2024 Toyota RAV4

I was in a parking space at the local library, waiting on my children. It was raining, and had been raining most of the day. I had driven about 60 miles in the rain before going to the library. The car was on, but in park. The car started slightly shaking (like a big truck was going by), and it looked like some smoke was coming out of the engine. The car then flashed some lights on the dash and gave the following message: Engine Stopped. Steering Power Low. It then turned off, and I tried to turn it on multiple times to no avail. After researching online while waiting for a tow truck, I saw multiple references on Reddit to this problem. I waited about 20 minutes and was able to turn the car on, though it was hesitant. I was able to cancel the tow and drive the short distance home. It was scary because it came out of nowhere and this is a BRAND NEW CAR with only about 27,000 miles on it. I am not happy that this would be something I will have to worry about in the future. I have not reported it to the dealership, but saw online most people had no luck at the dealership and were told to report it here.

This is a follow up of an incident reported on 3/30/2025, after the vehicle was driven approximately 30 miles in the rain, then stopped for 5 to 10 minutes idling with windshield wipers on intermittent setting. Engine began to shudder, engine rpms increased/decreased erratically as the engine shook. The vehicle was turned off. After approximately 5 minutes, restarted vehicle and engine again ran erratically and then stalled, displaying “Engine Stopped, Steering Power Low” on the message center in the driver’s display. After the engine stalled, the vehicle would not restart and had to be towed. After being towed, the vehicle started and ran smooth. A short while later, the vehicle was started but again ran erratically, but did not stall right away and was turned off. The next day, 3/31/2025, the vehicle was taken to the dealership service department. The dealer stated that there were no diagnostic trouble codes stored in the vehicle computer, the battery was good condition, and the charging system was operating normally. They had no explanation for what happened. The service advisor suggested that when the gas tank was filled, it was overfilled after the gas pump clicked off. This, in fact is not the case. The gas tank was not overfilled. The service advisor was informed that there are other complaints online by other owners of the same symptoms under similar weather conditions while the vehicle is idling. The advisor stated that if it happens again, have it towed to the dealership service department

On 3/30/2025, I drove my 2024 Toyota RAV 4 Adventure about 30 miles in the rain with the wipers on. I then put the car in park, with the wipers still on intermittent setting and the engine still running. After sitting in park like this for approximately 5 minutes, the engine began to shudder, with engine RPMs decreasing and increasing erratically, and the engine was also shaking as the RPMs increased and decreased. I then turned the car off for approximately 5 minutes. When I restarted the car after 5 minutes, the erratic RPM resumed, and then the engine stopped running, and my display screen showed the following message: “Engine Stopped, Steering Power Low”. The check engine, check steering, and check battery lights were also illuminated on the dashboard. The vehicle would not restart after several tries and ultimately ended up having the vehicle towed 30 minutes. Once the tow truck dropped it off, the engine started right up and the error messages were no longer displayed.

The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle started to shake abnormally. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the vehicle responded as needed. The contact stated that the engine shut off and the power steering fluid was low. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed, but no fault codes were retrieved, and the battery was in good condition. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,048.

It was raining and we drove about an hour, parked and shutoff car, went into the store, came back out and car would not turn on. Error message that came up was “Engine Stopped Sterring Power Low” This is a brand new car just bought last year. We kept trying to turn car on and error message kept coming up. Waited for tow truck and car ended up turning on. Looked online and it seems a lot of other people are having the same issue in the rain.

The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle was leaking oil. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that after the first failure, the vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no cause for the failure was found. The contact stated that the failure persisted, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer and an undisclosed part was cleaned; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.