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Toyota · NHTSA safety record

2019 Toyota RAV4

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Owners have filed 879 safety complaints about the 2019 Toyota RAV4 with the US government. Of those, 25 describe a crash, 2 mention a fire, 21 people were injured and no death is recorded. 7 recall campaigns are open against it.

The most complained-about system is the fuel and propulsion system, named in 255 complaints, 29% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 3,000 miles, the median across the 309 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers March 2019 to September 2026 · How this is counted

What is on file

879 complaints on file

879

Complaints

25

Describe a crash

2

Mention fire

21

People injured

0

Deaths

A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 255 · 29%
ENGINE 206 · 23%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 169 · 19%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 102 · 12%
STRUCTURE 89 · 10%
POWER TRAIN 80 · 9%
AIR BAGS 45 · 5%
SERVICE BRAKES 35 · 4%
STEERING 32 · 4%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 30 · 3%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 18 · 2%
SUSPENSION 16 · 2%
0 104 208

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 879.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2020 at 193.

204 153 102 51
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2019 to 2026, the last of them a part year, which is why its column is drawn faint.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2019 Toyota RAV4, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.

Test SUV AWD SUV FWD
Overall
Frontal crash
Frontal, driver
Frontal, passenger
Side crash
Side barrier
Side pole
Rollover
Chance of rollover 15.5% 15.9%
Stability control standard Forward collision warning standard Lane departure warning standard

A rating belongs to a tested body style and drivetrain, not to the model as a whole, which is why more than one is listed. A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.

Recall campaigns

7 on file

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP

20V682000 · November 4, 2020

The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2018-2019 4Runner, 2019-2020 Avalon, 2019 Corolla Hatchback, 2017-2019 Highlander, 2018-2020 Camry, 2020 Corolla, 2018-2019 Land Cruiser, 2017-2020 Tacoma, 2019-2020 RAV4, 2019-2020 Sequoia, 2017-2020 Sienna, 2019-2020 Tundra, 2018-2020 Lexus ES350, 2017 Lexus GS200t, 2017-2019 Lexus GS350, 2019 Lexus GS300, 2018-2020 Lexus LC500h, 2019-2020 Lexus LS500, 2018-2019 Lexus GX460, 2017 Lexus IS200t, 2019 Lexus IS300, 2019 Lexus IS350, 2018-2020 Lexus LC500, 2018 Lexus LS500, 2019 Lexus LS500h, 2018-2019 Lexus LX570, 2017 Lexus RC200t, 2019 Lexus RC300, RC350, 2017 and 2019-2020 Lexus RX350, 2018-2020 RX350L, 2019 Lexus UX200, 2018-2019 Lexus NX300 vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail.
The risk
If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly with an improved one, free of charge. Owners of specific models were notified that remedy parts were available starting January 21, 2021. Owners of other models will be notified as remedy parts become available. Remedy parts should be available for all affected vehicles by late March 2021. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Note: This recall is an expansion of recall 20V-012. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TA02. Lexus' number for this recall is 20LA01.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing · up to 1,525,742 vehicles across all model years covered

STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM

20V373000 · June 24, 2020

The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2019-2020 RAV4 and 2020 RAV4 Hybrid vehicles equipped with electric power steering (EPS). Water may enter through the steering gear box cover and cause a loss of electric power steering assist.
The risk
A loss of power steering assist could increase steering effort at low vehicle speeds, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the power steering gear box, free of charge. The recall began August 17, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TB11 / 20TA11.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing · up to 46 vehicles across all model years covered

SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER ARM

20V286000 · May 20, 2020

The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2019-2020 RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles. The front lower suspension arms may have cracks, which may result in the suspension arm separating from the front wheel assembly.
The risk
If a suspension control arm breaks, it can result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace both front lower suspension arms, free of charge. This recall began August 10, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's interim numbers for this recall are 20TB08 / 20TA08.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing · up to 9,502 vehicles across all model years covered

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

20V064000 · February 6, 2020

The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020 Toyota Avalon Hybrid, Camry, Camry Hybrid and Lexus ES300h and 2019-2020 RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles equipped with 2.5L 4-Cylinder engines. Porosity in the engine castings may result in cracks than can allow coolant to leak internally and/or externally.
The risk
A coolant leak can cause the engine to overheat and cause a vehicle stall in conventional gasoline vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash. Additionally, for all involved vehicles, the engine may get damaged mechanically, possibly resulting in an engine oil leak, increasing the risk of a fire.
The remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the engine including the engine block, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began April 3, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TA04. Lexus' number for this recall is 20LA02.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing · up to 44,191 vehicles across all model years covered

BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

19V576000 · August 6, 2019

The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2019 RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles. Due to a damaged electrical connector, the back-up camera may not activate when the vehicle is in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply to Federal Motor Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rearview Mirrors."
The risk
If the backup camera system does not activate and the driver does not check his/her surroundings while reversing, there is an increased risk of a crash.
The remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the back-up camera system and replace the audio display unit, if necessary, free of charge. The recall began September 27, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's number for this recall is K0N.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing · up to 14,215 vehicles across all model years covered

EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS

19V503000 · June 28, 2019

The defect
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Toyota Camry, Corolla, Rav4, Sienna, and Yaris iA vehicles equipped with factory-installed floor mats. The load carrying capacity modification label may be incorrect. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
The risk
An incorrect label may lead to unintentionally overloading the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
SET will notify owners and provide a corrected label for placement over the inaccurate label, free of charge. The recall began August 23, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. SET's number for this recall is SET19A.

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC · up to 1,325 vehicles across all model years covered

EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS

19V244000 · March 27, 2019

The defect
Gulf States Toyota (GST) is recalling certain 2019 C-HR, 4Runner, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Highlander, Land Cruiser, Prius, RAV4, Sequoia, Tacoma, Sienna, Tundra and Yaris vehicles. The text on the load capacity label may become illegible. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
The risk
If the driver cannot read the label, they may unknowingly overload the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
GST will notify owners, and dealers will provide corrected load carrying capacity modification labels, free of charge. The recall began May 24, 2019. Owners may contact GST customer service at 1-800-444-1074. GST's number for this recall is 19R1.

Gulf States Toyota, Inc. · up to 3,634 vehicles across all model years covered

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

AIR BAGS

3 injured · crash · towed

It happened yesterday , November 3rd at 8:45 am Approx. speed was 35mph to 40 •Location: 934 York Road, Towson, MD •Description: Front-right impact at 40 mph, no airbag deployment, two children in back seat, vehicle had recent 50K service and roof-rail repair, CSP 22TE05, at Sheehy Toyota Cockeysville. Vehicle now at Caliber Collision Cockeysville. Claim #060381946 I am experiencing neck, shoulder and rib pain right now, my 5 year old complain about right ankle pain and apparently hit his head on the right side.My 3 year old complain about neck pain yesterday. There was no sign showing any kind of failure on my dashboard. I asked my vehicle to be investigated formally by Toyota engineer

NHTSA complaint 11697378, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING

2 injured · crash · towed

Steering suddenly locked up. Car steered to the right went off the road. Turned over several times and landed upside down. Causing serious injuries to myself and the driver. I was in hospital 3 weeks total with broken ribs , broken vertabrae and dislocated shoulder. Cuts on feet from the glass. Driver had cuts on head and dislocated shoulder. Prior to accident, I had reported (twice) to dealer that steering wheel felt loose. The second time, I had him write it down on report when I came in for oil change. So I have proof that I reported it. They checked steering and said they couldn't find anything wrong; but the problem was it didn't do it all the time. Sometimes it would take quite a few

NHTSA complaint 11428020, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

2 injured · crash · towed · 34,111 miles

The contact owned a 2019 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving 15 MPH and making a left turn at night, the contact did not watch the opposite direction and another driver that was driving 40-50 MPH crashed into the passenger's side of the vehicle, between the rear passenger's side door and the rear passenger's side wheel. The vehicle was propelled 2-3 feet in the air and landed 10 feet away from the collision location. The contact stated that the other vehicle was propelled more than 100 feet away. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact's wife was occupying the front passenger's side seat while the contact's daughter was in the booster seat in the rear passenger's side seat. The

NHTSA complaint 11629204, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SEAT BELTS

2 injured · crash

RENTAL VEHICLE AFTER 10/15/MINUTES OF DRIVING -YOU HAD TO USE BOTH HANDS ON STEERING WHEEL VEHICLE WANTED TO DRIFT IN AND OUT OF LANE OF TRAVEL-VERY HARD TO STEER OFTEN REFERD TO AS WHITE KNUCKLE DRIVING INTERSTATE SPEEDS 70MPH-PASSENGER SEAT WAS NOT LOCKING -SEAT WAS TRAVELING BACK AND FORTH.WE WERE HIT FROM THE REAR.ALL TRAFFIC HAD STOPPED- IT WAS THEN DISCOVERED THAT PASSENGER AND DRIVERS SEAT BELTS WERE NOT WORKING THEY WERE NOT ENGAGING LOCKING DEVICE

NHTSA complaint 11270194. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
I am reporting a potentially recurring safety-related failure of the electric engine coolant/water pump on my 2019 Toyota RAV4 equipped with the 2.5L A25A-FKS engine. My vehicle recently developed DTC P26CB/P26CB71, indicating an electric engine coolant pump performance/speed problem. The failure caused loss of proper coolant circulation and resulted in my vehicle overheating while I was driving on the highway. An unexpected cooling-system failure at highway speed creates a safety hazard and can result in severe engine overheating, potentially catastrophic engine damage, and an unexpected need to stop near traffic. Approximately two months before this failure, my vehicle received a separate

NHTSA complaint 11767567, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

VISIBILITY/WIPER
The wipers started acting up a few months ago, the low setting would cycle 7 times then stop randomly, the high setting would cycle 11 times then stop randomly. I could reset it by turning off, then on. On 9/22/2026 I was driving home when it started to down pour. The wipers at first did as previous. But at a critical moment they completely stopped and would not cycle again. I had to pull over to the side while in traffic and not being able to see. I have replaced the wiper motor and switch but to no avail.

NHTSA complaint 11766456. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
Component: Engine — Engine Cooling System — Coolant Pump Summary: The electric water pump on my 2019 Toyota RAV4 failed prematurely at 64273 miles. The check engine light illuminated with diagnostic trouble code P26CB (Engine Coolant Pump Performance/Stuck Off). The engine coolant temperature fluctuated rapidly / coolant level dropped. The vehicle required immediate repair to avoid engine damage. This is a recurring failure pattern on 2019–2021 Toyota RAV4 and Camry vehicles equipped with the 2.5L A25A-FKS engine, where the electric water pump seizes due to an apparent defect in its plastic housing and rotor assembly. Failures are routinely reported at 30,000–60,000 miles—far below the

NHTSA complaint 11764531, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
As soon as my vehicle hit 100K mileages and there's "AWD System malfunction" sign showed up on dash. Got it done replaced it cost roughly more than $500. After 2 days later another problem shows up on dash this time it was "engine maintenance required" show on dash again. Heard people had the same issue to whoever own 2019 RAV4 and they all had the same for those 2 issues. Toyota company should pay attention for these kind of problems or like some of of recall.

NHTSA complaint 11763036. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While driving in the mountains on a hot day, the car suddenly reported numerous faults, including check engine, parking brake malfunction, pre-collision system malfunction, AWD system malfunction, and secondary collision brake system malfunction. The car lost power and forced us to pull over on the side of a dangerous mountain highway. We powered-off the car for a few minutes and started it again and were able to proceed to our nearby remote mountain destination without another loss of power, but the faults remained. The next day we were able to get the car to a nearby NAPA store to read the check engine codes, which there were only 2 of the "P0087" code. I had them clear the fault codes in

NHTSA complaint 11758893, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING
We were driving down the highway passing another vehicle when we lost steering and the dash said "Steering Power Loss". We pulled to the side of the road where the vehicle stalled and would not restart. Probably 10-15 minutes later the vehicle started and we eventually made it to our destination. It was quite scary trying to get to the side of the road, in heavy traffic, and pulling over where there really was no shoulder, and not knowing whether the car would eventually restart or what. Although 2019 Toyota Rav4's have been recalled for this very issue, for some reason our VIN is not listed.

NHTSA complaint 11758739. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Toyota RAV4

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 88 3 —
2024 174 3 —
2023 157 3 —
2022 145 1 2
2021 387 1 —
2020 635 6 —
2018 331 3 —
2017 307 3 2
2016 240 3 —
2015 304 4 1
2014 197 4 —
2013 257 2 1
2012 260 5 —
2011 287 11 —
2010 400 14 —

Other 2019 Toyota models

Every Toyota on this site — 281 vehicles.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst