2016 Toyota RAV4

The contact owns a 2016 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, unattended in the driveway, it caught fire in the engine. The fire department extinguished the fire. There were no reported injuries, property damage or police report filed. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was towed to an independent lot. The manufacturer was not contacted. The fire department provided report number 2022-05-FV. The approximate failure mileage was 112,000.

I was driving from Ft Myers to Tallahassee on I-have 75 in Florida on March 8, 2022. All of a sudden, I heard the Lane Departure Assist go off in my car (which I had previously turned off because the alert is annoying) and my phone stopped working (it was plugged into a USB port in the car playing a podcast). A few minutes later, I stopped at a rest area and noticed my trip odometers had reset and a bunch of other settings I had previously set in my car had also reset back to factory settings, such as the cruise control settings, blind spot monitor, and parking assist. There might be more...I just haven't noticed those yet. When I got back home, I saw an envelope from Toyota titled, "12-Volt Battery Size and Installation Inspection Consumer Advisory." I did get my battery replaced in Winter 2020 by a non-Toyota dealer so now I'm wondering if that has anything to do with this Consumer Advisory.

The contact owns a 2016 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and went to the floorboard. The contact stated that extra effort was needed to depress the brake pedal while stopping the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 135,000.

The friend of the contact's son owns a 2016 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while his son's friend was driving at 10-15 MPH and making a turn with his son in the passenger seat, another vehicle crashed into the front passenger side of the vehicle. The front passenger air bags and the passenger curtain air bags deployed brutally and violently hit the contact's son face, chest and head. The contact's son was transported to the hospital with the assistance of emergency units. The contact's son sustained three dislocated front upper teeth and root, two dislocated front lower teeth and lesions on the lips. Additionally the contact's son sustained injuries on the neck, face, head, chest and pelvis. There was no further information provided. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

I was driving down a highway on the afternoon of February 26, 2022, when we heard a loud pop. At our next stop, we pulled back the interior sunroof cover and discovered the sunroof had shattered spontaneously. It was buckled up, not down, so I don't believe anything on the highway hit the vehicle. We were very lucky the interior cover was closed at the time it happened, or it's possible glass could have fallen into the car on the driver or passenger.

The contact’s daughter owns a 2016 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while the vehicle was idle, the warning message “System Failure” illuminated and the vehicle shuddered, shut off, and lost electrical power. The contact’s daughter shifted into Park. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed the failure as a loose vacuum hose and retched fuel system. The dealer secured the vacuum hose; however, the failure reoccurred while she was at a complete stop. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed the failure as a contaminated charcoal canister. The dealer replaced the canister; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and it was stated that fuel was leaking onto the charcoal canister. The charcoal canister was replaced for the second time; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer for a 4th time. The dealer sent a full diagnostic report to the manufacturer. The manufacturer sent engineers, field experts, and a district manager who took the vehicle apart and diagnosed that the charcoal canister and the evaporative emission control system including the gas tank needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired, and the gas cap was tightened. However, the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer three more times. The charcoal canister was replaced but the failure persisted. The contact stated that failure would occur when the vehicle was idle at a complete stop. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V682000 (Fuel System, Gasoline). The contact stated that the manufacturer opened a case and had been assigning the case to different district managers. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 1,200.

I was traveling at a speed of 40 mph on a wet road. As I approached an intersection with stop sign I applied brakes about 100 feet before the stop sign. The ABS engaged shortly after I applied the brakes. I continued to keep foot on brake but was continuing to get closer to the intersection and the ABS was not disengaging. I attempted once to let off the ABS and apply the brakes but the ABS was still on disengaging. At this point I was entering the intersection and turned my wheel toward the left at an embankment and pulled up on my emergency parking brake to stop the vehicle. The incident did not result in a collision, as it was a 3 way stop and the other vehicles at the intersection was able to avoid hitting me. I called Rohrich Toyota immediately to see if there was a recall in the brakes or a known problem. I was told there wasn't any known problem. I tested out the brakes at slow speed and the problem didn't repeat itself under slow conditions so I drove home. I believe there is a problem with the ABS not disengaging.

I was driving on the entrance road to a major highway, and as I approached the curve in the road and pressed on the brakes to decelerate, the vehicle began to shake, and as I pressed the brakes harder to slow down, they did not engage, the front wheels became locked in the position of the curving road at an angle and the vehicle went off road at approx 45mph down an embankment and into a tree. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle is totaled and although there were no fatalities minor injuries did occur since the airbags did not keep the passenger nor driver from hitting there head on the windows and door jam, and the steering wheel.

- I believe the ECM has failed, and I believe this after replacing battery, starter, spark plugs, and spark plug wires. While accelerating, and while maintaining a consistent speed over 50 mph, the tachometer (and engine, accordingly) yanks itself back and forth between 3500 and 5500 rpm. The vehicle physically jumps back and forth between massive acceleration and decceleration, without any change in throttle/pedal placement. This occurs while in Cruise Control, Eco Mode, Normal Mode, and Sport Mode. There is not yet a discernable pattern or trigger identified in why this occurs. - My safety and the safety of others has been put at risk by the vehicle's jerking, halting, and unplanned acceleration in heavy traffic situations. It scares me and others in traffic, to the point that people have asked if I was okay after being able to visibly notice the car's behavior on the highway, and my reaction. - The problem has been reproduced twice by an independent service center. Toyota Dealership read the computer for the vehicle to pull codes, told me nothing was wrong, and sent me away. - The vehicle has been inspected by my local Toyota dealership (lackluster inspection, in my opinion). Nothing resulted from this inspection. - There were (and still are) NO warnings lamps, messages, reminders, codes, or notifications of any kind to show that something is abnormal in my engine. This is the most vexing part of this issue. As far as the computer in the Rav4 is concerned, everything is nearly perfect. and it IS NOT.