2022 Toyota RAV4

Safety issue: "Engine Stopped/Started: Due to Steering Power Low" Yesterday, it was heavy rain. My new 2022 RAV4 shut down and would not start due to the warning sign "Steering Power Low." I restarted a few times, but the whole car was jerking and the rpm's were fluttering up and down. The yellow check engine light and the orange warning signs, followed by an exclamation point, came on, along with the messages "Engine Stopped Steering Power Low" and "Not Ready to Drive." then shut down the car. I called for a pickup instead and was not able to start the car until the next day. It was so terrifying, and I was fortunate that the accident did not occur. What would happen if it were to happen as I or other RAV4 owners were in the middle of the road or nowhere for help? As I looked up problems with the new RAV4 online, other RAV4 owners had the same issues, with zero diagnosed reports from Toyota dealers (see links below). [XXX] [XXX] This is a safety concern; I'd be happier that the accidents have not happened yet. So, I urge the Toyota manufacturer to investigate the issue, rectify it, and start making a recall of the 2019–2024 RAV4 to fix the problems before an accident occurs. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Apple Carplay does not function posing a safety hazard. When connected, volume is unable to be lowered via the steering wheel controls or the factory installed radio. As such, in an emergency, the volume could not be lowered to communicate with emergency services. Dealer updated radio to latest software on 8/3/23 but the problem persists. Apple is aware of the problem but does not have a solution.

While driving at highway speed, check engine light came on along with warning message in multifunction indicator stating "Hybrid System Malfunction. Diminished Power. Contact Dealer", and car immediately decelerated from 60 mph to about 35 mph. When releasing accelerator, car shuddered. Once stopped, car accelerated very poorly, and barely was ablate ascend hills in neighborhood (5-10 mph going up hills). hybrid car appeared to be operating on gas engine only, and electrical system for traction motors appeared to be short circuiting.

I was driving on I-91 in stop-and-go traffic when, all of a sudden, my RAV4 stalled. A warning chime sounded and the battery light, check engine light, and power steering light all illuminated. In the 4.2 inch screen in the gauge cluster, the following message displayed: "Steering Power Low"..."Shift to P". A second message displayed and said: "Engine Stopped"..."Shift to P". I attempted to restart the vehicle up to 8 times and it finally restarted. I quickly drove the car to the shoulder and out of the way of traffic. There were three of us in the car (myself and my two kids) and we almost got hit two times because visibility was poor due to rainy conditions and mist from passing cars. Throughout all this, I had the Auto Start/Stop feature disabled, so the car should not have shut off on its own. We had to get the car towed because we were worried that the problem would reoccur. We hope the problem could be rectified by our local Toyota dealer, because we do not want to drive it again in fear of the problem reoccurring while on the roadway. We are reporting this to bring awareness to this issue, and to make sure nobody else will have to face this situation and potentially be put in harm's way. (The attached photo is a general picture from somebody else, but my car had the same EXACT warning lights and messages. We could not take a picture because we were focusing on trying to get the car to turn on and move it to the shoulder by any means possible).

At 2:05 pm on March 21, 2023 my car suddenly lurched forward and to the left as I was pulling into a parallel parking place. The vehicle was operating in electric mode on "ECO" with the the gearshift in "D" at the time, but I heard the starter motor kick in and the engine rev up simultaneous with the sudden lurching. The lurching was so fast that it threw my head against the head rest. The vehicle jumped an 8 inch concrete curb leaving a skid mark on the right side and traveled 10-12 feet across a side walk and into dirt landscaping. Upon slamming on the brake, the car came to rest and the engine died. There were no prior incidents. The odometer read 4648 at time of incident. The vehicle has not been inspected by the dealer or police. No injury to the driver or pedestrians occurred.The incident has not recurred since yesterday's incident. After the incident, the tire pressure indicator light appeared on the dashboard. The weather at time of the incident was 72 degrees and cloudy. The vehicle had just completed a short 1 mile drive at low speed. There were no electrical transformers nearby but a ReSound GN hearing aid recharge battery case was sitting on the passenger seat at the time of the incident.