Tail Light Switch problems of the 2016 Toyota RAV4

Two problems related to tail light switch have been reported for the 2016 Toyota RAV4. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2016 Toyota RAV4 based on all problems reported for the 2016 RAV4.

1 Tail Light Switch problem

Failure Date: 11/23/2020

All 4 tail lights are developing a white haze on the inside of the lens that will eventually affect the visibility of the affected safety light. This internal lens contamination cannot be cleaned and will cause the lights to fail to meet their original dot approved specifications creating a safety/crash hazard. This defect appears to affect all 2016-2018 Rav4s supplied with light assemblies made by ichikoh/valeo. Note: this issue is not caused by isolated defective cracked or broken light assemblies contaminated by water. Based on my own vehicle and a rough parking lot survey all of these lights will develop this issue over time. My current working theory is that this inside lens fogging is caused by leaching plasticizers from the light assemblies components vaporizing and then depositing on the inside of the lens. The amount of sunlight received seems to correlate with the severity of the issue.

2 Tail Light Switch problem

Failure Date: 08/17/2019

Purchased 2016 Rav4 from local Toyota dealer in June 2019. Had badly fogged tail lights on purchase (as did four other 2016 Rav4s I looked at on dealer lots). Paid local auto repair shop $650 on 6/24/19 to replace tail lights with oem. Less than 2 months later (8/17/19) had rail storm and saw condensation inside rim of all 4 tail lights. Can replace them again but this is obviously a factory defect that Toyota has not acknowledged. It is a safety issue when lights are dimmed from fogging.


Other Exterior Lighting related problems of the 2016 Toyota RAV4



Safety Ratings of RAV4 Cars
Fuel Economy of RAV4 Vehicles
RAV4 Service Bulletins
RAV4 Safety Recalls
RAV4 Defect Investigations