2017 Toyota RAV4

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2017 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE DRIVING 45 MPH, THE CONTACT SWERVED TO AVOID A DEER AND HIS FOOT SLIPPED OFF THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE CONTACT CRASHED THE VEHICLE INTO A GUARDRAIL. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE CONTACT'S ARMS AND RIBS WERE BRUISED AND HIS NECK SNAPPED BACK AND WAS SWOLLEN. MEDICAL ATTENTION WAS NOT RECEIVED; HOWEVER, X-RAYS WERE PERFORMED. THE CONTACT PLANNED TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH A DOCTOR. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO DEEMED THE VEHICLE DESTROYED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 23,000. *BF*JB '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

WHEN USING AUTO HEAD LAMPS AND ENGAGING THE AUTO HIGH BEAMS (PUSHING THE LEFT HAND SWITCH IN) THEY DON'T ALWAYS TURN ON. SOMETIMES THE GREEN AUTO READY LIGHT WILL NOT COME ON WHICH PREVENTS THE HIGH BEAM (BLUE) LIGHT FROM TURNING ON. I HAD NO ISSUES UNTIL ABOUT A MONTH AGO AND NOW THE HIGH BEAMS HAVE REFUSED TO TURN ON A DOZEN TIMES. I UNDERSTAND THIS IS AN INTERMITTENT ISSUE, SOME TIMES THEY WORK AND SOMETIMES THEY DON'T BUT IT IS VERY DANGEROUS WHEN DRIVING ON UNLIT BACK ROUNDS TO HAVE MY HIGH BEAMS REFUSE TO TURN ON. I BROUGHT MY CAR IN TO ACTON TOYOTA IN LITTLETON MA AND THEY CLAIM THEY COULD NOT REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. THEY REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE AUTO HIGH BEAMS NOT WORKING PROPERLY SINCE 2016. SINCE I DRIVE BACK ROADS EVERY DAY WHICH DO NOT HAVE STREET LIGHTS, I NEED THE HIGH BEAMS TO COME ON RELIABLY WHEN I PULL BACK THE LIGHT SWITCH LEVER. I UNDERSTAND DETERMINING ROOT CAUSE AND CORRECTIVE ACTION ON AN INTERMITTENT IS DIFFICULT BUT, THEY SHOULD BE HONEST WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS AND ADMIT THE ISSUE EXISTS.

I HAD TO VISIT TOYOTA BECAUSE MY RADIO WILL TURN ON BY ITSELF, WHEN I PARK. EVEN AFTER VISITING TOYOTA FOR AN UPDATE, MY RADIO WILL CHANGE ON ITS OWN, NOT FROM THE STEERING WHEEL) BUT ON ITS OWN.SO IT IS NOT FIXED. WIPERS WILL TURN ON THEN STOP. THERE SEEMS TO BE A DEVICE BEHIND THE DASH THAT I CAN HEAR CLICKING ON AND OFF WELL AFTER THE IGNITION IS OFF OR WHILE THE CAR IS IDLE FOR A BIT. MY CLIMATE CONTROL CHANGES ON ITS ON EVEN THOUGH IT WORKS FINE MOST OF THE TIME. IT IS AS IF MY CAR IS RECEIVING ADDITIONAL COMMANDS FROM ANOTHER SOURCE. LAST WEEK, AT NIGHT, I WITNESSED TWO MEN STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET, SOMEHOW ACTIVATING CAR ALARMS FROM RANDOM CARS. JUST YESTERDAY, NOT FAR FROM WHERE I LIVE A DRIVER "LOST CONTROL" AND RAN INTO TWO HOMES. THE DRIVER WAS THROWN FROM THE CAR, WHILE THE CAR AND THE HOUSE CAUGHT ON FIRE, THAT WAS STRANGE TO HEAR ABOUT. IF THERE IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE FOR MY CAR, PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT TO DO. THANK YOU.

ON 01/31/19 I WAS DRIVING MY 2017 RAV4 ON FREEWAY ABOUT 4 MILES THEN LOCAL ABOUT 5 BLOCKS I HEARD NOISE ON MY CAR SO I STOPPED. IT TURNED OUT I HAD A FLAT ON MY FRONT PASSENGER TIRE. I REPLACED IT WITH SPARE AND THE 'LOW TIRE PRESSURE' LIGHT JUST CAME ON. I THEN REALIZED WHY THE LTP LIGHT NEVER CAME ON BEFORE I REPLACED WITH SPARE. I TOOK THE RAV4 TO PASADENA TOYOTA TO RUN THE DIAGNOSTIC CHECK TO FIND OUT WHY LTP LIGHT NEVER CAME ON WHEN I WAS DRIVING ON A FLAT. THE DIAGNOSTIC FOUND 'NOTHING WRONG' AND THE SYSTEM DIDN'T RECORD ANYTHING. THEY ALSO TOLD ME THE TIRE SUFFERED 'RUN FLAT DAMAGE' AND NOT REPAIRABLE. I THEN CALLED TOYOTA CUSTOMER SVC. CASE # 1902010530, CASE MANAGER DEREK. DEREK JUST INFORMED ME ON 2/11/19 THAT THE LTP LIGHT WILL NOT COME ON WHEN THE TIRE SUDDEN LOST PRESSURE AND TURN FLAT (OWNER'S MANUAL PG 571). I ASKED HIM WHY THE LIGHT DIDN'T COME ON WHEN I DROVE IT ON FLAT FOR A WHILE TO CAUSE THE RUN FLAT DAMAGE. WASN'T THE TIRE PRESSURE LOW ENOUGH WHEN IT'S FLAT? HE SAID THE LIGHT WILL NOT COME ON WHEN IT'S FLAT. THIS SOUNDS VERY DANGEROUS IF THE WARNING LIGHT DOESN'T SEND OUT SIGNAL EVEN WHEN IT'S FLAT. HOWEVER PASADENA TOYOTA SVC ADVISOR TOLD ME THE SYSTEM IS SUPPOSED TO CHECK THE PRESSURE EVERY 30 SECONDS. THIS CONFLICTS WITH WHAT DEREK TOLD ME. IF I ONLY DROVE WITH FLAT FOR 30 SECONDS LOCALLY IT WOULD NOT HAVE CAUSED 'RUN FLAT DAMAGE'. I WAS ESPECIALLY DRIVING SLOW LOCALLY ON 1/31/19 BECAUSE OF THE TRAFFIC. I MUST HAVE DRIVEN IT MORE THAN 30 SECONDS (TO CAUSE THE RUN FLAT DAMAGE) BUT THE SYSTEM FAILED TO DETECT IT AND SENT ME THE WARNING. I KEEP THE DAMAGE TIRE IN CASE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS NEEDED. WE ALSO HAD ANOTHER ELECTRICAL ISSUE WITH THIS 2017 RAV4 WHEN IT WAS ONLY 6 MONTHS OLD. A WARNING LIGHT CAME ON FOR NO REASON SO WE BROUGHT IT TO DEALER TO CHECK ON 10/30/17. AGAIN, THE DIAGNOSTIC FOUND NOTHING. CAN I TRUST MY DASHBOARD?

POWER TRANSMISSION, SAFETY ISSUE, THE POWER TRANSMISSION WILL NOT SHIFT IN A TIMELY MANNER TO PROPER GEARS,IN COLD WEATHER, THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, WHEN ENTERING THE FREEWAY AFTER LEAVING WORK, THE CAR WILL ONLY GO 30 MPH AT 3,500 RPM. UNTIL THE CAR WARMS UP, THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE, AND NOW IT IS. TOYOTA DEALER CONFIRMED THAT THE SHIFT POINTS ARE HIGHER THAN NORMAL, WHEN FIRST STARTED IN THE MORNING, AND PER THE DEALER WELL IT TAKES AWHILE FOR THE CAR TO WARM UP BEFORE IT WILL GO TO NORMAL SHIFT POINTS, AND ALLOW THE TRANSMISSION TO FUNCTION NORMALLY. WELL 30 MPH AT 3500 RPM, THIS IS NOT NORMAL, AND THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, SO WHEN YOU LEAVE WORK YOUR CAR WILL ONLY GO 30 MPH ON A 60 MPH FREEWAY. THE DEALERS RESPONSE IS AFTER IT HAS BEEN RUNNING AND WARMED UP IT WILL WORK NORMALLY. THERE IS NOTHING NORMAL ABOUT THIS ISSUE, NEVER HAD THIS ISSUE LAST WINTER NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN HAVING THIS ISSUE THIS WINTER.

THE TRANSMISSION, IS NOT SHIFTING PROPERLY IN EVEN MILDLY COLD WEATHER. HAD THE CAR FOR TWO YEARS, AND NOW THE TRANMISSION, IS NOT SHIFTING PROPERLY WHEN YOU FIRST START IT UP. THE ENGINE RPMS ARE AT 3,500, WHEN DOING 30 MPH DOWN THE ROAD,AND PUSHING ALL THE WAY DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR, THE CAR WILL NOT GO, THERE ARE NO ERROR LIGHTS, THERE IS AN TRANMISSION SHIFT ISSUE WITH ACCELERATION ISSUE. THIS IS DANGEROUS BECAUSE WHEN GOING DOWN A 35 MPH ROAD, THERE ARE CARS THAT CAN ACCELERATE AND THIS CAR GOES NOWHERE. START THE CAR AFTER BEING PARKED OUTSIDE IN COLD WEATHER, WAITED 5 MINUTES BEFORE DRIVING THE CAR, AND IT IS STILL NOT RESPONDING PROPERLY. THERE HAVE BEEN ELECTRICAL ISSUES WITH THIS CAR, AND NOW THE TRANSMISSION WILL NOT SHIFT AND GO INTO GEAR PROPERLY, NOT SURE IF ITS THE COMPUTER PROGRAM, OR GEAR ISSUE. NEVER HAD THIS PROBLEM UNTIL THE SECOND YEAR OF OWNERSHIP. OWNED THE CAR SINCE IT WAS BRAND NEW. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, WITH THE CAR NOT BEING ABLE TO GO THE PROPER SPEED LIMIT, AND THE DEALER IS TRYING TO SAY OH, IT TAKES A WHILE FOR THE CAR TO WARM UP, DID NOT HAVE THAT PROBLEM LAST WINTER BEING LEFT OUT ALL DAY AND NIGHT. THERE IS AN ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE FOR THE TRANSMISSION, AND THE GEARS THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT TOYOTA NEEDS TO ADDRESS, THE CAR WILL NOT EVEN ACCELERATE PROPERLY BECAUSE OF THIS TRANSMISSION ISSUE AND IF YOU DO ACCELERATE YOU CAN END UP RUINNING THE ENGINE.

WHEN IT IS RAINING, OR SNOWING AND FOR SOME REASON, THE SENSORS GET WET FROM THE BUMPER, CROSSTRAFFIC ALERT OR BACKUP OR SIDE WARNING, THE WHOLE SYSTEM SHUTS DOWN. DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AND IT IS RAINING AND THE WHOLE COMPUTER JUST FROZE, AND LOST ALL SENSORS AND A FAILURE ALERT SHOWED UP ON THE DASHBOARD, ALONG WITH THE CARS TRANSMISSION HAVE A HARD TIME SHIFTING AS EXITING THE FREE WAY. THIS IS TOTAL COMPUTER FAILURE BUT AFTER EXITING THE FREEWAY AND DRIVING DOWN A ROAD, AND AT A STOP LIGHT PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL AND SHIFTING BACK TO DRIVE, ALL THE COMPUTER ERRORS CLEARED. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND OF COURSE THEY FOUND NOTHING. THIS IS DANGEROUS FOR BLIND SPOT WARNING SENSORS TO GO OUT THE PBM SENSOR SAID FAILURE AND THERE IS AN ELECTRIC HARNESS ISSUE WITH THIS CAR WHERE THE WIRES EITHER WERE NOT INSULATED OR NICK ALONG WITH THE COMPUTER MODEL TO THE TRANSMISSION. THERE IS FAULTY INSULATION, THIS HAPPENS ONLY ON OCCASION AND NOT ALL THE TIME, AND EVERY NOW AND THEN THERE IS A COMPUTER ISSUE, THE CLEARS ITSELF. ALSO THE CLOCK WAS LOSING TIME. DUE TO THE ELECTRICAL ISSUES THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE,. WHEN EVERYTHING SHUTS DOWN WHEN THE CAR IS BEING DRIVEN IS A SAFETY ISSUE. YET, SHIFTING THE TRANSMISSION CLEARED THE ERRROS OFF THE DASH.