2018 Toyota RAV4

The Toyota RAV4 2018 car acceleration went out of control and crashed into a retaining wall. The airbags exploded and the steering wheel airbag burst. The car was totaled and is with State Farm. I was blessed to still be alive the car speed out of control on its own. I tried to push on the brakes but the car kept going. The accident could have been worse. No one else was injured only another car was hit. I did reach out to Toyota and they said it could take 4-6 weeks for someone to look at the car. I reach out to the dealer and waiting to hear back from the dealer. The police department issued me a ticket, I have court on July 23, 2021. State Farm insurance declared the car a total loss. No warning lamps or messages. The first same incident happened on April 3, 2021, and on June 12, 2021, was the day of the accident. The incident and accident happened at the same location. I would like to speak with someone at your organization. The car is at State Farm's collision place. I would like for your organization to look at the car. I will call to make sure that the car is still at the collision place.

When I tried to start my vehicle this morning after a store run. the car clicked multiple times and made a weird noise, then went dead. I popped my hood immediately and saw a hole the size of a quarter next to the battery terminal and smoke was coming out the hole. I had driven it 40 miles before I had put it in park, and it drove fine before that. I have showed multiple people pictures of the battery (including mechanics) and no one had ever seen anything like that. I decided to google to see if it's a known problem/recall on the Rav4 and found that the NHTSA was investigating the batteries due to similar instances. Thankfully my car did not catch fire, and I was smart and decided not to start it again. Otherwise something bad could have happened.

06/04/21...I Had a Hit & Run Head On Collision(Side Swipe), As I Was Swerving To Avoid Oncoming Traffic & Get A Handle Of the Vehicle, No Warning Lights Came On. I Hit a Wall. My Front Nor Side Airbags Deployed. It What was A Very Forceful Hit From The Other Vehicle & Hitting The Wall. The Vehicle Is Being Inspected By My Insurance Adjuster Tomorrow.

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.

CAR WAS ON CRUISE CONTROL, DUE TO A CAR IN FRONT, IT WAS DRIVING 10 MILE BELOW THE CRUISE CONTROL SPEED. A NEW CAR CAME IN BETWEEN MY CAR AND THE PREVIOUS CAR IN FRONT, MY CAR STARTED SPEEDING UP SUDDENLY. I HIT THE BREAK AND CANCELED CRUISE CONTROL IMMEDIATELY TO PREVENT CRASH. THIS HAS HAPPENED AT LEAST 6 TIMES DO FAR. ONLY SEEM TO HAPPEN RARELY WHEN SOME NEW OBJECT COMES IN BETWEEN.

CAR STARTED STALLING WHOLE IN MOTION YESTERDAY. I HAVEN'T THOUGHT TOO MUCH ABOUT IT. TODAY IN MY 3RD DRIVE OF THE DAY AFTER I STOP AT A RESTAURANT, I START THE CAR TO THE SURPRISE IT JUST STALLED AND GIVE ME CHARGING SYSTEM MALFUNCTION I TRY TO START IT AGAIN WITH NO LUCK. I'M FAR FROM HOME I CALL THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND IS CLOSED. I WILL HAVE TO WAIT TOMORROW MORNING TO TOW THE CAR TO THEM. I WASN'T EXPECTING THIS TO HAPPEN IN A TOYOTA VEHICLE ONLY 3 YEAR OLDER. LAST YEAR THEY CHANGE THE BATTERY BECAUSE IT LET ME STRANDED SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE ELECTRIC SYSTEM FOR SURE.

THE VEHICLE USE PURCHASED IN DEC '18. IN DEC '19 THE BATTERY WENT DEAD AND WAS REPLACED. TOYOTA SAID THE BATTERY HAD A BAD CELL.. IN APR '20 THE BATTERY WENT BAD AGAIN AND WAS REPLACED. TOYOTA SAID THE WRONG SIZE BATTERY WAS INSTALLED THE LAST TIME. IN AUG '20 THE BATTERY WENT BAD AGAIN AND WAS REPLACED, TOYOTA SAID IT WAS BECAUSE OF A GPS DEVISE THAT WAS INSTALLED BY THE SELLING DEALERSHIP AND WAS NEVER MADE AWARE TO THE BUYER. IN DEC '20 THE BATTERY WENT BAD AGAIN AND WAS REPLACED. THIS TIME TOYOTA SAID IT WAS BECAUSE THE CAR WAS NOT BEING DRIVEN ENOUGH. THE DRIVING PATTERN HAS BEEN THE SAME WITH THIS VEHICLE SINCE IT WAS PURCHASED. IF THAT WAS THE PROBLEM THEN WHY WAS IT NOT A PROBLEM IN THE FIRST YEAR OF OWNERSHIP. ALSO IT WAS NOT A PROBLEM WITH THE PREVIOUS VEHICLE THAT WAS USED AS A TRADE-IN ON THIS VEHICLE. THERE SEEMS TO BE AN OBVIOUS PROBLEM WITH THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM OF THE VEHICLE.

THE EVENING OF SUNDAY, MARCH 28TH, 2021 I WAS DRIVING ON INTERSTATE 84 IN IDAHO NEAR WENDELL, AT APPROXIMATELY 83 MPH WHEN THE SUNROOF OF MY 2018 RAV4 EXPLODED WITHOUT ANY WARNING. LUCKILY THE SHADE PANEL WAS DRAWN, SO NO GLASS DEBRIS WENT INTO THE CAR. MY HUSBAND WAS IN THE PASSENGER SEAT, AND OUR 16 YR OLD DAUGHTER WAS SITTING BEHIND HIM. WHEN I FIRST HEARD THE EXPLOSION, I THOUGHT WE HAD A TIRE BLOWOUT, BUT I DIDN'T FEEL A PULL ON THE STEERING WHEEL. MY NEXT THOUGHT WAS THAT THE RV NEXT TO ME HAD A BLOWOUT, BUT THEY KEPT ON DRIVING. WE COULD HEAR A LOT OF WIND COMING FROM THE SUNROOF, SO I PULLED OVER AT THE NEXT EXIT, WHICH WAS CLOSE, AND ASSESSED THE SITUATION. THE SUNROOF WAS GONE! THE REMAINING GLASS AROUND THE EDGES WAS ALL CRACKED AND CURVED UPWARDS, SO IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT IT HAD EXPLODED FROM THE INSIDE OUT. THERE WAS ALSO A LOT OF GLASS DEBRIS INSIDE THE SHADE PANEL. NOBODY PULLED OVER AND APPROACHED US, SO WE DON'T BELIEVE THERE WERE ANY EYE WITNESSES. WE WERE ON OUR WAY HOME TO BOISE AFTER SPENDING SPRING BREAK IN UTAH. WE CONTINUED DRIVING THE REMAINING 2 HRS. HOME, WITH MY HUSBAND HOLDING THE SHADE PANEL CLOSED, SINCE WE WERE AFRAID IT MY GET SUCKED OUT. THE WIND WAS PRETTY DEAFENING. THE WEATHER CONDITIONS AT THE TIME WERE CLEAR AND SUNNY, 75* WITH STRONG WINDS. WE WERE NOT AWARE OF ANY FLYING DEBRIS, NOR DID WE HEAR ANYTHING HIT THE CAR BEFORE THE EXPLOSION.