2018 Toyota RAV4
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Electrical system is the leading concern among 331 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 9th highest complaint count among 26 RAV4 model years with reports.
Of the 2018 reports, 31 involved a crash and 32 involved a fire. 18 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Electrical system, 12v/24v/48v batteryNov 1, 2023
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2013-2018 RAV4 vehicles. Certain replacement 12-volt batteries may not fit properly in the battery tray, allowing the battery to move and contact the hold-down bracket, possibly causing a short circuit.
A battery short circuit increases the risk of a fire.
Dealers will replace the battery clamp sub-assembly, battery tray, and positive terminal cover, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed December 27, 2024, to 2013-2014 RAV4 owners. Additional owner notification letters will be mailed in phases, phase 2 will begin on May 14, 2025, and phase 3 in late July 2025. Owners may contact Toyota's customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 23TB13 and 23TA13.
Campaign 23V734000 on NHTSA.gov
Equipment, other, labelsJun 28, 2019
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Toyota Camry, Corolla, Rav4, Sienna, and Yaris iA vehicles equipped with factory-installed floor mats. The load carrying capacity modification label may be incorrect. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
An incorrect label may lead to unintentionally overloading the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
SET will notify owners and provide a corrected label for placement over the inaccurate label, free of charge. The recall began August 23, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. SET's number for this recall is SET19A.
Campaign 19V503000 on NHTSA.gov
Equipment, other, labelsDec 20, 2017
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Toyota 4Runner and Tundra, 2018 Toyota Highlander, RAV4 and Lexus GX460 and 2017 Toyota Sienna and Tacoma vehicles. These vehicles may have incorrect load carrying capacity modification labels. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
An incorrect load information label can result in the operator overloading the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash.
Toyota will notify owners and provide them with corrected labels, free of charge. The recall began on January 23, 2018. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are H0Z for Toyota vehicles, and HLF for Lexus vehicles.
Campaign 17V831000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: engine
34 reports, newest first. Show all
Vehicle speed control, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Sep 8, 2020
CAR IS FAILING TO SPEED UP PAST 60 UNLESS USING CRUISE CONTROL THEN THE CAR USED A LOT MORE GAS THEN NORMAL. I ALSO TRIED TO PASS A CAR TO GET UP TO HIGHWAY SPEED AND WAS UNABLE TO, VERY DANGEROUS ON THE HIGHWAY. THEN THE CAR WOULD NOT GO PAST 40 I TRIED TO SWITCH FROM ECO TO SPORT TO NORMAL THINKING THAT MAYBE THE COMPUTER WAS CONFUSED BUT THAT DID NOTHING. SO AFTER TRYING TO SPEED UP MULTIPLE TIMES I GOT A HYBRID MALFUNCTION LIGHT AND TOLD TO PULL OVER. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME IN THE PAST AS WELL. TOYOTA DEALER WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE ANY ISSUES WITH IT AND JUST RESET THE COMPUTER.
Electrical system, Vehicle speed control, Engine, Jun 14, 2020, crash
PULLED INTO DRIVEWAY AND HAD FOOT ON BREAK. GOING VERY SLOW TO PARK . WENT TO PUT CAR INTO PARK AND CAR LUNGED FORWARD AND HIT GARAGE. BACKED UP AND CAR WENT VERY FAST SO HAD TO MOVE FORWARD AGAIN OUT OF ROAD. PUT CAR INTO DRIVE AND CAT SURGED FORWARD AND OUT OF CONTROL. ABLE TO AVOID GARAGE BUT CAR WENT BESIDE GARAGE, AND INTO SLIGHT DROP OFF. I WAS ABLE TO STOP CAR BY FLOORING BREAK AND PUTTING INTO PARK. CALLED POLICE THEY MADE REPORT, CALLED ROADSIDE SERVICE AND TOWED TO DOWNEAST TOYOTA IN BREWER MAINE. IT'S NOW GOING TO HAVE INFORMATION PULLED AND RESEARCHED TO DETERMINE WHAT HAPPENED. NO PICTURES. A LOT OF DAMAGE TO FRONT AND MAYBE UNDERNEATH. CAR WENT OVER A CEMENT BLOCK.
Service brakes, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Nov 24, 2019
WHEN I'M DRIVING AT SLOW SPEEDS THE ENGINE FEELS LIKE IT STALLED OR DOWNSHIFTED AND THE DISPLAY GETS DARK BUT CAR IS STILL 'ON', HOWEVER, IT WILL NO LONGER ACCELERATE. THE STEERING SEEMS TO BE AFFECTED TOO. UNFORTUNATELY, IT ONLY RESOLVED BY TURNING THE CAR OFF AND BACK ON, CAUSING TRAFFIC TO STOP OR SWERVE TO AVOID HITTING ME 3X THE PAST 2 WEEKS.
Engine, May 9, 2019, fire
TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2018 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED AFTER PARKING AND RETURNING TO THE VEHICLE IN THEIR GARAGE, SMOKE WAS SEEN COMING FROM THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT QUICKLY ENTERED THE VEHICLE AND REVERSED THE VEHICLE OUT OF THE GARAGE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS CALLED AND EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. NO INJURIES WERE SUSTAINED. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED BY THE FIRE. THE CONTACT CALLED FRANK FLETCHER TOYOTA (2209 S RANGELINE RD, JOPLIN, MO 64804 (417) 622-5447) AND WAS INFORMED THAT SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS MOVED THEY COULD OFFER NO ASSISTANCE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 48,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, May 8, 2019
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH OR LESS, THE VEHICLE HAS STALLED WHEN THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS RELEASED IN MOVING TRAFFIC 5 TIMES. THE FAILURE OCCURRED FOUR TIMES IN APRIL, 3 TIMES WHILE DRIVING TO WORK. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO TOYOTA ESCONDIDO (231 E LINCOLN PKWY, ESCONDIDO, CA 92026, (760) 300-1112) TO BE DIAGNOSED AND THREE ABNORMAL CODES APPEARED, WHICH INDICATED ROUGH IDLING AND FAILURE WITH THE VEHICLE STARTING. THE MANUFACTURING WAS CONTACTED AND COULD NOT LOCATE A FAILURE. THE CONTACT WROTE TO THE DEALER'S OWNER AND REQUESTED THAT THEY EXTEND THE WARRANTY; HOWEVER, THE REQUEST WAS DENIED. THE MANUFACTURER PROMISED TO CALL THE CONTACT BACK, BUT DID NOT CALL. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 8,652. *BF CONSUMER STATED TOYTOA WAS UNABLE TO ESTABLISH A ROOT CAUSE. 'PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'*JB
Electrical system, Engine, Feb 10, 2019
WHILE DRIVING THE CAR JUST SHUT DOWN AND THE CODE READ CHARGING SYSTEM MALFUNCTION, WE HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY ERASED THE CODES BUT THEY ACKNOWLEDGED THEY EXISTED HOWEVER THEY SAID THERE IS NOTHING WRONG AND WANT US TO CONTINUE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE WITH NO ASSURANCE IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN
Engine and engine cooling, Fuel/propulsion system, Jan 24, 2019
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FUEL WAS RUNNING OUT QUICKLY IN THE VEHICLE. IN ADDITION, THE EMISSION (ECO) WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED CONTINUOUSLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO FRED ANDERSON TOYOTA (9101 GLENWOOD AVE, RALEIGH, NC 27617) AND LEITH TOYOTA (8005 CAPITAL BLVD, RALEIGH, NC 27616), BUT THEY FAILED TO DIAGNOSE THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 6,900.
Electrical system, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Jan 2, 2019, fire
AFTER PURCHASING OUR BRAND-NEW 2018 RAV4 FROM AUTHORIZED TOYOTA DEALER, WE WERE HEADING BACK HOME. ON OUR WAY, WE NOTICED BURNING SMELL FOLLOWED BY BLACK SMOKE FILLED FRONT SIDE OF THE CABIN. I QUICKLY MOVED MY CAR TO THE RIGHT SIDE PARKING LOT. WHILE CHANGING THE LANE I COULD NOT EVEN SEE THE RIGHT MIRROR BECAUSE OF THE BLACK SMOKE IN THE CABIN. AS SOON AS I PARKED THE CAR AND WE GOT OFF THE CAR, WITHIN A FEW SECONDS FLAMES FROM THE HOODS WERE NOTICED I CALLED EMERGENCY SERVICE (911) AND TO OUR DISBELIEF TO WATCH OUR NEW CAR BURNING IN FRONT OF US. IT WAS ONLY 15 MINS DRIVE FROM DEALER WHEN WE THE INCIDENT HAPPENED. IT TOOK ONLY 10 MINS TO SEE MY CAR WAS DESTROYED BY FLAMES. I COULD NOT GET ANYTHING OUT FROM FRONT OR BACK SEATS
Electrical system, Engine, Oct 1, 2018
WHILE DRIVING ON SATURDAY MORNING 9/29/18, I STOPPED AT A STOP LIGHT AND MY 2018 TOYOTA RAV4 LOST ALL ENGINE POWER WHILE IN TRAFFIC. THE COMPUTER VIDEO SCREEN SHOWED THE MESSAGE "CHARGING SYSTEM FAILURE\MALFUNCTION". I THEN ATTEMPTED TO RESTART THE VEHICLE AND IT DID NOT CRANK OVER, I WAITED A FEW SECONDS, MADE ANOTHER ATTEMPT , THE VEHICLE STARTED. I PULLED OVER AND PARKED THE VEHICLE, LOOKED UP THE ERROR MESSAGE IN THE CAR MANUAL AND IT INSTRUCTED ME THAT IT WAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM AND TO TAKE THE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY TO THE NEAREST TOYOTA DEALER. I THEN TOOK THE VEHICLE TO MY LOCAL DEALER, THEY RAN A VEHICLE DIAGNOSTIC REPORT, THEY FOUND NO ERROR MESSAGES OR VOLTAGE PROBLEMS WITH THE VEHICLE. THEY OFFERED NO REASON FOR THE LOSS OF VEHICLE POWER. THE SERVICE MANAGER STATED THAT THEY COULD ONLY DIAGNOSE THE VEHICLE SO FAR AND THAT THEY WOULD NEED "CORPORATE" TO SEND SOMEONE OUT TO DO FURTHER DIAGNOSTICS ON THE BLACK BOX. ON 10/1/18, I OPENED A PROBLEM REPORT WITH TOYOTA USA AND WAS GIVEN A CASE#. .