Complaint volume
368 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Toyota RAV4 Complaints
368 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Toyota RAV4, grouped by component category.
368 Total complaints
45 Crash reports
7 Fire reports
28 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are air bags, unknown or other, structure. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 45 crash reports, 7 fire reports, 28 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 70 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 24,888 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to air bags, unknown or other, structure?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Toyota RAV4?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Toyota RAV4
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Toyota RAV4 complaints?
45 Crash
7 Fire
28 Injury
0 Fatality
36 Towed
25 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Toyota RAV4 complaint categories?
AIR BAGS 105
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 44
STRUCTURE 14
ENGINE 13
SEATS 13
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 11
VISIBILITY 10
VISIBILITY/WIPER 10
SERVICE BRAKES 9
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8
368 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (AIR BAGS); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced the failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Coolant Bypass Valve The problem has been confirmed by the dealer Warning: Engine Maintenance Required | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2025 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the rear passenger's side door made an abnormal sloshing sound. Upon inspection, the contact discovered water inside the door. The contact unplugged the rubber seal under the rear passenger door to release the water. The contact was concerned about corrosion of the door and an electrical system failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 56,000 |
| May 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The High voltage floor underwire harness and rear traction motor cable corroded. This caused many if the vehicles sensors to fail completely including the tire pressure monitor system, adaptive cruise, collision avoidance, and more. Toyota is aware of this problem and attempted to do a silent warranty extension. This is a safety hazard and all of the known vehicles affected should be recalled! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact was notified of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | It’s been a year since I have owned my 2021Toyota Rav and it has randomly been shutting off with the notice: Power Steering Voltage Abnormality. I have taken the vehicle to get checked but nothing is coming up indicating what the issue is. The battery is fine, the alternator is fine, and there doesn’t seem to be any electrical issues with the power steering. I have seen that there has been certain recalls on the power steering voltage notice on the Toyota Ravs and owners complaining about a random shut off on their vehicles. I am one of those owners and would like to know why my vehicle hasn’t been issued a recall. It is a safety hazard and concern. My vehicle has been shutting off in the middle of a busy highway. Please look into this issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The glass panel of my 2021 Toyota RAV4 sunroof blew out, shattering explosively, sounded like a rifle shot going off, into hundreds of pieces of small bits of glass while traveling on a smooth interstate highway with no other vehicles in close proximity. If the interior solid panel had not been closed, I would have been showered with all the small glass particles while traveling at 65 mph. I have not been able to reproduce the shattering of the glass. I did not go to the dealer because there is hardly anything left to examine. I have read the failure of Toyota sunroofs have been reported on other models previously. The damaged sunroof has only been examined by a body shop to do an estimate of the cost of the repair. There was no warning, or symptoms of the impending failure of the glass. The vehicle only has about 22, 500 miles of use. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 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. | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact called on behalf of her daughter who owned a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that her daughter was involved in a crash while driving on a main road at 35 MPH, another vehicle crashed into the passenger side of her vehicle at an unknown speed. No property damage was reported. The vehicles came to a stop upon impact. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to a local tow yard. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact stated that only her daughter was injured, and she was seated in the driver's seat. Nobody outside of the vehicle was injured. The contact's daughter sustained injuries to her neck, shoulders, back, and head, medical treatment was needed for the injuries. The local dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 19,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | 19,000 |
| Apr 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The air conditioning system did not blow cold air. The temperature in the car rose quickly without the AC working. The dealer services recharged it and tried to find leaks, but did not find them. Dye was added and I need to go back to the dealer if warm air is blown again. Recently I’ve heard AC issues from other drivers too about this model of Toyota cars. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Sold as a certified vehicle and does not meet criteria or certified performance. Cyberstalkers by the use of Unauthorized Wifi screw cameras installed by Toyota employee in the mount of the rear view mirror. Unauthorized GPS tracker installed by Toyota employee and attached to the undercarriage of the vehicle. Unauthorized Wifi screw camera installed by Toyota employee located interior of the front grill of the Vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | AIR BAGS | Was told there’s a recall on my 2021 RAV4 TRD by the dealer about 2 years now on the passenger airbag. They say they have not figured out how to fix it. I am concerned about my safety driving my car with this recall. I don’t want to do next ? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | While turning slowly, right tun, into a parking space, the vehicle lunged forward at a much higher speed than anticipated. The vehicle jumped the sidewalk, went up an embankment, about 20 degrees, and about 25 feet until it stopped on its own. Happened on April 14th, 2025, about 11:30 am. Driver was is good health, no medical conditions. Driver also has a clean driving record, no infarctions. The vehicle jumped a curb 4 inches high, ran over some light brush, but luckily no damage to vehicle. There are train tracks about 15 feet away, which could have been another incident. Driver says when she slowly pulled into the spot, the car lunged forward, with good thrust, and I am a witness to this incident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The steering warning light comes on in stopped traffic. It goes back off after starting to drive again. I have had the car checked 2 times and everything checks out fine with no error codes. It also says voltage abnormally steering power low when the warning light comes on. The battery power was also checked at the auto shop and is fine. It has happened multiple times over the past couple months. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Hybrid system failure resulting in vehicle not being drivable at all. Failure is due to corrosion from connector between high voltage harness into rear traction motor. Failure occurred 8,000 miles past warrantee cut-off (100,000) and will require weeks to months to fix 2/2 parts on backorder. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Several malfunction warnings (pre-collision system malfunction, AWD malfunction, engine malfunction, parking brake malfunction) as well as several warning lights appeared on my dash. Took vehicle to a Toyota dealership for repairs. Fuel pump was replaced. Drove car a few days later and all the same warnings and lights came back on and this time the vehicle stalled in the middle of the road while driving. Was able to restart but had as soon as vehicle was stopped it would stall. Had to restart the vehicle several times while driving 2 miles just to get it home. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | TIRES | I am customer at Mavis Salem, NH and purchased a Cooper Tire Starfire Solarus AS 225/65r17 tire on [XXX]. Undetected at the time of purchase due to lack of inspection by service manager Scott who sold me the tire. Once I drove on the highway I start to experience the vehicle wobbling due to consistent low tire pressure, I found distortion in the tread area and separation of tire tread depth that does not the standards. Mavis would not inspect the tire when i discussed the concerns and denied refunding the purchase because the specific size was not listed on the Cooper Tire recall sheet. I di explain that the tire is part of the series of defective tire: Starfire Solarus AS. I even asked Mavis manager to call Cooper Tire to explain what I as the customer was experiencing. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | STEERING | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the screen displayed the steering wheel with an exclamation mark. The warning light was blinking and then turned off. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the steering angle sensor was faulty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 27,000 |
| Mar 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (AIR BAGS); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the air bag warning light remained illuminated while operating the vehicle. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was contacted. The failure mileage was 40,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | 40,000 |
| Mar 2025 | AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS | Driving straight on side road. Vehicle entered road by attempting a left turn onto road without yielding to me. I swerved to the left and slammed on the breaks but was t boned by their vehicle. Airbags didn’t deploy and we got a message on dashboard indicating faulty airbag. Also upon impact our seatbelts were released. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | AIR BAGS | A safety recall was issued 15 months ago, yet no remedy has been made available. This prolonged delay poses a significant risk to passenger safety and the well-being of all occupants within the vehicle. In accordance with NHTSA guidelines regarding timely recall resolutions, a formal complaint has been filed due to the lack of a solution within a reasonable timeframe. Recall Details: Recall Date: December 20, 2023 Manufacturer Recall Number: 23TB15 NHTSA Recall Number: 23V865 Recall Status: Incomplete – Remedy Not Yet Available | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, being driven, or stationary, the climate control module turned off sporadically. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact turned off the vehicle for half an hour and then restarted the vehicle, and the climate control module worked as needed for a month. The contact stated that the instrument panel was dim, and the numbers were difficult to see. The vehicle was repaired three times however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed with a climate control module failure. The vehicle was not repaired after the recent failure. The contact had replaced the climate control module three times prior. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 30,000 |
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Dear NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, I am writing to formally report a safety concern with my 2021 Toyota RAV4 XSE Hybrid regarding its fuel tank capacity and refueling issue. Despite the advertised fuel tank capacity of approximately 14.5 gallons, my vehicle only allows me to fill around 9 gallons before the pump automatically shuts off. This significantly reduces my driving range and forces me to refuel much more frequently than expected. After researching, I discovered that Toyota issued Technical Service Bulletin T-SB-0109-20 acknowledging this issue, along with Customer Support Program 20TE04. However, my local Toyota dealership refuses to acknowledge the issue or perform the necessary repairs, despite my vehicle clearly experiencing the problem. I believe this poses a safety risk because: •The incorrect fuel level readings can lead to drivers miscalculating available fuel, potentially resulting in unexpected stalls or breakdowns. •It suggests a defect in the fuel tank design, which Toyota has acknowledged but has not proactively addressed with a recall. •Many other Toyota RAV4 Hybrid owners have reported similar issues, indicating this is a widespread manufacturing defect. Additionally, my wireless charging pad malfunctions and blinks constantly, raising concerns about potential electrical issues in a hybrid vehicle. Given the combination of fuel-related and electrical concerns, I am worried about possible safety risks that could arise from these defects. I am requesting the NHTSA to: 1.Investigate this issue further to determine if it qualifies for an official recall. 2.Require Toyota to take accountability and provide a permanent fix for affected vehicles at no cost to owners. 3.Ensure dealerships honor repairs for vehicles experiencing these known defects. I appreciate your time in reviewing this complaint. Please let me know if any further information is needed to assist in your investigation. Thank you. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the contact was informed that parts were not available. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |