Owner-reported complaints naming the fuel system system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming fuel storage or delivery — tanks, pumps, lines, injectors and fuel leaks. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2012 Toyota RAV4 submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 8 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
The car lost all power to the wheels without warning. Fortunately the car was stopped at a red light but still had to be pushed out of the way in traffic with the help of strangers. The car was inspected by a Toyota service specialist who said that the splines had sheared off of the rotor and the entire motor would need to be replaced. There were no warnings (no lamps, no messages, no sounds) prior to the failure.
Unknown. Vehicle is having problems with fuel system. Vehicle intermittently runs rough like engine is not getting enough gas.
IN A PAVED PARKING LOT I ATTEMPTED TO PARK BY APPLYING THE BRAKES BUT THE CAR SURGED FORWARD. IT ONLY STOPPED BY GOING OVER A CURB AND HITTING A TREE AT THE PERIMETER OF THE PARKING SPACE.
3 WEEKS AFTER THE 50,000 MILE SERVICE, ON OCTOBER 22 2019, I WAS DRIVING 35 MPH ON SOQUEL AVENUE, WHEN THE CAR BECAME UNRESPONSIVE, I LOST ALL POWER AND CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, AND "CHECK EV SYSTEM" CAME ONTO THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD INTO A BUS STOP, TURNED THE CAR OFF, AND HAD THE CAR TOWED INTO THE DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP WAS UNABLE TO REPLICATE THE SYMPTOM AND INFORMED ME THAT IT WAS DUE TO THE 12V BATTERY. THEY REPLACED IT AND ASSURED ME THE ISSUE WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. ON NOV 11, 2019, THE ISSUE HAPPENED AGAIN WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY THIS TIME. I HAD THE CAR TOWED IN AGAIN TO TOYOTA, WHO INFORMED ME THAT "SOME RAV4 EVS HAVE BEEN IN THE SHOP FOR MONTHS, UNABLE TO BE DIAGNOSED". I RESEARCHED THE SYMPTOM ONLINE AND FOUND THAT IT RELATED TO A 2015 RECALL THAT RELATED TO THE ELECTRIC TRACTION MOTOR. TOYOTA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE F01 RECALL: IN THE INVOLVED RAV4 EV'S, COMPONENTS IN THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE TRACTION MOTOR ASSEMBLY, WHICH IS PART OF THE PROPULSION SYSTEM, MAY CAUSE THE VEHICLE TO SHIFT TO 'NEUTRAL' DUE TO A SOFTWARE ISSUE. THIS CONDITION WILL ALSO TRIGGER A 'CHECK EV SYSTEM' WARNING MESSAGE ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND TURN ON A MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP. IF THE VEHICLE SHIFTS TO 'NEUTRAL', THIS WILL RESULT IN A COMPLETE LOSS OF DRIVE POWER, WHICH CAN INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH. I INFORMED THE DEALERSHIP THAT MY SYMPTOMS MATCHED UP WITH RECALL EXACTLY, AND THEN WAS TOLD THAT IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS AS THIS RECALL HAD BEEN PERFORMED ON APRIL 18 2016 WHEN I HAD MY CAR IN. UPON FURTHER QUESTIONING, I WAS ALSO TOLD THAT SOME OF THE RAV4 EVS HAD HAD THEIR MOTORS REPLACED AS PART OF THIS RECALL, IN ADDITION TO THE SOFTWARE CHANGE, BUT MINE HAD NOT. TOYOTA FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THIS FLAW NOT ONCE BUT TWICE AND I AM SEEKING COMPENSATION FOR FAILURE TO PROPERLY RECOGNIZE AND ADDRESS A KNOWN ISSUE.
MY O2 SENSORS CONTINUE TO GO OUT CAUSING MULTIPLE DASH LIGHTS TO COME ON ALONG WITH GAS CONSUMPTION IF NOT REPLACED IMMEDIATELY! I HAD THE CAR FOR 2 DAYS WHEN THIS HAPPENED, NOW AGAIN. THIS IS RIDICULOUS
MY 2012 RAV4 MAIN EVAP CANISTER WENT BAD AT ONLY 77,113 MILES. IT ALMOST COSTED ME $1550 TO GET THIS PART REPLACED, BUT THANKFULLY WAS ABLE TO CONVINCE THE DEALERSHIP TO GET ME A DEAL ON THE REPAIR. THERE IS NO REASON FOR THIS PART TO GO BAD SO QUICKLY. I DO NOT TOP OFF MY GAS AND I HAVE HAD IT IN FOR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE AT THE DEALERSHIP SINCE IT WAS PURCHASED. TO MAKE THE SITUATION WORSE, WHEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON, THE 4WD AND TRACTION CONTROL UNITS TURN OFF, MAKING MY CAR HARD TO CONTROL IN THE SNOW. I WAS TOLD BY TUFFY THIS IS A COMMON THING AND THAT WAS A PREVIOUS RECALL FOR OLDER VEHICLES. THE CODE WAS ON FOR A FEW WEEKS, DIDN'T CLEAR. I HAD IT DIAGNOSED AT TUFFY AND THE DEALERSHIP, SAME DIAGNOSIS. I HAVE ALSO HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION JERKING WHEN I PUT THE CAR INTO DRIVE, EVEN IN WARM WEATHER, WHEN IT'S THE FIRST DRIVE OF THE DAY. THIS HAS BEEN OCCURRING SINCE I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE WITH 40K ON IT.
THIS HAS HAPPENED ABOUT THREE TIMES. WHEN I AM STOPPING THE CAR WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE THE ENGINE SUDDENLY REVS UP AND I HAVE TO REALLY EXERT PRESSURE ON THE BRAKE TO PREVENT THE CAR FROM LURCHING AHEAD. AFTER A FEW SECONDS OF BRAKING, THE ENGINE STOPS REVVING.
ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2014 AT 4:20PM WHILE PULLING FORWARD INTO A PARKING SPACE THE CAR HAD AN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. THIS IS THE THIRD TIME WITH THE EXACT SAME CIRCUMSTANCES. I PULLED FORWARD INTO A PARKING SPACE AND STOPPED. I PLACED THE CAR INTO REVERSE WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE TO RE-ADJUST THE POSITION OF THE VEHICLE IN THE SPACE. BACKED OUT WITHOUT APPLYING FOOT TO ACCELERATOR. I APPLIED THE BRAKED WHEN CAR WAS OUT OF THE SPACE. WITH FOOT ON BRAKE THEN SHIFTED INTO DRIVE AND THE CAR IMMEDIATELY ACCELERATED TO 4,000 RPMS. WITH MY FOOT FIRMLY ON THE BRAKE THE CAR CONTINUED AT 4,000 RPMS FOR THREE SECONDS THEN DROPPED THE RPMS TO 1100. THE WEATHER WAS CLEAR, 84 DEGREES, 77% HUMIDITY, DRY PAVEMENT, NO ALL WEATHER FLOOR MATS. THE CAR HAD RECENTLY HAD AN ECU PROGRAMMING UPDATE AT 17,000 MILES, WHEN AT TOYOTA FOR AN OIL CHANGE. THE PROBLEM STARTED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PROGRAMMING UPDATE. I HAVE HAD THE VEHICLE BACK TWICE AND TOYOTA CAN NOT FIND THE ISSUE. *TR
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .