general problems of the 2006 Toyota RAV4 - part 1

For several months the 2006 Rav4 with only 118k miles had been experiencing intermittent failure of power steering while driving at speeds between 5-20mph. These failures resulted in the steering wheel to become extremely difficult if not impossible to turn while the car is driving. In each incident, this resulted in stopping the car and putting on emergency lights until we can safely turn off the car and hopefully the issue goes away several minutes later. This issue has proven to be very dangerous when in traffic with no place to pull over and with the steering tightening up, it is not even possible to pull over in most cases. Four different mechanical shops tried to replicate the issue and none were able to determine the root cause nor replicate it consistently. This issue has been happening more frequently now and the car cannot be taken out safely. As elderly drivers, this is not safe by any means and Toyota should consider this a critical safety recall and cover towing costs to move this. There are no signs of instrument lights or any leaks coming from the car. This seems to be entirely a malfunction of steering components. With regard to incidents resulting from this, my mother is the primary driver, she is 71 years old and injured her wrist trying to move the steering wheel to a safe location. Her wrist is still in pain several days later.

While my son was driving me the vehicles steering wheel locked and he was unable to steer the vehicle. It caused us to go off the road down a steep hill and wreck. I’ve never had any problems with this vehicle so it was completely unexpected. If there had been anyone in our path we wouldn’t of been able to stop from hitting them. It has not been inspected but there are witnesses to the accident.

Clunking noise when turning steering wheel right or left. Numerous complaints from 006 rav 4 owners. Fear that my steering will fail and cause an accident or death. The issue is a defective intermediate steering shaft. Toyota will not issue a recall and will only repair if vehicle is still under warranty. How many complaints, accidents, or deaths will it take for this manufacturer to do the right thing???.

For some time there has been an intermittent problem with the dashboard lights coming on and loss of power steering. The car has been checked by mechanics, including one at a Toyota dealership, but the problem was not found. I have experienced the problem with the car stationary, but I believe my son said it has happened to him while in motion.

I bought a used 2006 Rav4 3. 5 l v-6, after a month a bought it. I noticed when I turn left or right I heard a clunk sound. I found out that the intermediate steering shaft is the problem. This common to most Rav4, dealership it's normal but to me it doesn't fell normal when I'm driving, it feels like something is will come out or broke off. Kind of scary thing to feel when driving. I think the manufacturer should find a solution to this problem before someone could hurt or die.

Vehicle did have an official recall(steering shaft assembly) vehicle was repaired 2x's. Vehicle is experiencing same problem. Steering gets tight and knocks. Sent letter to Toyota in California created case # 1305280621 dealer refuses to repair.

Steering froze up while leaving my driveway and p/s light came on. Shut engine off and back on, but did not resolve. I recall at least one other time that steering locked up temporarily while at a stop. Took to dealership for diagnostic as manual recommends. Diagnostic shows dtcs u0105 and u0121. Found tab st005-06 related to this issue and "updated power steering ecu available". Diagnostic $150, parts and labor $1600+ cleary this is a safety issue requiring a recall. Please investigate there are many more similar complaints.

Steering 'clunks' and car won't turn at low speeds/stationary, radio momentarily cuts out and dash lights flash. Can turn the steering wheel further after a few seconds. Happens intermittently, so far only at low speeds/while parking or leaving a parking space.

To whom it may concern, while driving on highway today the car did not stall but all the dash lights came on and there was a complete loss of power steering. Luckily I was in the right land and on a straight roads I glided to the shoulder and stopped. I could not start the car so I jumped started the car and proceeded to get off next exit and problem happened again!!!! I read about issues with the electronic steering on Toyota vehicles. I am checking the charging system and battery but want to find out if there is a recall. There were other people with this issue while searching the internet. I understand that batteries and alternators do go bad but loss of steering while moving could have resulted in a serious accident had I been in a curve in the road. I had previous cargo in the car too. . . . . My 22 month old granddaughter!!! please advise if this is a known problem. Sincerely, robert koziak 139 willis avenue hawthorne, new york 10532 (914) 769-8024 rkmercedes@aol. Com.

Steering pops whenever I make a turn.

The electric power steering went out while my daughter was driving the vehicle. She could not turn the steering wheel. Luckily she did not have an accident. The electric power steering was replaced by milton ruben Toyota at the cost of $1134. 00.

At interstate speeds and sometimes quick acceleration all the lights come on the dash and you lose all steering , it locks up this has happened several times , to my seventeen year old daughter she was lucky there was not a corner when it happened she would've shot straight off the road . There needs to be a recall on this I have looked it up and there has been several complaints of this same issue on the Rav4s and several other Toyota's. If I knew this issue was a problem I would not of purchased this car for my daughter.

Toyota defects.

I hear a riddling noise from the engine each time I start the car. Click sound when I turn the wheel.

Takata recall, noise from right side of the engine. Very, very loud noise. Also, hard to turn the steering wheel.

Vehicle frame chassis corrosion unsafe defects.

Good day ¿ please: appraise unsafety defects. Thankful.

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. The contact heard an abnormal loud noise progressing from the area of the steering wheel while the vehicle was in motion, reversing, or making a turn. The dealer test drove the vehicle, but was unable to replicate the failure. Further diagnostic testing was required. An independent mechanic also inspected the vehicle, but provided no specific diagnosis to determine the cause of the failure. The contact was uncertain if the vehicle would be repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was not available.

Unsafe defects malfunction.

Toyota defects malfunctioning.

While sitting in slow 5-10mph traffic on the freeway, the power steering seized and the airbag dashboard warning light came on at the same time (for about 2-3 seconds at a time). A few miles later, other warning lights (vsc, slip, abs, engine, battery) all illuminated on and off randomly. Took it to the mechanic to have it looked at. They replaced the battery, but the problem happened again about 12 hours later. The alternator is a year old and the battery, tires, alignment, and engine coils are all brand new. After half a dozen calls to the dealership, come to find out, the problem is the computer that controls the power steering. . . A problem which has been acknowledged and recalled for 2014-15 model year Rav4s. This is a serious safety flaw, and it is insulting and negligent that Toyota is pretending this isn't a serious problem for other model years.

Good afternoon, Toyota defects and malfunctions. Please, improve safety performance. Thank you for helping.

Purchased vehicle in November 2015 with the noise/issue already occurring. It is a popping/clicking when turning left or right with steering wheel. Had diagnosis done at repair shop. It is the intermediate drive shaft that is worn/defective. Toyota has had known TSB's on this part since 2008, but regardless of safety concerns, refuses to replace or reimburse.

The intermediate steering shaft on the Rav4 is a known issue and should be recalled. The clunking noise when you turn can degrade into a steering hazard.

Problema con sistema DE freno. Al frenar el auto Rav4 el pededal DE freno pierde precion baja hasta el fondo . Cual hay que estar aplicando varias veces el pedal freno para mantener pecion en el frenado DE el auto. El cosumo DE aceite exsesivo. En el motor . El control del volante sonido fuerte al giirar.

I was driving on the highway about 60 mph and power steering went out. Car made a noise and all the dashboard lights came on like it was sliding on ice, no bad weather that day. Could not turn steering wheel and speedometer went to 0 and would not work the rest of the journey. Made it to the Toyota dealership where I was told nothing was wrong, and it was "the cold weather" that probably caused it. They ran a few tests but nothing was done to the car. No answers to my problem and nothing happened since. But now I am worried because of the recent recall and makes me think this incident was related.

Front left clunking noise when going over bumps, told by dealer issue is in the electronic steering. Dealer did not sound confident when stating it was safe to drive. Have read about multiple 2006 Rav4 owners having defective steering.

1/30/14 recall part - rear lower suspension arm repaired by handy. Shortly after (1-3 months) I noticed swerve/sway during hard right turns. I suspected bad or underinflated tire on drivers side rear. Checked all tire inflation and lug nut tightness but the swerve/sway continued. On 10/16/14 I had (4) new snow tires installed at sumner tire in newport/derby, vt. I thought it would eliminate the problem but the swerve/sway continued. On 10/21/14 I had local mechanic perform a four wheel alignment. The mechanic could not make the adjust but confirmed drivers side rear was out of alignment. On 1/16/15 I made an appointment at handy to resolve this and other issues. Handy offered free labor if I paid $309. 43 for parts to replace the failed recall. Within a few days I contacted national Toyota customer service and spoke to karen. Ref #can't be entered as it flags as a ss number. Karen called back to state that handy should be contacting me by end of the week concerning this issue. Received a on-line survey only in which I made clear that I should not have to pay for a failed recall item that was not fixed properly. I called national c. S. Again two weeks later to report that I have not received any contact from handy. After that call, still no contact was received. I called handy (3) times asking to speak to the service manager, joe luneau, who was always busy. I finally received a call back from a service technician, nate, with a lower offer for the cost of the parts to fix the recall of $226. 03. I called handy back stating that I felt their offer was not acceptable and that I would be filing a complaint with the bbb for assistance. My point in all of this is that Toyota issued a recall for this part and the recall failed and should not be repaired at the consumer's cost. This is a safety concern of mine as well and limits the use of my vehicle for long trips.

Saturday, October 12, 2013 when my wife and two young daughters (ages 2 & 4) were coming home from shopping. Our vehicle experience catastrophic failure, endangering the lives my wife and my two young children. She heard a loud bang from the rear of the vehicle and she lost control. Luckily, she was not moving very fast and was able to stop quickly and pull to the side of the road. The failure occurred on the on-ramp to an interstate 71 with a posted speed limit of 70 mph and the car was not drivable. Had the failure occurred 20 seconds later, my family would have been traveling at a high speed in a rav 4 with absolutely no control. We cannot even fathom the potential outcome if that failure had occurred on a busy highway with trucks etc. We took the rav into the local Toyota dealership and they deemed the accident to be caused by the rear lower suspension arm. The rear lower suspension arm was recalled in the fall/winter of 2012, where we took it to the dealership to be fixed in Nov. 2012 with the so called "clip".

Intermediate steering shaft popping; techs say the intermediate steering shaft is worn out. There is only 56,333 miles on this Toyota Rav4 2006. There has been others since at least 2010 that have been complaining about this problem. There is no reason why a car of this age and low mileage is having problems with the steering shaft. There needs to be a recall on this particular problem as this complaint has been sent to you before and even people have called you about it. Thank you,.

On 5/30/13 I purchased the above 2006 Toyota Rav4 from pioneer valley sales po box 254 s deerfield, MA 01373 and picked it up on 6/3/13. The vehicle had a clunking noise coming from the front. On 6/10/13 I brought it to cherry rum automotive 451 bernardston rd. Greenfield, MA. 01301 for my mechanic to inspect. He removed the steering shaft covers and ascertained that the noise was coming from the steering intermediate shaft. He also said that there was a Toyota technical service bulletin out concerning this problem (tsb3462). He recommended replacing it. I tried to get pioneer valley sales to repair it for over a month and they refused to. I considered this a safety issue and had cherry rum automotive replace the steering intermediate shafts. I paid them $571. 70 for this. I believe that there should be a recall on this. I look forward to Toyota reimbursing me for this expense.

I have always believed in Toyota's reliable vehicles till I bought my Rav4. Lately I have had the unfortunate experience of having to replace all six coils with new ones, because Toyota maid a bad design for the 2006 Rav4. And now I need to replace the steering shafts because they are bad too. Toyota please help with covering the cost of parts and labor.

I heard a loud popping sound in my steering each time I turn. I went to the dealership and I was just told I needed to get it repaired. I have been researching online and noticed that several owners are experiencing the same problems. I have no information regarding safety but feel that since it appears to be a widespread problem Toyota needs to have a recall and have this issue addressed. We should not wait until tragedy happens before action is taken.

Letter from constituent regarding problems with his 2006 Toyota rav 4; he hoping that Toyota can be forced to repair the transmission and reimburse the cost of repairing steering shaft (full document not imaged). The consumer stated he has been trying to get the transmission replaced per Toyota TSB-0130-12, because of whining noise but he was informed the TSB was no longer in effect. It was confirmed, that an internal noise was coming from the transmission.

When backing the car out and turning the steering, there is a clunking noise that occurs. It mostly occurs from a cold start. The car started making a popping sound. It was coming from underneath that car and made the exhaust sound really loud. Shortly after, the car seems to be driving very clunky and does not drive as well as usual. The car vibrates and drives very slowly. It sounded like it dropped a cylinder. The engine sounds very clunky. This has happened many times. Ignition coils were replaced several times.