2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime

The 2021 RAV4 Prime has a known defect with the heat pump causing an alarming sound to be heard within about a 1 minute of startup. The grinding noise causes distraction as it is extremely loud and occurs generally while backing out/maneuvering in tight areas. Toyota released a Service Bulletin in their European Market in October (numbered BE-00612T-TME - "Train Horn noise" from A/C compressor when the vehicle is started), but has not made available the same fixes in the US even months later.

Please refer to NHSTA tracking #11418659 reported in May 2021. At that time, I described potential safety issues resulting from the remote start of my vehicle being initiated without my knowledge. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealership--whose employees have been very cooperative and helpful--after multiple communications with the national offices of Toyota. Though I received a letter from Toyota stating that the problem had been rectified (letter from Toyota dated 4/23/21, as quoted in my initial complaint, stated "...your concern has been resolved..."), the problem persisted. Though my suggestion regarding the initial self-start shortly after taking delivery was dismissed by Toyota, investigation at my dealership resulted in a very simple solution--the key fob was activating the remote start because the button was inadvertently pushed while in my pocket, which is exactly what I had postulated initially. Trial and error (just keeping the fob out of my pocket for a few months) now seems to validate this theory. Here are the safety concerns generated by the poor engineering of this design: 1. A single press of a single button on the fob is all that is needed to initiate a remote start, setting the scene for an unintended self start. The safety implications delineated in my initial complaint, cited above, are obvious. I have had multiple vehicles with remote starts; they required multiple simultaneous buttons to be pressed and/or multiple presses on the button(s). 2. How could Toyota have resolved the problem, as reported in their letter to me? I cannot help but doubt their integrity regarding this potentially-serious safety concern. (Please note: the data below applies to the first of many incidents of unintentional self starting.)

I was driving on US1 near Dover, DE towards 307 South Boardwalk avenue unit 202, Rehoboth beach, Delaware, 19971. I was driving at around 60 mph and following the traffic flow. I suddenly could not steer the car, the car swayed to the left, hit the curb and came to a stop after I applied breaks. On reviewing its safety issues, I came across this article. https://www.motorbiscuit.com/the-2021-toyota-rav4-prime-is-dangerously-bad-at-emergency-steering/

Measuring from when the "low fuel" light comes on, our RAV4 Prime is only accepting 10 gallons of gasoline when refueling (car is advertised having a 14.5 gallon tank). This results in us having to fill up every 400 miles when it should be closer to 600 miles. Complained at least four times to the dealership and escalated with Toyota HQ - Toyota engineers acknowledged they have seen this trend from other RAV4 Primes out in the field, but are deeming 10 gallon fill-ups a "normal" characteristic of the car. This is bait-and-switch false advertising and an infuriating quality failure by Toyota.

The Drive to Empty estimation of remaining miles is not accurate. Regularly shows less miles than actual for HV mode. For example, after fuel fill up, the display read 508 miles DTE. I drove 38 and then it read 448. It should have said 470, thus it had a 22 mile discrepancy. 1 or 2 miles is fine, but an over 5% difference is not.

A few months ago I experienced multiple instances of my car self-starting while parked in my garage. I contacted the dealer and then Toyota. In April I received an email/letter stating that the problem had been corrected. However, just this week the problem returned, starting twice two days ago. I have just notified Toyota again and await a response, but due to the safety implications of this issue I am notifying the NHTSA. The safety implications of a car starting without provocation are obvious; for example, a child could climb inside and move the gear lever; should the vehicle's EV mileage be unavailable, thus starting in hybrid mode, CO--especially in a closed garage--would be of major concern. The April 23 letter that I received from Toyota stated that it had solved the problem, thus verifying the problem's existence: "Dear LAUREL BECKER: We are writing in regard to your request for support with the Toyota app. We are happy to confirm that your concern has been resolved. We have sent you a reset password link titled "Your Password is Ready to Reset" just in case you need it to gain access. Please reset your password, then log back in to the app. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience." By the way, I never received the password link but did not follow through, as I had no trouble logging in to my account. The vehicle has had no inspections for this issue. There were no warnings, other than the after-the-fact notification that the car had started remotely.

DURING ITS FIRST FUEL TANK FILL-UP (AT 909 MILES, ON 3/14/2021), NEW 2021 RAV4 PRIME SE FUEL TANK ACCEPTED LESS THAN THE EXPECTED AMOUNT OF GASOLINE. STARTING AT NEAR-EMPTY, ONLY NINE (9) GALLONS WAS ACCEPTED. AT THE SECOND FILL-UP (ON 3/22/2021), ONLY FOUR GALLONS COULD BE ADDED, AND THE FUEL NOZZLE WAS EJECTED FROM THE TANK, SPILLING GAS. SECOND ATTEMPT COULD NOT ADD ANY MORE GAS.

I AM EXPERIENCING INCONSISTENT BRAKE FEEL AFTER ABS ACTUATION DURING SLOW AND STEADY APPLICATION OF THE BRAKES ON ROUGH OR SLICK ROAD SURFACES. STOPPING DISTANCES ARE INCREASED COMPARED WITH MY EXPECTATION FOR A GIVEN PEDAL FORCE. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS HAD A SIMILAR ISSUE, AND A RECALL WAS ISSUED UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN 10V039000.

CAR HAS 750 MILES FROM NEW. FUEL GUAGE DISPLAY 3/4 FULL WHEN TANK IS ACTUALLY FULL.. CAUSES OVERFILLING AND LACK OF TRUST IN GUAGE READING. ALSO CAUSES CHARCOAL FILTER TO FILL WITH GAS. CAUSING IT TO FAIL. IN ADDITION CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO DISPLAY GENERATING NUMEROUS FAULTS COMES. ALL REQUIRE IMMEDIATE DEALER ATTENTION. NO DRIVE CONDITION.