general problems of the 2009 Toyota RAV4 - part 1

Four incidents of unintended acceleration , in all instances foot was on break petal not on gas petal, 3 instances vehicle was stopped at traffic light, last incident was pulling into a parking space foot on brake, in all instances braked hard and shifted vehicle into neutral and turned vehicle off to avoid collisions, personal injury and property damage.

While decelerating on a freeway off-ramp at approx. 25 mph, the brakes failed to stop the car. Going no more than 5 mph, I lifted off slightly then depressed them all the way to the floor; they didn't engage properly but finally slowed the car almost to a complete stop, but the engine revved and the car kept wanting to go forward. I threw the transmission into park and turned off the ignition.

Just over 100,000 miles on the 2009 rav 4. Without issue. Not original owner. This weekend it tried 3 times to accelerate us into the vehicles or people in front of is. After looking online I verified that our floormats are both secured and do not extend to the area of the pedal. Incident 1. While sitting at a complete stop at red light, heard and felt engine start to rev. Car lurched forward, and I applied left foot in addition to the right which was already on the brake in attempt to stop it. Had to hit shifter into neutral to regain control only a foot or 2 from the car in front. Mistakenly thought it was an isolated incident. Incident 2 today-- while slowing to a red light by application of brakes with right foot, engine revved up to approx. 3000 rpm and tried accelerating us into vehicles in front of us. Again- only shifting into neutral brought vehicle under control. . Incident 3 - approx 20 min after incident 2 on way home ( Sunday afternoon)while braking to a stop at red light. No vehicles in front by people entering the crosswalk. Heard and felt engine start to accelerate. Immediate addition of right foot to the brake pedal was able to stop the car and the acceleration stopped without shifting to neutral this time. Vehicle is parked awaiting reply from Toyota. Checked Toyota website and it says there are no open recalls or service campaigns for this VIN.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. While pulling into a parking space with the brake pedal depressed, the engine revved and caused the vehicle to accelerate. The vehicle lunged forward and landed into a nearby pool. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed and taken to the c&c Dodge Toyota dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealership stated that they were instructed by the manufacturer not to tend to the vehicle involving unintentional acceleration. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided case number: 1707311582. The approximate failure mileage was 77,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. While coming to a stop and placing the vehicle in park, the vehicle accelerated independently once the brake pedal was released. The vehicle crashed into a building. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the cause of the failure was undetermined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. While exiting a fuel station and attempting to depress the brake pedal, the contact's foot became trapped between the rug and the accelerator pedal. The vehicle accelerated and crashed into another vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the damage was repaired. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 11v113000 (vehicle speed control). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 76,000.

On June 8, 2014, while driving my 2009 Toyota Rav4, I began to slow for a stop light. Several cars were already stopped. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, my car began to accelerate causing me to crash into another vehicle, and forcing it into a second vehicle. After the initial impact; my engine continued to rev-up, even though my foot was off the accelerator and hard on the brakes. Finally, I shifted into park and turned off the ignition. All three vehicles were damaged, two significantly. A passenger in the second vehicle expressed personal anxiety due to a ¿heart condition� and possible neck injury. Both drivers filed claims on my insurance, but no damage estimates or injury claims are available as yet. A police report was filed. During 2013, I had two previous accidents and several incidents while driving this Rav4, caused by sudden and unexpected acceleration. Damage of about $3,000 was incurred; however, no other vehicles were involved. One accident report was filed. On several other occasions, while driving on the interstate highways, the Rav4 suddenly and unexpectedly, accelerated. In each instance, I regained control of the vehicle and no accident or damage occurred. Prior to owning the Rav4, I purchased a new 2008 4-door Toyota camry. On numerous occasions, during the eight months I owned the vehicle, I experienced sudden and unexpected acceleration, especially at cruising speeds on the highway. Becoming very uncomfortable driving it ¿ I traded the camry on the then new 2009 Toyota Rav4. As a 68 year old single working widow, I am afraid of driving the Rav4 to work or on weekends. In January, 9013, a legal claims administrator for Toyota motor sales, advised by letter that based on their inspection of the 2009 Rav4; the 2013 accidents were ¿not the result of any type of manufacturing or design defect. ¿�.

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle engine raced as the rpms increased. The vehicle then accelerated independently. The contact was previously serviced under NHTSA campaign number: 11v113000 (vehicle speed control). The manufacturer was not alerted of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The failure mileage was 62,215. The vehicle was not repaired.

We have a loud, intermittent grinding or rattling noise that occurs usually during acceleration but often when cruising as well. We checked online and others have had a similar problem but dealer claims they do not know what it is.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The contact started the ignition and shifted from park into drive when suddenly, the vehicle began to accelerate with a rapid increase in engine rpms. In order to stop the vehicle the gear was shifted into neutral and the brake pedal was engaged. The engine was turned off and restarted five times however, the failure persisted. On the sixth attempt, the vehicle operated normally. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The vehicle had not been repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 32,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while attempting to engage the brakes, the engine rpm failed to decrease. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who decided to send out an engineer to inspect the vehicle. The engineer was unable to determine what was causing the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 16,000 and the current mileage was 22,000.

On June 6 2012 driving into a parking lot I had an un-intended acceleration on my 2009 Toyota Rav4 and the car only stopped because I hit my doctor's office wall. Even though I pressed the brake pedal, the car wouldn't stop. It was a very scary moment. I filed a claim with Toyota manufacturer, they inspected the car on June 19,2012. I got a letter July 30 2012 from Toyota motor sales USA inc. That says they didn't find anything wrong with my car and that it is "operating as designed, within factory specifications" "however the inspection of your vehicle revealed no evidence of any sort of a manufacturing or design defect and we are unable to offer additional assistance". I thought my car was safe but now (thank god nobody was hurt) I don't trust this car and I lost confidence on Toyota cars. I'm afraid to drive this car. This car is defective and they know it. It was a horrible experienced! I didn't make this up, this really happened to me. On Aug 1st 2012 on press release tyt recalled Rav4 subs and Lexus to fix the suspension of Rav4s from 2006 to 2011 models. Other law firms have told me that the un-intended acceleration has to happen several times to be considered as complaint/recall per lemon law and that if tyt says there's nothing wrong with it, there's nothing they or I can do. I'm outraged to say the least! can you help? thanks for your time.

I have ha the car back to the dealer for this brake problem and they said this is normal ,what the problem is the brake pedal is soft and when braking you foot can hit the gas pedal this also the pedal will go down when you are holding at a stop,also its not leaking brake fluid as the car was service at the dealer.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4 . The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle accelerated abnormally. The contact applied pressure to the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was then taken to an authorized dealer where it was inspected but the dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was inspected three times with no solution to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 16,500 and the current mileage was 20,000. . . Updated 04/11/12 updated 06/15/2012.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota rav-4. The contact stated while driving, the vehicle accelerated on its own. The contact applied the brake pedal and the vehicle surged up to 5000 rpms. The contact shifted the vehicle in neutral; it stopped moving, but the engine began making a loud noise until the contact turned the vehicle completely off. The manufacturer recommended that the contact tow the vehicle to the dealership for inspection. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 19,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated while attempting to make a left turn. The contact was unable to stop the vehicle and the steering wheel locked as the brake pedal depressed to the floor. The vehicle continued to accelerate forward until crashing into a parked vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where it was awaiting repairs. The manufacturer examined the vehicle, and stated that there was no failure. The failure and current mileages were 22,900. Updated 08/22/lj.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The contact was driving at an unknown low speed when the vehicle abnormally accelerated, resulting in the contact crashing into a building. The contact was reported injured. A police report was available. The vehicle was towed by the contacts insurance company where the contact was awaiting repairs. The failure and current mileage was 16,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. While the contact was driving approximately 5 mph, the brakes were engaged to the floor. Suddenly, the vehicle accelerated without warning. The vehicle would not slow down. The gear selector was shifted into the park position, and the vehicle crashed into the proceeding vehicle. There were no personal injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the technician was unable to locate a problem. The front end damages were not repaired. The insurance company was in the process of appraising and inspecting the vehicle at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was 15,000.

Toyota 2009 rav 4. Coming off freeway to stop light. I coasted then applied the brakes and the car engine started to rev up. As I applied the brake pedal harder the engine keep revving up. By pushing on the brake with all my force the car came to a stop. It was up to 7000 rpm's. I shoved the shift lever into park and the auto went immediately went back to normal rpm's. My foot was not on the gas pedal. I took the car to Toyota and did a claim form with national Toyota. The dealer could find no problem with the car. Both the dealer and national Toyota said there is nothing else they could or would do. The car is not safe to drive and I have not picked it up from the dealer.

Tl-the contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. While parked, the contact attempted to shift into reverse but the vehicle suddenly revved up. The contact depressed the brake pedal firmly and shifted into neutral. The contact stated that rpms decreased and the vehicle behaved normally after five seconds. The contact planned to take the vehicle to an authorized dealership. The failure mileage was 9,264. The current mileage was 9,674. Updated 06/29/10 updated 09/21/jb.

Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6) this is in regards to complaint # 10325940 on a 2009 Toyota rav 4. The detail in the report is correct with the exception of the vehicle was not driven to the nearest dealer. The vehicle was taken to the nearest dealer on a flatbed tow truck. The VIN # for this vehicle is [xxx] . The dealer claimed to have done an approximate 10 mile road test and the diagnostics Toyota recommended that they do. Then after treating us not very nicely at all gave us the standard "it was caused by a floormat" excuses eventhough they claimed that they could not recreate the incident using a floor mat. They returned what is in my opinion an unsafe vehicle to us without having any concrete proof of what happened.

2009 Toyota rav-4driven by owner with wife as passenger. Coming down off ramp from two lane road to stop sign in order to turn onto a town street. Although braking hard, car failed to stop and engine decidedly accelerated. Driver able to turn corner and, since no car coming in his lane, was able to pull to side of road. Driver decided to proceed 2-3 blocks to a gas station. Drove slowly to station, pulled in, car refused to stop, in fact it was jerkily accelerating, and bumped into a car whose driver was putting gas into it. No damage to either car or persons. (pressed yes for crash, but was only going about 5 mph or less and driver's car pushed other car into a street. ) driver was able to put car in neutral and car stopped. Driver had car towed to Toyota dealer whose service manager, after telling driver his rav-4 was made in japan and not eligible as a recall car, finally agreed to have car tested. Nothing found and Toyota has refused to replace any parts saying there is nothing wrong with car--to them the incidents did not truly occur. After testing, twice, driver picked up car and was driving home, had to stop for a school bus and while stopped felt engine surging forward again but was able to keep car steady by putting on brakes and put car in to neutral. Only drives car on back roads now. These three incidents are the only ones that have been experienced thus far.

Th- the contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The contact had the vehicle speed control accelerator pedal recall repair done on the vehicle one month ago. The repairs done for campaign number 10v017000 did not repair the vehicle. While traveling 35 mph the caller tried to come to a stop and the vehicle accelerated. The caller was able to bring the vehicle to a stop by placing the vehicle in neutral. The vehicle is currently at the dealer being inspected again. The contact did not have the VIN number at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage and current mileage was 14300. Rl.

I was driving my 2009 Toyota Rav4 on Monday April 5, 2010 and was stopped at a red light with my foot on the brake when I felt gas seemed to rev up. I felt like the car would have lurched forward had not my foot been on the brake. Also today after moving forward my car maintain a 20 miles an hour speed without my pressing on the gas pedal, April 13th, 2010.

April 4, 2010 topic: communication of engine acceleration from: omitted vehicle: - Toyota Rav4 - purchased 9/26/09 - - year/model: 2009/4443a - engine: 3. 5 liter dohc v6 engine with dual vvt-I - purchased from: germain Toyota of columbus problem: today, April 4, 2010, my wife was backing the Rav4 into our car garage. Upon getting the car completely on the floor of the garage (a level surface), she was idling in reverse so that the SUV would finish backing up to insure the garage door would go down without hitting the front of the vehicle. Suddenly, the engine revved up a few hundred rpms. With her foot already on the brake pedal she immediately pushed down very hard on the brake pedal and pushed the console gear shift into neutral. Thus, my wife was able to prevent the SUV from immediately speeding up in reverse which prevented the vehicle from ramming into the garage wall which was approximately 4 to 5 foot from the back of the vehicle. The above action by my wife may have taken 2-3 seconds. However, after getting the Rav4 into neutral , the engine immediately revved up to a few thousand rpms. Within a very few seconds my wife turned the motor off. Fortunately, the vehicle was in neutral when this engine revving occurred. I was in the house in a room directly above the garage and heard both times of the engine revving. My wife also had a similar revving up of the engine that occurred approximately 5 days previous to March 4, 2010 while sitting at a red light. She held the brake pedal down. She only needed to hold the brake pedal down for 1 -2 seconds before she could take her foot off the brake to allow the car to go through the light that just changed to green. Upon letting up on the brake pedal to go forward the rpms immediately reduced. Also, the revving of the engine this time was comparable to the initial engine revving stated above for a few hundred rpms.

Drove up to use the atm at bank. Placed car in park and used atm. When I finished, I put my foot on the brake and shifted into drive. Car engine accelerated and car lurched forward. A large cloud of smoke came out of the exhaust pipe. I was able to put the car in neutral and turn off the engine. Putting the car in neutral did not stop the engine from racing. I pushed the car away from the atm and called the Toyota dealer, who came and drove the car to their garage. The dealer found no record of the event on the cars computer and has twice tried to return the vehicle to me. Only after I threatened to go on a local radio talk show, did the agree to continue to investigate. I was able to obtain video of the incident from the bank's security cameras and have shared them with the Toyota dealer and would be happy to share them with the NHTSA. Updated 07/26/jb updated ivoq 08/04/jb.

Although my car was fixed in the Toyota recall, I believe the problem still exists. It is better, but not best. When I press on the accelerator sometimes the car jerks forward much faster than you would expect. It used to do this more often and to a greater degree, but still does do it on occasion. I noticed this when I first bought the car, but put it off to pressing down on the accelerator too hard. Then I began to think that if that was the case it would happen all the time. I purposely try to go forward gently, but am not able to sometimes.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The contact was pulling out of the driveway when the vehicle suddenly began to accelerate up to 20 mph. The contact depressed the brake pedal but the vehicle increased its speed before it finally stopped. The vehicle traveled about twenty feet before it was stopped. The vehicle had not been inspected at the time of the complaint. The current and failure mileages were approximately 1,000.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Rav4. The driver states she was driving 25mph was driving in traffic and the vehicle accelerated on its own and crashed into the vehicle in front of her. The contact states they took the vehicle to the dealer and they said that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. The failure mileage was 9,800. The current mileage is 9,820.

When I lift my foot off the gas pedal of my Rav4 Toyota, there is a noise and grinding that occurs. It has progressively gotten worse, after 3 levels of service dept. Looking at it, the determination was that this is a characteristic of the Rav4. No explanation as to what it is, but that the car if safe and to continue driving it. Why then, if it is characteristic of a Rav4, do they not have an actual explanation as to what is happening when the noise occurs, why did it take 3 months and a special technician to determine this, you would think that with all the Rav4s they have sold, that they would be seeing numerous cars doing this. My car was purchased brand new and this little characteristic had never been discussed, where has it been for the 9 months prior? what happens to make it appear, and why can't they fix it, whether they think its dangerous or not? they have informed me that my only recourse at this time, as if I should be my problem at all, is to take it to another dealer, and have them drive it, another dealer who more than likely, since they travel from one Toyota dealer to the next, will give me the same result. I am outraged that they are not taking responsibility and dealing with this. It is not okay to sell someone a brand new car, have something go wrong within a year, and have a legal document, which they keep throwing in my face, saying because their very own technician determined that it is a characteristic, I should just have to live with this noise and vibration. My 7 year old is afraid to get in the car. How dare they treat their customers like that? it make noise, it vibrates, we can't give you an actual explanation, we can't fix it, so just go back, get into your brand new car, and deal with it.

To begin, my car has already had the Toyota recall "fix" and should have been fine. I was driving my Toyota Rav4 (2009) and approaching a four way stop. When I went to hit the brakes, there was a slight grinding noise. The car slowed a bit but did not stop and kept on moving through the stop sign. I ended up going through the intersection (luckily no one was coming) and coming to a stop almost 50 feet past. My husband drove the car home and we later took it to the dealer (no other incidents then). The dealer inspected the brakes and acceleration but could not find a cause. They kept the car for several days but ended up returning it to us and saying it is fine, as they could not find a specific cause to this incident. I am 8 months pregnant, and currently will not drive the car until I can be reassured this will not happen again.

Our Rav4 was apparently not included in the last recalls but I now believe this is incorrect. On 2/27 I rear-ended a truck going about 30-35 mph. I originally thought I had missed the brake pedal and by the time I realized the car was not stopping I had to slam my brakes and tried to turn to miss the car in front of me. After checking further I'm not sure how I would have even been able to entirely miss the pedal. I was very shaken up and thought I had imagined that the car was accelerating after I had originally braked until I overheard my 8 yr old daughter talking to someone else and saying she 'felt like we were going faster instead of stopping". If not for the urging of friends and family and after researching, I'm not sure I would have even thought it was a Toyota problem. Luckily I was the only person to be injured with a sprained foot, but if this can help to save someone else from a potentially fatal crash I would feel that I have done my part. Please push Toyota to find out the real problem and get it fixed. I'm not sure how I am even going to be able to drive that truck again without feeling confident that my family and I are safe.

I was told my 2009 Rav4 was not subject to the Toyota recall. Yet I have experienced involuntary acceleration on two occasions. Both times I was slowing down to make a left hand turn, having almost slowed to a stop when the rpm's accelerated to 5,000 - 6,000. The first time I was slowing down from 30 mph to about 10 mph when the car sped forward as I was turning. I almost hit a sign on a median but was able to stop the car by slamming on the brakes. This was in November 2009 over three months after the Rav4 was purchased but before I knew about the recall. I brought the vehicle into the kolosso Toyota dealership for the fix a few weeks ago. I was not told my car was not part of the recall but was told I was "all set" for the time being but that there may be additional fixes required in the future that were still being evaluated. Today, this involuntary acceleration occurred again. I had been traveling on a two lane highway. Speed limit was 50 mph. I had slowed down, almost to a stop in preparation to turn left. The car was going less than 10 mph, my foot was on the brake pedal when the rpm's suddenly shot up to 5,000 - 6,000. I pressed down on the brake harder and put the car in neutral to stop it from propelling forward. It took many some time for the engine to stop revving. This nearly caused an accident into oncoming traffic. When I called Toyota about this, as I was afraid to continue driving the car, I learned that my car was not part of the recall because I had a denso gas pedal. Toyota tried to minimize the incident and indicated I could continue driving it to a dealership about 25 miles away. I refused to do so and had the vehicle towed at my dealer's expense back to my city of residence.

While coming to an intersection, I was braking. During the braking, the vehicle suddenly bolted (accelerated) ahead for a period of 5 seconds. (vehicle accelerated during braking process ) I continued to keep foot on brake, pressing with a lot more force. During the "incident", I was able to turn wheel sharply to the right, to avoid hitting a vehicle directly in front of me. Needless to say, I was very shaken, as was my 100% disabled husband, also in the front seat. We took vehicle to Toyota dealer, on ebruary 10, 2010, (2, 766 total mileage) and 30 minutes of their time was given to my Toyota. They checked it over, trying to find the problem. They said "they could not find a problem". , and sent me on my way. They gave me an "800" number to call, and our 2 phone calls to them, was a waste of time. They said they would send me arbitration papers, which I have not received. I don't see why I have to go to arbitration for them to fix my vehicle, when it is still under warranty. * they reset ecm/pcm test drove op code 895994 3/99. Checked ecu for dtc scan tool check dtc and operation. Hours 0. 50 dealer refuses to do more testing because Toyota will not authorize it. I feel that my vehicle is "a death trap" and I will not drive it. In the meantime, I am still making monthly payments on it, and consider it a "dead horse payment" .

I own a 2009 Toyota Rav4. My car was not stopping prior to recall-spoke with Toyota and they contacted dealer to come to my home and pick up my car, as it was not stopping for my and I would not drive the car. Recall (accelerator pedal reinforcement bar) performed 2/5/2009. I called dealership to schedule another appointment as the gas pedal is very touchy and my car is accelerating when my foot is on the brake and I can not stop car. The dealership looked at car and told me that there was no problem-the standard line "our service technician was unable to duplicate customer concern". I again have a car that has a safety concern that will not stop at times and Toyota is unwilling to resolve this issue for me.