2017 Toyota RAV4 Visibility Problems

While driving at about 55mph on an open highway, the moon roof exploded. There was a loud explosion inside the car by my right ear. The noise was deafening and distracting and caused a momentary loss of concentration on driving, a situation that was very dangerous and could have resulted in an accident with serious injury. I immediately pulled over and checked the tires, the body and underneath the vehicle, finding nothing. When I began driving again, I heard a loud wind noise and other strange noises above me. I started to open the cover of the moon roof, but shards of glass fell on me, so I closed it again. Pulling over again, I climbed on the door threshold to look at the roof of the car. Unbelievable! It looked like a volcano with the glass pointing upwards around a big hole. Toyota Corp. is claiming it was caused by an outside source. That is definitely not true. I was in the car, nothing landed on the roof. The highway I was on has no bridges, no overpass, no multi-story buildings, no schools or no place that would enable someone to drop or throw a large item on top of a car. And, there was nothing on the inside cover except broken glass. The glass on the roof was definitely pointing upwards. The result of my research on exploding roofs shows that this problem has affected multiple car brands and multiple sun/moon roof manufacturers. I'm asking the NHTSA to help protect USA drivers. If there had been a warning that the roof could suddenly explode while I was driving, I definitely would have selected a car without a glass roof. If the cover had not been closed, I would have been sprayed with glass in addition to the loud blast. Because this is a major safety issue, I'm begging the NHTSA to look into the problem and at the very least immediately issue warnings so drivers of vehicles with sun/moon roofs will be aware that this could happen. It would be much better to find out what defect is causing this to happen before anyone is killed! The consumer stated he feels that moonroof exploding

NHTSA ID

11491512

Incident

Sep 29, 2022

on a nice clear spring day in california, driving on the 101 freeway my 2017 toyota rav4 xle sun roof just Exploded..no trucks around me...and no overpasses...it just exploded outwards i belive....no warning .....could have very easily cause a serrious accident/injury...some glass dropped on driver/passanger...dome rolloed off top of the car.

NHTSA ID

11457210

Incident

Mar 17, 2022

WHILE OPERATING THE VEHICLE ALL FRONT HEADLAMPS FAILED SIMULTANEOUSLY LEAVING ME IN THE DARK. DEALER NEXT DAY FOUND BOTH FRONT HEADLAMP BULBS HAD BOTH LOW AND HIGH BEAM FILAMENTS BURNED OUT! THIS MAY HAVE BEEN A CATASTROPHIC ACCIDENT BUT FOR MY FOG LIGHTS. HOW CAN ANYONE FEEL SAFE IN A VEHICLE IN WHICH ALL LIGHTS MIGHT FAIL WHILE DRIVING UNLIT CURVY ROADWAYS?

NHTSA ID

11432373

Incident

Sep 8, 2021

2017 TOYOTA RAV4 LE ISSUES. THERE IS QUITE A LOT OF ROAD NOISE ESPECIALLY DURING HIGHWAY TRAVEL. THE VEHICLE COULD BE INSULATED BETTER. THE PRIMARY ISSUE IS WITH THE WIPERS. THE SPEED SETTINGS ARE NOT REFINED ENOUGH. THE SETTING CAUSE THE WIPERS TO EITHER BE TOO FAST OR SLOW DEPENDING ON THE AMOUNT OF RAIN EXPERIENCE. ALSO, I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND WIPERS THAT DO NOT CAUSE THE ANNOYING LOUD STUTTER/RUBBNG NOISE. I HAVE TRIED ALL THE DIFFERENT TOP OF THE LINE BRANDS WITH NO SUCCESS. RAINX, MICHELIN, BOSCH, AND TRICO.

NHTSA ID

11376034

Incident

Sep 24, 2018

Mileage

24,000 mi

BOTH IN MOTION/STATIONARY. WINDSHIELD AND RT. FRONT DOOR GLASS SHOW SIGNS OF DELIMITATION AS SEEN BY LOCAL GLASS REPAIR AND TINTING COMPANIES. BOTH BELIEVE THE VISUAL IMPAIRMENT WILL BECOME WORSE AS THE POLYVINYLBUTARETE GLUE SECTIONS BECOME CONNECTED IN A GROWING "SPIDER WEB" ARRAY ACROSS THE ENTIRE GLASS. ANY SUNLIGHT AT A 30 DEGREE ANGLE TO SOUTH TRAVEL CAUSES CONFUSION AS THE PHOTONS HIT THE GLUE AND REFLECT THE LIGHT. LOCAL GLASS TECH CALLS THESE "STARS".

NHTSA ID

11299082

Incident

Jan 6, 2020

Mileage

23,600 mi

WHILE DRIVING ON AN INTERSTATE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, I HEARD A LOUD BOOM. THEN, I COULD HEAR WIND THROUGH THE INSIDE COVER. THERE ARE PIECES OF BROKEN GLASS ABOVE THE INSIDE COVER. I HAD THE INSIDE COVER CLOSED WHILE DRIVING, SO THE GLASS DID NOT ENTER THE CABIN. REVIEW OF MY DASH CAM FOOTAGE DID NOT SHOW ANY VISIBLE DEBRIS OR ROCKS THAT COULD HAVE CAUSED IT. IT SOUNDED LIKE AN EXPLOSION AND NOT A CRACK.

NHTSA ID

11253450

Incident

Sep 5, 2019

Mileage

77,000 mi

I HAD TO VISIT TOYOTA BECAUSE MY RADIO WILL TURN ON BY ITSELF, WHEN I PARK. EVEN AFTER VISITING TOYOTA FOR AN UPDATE, MY RADIO WILL CHANGE ON ITS OWN, NOT FROM THE STEERING WHEEL) BUT ON ITS OWN.SO IT IS NOT FIXED. WIPERS WILL TURN ON THEN STOP. THERE SEEMS TO BE A DEVICE BEHIND THE DASH THAT I CAN HEAR CLICKING ON AND OFF WELL AFTER THE IGNITION IS OFF OR WHILE THE CAR IS IDLE FOR A BIT. MY CLIMATE CONTROL CHANGES ON ITS ON EVEN THOUGH IT WORKS FINE MOST OF THE TIME. IT IS AS IF MY CAR IS RECEIVING ADDITIONAL COMMANDS FROM ANOTHER SOURCE. LAST WEEK, AT NIGHT, I WITNESSED TWO MEN STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET, SOMEHOW ACTIVATING CAR ALARMS FROM RANDOM CARS. JUST YESTERDAY, NOT FAR FROM WHERE I LIVE A DRIVER "LOST CONTROL" AND RAN INTO TWO HOMES. THE DRIVER WAS THROWN FROM THE CAR, WHILE THE CAR AND THE HOUSE CAUGHT ON FIRE, THAT WAS STRANGE TO HEAR ABOUT. IF THERE IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE FOR MY CAR, PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT TO DO. THANK YOU.

NHTSA ID

11192165

Incident

Mar 27, 2019

Mileage

44,329 mi

THIS IS A POTENTIAL ACCIDENT THE SEALS THAT ARE BUILT INTO THE DOOR WINDOW GUIDES ARE NOT EFFECTIVE. WHEN THE OUTSIDE WINDOWS ARE FOGGY OR WET, THE BUILT-IN SQUEEGEE DOES NOT WIPE OFF THE WINDOW AS THEY HAVE IN EVERY OTHER CAR. THIS CREATES A HAZARD AS YOU CANNOT SEE TO CHANGE LANES OR BACK OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY. I REPORTED THIS TO THE LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER AND THE REFUSED TO CORRECT THIS THANK YOU

NHTSA ID

11053387

Incident

Dec 7, 2017

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE BRAKES ACTIVATED AUTOMATICALLY WITHOUT WARNING, WHICH CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER (PRIME TOYOTA RT 2, 700 OLD UNION TURNPIKE, LANCASTER, MA 01523), BUT COULD NOT BE DIAGNOSED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THERE WAS NO FAILURE WITH THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE FAILURE RECURRED SEVERAL OTHER TIMES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 9,000. *TT THE CONSUMER STATED THE RADAR CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTIONED. *JS THE CONSUMER STATED THE CLIMATE CONTROL ADJUSTMENT KNOBS JAMMED.*JS UPDATED 9/18/18*JB *JS *TR *JS *TR *JS

NHTSA ID

11052764

Incident

Oct 5, 2017

Mileage

9,000 mi

ROAD VISIBILITY AT NIGHT USING LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS. WHEN LOW BEAMS ARE USED AT NIGHT THERE IS A DEFINE DARK PORTION OF THE WINDSHIELD ABOUT CENTER (HORIZONALLY) THE AREA BELOW THE LINE IS LIT BUT THE AREA ABOVE IS COMPLETELY BLACK. THE DISTANCE YOU CAN SEE IS LESS THAN 300 FT AND REDUCES DOWN TO 50 75 FT WHEN GOING DOWN HILL. EVERY THING ABOVE THE LIT LINE IS COMPLETELY BLACK. THE LIGHTING SYSTEM IS HALOGEN AND IS COMPLETELY UNSAFE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT WITHOUT USING THE HIGH BEAMS..DEALERS HAVE REFUSED TO ADDRESS PROBLEM WITH OTHER OWNERS.

NHTSA ID

11035351

Incident

Oct 1, 2017

Mileage

1,400 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE WINDSHIELD DARKENED AND MADE IT DIFFICULT TO SEE THE ROAD. THE CONTACT CHECKED THE OWNERS MANUAL AND FOUND THAT THE VEHICLE WAS EQUIPPED WITH SAFETY SENSE, WHICH DARKENED THE WINDSHIELD AT NIGHT TO PROTECT THE DRIVER FROM THE GLARE OF ONCOMING HEADLIGHTS. THE MANUFACTURER AND DEALER WERE CONTACTED (PIERCEY TOYOTA IN MILPITIS, CA) WHERE THE SALES MANAGER STATED THAT IT WAS NOT A KNOWN ISSUE. THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO GET ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 350.

NHTSA ID

11018704

Incident

Aug 11, 2017

Mileage

350 mi

MY 2017 RAV4 IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT. THE CAR IS A LEASE AND WAS BRAND NEW WHEN I GOT IT. IT HAD LESS THAN 100 MILES, WHEN THIS STARTED HAPPENING. WHEN I HAVE MY HEADLIGHTS ON AT NIGHT THEY SEEM TO CAP OFF. THIS ALLOWS ME TO ONLY SEE THROUGH THE BOTTOM HALF OF MY WINDSHIELD. THE UPPER HALF GOES PITCH BLACK. IT IS EXTREMELY UNSAFE BECAUSE IT IMPAIRS MY VISION. THIS IS A REOCCURRING EVENT AND HAPPENS WHEN THE CAR IS IN MOTION. IT STARTED IN NOVEMBER OF 2016, AND I HAVE STOPPED DRIVING AT NIGHT BECAUSE OF HOW DANGEROUS IT IS.

NHTSA ID

11016253

Incident

Nov 21, 2016

Mileage

75 mi