed it. This recall needs to be extended needs for I have paint chips missing now all over my car. This is unacceptable from a great car company like Toyota, they need to stand by something so basic as paint quality. The paint color in question is white pearl, code is 070. Thanks for your time here.
Was driving on the freeway on my way to work and suddenly i heard this loud pop. I didn't know if a vehicle next to me had a tire blow out or if i had a tire blow out. I pulled over and i checked my car and then i looked on the roof as that is where the loud pop came from and i saw my sunroof broken with a hole in the middle.
I was driving on the freeway to work. It's a 40 minute commute I make every day Monday to Friday. Half way to my destination, I heard like a loud pop or explosion sound. There was an 18 wheeler on the middle lane to my right and I thought one of its tires exploded and a piece landed on my roof. It felt like something landed on my roof or hit it hard, but not sure what. I also thought maybe my tire blew out, but my tires are all new and were fine. I pulled over to the side and put my emergency break lights on and checked the roof of my car and saw that my sun roof was broken. There is a hole in the middle. \n
recall # 23TB13 manufacturer recall # 23V734 NHTSA 12 volt battery replacement still has no remedy available since recall 11/1/2023 I have had 2 batteries replaced in 4 years , not sure if due to recall and cant seem to get anyone to answer if related . The last battery kept having erosion and connection issues , Finally had to replace .
Was going a route that we do daily, and thankfully it was a backroad and no one was walking. Was coming up to a turn and pressed the brake but the car accelerated. 100% sure I pressed the brake! I couldn't steer the car and lost the brakes. Thankfully a tree stopped the car. Airbags deployed, windshield cracked, all 4 tires popped.
I received the "Interim Notice" recall notification (not the first one about the same problem - "Certain Potential Vehicle Fire related to 12-volt battery") 1/2/24 but no parts were available until received the next notice on 3/28/25 for the "Remedy". That is not in a reasonable time frame to me, over a year and almost 4 months. I received a recall prior to 1/2/24 about a similar battery issue that was supposedly taken care of in a more timely manner, then to receive another recall notice having to do with similar issues but the parts weren't available over a year and 4 months. Why wasn't the problem fixed with the first recall/fix? In the mean time my car could have caught on fire, but because I was warned, that's ok?! That is unacceptable.
paint is peeling off vehicle.
Last year my battery exploded while I was driving the car. This year again the sane issue. I was driving my car this past Sunday September 10, 2023 and my battery exploded once again.
There is a known issue and current recall issued for roof rail water leakage in rav4 models 2019-2021. My current model rav4 from 2015 is now experiencing the same issue with water leaking during a rainstorm into the interior of the car through the visor junctions in both driver and passenger side. Please be advised as I believe this is caused by the roof rail junctions not being properly sealed. It is not only affecting 2019-2021 models but affecting older rav4 models such as mine from 2015. Hopefully the recall can be expanded to include older models as I am already currently experiencing water damage inside my car and this could be a major safety issue if unresolved.
Front collision in 55 miles per hour freeway after slamming on the brakes and hitting car in front with minimum damage to them, RAV4 started immediately to smell like something but burning and black smoke started on front left, after few moments car was on flames. The car burnt in it's totality.
I had a 2015 rav4, I recently experience a horrific incident on 10/15/2023. I was driving on the freeway and the left lane was very bumpy. Then the dashboard started flickering so I pulled over. as I pulled over the car came to complete shutdown. So, my daughter and I got out of the car quickly. I called my insurance as the car didn't want start anymore, during this call I could see smoke. So, the agent had my call 911 and in seconds the car automatically went up in flames from bottom front to the top. Car was reported total loss. I saw the article on the rav4 recalls and believe this is related. [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I own a White 2015 Rav4 Limited. I bought it used in 2019. I am emailing today due to the issue, like many other RAV4 and other white Toyota vehicles - the paint is peeling. A small piece started to peel at the end of last winter. It has peeled larger in the past month. In the past two weeks with high winds, two larger portions peeled off the front hood and drivers side rear door. This is a total of three different areas on the vehicle.
Transaxle Repair: reman transition with torque converter. The car begins to shake around 60MPH as well as acceleration gets stuck at times. The Toyota dealership looked at the vehicle 2 times before the cause was addressed.
Nathing everything is my car working good
The white paint on my vehicle is chipping like crazy. I was told by my insurance company that there was a problem with the white paint on Toyota vehicle from 2008-2019. This is very disheartening as I’ve always buy toyota vehicles for their excellence.
On March 14, 2022 ( about 5:05pm)got in my car to drive to the post office to mail a package. ( less than one mile from my home) I noticed when I started the car that the computer appeared to be rebooting. It was grey and had a line at the bottom appearing to progress from left to right. I drove to post office, parked, turned off the car, locked it and went into post office. Waiting in line, a man came in and said whomever owns the silver RAV4 out front, your motor is smoking. I said that’s mine, went outside in shock, called 911 and the motor was in flames within minutes. I first noticed flames coming through crack in hood by the windsheild. I have no idea why this happened. Owned the car since 2018, never had a single issue. Car is totaled. Progressive Car insurance is investigating and will hopefully approve a fair settlement, minus my deductible.This is the most bizarre thing I”ve ever seen. Please advise if you know what I can do to at least get my deductible refunded from Toyota. Thank you By the way, I almost went to the gas station first, my tank was on E, it could have been a deadly situation had i done that first. Ps. I have a video of the fire that would not upload. If there is another way to get it to you, please let me know. Thank you.
Yesterday, on 9/1/2022, my son parked the car on the parking lot of CVS in Tucson, AZ. He turned the car off and locked it and went into the store. While at CVS the car spontaneously burst into flames. More specifically the front of the car burst into flames. The car has been meticulously maintained and was in perfect mechanical condition. No one smokes. There was nothing flammable in the car. It just caught on fire out of the blue on its own while parked. Good thing no one got hurt and no other property damage occurred, but the car is totaled. It had about 88,000 miles on it. Thank god it was not inside the garage at night or our house would most likely have burned down as well. This is a VERY disturbing event. No one expects their well-maintained car to catch on fire while turned off and parked. We would like the incident investigated.
REAR HATCH STRUT SEIZED AND BROKE CAUSING REAR HATCH DOOR TO NOT CLOSE COMPLETELY, REMOTE AND DOOR RELEASE IN CAR INOPERABLE. I HAD MY CAR SERVICED AND ADVISOR EXPLAINED THAT WATER (FROM WEATHER) CAUSED RUST AND LEFT STRUT BROKE. THE RIGHT STRUT IS CORRODED BADLY AND RECOMMENDED TO REPLACE AS WELL. TOTAL COST WOULD BE 1386.00 INCLUDED LEFT STRUT PART (427.00), RIGHT STRUT PART (739.00) AND ABOUT 200.00 IN LABOR. I CALLED TOYOTA CORPORATE FOR COMPLAINS AND THEY SAID THAT THERE WAS NO RECALLS AND THEIR WARRANTY WAS 3YR/3000 MILES WHICH DID NOT APPLY TO MY SITUATION. I CALLED MULTIPLE TOYOTA PARTS DEPTS, SOME OUT OF STATE TO COMPARE PRICES AND THEY REMAINED THE SAME. ONE PARTS EMPLOYEE INFORMED ME THAT THIS PART I NEEDED TO PROVIDE MY VIN NUMBER BECAUSE THESE STRUTS SUPPLY IS SPARSE AND THEY NEEDED TO SUPPLY LOCAL CUSTOMERS. I ASKED WHY THERE WASN'T A RECALL AND HE AGREED THAT THERE SHOULD BE ONE. AGREED THAT THE DESIGN IS POOR AND EXPECTATION TO LUBRICATE JOINTS TO PREVENT WATER DAMAGE ( WHICH WAS NOT IN ANY OF MY MAINTENANCE MANUELS.). I HAVE THE EXTENDED WARRANTY WHEN I PURCHASED MY NEW RAV4 AND ADVISOR CALLED AND PRESENTED PICTURES, THE CLAIM WAS DENIED.
MY CAR HAS 123,000 MILES I TAKE GREAT CARE OF IT I JUST HAD TO PUT A GEAR SHIFT ASSEMBLY IN TO THE TUNE OF 1100.00. MY TIRES WERE NOT RIDING WELL AND HE FOUND IT
TWO DOORS (FRONT DRIVER AND PASSENGER SIDE DOORS) NO LONG LOCK AND UNLOCK USING THE KEY FOB OR THE AUTOMATIC BUTTONS ON THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR. ACCORDING TO OUR MECHANIC, THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE (THE LOCK ACTUATOR) WITH TOYOTAS, ESPECIALLY SUVS AROUND 2015 LIKE RAV4S AND HIGHLANDERS. ON A COUPLE OF OCCASIONS, THE DOOR LOCK ITSELF GOT STUCK AND I HAD TO FIDDLE WITH IT SIMPLE TO OPEN THE DOOR MANUALLY. SURPRISED THIS HASN'T BEEN RECALLED SINCE IT HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR A SAFETY HAZARD. COST TO REPAIR EACH DOOR'S ACTUATOR (BY MECHANIC) IS OVER $500.
DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE WHEN THERE WAS A LOUD EXPLOSION. WHEN WE WERE ABLE TO STOP, WE SAW THAT OUR SUNROOF HAD EXPLODED. WE WERE VERY LUCKY THAT THE SHADE WAS CLOSED ON THE WINDOW. THERE WAS NOTHING AROUND US (VEHICLES, BRIDGES, ETC) TO CAUSE DEBRIS TO HIT THE SUNROOF TO CAUSE THE INCIDENT. THIS WAS AN EXTREMELY SCARY THING THAT I HAVE FOUND OUT IS NOT UNCOMMON.
WE WERE SIMPLY PULLING OUT OF OUR SUBDIVISION AND THE SUNROOF EXPLODED. IT WAS AROUND 6PM AND THE TEMPERATURE WAS ABOUT 28 DEGREES F.
MYSELF, MY DAUGHTER AND MY DAUGHTER'S FATHER WERE TRAVELING SOUTHBOUND ON INTERSTATE 89 TOWARDS BURLINGTON, VT. WE HEARD AN EXTREMELY LOUD BANG. IT SOUNDED LIKE AN EXPLOSION OR A GUN SHOT. THE SUNROOF HAD EXPLODED, NOT FROM ANY DEBRIS OR ROCK'JUST EXPLODED. IT WAS A TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE. LUCKILY WE ONLY GOT MINOR CUTS FROM THE GLASS. THIS HAPPENED ON A BUSY HIGHWAY. THANKFULLY I MAINTAINED CONTROL OF THE CAR DESPITE THE EXPLOSION AND PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY. WE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED OR KILLED SOMEONE ELSE IN ANOTHER CAR. NOW I AM FINDING OUT HOW OFTEN THIS TYPE OF THING HAPPENS AND WHY IS NOTHING BEING DONE ABOUT THIS. SUNROOFS NEED TO BE RECALLED. IT IS HORRIFYING THAT THIS HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED. IN ALL HONESTY, THIS PROBABLY WON'T CHANGE UNTIL SOMEONE DIES AS A RESULT OF THIS.
AIR CONDITIONING SMELLS LIKE MOLD OR MILDEW WHEN TURNING IT ON ALL THE TIME.
I NOTICE WARM AIR COMING FROM THE AIR VENTS EVEN WHEN I DONT HAVE THE AIR ON. IT CONCERNS ME THAT IT MAY BE EXHAUST. I ALSO HAVE A 2014 COROLLA THAT DOES THE SAME THING. YOU CANT STAND THE WARM AIR ON SEMI WARM DAYS. YOU CAN FEEL THE WARM HAIR COME THROUGH VENTS WITHOUT THE FAN ON. ITS ON GOING.
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Quick Summary
The 2015 Toyota RAV4 has 34 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. 3 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.