2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime Problems

The driver door lock no longer works. The remaining power locks will actuate and indicate the doors are locked/unlocked, but the driver's door will remain in the original position. This started with the door repeatedly trying to unlock but being unable to and intermittent operation. This has now progressed to complete failure. The locks no longer actuate.

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Rav4 Prime. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated the vehicle was shaking with an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. The instrument cluster displayed a black screen. The TPMS system malfunction warning light was illuminated. The contact inspected the vehicle and became aware that the electrical wires underneath the driver's side front seat were exposed, and the cover was in the floorboard. Additionally, the dashboard panel on the front passenger's side had detached and was hanging down. The failures occurred two weeks after the recall repair under NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V595000 (Electrical System) was performed. The dealer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

The instrument cluster (combination meter) failed completely and without warning, going entirely blank. This eliminated all speedometer, warning light, and indicator functionality. The failure began occurring intermittently before becoming persistent. No warning lamps or messages preceded the failure — the cluster simply went dark. The loss of speedometer functionality made the vehicle unsafe to operate, as the driver had no means of monitoring vehicle speed. The loss of all warning indicators eliminated visibility into any safety-critical vehicle alerts that may have been active during the failure periods. The problem was confirmed by the dealership and is the subject of Safety Recall 25TA08 (Combination Meter May Go Blank). The vehicle was brought to a Toyota dealership where the recall was documented and the repair was eventually completed. The replacement part required VIN-specific production and programming by Toyota, resulting in an extended out-of-service period of nearly two months at the dealership, and approximately five months from the first occurrence of the failure. During the out-of-service period, the vehicle could not pass state inspection and was legally inoperable. The component has been replaced and is no longer available for inspection.

On December 29, 2025, the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster on my 2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime went completely blank upon startup. This failure immediately eliminated my ability to see the speedometer, fuel and battery levels, tire pressure warnings, and all critical brake and hybrid system malfunction indicators, rendering the vehicle completely unsafe and illegal to operate on public roads. I immediately brought the car to Wondries Toyota in [XXX] , where it has remained ever since. The dealership confirmed the failure is related to Toyota Safety Recall 25V595 (Toyota internal code 25TA08). The service department advised me that the vehicle is unsafe to drive, but they are unable to repair it because the required replacement combination meter is on national backorder with no estimated time of arrival. As of late March 2026, my vehicle has been sitting out of service at the dealership for approximately 90 days. Because Toyota has failed to provide a timely remedy for this severe safety defect, my vehicle has been abandoned on the dealer lot for a quarter of a year. Furthermore, this prolonged, unmaintained inactivity introduces secondary safety and vehicle integrity hazards. The plug-in hybrid high-voltage battery has been sitting idle and degrading for three months, and the fuel in the system is destabilizing. I am filing this complaint because Toyota's failure to supply replacement parts for a massive safety recall within a reasonable timeframe has permanently compromised the safety, use, and value of my vehicle, and I am currently proceeding with a Lemon Law repurchase that vastly exceeds the 30-day out-of-service threshold in [XXX] . Lastly, we got this RAV4 Prime new and have had all the services done at the authorized dealership since day one. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On the night of [XXX] at approximately [XXX] PM, I was driving from Tracy, California to Lancaster, California via the [XXX]. The freeway had no traffic at the time, and I set my cruise control to maintain a speed of 75 mph for a safer ride. While driving in the left lane near Santa Nella, my car suddenly deployed the ABS brakes. The steering wheel locked, and the car began to slip—its tires locked as if on a roller coaster going downhill. The driver’s side then rolled over and crashed. Fortunately, the road was empty, and I did not hit anyone during the accident. I thought I was going to die, but I am lucky to be alive. suddenly Abs brakes deployed steering wheel lock right side this reason I have very accident. I believe the car has manufacturer defects. First, the door handle on the driver’s side is positioned too close to the driver’s left arm. Second, the center console on the right side—intended for resting the driver’s arm or storing extra items—repeatedly hit my ribs during the accident. During the crash, the driver-side door handle struck my left arm multiple times. Orthopedic surgeons reviewed my X-ray and found that my forearm was fractured in three places. They recommended surgery. The center console also struck my right ribs repeatedly, causing swelling and pain. Fortunately, my ribs were not broken. My chest & ribs swelling and pain right side shoulder I have pain my head & neck pain My car was declared a total loss. I respectfully request that these issues be investigated, as I believe another driver could sustain similar injuries in a future accident involving this vehicle model. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On [XXX], I was pulling into a parking spot in a parking lot [XXX] in San Francisco. When I engaged the brakes, the vehicle did not stop and continued moving forward. The vehicle accelerated a bit and climbed over the parking lot barrier, onto the pedestrian sidewalk, and into the street despite continued brake depression. The right side of the vehicle made contact with the parking meter on the sidewalk for street parking. The brakes were depressed and engaged the entire duration of the incident, and the vehicle did not stop until impact with the parking meter. Standard safety features were enabled (ie. pre-collision system, road sign assist). Dynamic radar cruise control is disabled. I reported this incident to the Toyota dealership, whom sent a vehicle safety inspector, and I emphasized my concern for the safety of the vehicle. Per Toyota’s investigation report, Toyota concluded the vehicle was mechanically functioning properly at the time of the incident and the vehicle is overall safe to drive. (Written by [XXX] on behalf of my mom, [XXX] ) INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I am reporting an unresolved safety defect involving the 12.3-inch instrument panel display on my Toyota RAV4 Prime, which is the subject of NHTSA Recall 25V595 (Manufacturer Recall 25TB08). The defect affects the LED digital display that provides critical driver information, including vehicle speed, warning indicators, and operating status. Initially, the display would intermittently go blank at startup and sometimes return during the drive. However, the condition has progressively worsened. The instrument panel display has now been completely blank and unresponsive for over three consecutive days and has not returned at all, including after multiple drive cycles. As a result, the vehicle cannot display critical operating information or malfunction indicators. This issue was first reported to an authorized Toyota dealer in August, prior to the recall being issued. At that time, I was informed that I would be responsible for replacing the entire display/instrument system at my own expense. On September 11, 2025, Toyota issued Recall 25V595 acknowledging that the instrument panel display may be blank at startup and stating that operating the vehicle in this condition reduces the ability to see malfunction indicators and could increase the risk of a crash or injury. The vehicle was most recently serviced on December 19, at which time the dealer confirmed that the issue is related to the recall and that no remedy is currently available. The recall remains incomplete, and Toyota has not provided a repair, interim solution, loaner vehicle, or timeline for resolution. Because the instrument panel display is completely nonfunctional, the vehicle cannot be safely operated. The lack of a remedy for a safety-related defect affecting a core vehicle safety system has exceeded a reasonable timeframe. I am requesting NHTSA review and intervention.

Our dashboard has gone completely blank. This means we can’t track speed, charge and fuel remaining, and other important aspects of the car’s health.

Recall 25TB08 is affecting the vehicle. Driver display is dead, will not display. No speedometer, no fuel quantity, no battery level, no tire pressure or engine check lights, etc. Toyota does not have a fix and dealer I purchased the vehicle from will not repair/replace defective components.

Driver was parking the car in a parking lot at a very slow speed. The car suddenly shot forward at a very high rate of speed, requiring evasive steering from trees and a fence, until the car crashed head-on into another vehicle. The driver is very certain the brakes only were applied during the entire time the car shot forward. Airbags were not deployed. Bystanders were within six feet of the car at one point during the acceleration, prior to the crash. There were no injuries. Earlier, on the day of the crash, the car had a sudden, strong, yet brief acceleration of the vehicle during normal braking while approaching a rotary, unlike normal ABS. ABS itself seemed unneeded (the approach to the rotary was well within the speed limit, on dry condition roads). This issue occurred twice in the two months prior to the accident. There were no known warning messages in the car or the phone app for the car in any of these cases or at the time of the crash. The manufacturer has been notified of the crash, a product liability case has been opened, and an engineer was sent to look at the car. A data download from the airbag event data recorder (Bosch CDR) was done, a report was generated, and the report was provided to the car owner. No data in the formatted report is provided regarding Vehicle Speed, Accelerator Pedal, Cruise Control Status, Brake Torque, etc. Unformatted hexadecimal data is included in the report, without a data schema to decipher the data. It is not known if any other analysis or information about the car was reported by the engineer, beyond the Bosch CDR report. The owner is not aware that the problem has been reproduced or confirmed by anyone involved, or of any other inspections than the one described here. Manufacturer has not yet provided the owner with a report response. The car is currently at an auto repair shop and no repairs have begun. The shop is awaiting an appraisal by the insurance company before doing the repairs.

On Friday Jan 30 around 3pm, this Rav 4 entered the short drive way in front of the garage. The car stopped, the automatic garage door was engaged. Suddenly, the car advanced, passing through the opening garage door and into and through the back wall of the garage. This is a sustaining way for the second storey. The front of the car displaced the counters inside, demolished the kitchen, almost toppling the fridge. Given the damage to the garage done and the damage inflicted, my interpretation is that an unintended acceleration event occurred. The airbags did not deploy. My wife, [XXX] , was driving at the time and was alone in the car. The air bags did not deploy Significant damage was done to the kitchen. And because the wall was a sustaining wall, there was serious damage to the support beams throughout the house. Estimate is $118,770 plus $30,000 for the repair work in the attic. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The digital instrument cluster display failed completely while the vehicle was in operation. The speedometer, warning indicators, and safety alerts were not visible, making it unsafe to drive due to inability to monitor speed or receive critical warnings. There were no prior warning messages before the failure occurred. The vehicle was inspected by an authorized Toyota dealer, Toyota of Temecula, who confirmed instrument cluster failure. The vehicle has been out of service since November 25, 2025. The dealership has ordered a replacement instrument cluster, but the current estimated availability is May 2026. The vehicle remains unusable due to the safety risk created by the failed display.

I am reporting a systemic pattern of safety reporting negligence, property damage, and data manipulation by Toyota of Woodbridge. On March 26, 2026, the dealership performed a backup camera recall (25TA13) but completely failed to address or notify me of a second open safety recall regarding the instrument cluster (Recall 25TA08). Consequently, in early June 2026, the unaddressed defect manifested: the digital dashboard screen went completely black while operating, creating an immediate highway hazard. ​The vehicle was returned to the dealer to address this screen failure. Sometime between June 10 and June 17, 2026, while the vehicle was in the shop's care, the passenger seat trim panel was physically broken and sheared off by technicians. On the June 17, 2026, invoice, the dealer officially logged Job #3 as a completed Multi-Point Inspection (MPI). However, during a subsequent visit on July 2, 2026, the Customer Service Advisor openly admitted that the June 17th inspection was never actually performed, proving they falsified the safety record, and could only display the outdated March 26th data on his screen. ​This pattern culminated during the July 2nd visit, which was for a diagnostic check regarding vehicle sounds. The dealership used this visit to aggressively demand an immediate $1,100 tire-and-alignment package based on hidden telemetry. When I demanded the physical MPI report to verify their claims, my requests were ignored and the telemetry and MPI reports were only provided after the new tires were installed. When I saw that the telemetry reports and MPI did not justify the damage they verbally claimed, I asked for and was given a full refund and my old tires were put back on the vehicle. Upon taking delivery, the vehicle's Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) was flashing a dashboard safety fault. Ourisman Toyota Woodbridge ignored a Toyota Corporate mandate to contact me by close of business July 7, 2026. The vehicle is available for inspection.

I am reporting a systemic pattern of safety reporting negligence, property damage, and data manipulation by Toyota of Woodbridge. On March 26, 2026, the dealership performed a backup camera recall (25TA13) but completely failed to address or notify me of a second open safety recall regarding the instrument cluster (Recall 25TA08). Consequently, in early June 2026, the unaddressed defect manifested: the digital dashboard screen went completely black while operating, creating an immediate highway hazard. ​The vehicle was returned to the dealer to address this screen failure. Sometime between June 10 and June 17, 2026, while the vehicle was in the shop's care, the passenger seat trim panel was physically broken and sheared off by technicians. On the June 17, 2026, invoice, the dealer officially logged Job #3 as a completed Multi-Point Inspection (MPI). However, during a subsequent visit on July 2, 2026, the Customer Service Advisor openly admitted that the June 17th inspection was never actually performed, proving they falsified the safety record, and could only display the outdated March 26th data on his screen. ​This pattern culminated during the July 2nd visit, which was for a diagnostic check regarding vehicle sounds. The dealership used this visit to aggressively demand an immediate $1,100 tire-and-alignment package based on hidden telemetry. When I demanded the physical MPI report to verify their claims, my requests were ignored and the telemetry and MPI reports were only provided after the new tires were installed. When I saw that the telemetry reports and MPI did not justify the damage they verbally claimed, I asked for and was given a full refund and my old tires were put back on the vehicle. Upon taking delivery, the vehicle's Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) was flashing a dashboard safety fault. Ourisman Toyota Woodbridge ignored a Toyota Corporate mandate to contact me by close of business July 7, 2026. The vehicle is available for inspection.

I slowly turned right into a parking space, braked to stop but the car didn't stop and instead lurched, jumping forward over the parking curb and hitting a small wall. My foot was on the brake pedal the entire time. It happened at 9:00am on a clear day. I was alone in the car and uninjured. Damage to the car was extensive and estimated at nearly $40,000. As a result, car was totaled by the insurance company.

On the night of [XXX] at approximately [XXX] PM, I was driving from Tracy, California to Lancaster, California via the [XXX]. The freeway had no traffic at the time, and I set my cruise control to maintain a speed of 75 mph for a safer ride. While driving in the left lane near Santa Nella, my car suddenly deployed the ABS brakes. The steering wheel locked, and the car began to slip—its tires locked as if on a roller coaster going downhill. The driver’s side then rolled over and crashed. Fortunately, the road was empty, and I did not hit anyone during the accident. I thought I was going to die, but I am lucky to be alive. suddenly Abs brakes deployed steering wheel lock right side this reason I have very accident. I believe the car has manufacturer defects. First, the door handle on the driver’s side is positioned too close to the driver’s left arm. Second, the center console on the right side—intended for resting the driver’s arm or storing extra items—repeatedly hit my ribs during the accident. During the crash, the driver-side door handle struck my left arm multiple times. Orthopedic surgeons reviewed my X-ray and found that my forearm was fractured in three places. They recommended surgery. The center console also struck my right ribs repeatedly, causing swelling and pain. Fortunately, my ribs were not broken. My chest & ribs swelling and pain right side shoulder I have pain my head & neck pain My car was declared a total loss. I respectfully request that these issues be investigated, as I believe another driver could sustain similar injuries in a future accident involving this vehicle model. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)