2019 Toyota RAV4

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 TOYOTA RAV-4. THE CONTACT STATED THAT SHE HAD BECOME UNABLE TO FILL HER GAS TANK TO CAPACITY. DUE TO FAILURE, THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE ACTUAL FUEL LEVEL INSIDE THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO NORTH HILLS TOYOTA 7401 MCKNIGHT RD, PITTSBURGH, PA 15237 WHERE SHE WAS INFORMED THAT SHE WOULD HAVE TO ALLOW A CERTAIN WARNING LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE BEFORE PLACING FUEL INTO THE VEHICLE; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE PERSISTED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE SAME DEALER TO HAVE THEM PERFORM THE SAME PROCEDURE AND THE FAILURE OCCURRED AGAIN. THE DEALER REACHED OUT TO THE MANUFACTURER AND A CASE WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN. *LN *JS

LIKE MANY OTHERS WHO BOUGHT A NEW GENERATION RAV4 HYBRID (IT SEEMS TO AFFECT ALL TRIMS AS LONG AS IT'S HYBRID), I CANNOT GET MORE THAN MAYBE 10 GALLONS IN THE TANK. ADVERTISED IS 14.5 GALLONS, AND THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A 4+ GALLON RESERVE IN A PRIVATE VEHICLE, EVEN COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. TOYOTA RESPONDED WITH "CALL US" AFTER 5 OR 6 EMAILS. I DRAINED IT OF FUEL DRIVING FROM TEXAS TO CALIFORNIA, LET IT RUN DRY UNTIL IT WAS ELECTRIC ONLY, THEN TOOK IT TO THE GAS STATION (LITERALLY RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM WHERE I WAS), AND IT STILL CLICKED THE PUMP OFF - TO FULL (THOUGH IT DOESN'T READ FULL ANYMORE, IT SITS JUST BELOW "F") - AT JUST OVER 10 GALLONS. I HAVE SQUEEZED EVERY LAST DROP I COULD ONCE AND IT DIDN'T EVEN READ 11 GALLONS FROM EMPTY, THOUGH I DON'T NORMALLY EVER DO THAT SO THE EVAP CANISTERS DON'T GET BURNED OUT. THE AVERAGE MPG AND ESTIMATED RANGE ON THE SCREEN ADDS UP WITH THE MATH FOR ONLY HAVING ABOUT 10 GALLONS IN THE TANK, 36.3 AVERAGE WITH JUST OVER 10 GALLONS GIVES ME ABOUT 300 MILES, WHICH IS ABOUT WHAT THE ODOMETER SEES PER FILL FROM 1/4 FULL, WHEN I USUALLY FILL UP. IT'S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR AND TOYOTA HAS BEEN OF ZERO ASSISTANCE EVEN ACKNOWLEDGING THIS, THOUGH 2 DEALERSHIPS IN TEXAS (WHERE I BOUGHT IT) TOLD ME IT WAS A KNOWN ISSUE, AND 2 IN HAWAII (WHERE I LIVE NOW) REPEATED THAT INFO. AGAIN, THIS IS A HYBRID XSE - THE PREMIER MODEL FOR SPORTING I WANTED, THE LIGHT SPORTING I DO ANYWAY, AND IT HAS OTHER PROBLEMS TOO. ONE IS DECADES OLD WITH THE RAV4 (WINDOW RATTLE), THE OTHER IS WITH THE A/C SWITCHING BETWEEN MODES. I CAN LIVE WITH THE OTHER TWO, BUT NOT GETTING WHAT WAS ADVERTISED IN THE FUEL TANK IS WORTHY OF COMPLAINT SEEING AS HOW MANY HUNDREDS OF OTHERS POSTED ONLINE ABOUT IT THIS PAST YEAR. TOYOTA NEEDS TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM BEFORE IT BECOMES YET ANOTHER LEGAL BATTLE FOR THEM.

2 ISSUES WITH THIS BRAND NEW 2019 XSE HYBRID RAV4. 1) FUEL TANK NEVER FILLS UP AS GAS PUMP CLICKS OFF AT 9.5 (3/4 FULL) AT GAS STATION. THIS IS NOW ALL OVER THE NEWS AND BLOGS, AND TOYOTA SEEMS TO HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED THE ISSUE, BUT NO SOLUTION YET . 2) AFTER TOYOTA DEALERSHIP PERFORMED BRAKE RECALL SERVICE ON DEC. 8, 2020 (AT LESS THAN 2K MILES), THE FRONT BRAKES WHISTLES OR SQUEAKS LOUDLY WHENEVER I APPLY BRAKES AT LOW SPEED (AT OR LESS THAN 5 MPH). WHEN I ARRIVED AT DEALERSHIP TO SPEAK WITH SERVICE MANAGER (SCOTT), TECHNICIAN WAS ASSIGNED AND RODE WITH ME AND CONFIRMED THE LOW BRAKE SPEED SQUEAL/WHISTLE. AFTER 2-3 HOURS, A DIFFERENT TECHNICIAN WHO WAS ASSIGNED TO LOOK AT IT CLAIMS "NO NOISE OBSERVED AFTER TEST DRIVE, OPERATING AS DESIGNED." FUNNY HOW THEY ASSIGNED 2 DIFFERENT TECHNICIANS - ONE WHO OBSERVED THE NOISE UPON ARRIVAL, AND THE 2ND ONE WHO LOOKED AT IT AND CLAIMS NO NOISE. WHEN DRIVING OUT OF DEALERSHIP SERVICE AREA, THE LOW SPEED (<5MPH) BRAKE NOISE SQUEAL WAS AND IS CURRENTLY STILL THERE. DEALER CONTINUES TO CLAIM COLD WEATHER OR MOISTURE MAY BE THE CAUSE (REALLY - THAT SOUNDS AMAZINGLY FALSE!) AND REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE OR REPAIR THE BRAKE NOISE ISSUE. IT'S AS IF THE DEALERSHIP (STEVENS CREEK TOYOTA, SAN JOSE) IS WAITING FOR A RECALL VS. ACKNOWLEDGING THE ISSUE SO TOYOTA CORPORATE WILL REIMBURSE DEALERSHIP FOR THE REPAIR COST FOR THE BRAKE NOISE ISSUE. CAR CURRENTLY ONLY HAS 4K MILES.

THE GAS TANK OF MY 2019 TOYOTA RAV4 LE HYBRID WILL ONLY FILL TO ABOUT 3/4 OF A TANK. MY RAV4 HAS A 14.5 GALLON FUEL TANK. WHEN I AM NEAR ZERO MILES OF RANGE REMAINING, I OFTEN GET LESS THAN 8 GALLONS AT FILL UP. THERE IS NOT A PROBLEM WITH THE GAS GAUGE. THE TANK READ FULL ONLY ONCE, WHEN THE DEALER FILLED THE TANK PRIOR TO DELIVERY TO ME. I DON'T LIKE TO DRIVE WITH LESS THAN A 1/4 TANK OF GAS, AS GAS IS USED TO COOL THE FUEL PUMP. THIS RESULTS IN MOST FUEL STOPS ONLY ACCEPTING BETWEEN 4 AND 6 GALLONS OF GAS. I RECENTLY TOOK A 3000 MILE TRIP THAT WAS 95% HIGHWAY DRIVING AND THAT WAS MY EXPERIENCE DURING THE TRIP.

FUEL TANK FOR THIS 2019 RAV4 HYBRID WILL NOT ACCEPT FULL TANK OF GAS. ONE MUST TOP OFF AND POTENTIALLY SPILL FUEL TO GET IT TO AN ACCEPTABLE RANGE. TANK CAPACITY IS 14.5 GALLONS WITH RANGE OF APPROXIMATELY 550-580 MILE. ONLY CAN HAVE GAS FILL TO ABOUT 9 GALLON WITH RANGE OF 360 MILES. THIS IS VERY UNFORTUNATE FOR A OTHERWISE GOOD CAR. IT HAS BEEN ON GOING SITUATION GETTING WORSE SINCE LAST YEAR.

WHEN THE 14.5 GAL TANK IS EMPTY FUEL TANK LIGHT ON AND NO MILEAGE REMAINING SHOWING E YOU CAN ONLY FILL 8 - 8.5 GAL BEFORE PUMP SHUTS OFF. TANK CAN NOT BE FILLED PAST THAT AMOUNT. THIS CAUSES A LOSS OF AROUND 200 - 250 MILES FROM THE ADVERTISED MILEAGE PER TANK SPECIFIED BY THE MANUFACTURER DUE TO THE LOSS OF THE 6 - 6.5 GAL THAT THE TANK CAN NOT BE FILLED. DEALERSHIP WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO FIX, TOYOTA REPORTS A FIX OR TIMELINE IS UNKNOWN AND THEY CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE THE ISSUE.