Exterior Lighting Problems of Toyota RAV4 - part 1

While parked in a commercial lot on [xxx] around [xxx], I noticed smoke coming from the front of the vehicle while sitting inside. There was a strong burning rubber smell. I exited and saw flames coming from beneath the front left bumper, directly under the fog light area. I had arrived at the location about 30 minutes earlier. I opened the hood from inside the vehicle, stepped back, and called 911. The fire rapidly engulfed the front of the vehicle. Firefighters arrived within 10 minutes and extinguished the fire. Police responded and created a report. Three nearby vehicles also sustained fire damage. The vehicle had previous front-end repairs (driver side bumper and fog light) and was well maintained. The vehicle had not shown any warning lights or messages prior to the fire. I believe the fire originated from an electrical or engine component and the vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Geico insurance has been contacted and a claim has been opened. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See all problems of the 2021 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

Back up camera delay in lighting up when car is started.

Rear right light got water in it after washing the car and the electrical wires shot out and car went on fire. Firefighters came and investigated and came to this conclusion. Car was totaled and insurance company took pictures and wrote report. Car will be towed by insurance company today. Car was in driveway next to house, we saw smoke from window and fire was extinguished quickly but it was fortunate that we were home and saw it in time so it did not spread anywhere else. Car had not been driven for 2 days and was not on, no warning lights in past. No accidents in past, all maintenance done by Toyota dealer.

Headlights and taillights are fogging/hazing up to where they dimmed out the lights when turned on making is somewhat difficult to see or others behind me to see me.

See all problems of the 2016 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 mph, the headlights failed to properly illuminate the road above the hood level, nearly causing the vehicle to strike a pedestrian on the passenger's side of the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the contact was informed that the vehicle was operating as designed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 100.

See all problems of the 2024 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

A fogging/white residue has developed over time on the inside of the tail lights. As this continues to progress it would make the lights much dimmer and harder to see. ( I see several references to the same issue doing an online search for 2016 Rav4 taillight fogging).

Vehicle was taken in for a oil change. At check-in I was told that I would be given a rental vehicle due to the overhead rails recall, leaking inside the vehicles at that time I advised of a gas smell which I have been smelling for several years and it was getting stronger. I was told that there was something wrong with the fuel pump and it would need to be replaced and they would also be replacing rails from the top of my vehicle because there was water leaks inside my car, I advised that water has been leaking in my car for several years and clips were already placedbout two years ago. Several days later I received a phone call that my vehicle was ready to pick up when I got there I was informed that the fuel pump assembly was replaced and intake. Manifest gasket , throttle gasket , fuel pump gasket replaced egr valve replaced egr inlet gasket replaced egr valve. Ad gasket replaced egr cooler gasket replaced. I was also told that my air filters would need to be changed and I did consent to my air filters, the air element and a brake system flush as recommended after picking up my vehicle which had 34033 miles on it on 1/24/24. On 2/10 I was driving and a warning flashed on my car and spoke to me it said that there was a malfunction detected in the engine, transmission or throttle of the vehicle and I need to contact Toyota. I was two miles away and drove directly to them. They took the vehicle for several hours. I was told it was the alternator because my lights have been going dim and very bright. I advised that I have issues with the windows closing since the most recent repair as well and the vehicle is losing power. After almost 4 hours I was informed it a thermostat. Everyone had gone home and they could not give me a give me a rental so I had to drive this vehicle until Monday afternoon. The thermostat and gasket were replaced and I was charged because they used insurance without telling me. I believe this is a malfunction in their system related to origina.

See all problems of the 2020 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

While we were driving in the mountains, the wiring harness shorted and fried all 4 of our front bulbs, causing us to have no visibility while driving on unlit back roads in colorado. Toyota has a known TSB for this issue but claims it's not a safety issue, and has a kit to repair the issue, charging us $500 to install the kit. When asking about this 2 different employees explained it was a design issue with the car. Why is this not a recall? how is frying all my headlights not a safety issue?.

See all problems of the 2017 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

2014 Toyota Rav4 perfectly good headlight bulb stops working on low beam selection, severely limiting visibility for night-time driving. Looks like everyone on the internet is having the same problem.

See all problems of the 2014 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

All 6 of mine lights (front/fog and inside/outside rear) are collecting haze / contamination on the inside of the lens. Lights are a primary safety/warning device. Anything (like interior fogging) that interferes with this function is a serious safety defect that the manufacturer should fix under a safety recall. I have already spent money replacing one of the side rear light assemblies, due to these being a safety hazard. I would like to avoid an accident or possible legal tickets.

Even when properly aimed, with new headlight bulbs, visibility is poor at night. I recently had an incident while driving in town at less than 25 miles hour where I almost hit a deer that I could see on the side of the street, and this is actually not the first of many such incidents. I feel unsafe driving the vehicle at night due to the poor amount of light put out by the headlights. Toyota should offer to retrofit these with leds for people with issues. It's downrigtht scary, especially on poor lit streets or driving on the highway.

Both of my headlights burned out at the same time. I was driving on a rural mountain highway at about 7:30pm and was using my adaptive headlights. They were working fine, I noticed no issues, until they both burned out at the same time. It was dangerous, there was no shoulder to pull over on, and a steep drop-off I couldn't see and no warning whatsoever I'd be in pitch black dark in the middle of the road. Thankfully there was very little traffic, it could have been much worse. My dash camera captured the event and I've shared it to youtube. Https://youtu. Be/pljlqyca8-a no indicator lights ever came on, before or after. I had to drive the last hour to my destination through the mountains in the dark with only fog and running lights. I had been to the dealership for scheduled interval maintenance just the week before. A multi point inspection evidently didn't catch that both headlights were about to go out at the same time. Bulbs? wiring? relay? not sure what happened.

I took my car to Toyota for multiple issues with my electrical. My headlights go out every 5-10 minutes when trying to drive at dark. The headlights turn off or do not work if I try to use my blinker or windshield wipers. Three times now my car has stalled when I tried to turn on my headlights while driving. And one time it stalled when I went to make a left turn. Toyota ran a diagnostic and said everything was fine. I took it to autozone, they said the battery was fine. A third opinion and a new battery later and I’m still having the same problems. No one can tell me what’s wrong.

Headlight bulbs burn out within a few months of replacement. This past year 2022, they have been replaced four times. It's never the same headlight, both are faulty.

See all problems of the 2015 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

I was parked at a store, engine off. Was in there 3 minutes and another customer ran inside and said a car was on fire, the employee asked if it was mine. I ran outside and it was indeed mine. The rear tail light was all melted and on fire, billowing smoke was coming out the sides of the hatch so I opened it quickly to get the fire out. The store employee put the fire out with his fire extinguisher. No prior warning lights were present when driving it before this occurred. The car is at Toyota dealer presently while they determine the cause.

Water is collecting in the outside taillights (attached to the body, not the rear hatch) on both sides. There are no visible leaks in the seals or holes in the lenses. In the attached photos, finger is pointing to water level on both lenses.

After looking through google reviews I see that so many have the same situation that we are having. The headlights keep blowing randomly about every 3-4 months. We were out west on back roads when ours blew this last time and had to drive with only one headlight, which was dangerous. I feel someone should look into all the numerous complaints showing up online regarding the headlights of the 2016 Toyota Rav4s.

Wiring harness in many vehicles defective. Letter sent, but not a recall. I drove from NY to va unaware that a headlight was out- I had to change bulbs several times, and ended up having to pay $500 for a new lighting system because I put the bulb in (apparently) wrong the 5th time. Accident could have happened due to bad lighting, but fortunately did not. Toyota did not make this issue easily known, or easily fixed.

See all problems of the 2018 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

Discoloration/fogging of tail light lens on driver side. Picture uploaded.

1. For two different occasions the high beams wouldn't turn on at night on a dark road and rainy day. Took the vehicle to Toyota but mechanic reported that he couldn't reproduce event. I had to drive very slowly with normal lights as I could. 2. For two different occasions the vehicle wouldn't start I almost had the vehicle towed but using the Toyota app and the key fob was able to remote start and then start the vehicle. I can't imagine what would have happened if the car turned off in the middle of an intersection and wouldn't turn on. 3. The adaptive cruise control has a glitch that I have told Toyota. If you're going over 30 mph and the vehicle in front of you has been in a complete stop for a while, the car may not stop you have to manually stop or crash. This could be extremely dangerous.

Audio system, navigation. Cannot enter and use set up menu for radio, cd. The panel continuously displays the screen of the software, hardware, entune starting and restarting.

Led headlights do not emit heat and allow ice to cover entire headlight group, blocking illumination. Problem is exacerbated with road grime in the ice. Led headlights, also, do not provide enough light spectrum to identify objects in the dark—nearly all other lights provide better/friendlier illumination to the human eye at night. Led headlights are a safety issue in the dark… made worse in icy conditions.

Rear taillight covers are deteriorating. Discoloration and fog.

When driving the car and stopping at a stop sign or stop light, the engine will shut off. The automatic restart occurs and with the headlights on the climate temp control display flickers while all the other dashlights remain bright. Many people are disabling the system. Since there is a switch you can press, defeating the system. Toyota sent a technical specialist who inspected the system. And since he couldn't find how to fix it, declared it normal. Apparently Toyota designed the car to do this for some unknown reason. He stated that lights will dim when the car restarts. It is not dimming as if a current draw, it flickers every time. This of course, affects the fuel economy of the car, defeating the system, which many people do and creates a concern of why that one component flickers. Toyota installs a heavy 605a battery to operate this system since there are so many restarts. Will this create a car fire at some point? I would imagine that it makes a difference in the cafe reporting since so many people disable the system.

I bought my Rav4 in September of 2017 brand new and within 6 months I had a dead battery needing replacement so I replaced it via aaa. Since then, I have had the battery replaced an additional 3 times! I always serviced my car at the dealer and took very good care of it. Then after 50k miles, I started having odd lighting issues…both headlight bulbs had to be replaced within 3 weeks of each other and one high beam bulb, and then my tail lights went out! then I would occasionally have trouble starting the car and with a natural gas smell, rotten eggs. Which could be a catalytic converter or fuel pump issue but can also be the battery. Well, my rav was in the driveway with a dead battery and with no tail lights and had been sitting there for a month since I mainly drive our sienna. My rav just caught on fire and was completely destroyed. No one was hurt but if the sienna had been out there it would’ve caught on fire and it burned the garage door…rav totaled! I also had a very expensive brake job last year and think those are faulty too. But this fire…. Was bad and I can’t get a car of equal value with what I received for the total loss. What is Toyota doing about this? less than 4 yr old well taken cared of rav 4 xle that I paid cash for and now can’t even replace with a corolla! there were no warning lights ever, not even for the dead battery’s. And less than 6 months prior to the fire, it was serviced at my Toyota dealer and they said all was good. The firemen that came also told me that Rav4 fires have increased and I searched on consumer reports and sure enough…what was explained was a carbon copy of my experiences. Thank god no one was in it when it started, but the house could’ve caught fire as well. Toyota needs to do something for those of us who had their cars totaled due to fire…just the time invested finding a replacement is worth something…. Not to mention the time vested researching vehicles before I bought the Rav4. Plus the depreciation, etc….

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.

See all problems of the 2006 Toyota RAV4 🔎.

Starting late aug2020 the dashboard starting to show warning lights randomly and inconsistently. All warning lights do not come at the same time but when turning the external lights on other warning lights turn on and so far the car have stalled more than 4 times while driving under 40 mph. The last 3 times the car started right after being parked and but this last time it did not and while I was waiting for a tow almost had an accident from behind me as the car that was coming behind me stopped and was hit by another car behind him. I took it to the dealer and since it is out of warranty they would not touch it and all they did was disconnect the battery so the warranting lights turn off and send me back out and with in 15 min on the road the lights started to comeback on again but the car did not die on the road. The car is barely 3 years old and only have 14,500 miles on it and it is becoming very unreliable to drive.

Vehicle has both extremely poor downroad and sideroad illumination. Very hard to see animals standing by the side of the road at night, resulting in several near misses with large deer. Upgrading the factory bulbs made little to no difference.

This and other year model Rav4s have a known and reported issue of the tail light lenses not being properly sealed with and connected to the tail light housing. This is allowing water intrusion into the tail light and electrical system and vehicle body. This is the case with both of my tail lights on my 2010 Rav4. Water has been entering the tail lights where the lens is not sealed to the housing. The lack of plastic welding / sealant can be seen at the lens and housing. Water is intruding corroding the electronics and electrical connectors as well as portions of the body. The lenses are becoming deteriorated and discolored due to the water intrusion diminishing the effectiveness of the rear lighting. Of course, this is a safety issue as well as the corrosion of the electrical connectors and electronics within the tail light that may cause them to completely fail. Toyota knows of these issues but refuses to address them.

The dom lights fuse keeps blowing. It appears to have a short but some times the fuse takes a little time to blow. Yesterday I tried to replace the fuse three times, and three fuses were blown immediately.

Battery isn't holding a charge. Temps outside are getting colder but not that cold. Don't drive it on sundays, battery is dead dead on Monday mornings. Drive an average of 30 miles per day. Battery was replaced by dealership and still slow to start in the mornings. Now run it idling for 20 minutes Sunday evening to ensure it starts Monday morning.

I have an auto shit off for high beam lights, I turn my high beams on and they don't work, and when I pull the switch back like I am trying to flash my high beams at someone they work but when I turn them on to keep them on they do not work and my auto high beam light does not come on either.

The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that after turning the vehicle off and later attempt to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to restart. The battery was then recharged. The failure occurred on several occasions before the vehicle was taken to the local mechanic. The local mechanic was unable to diagnose a failure or determine a cause for the failure. Additionally, after opening the rear hatch door, the door failed to close and remained opened. The contact stated that water and condensation was present inside the rear brake light assembly. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 30,000.

The headlights on my Rav4 are dangerous. When driving at night there is a dark line with no visibility. There is no reaction time if objects are in the roadway. I live in a rural area, on my way to work there was a pine tree that fell across the road way,I crashed straight into it. I did not even see it until I hit it.

Abh (automatic high beam) system disconnects randomly and shuts down the head light high beam. When this happens, the abh indicator on the dash goes dark. Abh may or may not come back on after several seconds. This happens at highway speeds with no other vehicles or lights around. This is a problem because there is no quick way to get the high beams back on. This has happened since the car was about 2 years old.