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2021 Toyota RAV4

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2021 Toyota RAV4 do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 258.5.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 72 of 385 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Air Bags. Review the 125 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 47 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine. Review the 41 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

46 crash reports7 fire reports29 injury reports

Unknown Or Other complaints

74 reports
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Mileage unknown · Jun 4, 2024
Unknown Or Other

Sunroof shattered suddenly while driving down a freeway. It sounded like an explosion, and my passenger riding and I were concerned it was gunshots when we slightly moved the sun shade cover, we realized it was the exploded sunroof. There have been no prior incidents or found debris anywhere that could have caused the sudden ex…

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Sunroof shattered suddenly while driving down a freeway. It sounded like an explosion, and my passenger riding and I were concerned it was gunshots when we slightly moved the sun shade cover, we realized it was the exploded sunroof. There have been no prior incidents or found debris anywhere that could have caused the sudden explosion of the glass. We had some glass fell on us , and if not for the sun cover blocking us from harm, we could have been seriously injured .

NHTSA ODI #11592340

Mileage unknown · May 23, 2024
Unknown Or Other

This not problem

NHTSA ODI #11590394

Mileage unknown · Apr 6, 2024
Electrical SystemEngineUnknown Or Other

I received an error message “Engine stopped, steering power low” after driving an hour in the rain, sat in my car for about 20 mins with wipers on, engine began to jerk aggressively then shut off. I could not gas it or move the car. I let the car sit after being towed, it ran fine as if nothing happened. I got a battery test and…

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I received an error message “Engine stopped, steering power low” after driving an hour in the rain, sat in my car for about 20 mins with wipers on, engine began to jerk aggressively then shut off. I could not gas it or move the car. I let the car sit after being towed, it ran fine as if nothing happened. I got a battery test and it was at 100% charge according to Autozone. The check engine light, battery light and steering light came on. No prior indications of this problem.

NHTSA ODI #11581454

Mileage unknown · Mar 4, 2024
Unknown Or OtherVisibility/wiper

1. most recent. 03/01/2024 sunroof spontaneously exploded during my drive to work. broken glass fell on me as I drove. No bad weather. nothing hit it. just spontaneous explosion. 2. older claim. about a year of having purchased the car the front windshield cracked while parked at work. like the other incident no accident. I had …

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1. most recent. 03/01/2024 sunroof spontaneously exploded during my drive to work. broken glass fell on me as I drove. No bad weather. nothing hit it. just spontaneous explosion. 2. older claim. about a year of having purchased the car the front windshield cracked while parked at work. like the other incident no accident. I had that fixed. but the wipers do not work properly. Toyota charged me to have them check but did not fix it. to this day they only work at medium or maximum speed. wipers do not work on low or intermittent. after doing some research on the internet and YouTube it seems that this is becoming common with this model car.

NHTSA ODI #11575343

Mileage unknown · Feb 18, 2024
Unknown Or Other

I don’t know if this is a safety issue, but it is an issue with my car and others with this type of vehicle. The lift gate does not always open. It makes no difference if you use the inside button the outside button or the key fob. It will either open about an inch just enough to unlock it or it will open about 6 inches and then…

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I don’t know if this is a safety issue, but it is an issue with my car and others with this type of vehicle. The lift gate does not always open. It makes no difference if you use the inside button the outside button or the key fob. It will either open about an inch just enough to unlock it or it will open about 6 inches and then it will stop and beep it has to be manually closed and try again anywhere from 1 to 5 times to get it open. There is no rhyme or reason as when it happens. I’ve taken it to the dealer two times and they tell me they have to replicate the problem at the dealership but of course it doesn’t happen there. I’ve also written to Toyota company and all they tell me to do is reset liftgate. I have done this about five times it does not help. It’s obviously an electronic or something else problem that Toyota is not addressing. if I am contacting the wrong place and there was somewhere else to make consumer complaints. Please let me know.

NHTSA ODI #11572575

Mileage unknown · Feb 5, 2024
StructureSuspensionUnknown Or Other

Driving home at [XXX] on [XXX] from Winters CA to Davis CA with a temperature of 55 degrees F and some rain in the area. The sunroof exploded. A large bang happened. Pulled over nothing hit the sunroof, and the glass was protruding outward (not inward which would have happened if the glass was hit from an object from above). The…

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Driving home at [XXX] on [XXX] from Winters CA to Davis CA with a temperature of 55 degrees F and some rain in the area. The sunroof exploded. A large bang happened. Pulled over nothing hit the sunroof, and the glass was protruding outward (not inward which would have happened if the glass was hit from an object from above). The sunroof was part of the new car when we purchased it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI #11570130

Mileage unknown · Oct 27, 2023
Unknown Or Other

The sunroof on my 2021 RAV4 hybrid exploded as I was driving to work today, October 26, 2023. I've already reported the incident to my insurance provider and started to file a claim. Hopefully it will get fixed soon. The explosion startled me because I was driving on the freeway at 65 mph. I stopped onto the emergency lane to …

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The sunroof on my 2021 RAV4 hybrid exploded as I was driving to work today, October 26, 2023. I've already reported the incident to my insurance provider and started to file a claim. Hopefully it will get fixed soon. The explosion startled me because I was driving on the freeway at 65 mph. I stopped onto the emergency lane to check around my vehicle and to my surprised, I didn't see anything amissed. I thought it was my tire. I continued driving because I didn't want to be late for work. As I continue to drive, I heard noises above my head. When I arrived at work and parked, I check my roof to discover my sunroof was shattered. Is there a recall for the sunroof exploding?

NHTSA ODI #11552153

Mileage unknown · Aug 31, 2023
Unknown Or Other

I had three incidents since I purchased the car in January 2022. The first incident was in October 2022. I tried to park in the parking lot of McGovern Stella Link Library 7405 Stella Link Rd Houston Texas but the brake did not work and kept going and jumped over the parking block and in the pedestrian way and still kept goi…

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I had three incidents since I purchased the car in January 2022. The first incident was in October 2022. I tried to park in the parking lot of McGovern Stella Link Library 7405 Stella Link Rd Houston Texas but the brake did not work and kept going and jumped over the parking block and in the pedestrian way and still kept going and about to hit the building. I was in a complete shock and disbelief but I had to get off the pedestrian way as fast as I could to avoid a major disaster. Fortunately there were no people in the pedestrian way, so I was able to do what I had to do. But my car was seriously damaged from hitting the parking blocks and poles. At that moment I thought I did something wrong but now I believe that the incident was caused by brake problem as I had two more incidents related to brake issues after. The second incident was in January 2023. I was driving in Highway 249 feeder road and tried to stop at the traffic light. I was going about 10-12 miles. Car would not stop even after the brake was pushed all the way down to the floor and kept rolling and hit the other car in front . I took to Don McGill Toyota Service Dept and requested to fix the problem. They kept it for over a week and told me that my car is safe to drive. Evidently they did not correct the brake problem. The same brake problem occurred again for the 3th time on August 26, 2023. It happened on Highway 6 near Memorial Drive traffic light. To stop the car at the traffic light I pushed the brake but the car failed to stop and came very close to hitting the other car in front. I used emergency parking to stop. Thankfully the other car made a right turn to a street (I was in right lane) so this time I escaped from hitting the car. 2021RAV4 has serious brake issues. The scary thing is I do not know when and where the brake might fail again. What if it happens on freeway !? Driving with good brakes is utmost safety issue. TOYOTA SHOULD FIX OR REPLACE THE BRAKES.

NHTSA ODI #11541850

Mileage unknown · Aug 9, 2023
Unknown Or Other

My vehicle leaks water after it’s gone through the car wash or when there’s heavy rains.

NHTSA ODI #11537525

Mileage unknown · Jul 30, 2023
Unknown Or Other

Roof leak causing water damage to headliner. Dealership won’t fix because they ran water on it and it didn’t leak but didn’t apply pressure.

NHTSA ODI #11535304

Official recalls

1

23V865000 · Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification

Dec 20, 2023

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, Corolla, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, RAV4, RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES350, Lexus RX350, Lexus RX450H, 2021 Sienna Hybrid, Lexus ES250, 2020-2022 Camry, Camry Hybrid, and ES300H vehicles. A short circuit may develop in the Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensor, preventing the front passenger air bag from deploying.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An air bag that does not deploy during a crash increases the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the sensor as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed in February 2024. Some final remedy owner letters were mailed October 31, 2024. Letters will continue to be mailed in phases through January 2026. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 23TB15/23TA15 Lexus 23LB03/23LA03.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.

Go deeper into Toyota RAV4 problems