2018 Toyota RAV4

We were driving when I made a right turn and suddenly the steering wheel locked on me and at the same time various warning lights lit up on my dashboard. The car slowed and I was able to regain control of the steering wheel to pull over. After driving a few miles further we once again came to a right turn and everything happened as before except with greater intensity. We tried to straighten the steering wheel for control and were able to pull over into an empty parking lot. By the time we came to a stop, which took all of just one or two minutes, smoke was coming out from under our hood. We quickly got out of our car and opened the hood to see the battery in flames. I called 911 while my husband poured his cup of water over the flames. It stalled the fire but it continued to spark until help arrived. I am certain if we had not had water the whole car would have caught on fire. The car was towed to a Toyota dealership where we were told that their was an issue with battery installation. At present it is being worked on but I have lost confidence in this vehicle especially since we got no warning that there was a problem and we could have been badly injured or killed if the circumstances had been different and we had not been able to pull over and get out or have water with us. We have since learned that this is an issue for many people who own this 2018 RAV4 vehicle. I also learned there is no recall on this issue. I hope that Toyota isn't waiting for someone to be seriously injured or die before they fix this problem.

STARTING LATE AUG2020 THE DASHBOARD STARTING TO SHOW WARNING LIGHTS RANDOMLY AND INCONSISTENTLY. ALL WARNING LIGHTS DO NOT COME AT THE SAME TIME BUT WHEN TURNING THE EXTERNAL LIGHTS ON OTHER WARNING LIGHTS TURN ON AND SO FAR THE CAR HAVE STALLED MORE THAN 4 TIMES WHILE DRIVING UNDER 40 MPH. THE LAST 3 TIMES THE CAR STARTED RIGHT AFTER BEING PARKED AND BUT THIS LAST TIME IT DID NOT AND WHILE I WAS WAITING FOR A TOW ALMOST HAD AN ACCIDENT FROM BEHIND ME AS THE CAR THAT WAS COMING BEHIND ME STOPPED AND WAS HIT BY ANOTHER CAR BEHIND HIM. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND SINCE IT IS OUT OF WARRANTY THEY WOULD NOT TOUCH IT AND ALL THEY DID WAS DISCONNECT THE BATTERY SO THE WARRANTING LIGHTS TURN OFF AND SEND ME BACK OUT AND WITH IN 15 MIN ON THE ROAD THE LIGHTS STARTED TO COMEBACK ON AGAIN BUT THE CAR DID NOT DIE ON THE ROAD. THE CAR IS BARELY 3 YEARS OLD AND ONLY HAVE 14,500 MILES ON IT AND IT IS BECOMING VERY UNRELIABLE TO DRIVE.

WHILE DRIVING, THERE IS A LITTLE SHAKES ON THE CAR AND A MESSAGE APPEARED THAT THE ANTI LOCKING BRAKE FAILED. I STOP THE VEHICLE AND I SAW SMOKE COMING FROM THE HOOD. I TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE AND TOOK THE KEY FROM THE IGNITION. A FIRE START COMING OUT OF THE HOOD AND I TOLD MY WIFE TO GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE AND I GET OUT ALSO, THE DRIVER OF A VEHICLE BEHIND US CALLED THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND IN A FEW MINUTES THE FIRE FIGHTERS ARRIVED AND START EXTINGUISHING THE FIRE. THE FIRE ENGULF THE WHOLE VEHICLE.

WHILE IN REVERSE WITH FOOT ON BRAKE (STOPPED) THE VEHICLE WAS REAR ENDED. WHILE FOOT STILL ON BRAKE THE VEHICLE HAD UNCOMMANDED FORWARD ACCELERATION (ENGINE REVVED UP LIKE FOOT FLOORED THE GAS PEDAL). VEHICLE ACCELERATED FORWARD ~25 FT AND HIT THE FRONT OF ANOTHER VEHICLE (FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL ENTIRE TIME). UPON IMPACT, THE VEHICLE HAD UNCOMMANDED ACCELERATION IN REVERSE (FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL STILL). WAS ABLE TO TURN OF IGNITION AND PULL THE EMERGENCY BRAKE TO STOP THE VEHICLE AFTER MOVING ~25FT IN REVERSE. AT FINAL STOP, THE VEHICLE'S TRANSMISSION LEVER WAS IN THE DRIVE POSITION. NOTE: TOW TRUCK DRIVER STARTED VEHICLE TO GO IN REVERSE A FEW FEET FOR POSITIONING. WITH ENGINE RUNNING, VEHICLE WAS PUT IN REVERSE AND GAS PEDAL PRESSED GENTLY. VEHICLE WENT IN REVERSE (< 2MPH) AS IT SHOULD. FOOT APPLIED TO BRAKE AND VEHICLE PUT IN PARK IN ONE MOTION. VEHICLE IN PARK AND FOOT ON BRAKE THE ENGINE BEGAN TO REV UP AGAIN. KEY WAS TURN OFF. VEHICLE TOWED.

SINCE I GOT MY RAV 4 2018 I'VE HAD ISSUES WITH THE BRAKES. BOTH MY BROTHER AND MOTHER DRIVE THE CAR AND EXPRESS THE SAME ISSUE. I'VE BROUGHT IT TO TOYOTA NUMEROUS TIMES ONLY TO BE TOLD THEY CANNOT REPLICATE THE ISSUE AND THAT THE BRAKES ARE WORKING FINE. WHEN I'M PUSHING THE BRAKES DOWN THEY FEEL LIKE THEY'RE GOING TO THE FLOOR. THERE IS A TERRIBLE SCREECHING SOUND HEARD AS WELL. I WAS IN AN ACCIDENT A FEW MONTHS AGO DUE TO THE BRAKES. I CALLED TOYOTA AND EXPRESSED MY CONCERNS AND THEY SENT AN INDEPENDENT INSPECTOR TO CHECK THE BRAKES. I RECEIVED AN EMAIL THAT STATED, "WE DO NOT BELIEVE THE VEHICLE SUFFERS FROM A DEFECT IN MATERIALS OR WORKMANSHIP THAT SUBSTANTIALLY IMPAIRS ITS USE, VALUE OR SAFETY". I'M UNSURE WHAT TO DO AT THIS POINT AS I'VE EXHAUSTED MY OPTIONS. I MAINTAIN EXCESSIVE DISTANCE FROM OTHER CARS BECAUSE I KNOW I HAVE TO START BRAKING WAY AHEAD OF TIME. ITS A MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. CASE NUMBER: 2007132091

BOUGHT THE CAR BRAND NEW IN JAN/2018. IN MARCH/2019, 18,000 MILES, BRAKES WERE MAKING LOUD NOISES. AT FIRST TOYOTA SAID IT WAS NORMAL, JUST MOISTURE. MONTH LATER I INSISTED BC IT GOT WORSE, SO FINALLY THE MECHANIC AT TOYOTA DROVE MY CAR AND AGREED. THEY CHANGED THE ROTORS AND PADS, NO CHARGE (AFTER SOME ARGUES). NOW CAR IS 35,000 MILES (AFTER 17,000 MILES), BRAKES ARE MAKING NOISES AGAIN. TOOK AT TOYOTA AND AT THAT TIME I HAD TO PAY. THAT'S RIDICULOUS! THEY SAY YOU SHOULD CHANGE PADS BETWEEN 35,000 AND 70,000 MILES. RAV4 HAS PROBLEMS WITH THE BRAKES FOR SURE!

NOT SOON AFTER I LEASED MY RAV4 THE BRAKES STARTED GRINDING AS IF I NEEDED NEW BRAKES & EVERYTIME I WENT IN FOR MAINTENANCE THEY SAID NOTHING IS WRONG WITH THEM & THEY LOOK FINE. THE ROTORS ARE RUSTED JUST ON THE INNER PART ON BOTH REAR ROTORS & MY CAR IS GARAGED SO THERE ISNT ANY REASON WHY THEY SHOULD BE GRINDING OR SQUEALING. IT MAKES THE NOISE WHEN I'M IN MOTION. ALSO THE RADIO STATIONS ARE COMPLETE STATIC & I HAVE HAD 2 DIFFERENT TOYOTA DEALERS LOOK AT IT & THEY SAY NOTHING IS WRONG WITH THE WIRING BUT CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHY ALL MY STATIONS COME IN STATICALLY.

I HAVE HAD THIS VEHICLE FOR 18,000 MILES NOW AND I HAVE NOTICED SERIOUS ISSUES WITH THE BRAKING SYSTEM. WHEN I APPLY THE BRAKES, I HAVE TO (ALMOST) COMPLETELY FLOOR THE BRAKE PEDAL IN ORDER FOR THE CAR TO STOP. I HAD A 2015 HONDA CR-V FOR THREE YEARS AND IT NEVER HAD ANY ISSUES LIKE THAT. IN OTHER WORDS, THE BRAKE PEDAL IS TOO SOFT COMPARED TO SIMILAR VEHICLES. THIS IS ESPECIALLY PROBLEMATIC FOR SHORTER DRIVERS (LIKE MY MOTHER) BECAUSE SHE HAS SMALL FEET AND SHE NEEDS TO LIFT HER ENTIRE FOOT TO TRANSITION BETWEEN THE GAS/BRAKE PEDALS, PUTTING HER AT A SLIGHT DISADVANTAGE. I CONTACTED THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP REGARDING THIS ISSUE, BUT THEY TOLD ME THAT IT WAS NORMAL AND COULDN'T DO ANYTHING MAJOR ABOUT IT. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD. I ALMOST RAN INTO A DEER ONE NIGHT ON A LOCAL ROAD BECAUSE I COULDN'T STOP THE CAR ON TIME. HIGHWAY BRAKING IS ALSO DIFFICULT, SO I HAVE TO MAINTAIN EXTRA DISTANCE. HOWEVER, WHEN USING DYNAMIC CRUISE CONTROL, THE CAR IS ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY BRAKE IN ACCORDANCE TO THE VEHICLE TRAVELLING AHEAD OF ME.