general problems of the 2011 Toyota RAV4 - part 1

To begin with, the 2011 Toyota Rav4 in question was a loaner provided to me by fiore vw Audi (1000 s. Logan blvd in hollidaysburg, PA 16648) at @ 10:45 am on 9/16/23. My 2018 Toyota sienna was being serviced at this location on 9/18/23 and they provided me the 2011 Rav4 in the meantime. The brakes failing, the steering wheel locking up, and the sudden acceleration of this 2011 Rav4 occurred later that afternoon @ 4 pm in a sheetz parking lot at 3261 w. College Ave. State college, PA 16801. As I was turning left into an open parking space at the rear entrance of this sheetz, I began to turn the steering wheel to the right, straighten out, and park properly in the parking space; I also began to press down on brake to stop the car. As I pressed down on the brake pedal, the brakes quickly locked up and became unresponsive. Simultaneously, the steering wheel locked up becoming unresponsive with the front wheels still slightly turned to the left. I was still coming out of my turn when this vehicle failure began. I quickly took my foot off the brake, then the car suddenly burst forward with an intense acceleration. I immediately put my foot back down on the brake, but the car still proceeded forward towards the building; moving slightly to the left due to the steering wheel still locked in place and unresponsive. I slowly rolled into a metal obstruction at the end of the parking space, hitting it at an angle. I had my seat belt on and no air bags were deployed. No injuries to me, but some cosmetic damage to the front of the Rav4. There were no warning lights or audible warnings prior to this vehicle failure. I didn't notice any warning lights or alarms during the failure. Prior to this incident everything seemed fine. After the incident, I drove the car home, drove it to my insurance agent on 9/18/23, and I drove it back to the dealer on 9/20/23. That was it. I would believe sheetz has this complete incident recorded w/security cameras at that back entrance way.

For the past three months, in increasing frequency, whenever parking, firm pressure on brake pedal engages sudden burst of acceleration, with engine loudly revving at 1000 revs or higher (audibly beyond the cabin to passers by on the street), that lurches vehicle forward. Within close spaces of parking garage pillars or walls or while parallel parking this is a hazard and threatens sudden accident of 1 mph or less up to 5-10 mph and a 1-2 yard-long jerking lurch to try to recover from. This occurred, twice this week, and 4 times within past 3 months’ time, to where this is no longer a fluke or due to my immediate reactions. This is an increasing pattern that threatens myself and others. I am headed to local dealership, within the hour, to request diagnostics and to attempt to have technician repeat this issue.

Sudden acceleration when braking caused crash of 2011 Toyota Rav4 and driver injury. Making a right turn into a parking space that faces a concrete wall, I had my foot on the brake to slow the car down to park, going about five miles an hour. Still riding the brake, never having moved my foot off it, when I was about two feet from the wall I pressed on the brake to ease into a stop. Instead, the car suddenly accelerated with a loud rev and crashed into the wall. The car was going so fast the airbag deployed and thrust me against my seatbelt. Airbag caused fracture of 5th metacarpal in my right hand. Was unable to drive for 12 weeks. When I got the car back from the Toyota body shop ($9000+ in repairs), I took it over to the dealer and began filing a case with the Toyota customer experience center to have Toyota inspect the car. I am especially concerned about the brake sensor system. Case is pending.

When applying the brakes to stop at a stoplight, I noticed the brake pedal was very hard and was not stopping the vehicle as it normally did. The stop at the light was not a sudden stop. At the time this incident occurred, the brakes were being gradually applied as the vehicle was coasting to a slow stop. As the vehicle came to rest, the engine started to race with tachometer showing 4500 rpm. I placed the transmission into neutral fearing the car would accelerate through the stoplight. As I placed the car into neutral, the engine raced up to 6500 rpm. When the light turned green, I made a right turn into a parking lot, and the engine stopped racing and the brakes and engine began performing properly. Today was the first time this happened. The stop was being made on level ground at time of incident. The car's speed before the incident had been 35 mph and was at less than 5 mph when issue began happening. Prior to traveling in the 35 mph zone, the car had recently been on the highway traveling between 55-70 mph for 20 minutes. Mileage on vehicle is currently 141,295. The vehicle is available for inspection. Slow response braking and unintended acceleration place vehicle occupants as well as other vehicles at risk for collision and possible injury. Problem has not been reproduced nor inspected by a dealer or independent service station yet. No parties have inspected the vehicle yet. No warning lights or messages were generated at the time of the incident. There have been no prior symptoms or similar problems which would have indicated this brake/acceleration issue may occur.

I have replaced the front suspension and the back suspension. I have replaced the driveshaft and the muffler and tail pipes. Now they say the entire undercarriage and the brake lines are all rusting out. This car is 2011 and has just 34,607 miles on it and has been keep in a garage its entire time. Now it is unsafe to drive. Drive shaft fell off in December. 2022.

Was driving down the road took my foot off the gas & put it on the brake 2 slow down because I was approaching a stoplight & the brake would not work. I repeatedly tried the brake with no luck, I ended up hitting a utility box on the side of the road right in front of the intersection.

During the past six weeks my 2011 Rav4 has accelerated after lifting my food off of the brake. I did not engage the accelerator at all when this happened. I have a major concern because this happened again today when I stopped at a crosswalk with people crossing. Scared the heck out of me. This is either the third or four time that something like this has happened, only today it was more severe.

Waiting at stop sign - car began accelerating, engine revving, racing (again, while at a complete stop). I braked and vehicle took full control seemingly pulling sideways first and then lurching out onto the roadway casing a devastating crash totaling my car and causing the other person's vehicle extensive damage. I could have been seriously injured or killed. It's the second time this happened. 1st time pulling into parking space - accelerated lurching forward no matter how much I braked striking curb and post - stalled out, thank goodness. A case has been opened with Toyota but I am told they'll deny anything wrong even though I have 10 pages of complaints in hand of people who have experienced this same nightmare I did. It's time for Toyota to take full responsibility and do something immediately. A class action lawsuit seems pretty obvious at this point concerning this dangerous safety issue since Toyota is not taking responsibility by issuing/sending out recalls on this dangerous mechanical failure which next time may cause a death.

Tl the contact owns a 2011 Toyota Rav4. While operating the vehicle, the contact depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle would not stop. The contact had to depress the brake pedal with force to stop the vehicle. The failure occurred three times. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 110,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Traveling 30 mph southbound on interstate. Car's engine self accelerated. Pumped brakes to slow down. Car continued to self-accelerate and braking was ineffectual and I ran into back of an 18 wheeler flat bed truck.

The complaint specified does not seem to happen frequently or consistently, has happened randomly 2 times in a 6 week period. Specifically, car was engaged in the drive gear on auto transmission and was stopped at the moment, once at the parking spot at local walmart, brought to complete halt with foot on the brake, and ready to shift lever to park, before I could do that, brake went soft and car moved/surged forward, hitting the safety pole in the parking spot. The safety pole saved from head on hitting the car already parked in the opposite parking spot. The picture of the front of the car against the safety post is attached. Another time, was stopped with foot on the brake, waiting to merge into traffic, at the local hyvee store, suddenly braking was gone, engine surged withpower and the car jumped into the middle of intersection. Fortunately I was able to avoid the collision with other cars on the road. Both times the car was at standstill, in drive gear, foot on the brake. In forty or more years of driving I have never have this happened before I did file a claim with stae farm, because there was damage to the front bumper. A picture is attached. I have not yet driven this car, after it was repaired by the body shop, due to profound fear that this incidence can happen again. Toyota company says they have found nothing wrong, just like they have denied for similar issues with their other cars in the past. Please help.

Tl-the comntact owns a 2011toyota Rav4. The contact stated the brakes in the vehicle are not working properly. The contacts spouse was parking their vehicle and the vehicle accelerated on it's. The spouse attempted to stop the vehicle and in result they ran into a wall. No warning lights illuminated on the dashboard. The vehicle was towed to puente hills Toyota (877) 692-4047 17070 gale Ave, hacienda heights, CA 91745 their not sure if the vehicle was diagnosed because the vehicle was left at the dealership from 05/15/2018 to 06/04/2018. Nothing was done about the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and is still siting in the service lot. They also informed them that the problem was out of their hands. No police report was filed. No injuries were sustained. The vehicle was not desstroyed, but does have front end bumper damage. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and they did nothing. The failure mileage was 90,608. Jw.

When backing up,my 2011 Toyota Rav4 accelerated hitting another vehicle causing the man behind his vehicle to be thrown and almost ran him over. He was taken away in an ambulance. My car was totaled and license suspended. There was no way I could have stopped my vehicle. Websites I have looked at for that year seems to confirm braking and unintended brake and acceleration accidents.

When applying brakes at slow speed under 20 mph in snow there is no braking action and the car rolls to a stop. The brakes act as if they are not working at all. I am a retired police officer with multiple driving schools. Even when you let off the brakes and reapply it's as if the brakes have been disabled. Needless to say it makes for a difficult stop in snow. I know how anti-lock brakes work these are not. On dry pavement I have had no issues.

I recently had the charcoal canister that filters gas fuels fail. This caused teh check engine light to come on. In addition though, this fault took out 2 safety systems due to this code. After the light came on my brake anti skid system and cruise control were inoperable. I complained to the dealer about this issue and was told this was normal. In my opinion, just because a check engine light comes on should not cause 2 safety systems to become inoperable! why no disable the airbags too. The anti skid system helps you maintain stability on wet road. I live in the pacific northwest where the roads are wet a lot. I see failure of the cruise control is also a safety issue. I use cruise habitually so keep me under the speed limit. I had to drive without these 2 systems for a month till parts were available.

On 4/22/2015, I had been driving my 2011 Toyota Rav4 limited edition at highway speed for about 2 hours. After leaving the interstate I was braking and completing a counterclockwise u-turn going about 10 mph when the engine began to race uncontrollably. Based on my previous experience with this problem (this is the fourth time this has occurred) I threw the shifter into park while continuing to brake. This quickly brought the engine speed down to idle. I had my wife confirm that I had my right foot on the brake pedal only. There was no “pedal misapplication. ” the floor mats were securely in place and there were no loose objects on the floor. The road was dry and the temperature was probably in the 50s. The odometer was about 51,000 miles. This was the first recurrence of this problem since 12/26/2014. I brought the car to my Toyota dealer. They could not identify the problem and said they would charge me if I brought the car in again for a recurrence of the problem.

I was driving to church in maryland. From newark delaware--I was traveling about 30 miles per hour--I came to a stop sign on a small hill intersecting with elkton road, MD. I stepped on the brakes. The car was still trying to accelerate forward--there was a tractor-trailer truck coming down elkton road--I stood on the brakes. After it passed I came off the brake it jumped forward. I cannot trust this car with my wiofe kids or grandkids --it is a safety hazard. I just bought in on 3/9/15.

I was driving down suburban road at approx 20-25 mph before attempting to come to a complete stop at a red light. The brakes lost power and engine quickly redlined to 6000 rpm. It was only by immediately shifting into neutral that I avoided running a redlight and plowing through an intersection. I placed in park and shut off engine within 3-5 seconds to avoid engine damage. I waited about 10-15 seconds stuck at a red light before restarting engine and limping it back home less than half a mile away.

The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Rav4. While driving 5 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and failed to respond. As a result, the contact crashed into a tree and the air bags failed to deploy. Neither the contact nor the passengers sustained any injuries. A police report was not filed. The VIN was not available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 15,000.

1. After having driven my Toyota Rav4 limited edition for about 3 miles, I was turning left into a parking space at the morgantown airport. I had my right foot on the brake pedal to slow down. When I was about 25% into the space, the car lurched forward and the engine began to race spontaneously. I increased pressure on the brake and shifted from drive to park. This caused an immediate decrease in the engine speed. My wife was with me and I told her to look to verify that my foot was on the brake, not the accelerator. I went directly to the Toyota dealer. After 3. 5 hours Toyota concluded that the problem was "pedal misapplication" and no further action was required (case#-143600318). 2. At about 8:12 pm this evening, we were driving around looking at christmas lights. I was doing about 5 mph in front of 937 riverview drive, morgantown. I depressed the brake pedal with my right foot to slow down for a better view. The engine began to accelerate spontaneously. I shifted from drive to neutral, which solved the problem. I had my wife verify that my foot was on the brake only. 3. This is the third occurrence of the same problem I first reported in odi number 10667543 (Toyota case#-143510469). This vehicle has a dangerous defect which Toyota has not been able to correct. This is a problem in the control system. It is not a "pedal misapplication".

After driving my 2011 Toyota Rav4 limited edition for several minutes, I came to a complete stop waiting for an opportunity to turn left. I turned left and accelerated to about 15 mph. I then noticed pedestrians entering a crosswalk so I hit the brakes a bit harder than normal, but not in a panic mode. As the car deccelerated, the engine began to race. I increased my pressure on the brake pedal and when the speed was almost zero shifted from drive to park. This immediately cured the problem. The distance from stop to stop was less than 100 feet. I believe that the pavement was damp, but it was not raining and the temperature was in the 40s. I drive with one foot, and my foot definitely was on the brake, not the accelerator. The floormat was securely in place and there were no loose objects on the floor. I brought my SUV to the Toyota dealer. They tested the vehicle and contacted the company. They could not find the problem and attributed the problem to "pedal misapplication" (tas case#-143510469). As it is geometrically impossible to press the accelerator and brake pedals at the same time in a Rav4, I conclude that Toyota cannot find the software/hardware bug in their product. I feel that I am driving a vehicle that could turn on me at any time. I would like to sell it, but how can I pass such a serious defect on to an unsuspecting buyer?.

While Toyota was happy to sell me a 2011 rav 4 in Dec of 2014 with 18,000 miles on the odometer 3 months later when I had a problem with the brake system they were not as friendly. While waiting at a signal or a stop sign the brake pedal would fade to the floor. This happened time and time again. I called the local stealer ship and was told brakes are not covered under warranty. I feel this is a defect somewhere in the brake system. I have read on line of numerous Rav4 owners with the same problem. Why does Toyota refuse to fix this.

I had 3 incidents of unintended acceleration (ua) with my 2011 Rav4 within 3 weeks of each other in Mar/Apr 2014, 1 resulting in a minor accident. A complaint was made with nhsta at that time. I went thru Toyota's complaint procedure, including inspection by their field technician. They found nothing wrong with the vehicle. On Dec 4 & 12th, 2014, I experienced 2 more ua incidents. Each time I was coming to a stop at an intersection & I stepped on the brake, but my vehicle kept moving forward, and I could hear the motor revving up very loudly. I had learned from the previous 3 experiences last spring to keep a distance behind vehicles whenever possible when coming to a stop, so as to avoid ramming into the vehicles in front of me by veering to either side of the vehicle if possible. I should not have to be afraid every time I drive my Rav4, but I am. My Rav4 has only 20500 miles on it and is like new. It makes me livid that Toyota can just ignore/deny that there is a problem, especially after seeing all of the other similar complaints regarding ua on the nhsta site. . . Kind of like general motors covering up their little ignition problem for 10 years, while so many people were injured or died.

I had a brake to the floor experience that required taking my Rav4 back to the dealer. The only way I could get the vehicle to stop was by pumping the brakes. The dealer had the car one day and when I returned they stated they could find nothing wrong with the brakes, question: is there a cover-up on a brake problem with Rav4's ? there is no way that my brakes fixed them self's before taking the vehicle to the dealer I had another person drive the vehicle to confirm the problem. Question: is this vehicle safe to drive after the dealers claim that nothing was wrong, they did nothing to repair the problem & now the brakes are working properly?.

Tl-the contact owns a 2011 Toyota rav 4. The contact stated while driving approximately 5 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and failed to respond and the vehicle accelerated independently. As a result, the contact crashed into a building and the airs failed to deploy. There were no injuries sustained. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a independent mechanic for repairs. The front bumper, the passenger's side head light, and the front grill was replaced. The failure was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 37,000. Mf.

Car failed to decelerate while brakes were being applied. Car continued to push forward while I was braking. Car had to be turned off to come to a complete stop. This is the second time this phenomena occurred. Both times the vehicle was taken immediately to the local Toyota dealership. They claimed they found no issues with the car or its computer systems. Since Toyota inspected the car and claimed they found no abs event in the car's systems and claimed they could detect no computer system malfunction, I elected to trade in the car. I am reporting this because I want any potential future owner of this vehicle to be aware of these events.

I was going about 15 mph when I applied the brakes to stop at the end of my street, nothing happened, my foot went all the way to the floor. The only thing I could think of doing was to turn the veh off and coast to a stop it worked after about 50 feet, after I stopped shaking I drove home even slower than before and when I turned into my driveway the brakes again did not stop, but the pedal did not go all the way to the floor, I turned off the key again and coasted to a stop. I had just had the front brakes fixed at the Toyota dealer because they told me they needed it, the veh was only a little over 2 years old. I questioned whey they had gone out so fast I was told it was the way I drive. If this is the case I should have to replace the brakes on all my veh within 2 years I never have, something is wrong with the Rav4.

I lease a 2011 Toyota rav 4 and my car accelerated uncontrollably into another car. I was inching out of a parking spot very slowly in reverse, when I noticed a man to my right, two spots away from me, pulling out head first. I depressed my brake pedal in order to let him go and the moment I did that, I literally flew back into this man's car with such a force that I would have most definitely run somebody over if they were walking behind my car. Thank god there was not a huge amount of space (maybe 6 feet) between me and the car I hit because I surged back with such a force that given the time and/or space, I cannot even think about what could have happened to me or someone else if the car was able to gain more momentum. Not to mention how thankful I am my 3 year old daughter and 6 month old son were not in the car with me! I most definitely had an accelerator problem. I had no additional mats on my floor. There was no pedal misplacement. � I am telling you that I was slamming on the break and it didn't work- I just propelled behind me into this man's car. I am in the process of contacting everyone and everyone to try to get out of my lease. I am not driving this car ever again and wouldn't risk my life or the life of my two children. I am very skeptical of accurate findings in an investigation after reading many reports from people swearing the car accelerated and the brakes did not work and being told everything looks fine with their car by the investigator. There must be a recall for this car. I could have killed somebody. I will never drive another Toyota!.

I was driving my daughter to school when I am slowing down to stop, at a stop sign and my car did not stop I had to apply my emergency brakes or I would have been kill because there was cars coming from my left and from my right. It was like a t avenue.

Brake pedal will depress almost to the floor allowing the possibility of accidentally pushing the gas pedal while attempting to stop. This incident involved a slow speed crash on an icy road when the vehicle continued forward no matter how hard the brake was applied. The vehicle now has 26,000 highway miles and I experienced total loss of brakes, pedal to the floor, while driving in the mountains.

I was approaching a traffic light in low speed and lightening my pressure on the gas pedal when the car accelerated and lurched forward. I pressed my foot on the brake pedal and the car continued accelerating. I had to veer to the adjacent lane since I was getting too close to the car in front of me. Then, the car came to a halt.

Problem 1 - I have brake noise and brake does not stop properly. Spoke to Toyota dealer and then created a case number with Toyota customer experience. Toyota verified and they say no problem in brake. What Toyota says after inspection - *inspect brake linings and check parking brake adjustment ~|~*inspect brake linings and check parking brake adjustment ~|~ ~|~could not verify brake noise. Front brakes have 5 mm remaining and rear brakes still have 7 mm. All good and no TSB pertaining problem 2 - the vehicle has a wind like noise when driving the freeway, which Toyota says they fixed and the problem was "secure loose roof rack bar".

I experienced a sudden vehicle acceleration event on April 6th. I followed Toyota’s investigation procedure and even met with a technical expert and we agree on the following points: • the event would have shown up as two separate events in the abs history queue. An initial vsc event (sudden acceleration) closely followed by the abs event (my pressing on the brake pedal harder in response to the sudden acceleration) • if a check of the abs history queue would have been done immediately, both events would still have been stored in the abs history queue. €¢ the small capacity of the abs history queue, coupled with the recording of many frequent traction control (trac) events pushed the record of my abs- and vsc events out of the abs history queue. €¢ the abs system should not engage when the vehicle is stopped or moving slowly as in my incident. So, there was a malfunction of the control system that remains unresolved. Toyota refuses to acknowledge the existence of the problem. Because the abs system should not have engaged when the vehicle was either stopped or moving slowly, there is absolutely clear evidence that there is something wrong with my vehicle. I think Toyota is engaged in a cover-up regarding the sudden acceleration problem. I request that the us federal government order Toyota to do the following since they refuse to do it voluntarily or at my request: • include an immediate examination of the abs history queue in the health check. €¢ create, and install in my Rav4, a new version of electronic control software that implements the following changes: a. Separate queues for each for each of the three types of abs history events: abs, trac, and vsc b. Increased abs history queue capacity to ensure that 90 days of each of the three types of events are stored. C. All abs history events are time-stamped and date-stamped.

Tl-the contact owns a 2011 Toyota rav-4. The contact stated that while the vehicle was being reversed out of the driveway, there was a loud thump while attempting to stop. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the brakes were rusted and the vehicle needed to be driven more to remove it. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000. Sg.

I have a serious concern over the design of the brake and gas pedal width on my 2011 Toyota rav. My problem is that my dress shoes and recreation boots are getting caught on the brake pedal when I swivel from the gas to the brake pedal. On multiple occasions, I came close to serious accidents. I avoided the accidents by quickly sliding my right foot to the right and completely lifting my foot up and over to the brake pedal. During one of these maneuvers, moving my right foot quickly to the right resulted in the lip of the sole on the right side hitting the gas pedal and causing acceleration of the vehicle. This problem does not occur when I wear sneakers, as the sole of the sneaker does not have an approximate half-inch lip on the sides. Also and most important, I drive a Toyota highlander and this problem does not happen. I also did not have this problem with my camry, which I traded in for the rav. The above vehicles has close to a five inch width separation between the brake and gas pedals. I've brought this to the attention of my Toyota dealer and the maintenance manager. They have been responsive of my concern, forwarding my complaint to the area maintenance manager. I met with the area manager explaining the problem. He proceeded to take pictures of my shoes and the 3 inch width between the brake and gas pedals. That meeting ended with the area manager opening a case and the promise he would refer my problem to his appropriate management. To date, my case is still with Toyota. My local Toyota dealer maintenance manager has contacted me advising that the case is being handled at a higher level.