2019 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
Engine maintenance light on for coolant by pass valve
Engine Maintenance Required Alert popped up on my vehicle. It’s a 2019 RAV4 with barely 60k mileage on it that I bought new off the dealership back in 2019. They are charging me $800 to get the coolant bypass valve repaired, but this is a known issue that all RAV4’s are experiencing (regardless if it’s at 20k or 100k miles)
On [XXX], I brought my car in for its 60,000 mile check up. Everything was marked in the green zone including the “coolant.” On [XXX], car brought back in due to message on the car stating “Engine Service Required.” I went to the dealer and the advisor Daniel already had an idea it was the coolant bypass valve was most likely leaking coolant. Per advisor, he stated he has seen this many times before for these types of car bought within this year always has this problem. Upon inspection, the advisor was correct and it was the coolant bypass valve leaking coolant and needing to be repaired. I had to pay $1,278.55 just to fix this in a low mileage car. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The DCM failed. On 2/11/2024, a speaker was no longer working. On 2/15/2024, it was confirmed that the vehicle's microphone was not working. The vehicle was taken to a Toyota dealership on 2/16/2024. They confirmed that the speaker/microphone were not working. They identified a Toyota Service Bulletin for this issue, requiring DCM replacement at the cost of the consumer. Since there is a Toyota Service Bulletin, it seems that this is a known issue. Safety is at risk as the vehicle is no longer hands-free for communication. There were no warning signs of this failure.
I spoke to a Toyota customer service rep and they advised me to also log my issue on this site as a way to get the manufacturer to address it. The material on the steering wheel has been increasingly coming off. I'm [XXX] and retired, so the car does not experience rough usage and yet the material is not holding up. I would put a steering cover on, but the steering assist requires touching the steering wheel and I'm not sure how it would continue to work with a cover installed. This is my second Rav4 and I did not experience this problem with that one. This will be a very expensive replacement at some point, and I don't want the same defective material to be installed. I wish the manufacturer would address this. I have not been to the dealer yet to be honest, but wear and tear isn't covered under the warranty. I don't think this is normal though and the material should be holding up better than this. The car is stored in the garage, so it's not being caused by the sun. There's just 50,000 miles on the vehicle now. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The engine maintenance light came on at 82,300 miles. After running diagnostics, I was told at the Toyota dealership that it was the coolant bypass valve assembly. Toyota stated that this was a very common problem in this year model RAV4. The fix was almost $1000.
Sunroof shattered while driving down the interstate. A chunk of glass was missing & small pieces of glass fell into the car into my hair & into my clothes. Safety put at risk due to shock of event occurring while driving. It caught me off guard & I could not just stop on the highway to inspect what happened as cars were on the side & behind me. Increased anxiety while driving. Insurance claim filed with $500 deductible & without a car for an unknown period of time until glass is repaired. Car inspected by collision shop upon arrival.
engine light would not reset. I'm told that i have FAULTY HEATER BYPASS VALVE. I will also need a flush on my coolant. Total repairs just under $1000.00. The light came on around 69,000 miles.
The rear passenger side hinge of my lift gate is cracked on both sides. As a result, the lift gate does not open, close, or seal properly. The cracks were noticed a few weeks ago after multiple issues with the rear lift gate freezing as opening or closing. It has never been in an accident, nor has it ever been hit. The car has exclusively only been serviced at the Toyota dealership where it was bought. The rear liftgate issues have been brought up multiple times with no resolution. I’ve contacted the dealership about the hinges and they’ve told me that I need to take it to a private body shop to have repaired. Having the hinge of the liftgate cracked on both sides impacts the integrity of the rear of the car in a collision and the safety of the user one opening and closing lift gate should break entirely. I’m doing research on this issue online. It seems to be some thing. Other people have experience with the rear liftgate hinge. There’s even a complaint about it on consumer affairs.
Vehicle accelerated uncontrollably in reverse at 50-60 mph and crashed into a wall, almost killing me. I could not stop the vehicle. Braking did not stop it.
Water Pump failure; check engine light came in while the car was not moving.
Sunroof suddenly shattered as we are just starting up the car. We are not parked under a tree or any structure. We just heard a loud noise of something shattering from the roof. I went outside and saw the roof completely shattered.
"Engine maintenance required" comes on. TEch at auto shop cannot reset it. Does not need oil change or anything with engine. Also, both driver and passenger upper airbags seen accumulating moisture marks and leaving dark lines. This does not make sense.
“Engine maintenance required - see dealer” message around 60k miles and subsequent coolant bypass valve issue should be a RECALL for 2019 RAV4s. Toyota either deliberately enabled this message to pop up to require vehicle owners to spend over $600 at Toyota dealerships, installed faulty coolant bypass valves, and/or failed to properly code messages in the vehicles. The message will not go away and requires only Toyota to disable it. Thousands of owners have had to take their vehicles into Toyota dealerships to correct the message and/or valve issue, costing at least $600. For these reasons, this should be a RECALL.
I was pulling into a parking space and when I applied the brake to stop, the vehicle did not slow down and hit a building. The driver side airbags deployed (steering wheel and knee airbags). The was no one else in the vehicle. The vehicle was declared a total loss by the insurance company. I have reported the issue to Toyota and signed an authorization for them to obtain the vehicles electronic data. The consumer has yet to receive a response from Toyota.
Back driver's door panel retaining water. Water swishes back and forth. Replaced roof clips on top already. Just realized today that it was not my gas tank making the sound.
WATER LEAKING FROM LEFT AND RIGHT UPPER LINERS NEAR AIRBAGS ON PILLAR ,. LEFT DRIVER'S GRAB HANDLE . CAR MILES AROUND 17.000 MILES . WARRANTY OR EXTENDED WARRANTY PLATINUM FOR EXTRA 4 YEARS NO COVER PROBLEM ? LOOKS TOYOTA DESING FOR DRAIN WATER IS NO CORRECT DESING ...
I purchased a brand new 2019 Toyota RAV-4 XSE Hybrid on August 13, 2019. In 2020, I noticed my fuel tank would not fill past 10 gallons. I had the Toyota of Hollywood dealership fix the gas tank issue in March 2022. Pre-fix, the tank was only filling 9-10 gallons when the low fuel light turned on. Post-fix, I am getting 11 gallons filled which is much less than I thought it would since the tank should hold more. I had the dealer check the tank capacity just in case, and got 14.8 total capacity. I am wondering if this is a software or fuel gauge issue now. Why would you do a customer support program to “fix” a fuel tank so we only get one more gallon of gas in the tank? You should be fixing it so we get a minimum of 13 gallons in the tank. This significantly reduces the range I can drive, 345 miles, according to the computer. After my fuel tank diagnostic on February 22, 2023, Oscar at Toyota of Hollywood told me my tank is operating normally and my tank will only accept 11 gallons and has 3.5 gallons in reserve? So I can drive 100 miles after the empty light comes on and won’t run out of gas? This is a big safety issue. How do I know when my car will run out of gas? The answer is, I don’t.
The front windshield just started a crack on the drivers side near the wiper blade. No rock or chips and I hear the glass crack while driving. I hear this is a problem with the factory glass from Toyota on the RAV4.
On January 17th 2023, I discovered a leak coming from the roof rack on the passenger side. The water leaked onto the passenger seat. When I brought this to the attention of my dealership, I was told that they did not handle these problems and sent me to an independent repair shop, where the roof rack was removed and an adhesive was applied to stop further leaks. I want this problem documented with Toyota, in case any further problems like this develop. I understand from other Toyota owners that this is not an uncommon problem with this model vehicle, and that these leaks can damage wiring and ultimately the airbags.
As I was turning into a parking spot my car made a growling noise and suddenly lunged forward and accelerated at high speeds, hitting two cars and only stopping once the car hit a wall. I had no control of the car as it accelerated and the brakes did not work.
The car is leaking water from the driver side roof rack
Sudden engine stall while driving
About a year ago, I was unable to make or receive calls through my vehicle. I could hear the other side talking, but they could not hear me. Additionally, I could not make voice commands through my vehicle. The microphone was not working at all. I advised my dealer and they indicated they did have a service bulletin regarding this issue, but everything they tried did not fix it. the dealer indicated to me that it was going to cost me almost $2,000 to have it fixed. I don't have an extra $2,000 laying around to fix this problem, so I've just been using my phone to my ear normally. It's much safer to have handsfree talking and commands, don't you think? I have 64,000 miles on my vehicle, so its out of manufacturer warranty. Shouldn't this be some type of recall? Thank you.
The roof rack leaks, Toyota trying to charge $800 for labor but the car is not even 40000 miles on it and the roof shouldn’t leak because the airbags are going to get wet and not work
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Quick Summary
The 2019 Toyota RAV4 has 91 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. 3 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.