What 194 owners told NHTSA about the 2014 Toyota RAV4

The contact owned a 2014 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated that while driving at 30-40 MPH, while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle stopped independently. No warning lights illuminated. The contact mentioned she noticed smoke and flames coming from the engine, and smoke started coming inside the vehicle. There was a fuel odor. present. The contact exited the vehicle and stood on the side of the road, and called 911. No injuries were sustained. No medical attention was required. A police report was filed. The fire department extinguished the fire. The vehicle was destroyed. The vehicle was towed to an unknown location. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact mentioned days prior to the battery warning light illuminating, and the battery was determined to be functioning as normal; therefore, the vehicle was resumed to be driven as normal. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown

NHTSA ODI 11684519

Car on fire

NHTSA ODI 11612949

The contact owned a 2014 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving up a slight grade, the vehicle stalled on the roadway. The contact stated that he saw smoke issuing from under the hood. The contact stated that he exited the vehicle and observed that flames were issuing from under the front end of the vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the fire department was called, however by the time the fire truck arrived the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. The contact stated that the fire department extinguished the flames with water. The police department was also on scene and wrote a report. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown and the VIN was not available.

NHTSA ODI 11559532

Parked my vehicle 2014 Rav4 at work, went to my office and security called that my Toyota rav4 burst into flames. All caught on video. Sprinklers went off and fire department called. Fire started under the hood. Entire Engine compartment burned. Vehicle totaled.

NHTSA ODI 11536539

On Sunday, Aug 29th, our RAV4 caught fire in our driveway. The vehicle was off/parked at the time and required the fire department to extinguish. The fire spread to our truck which was parked next to the RAV4. Both are a complete loss.

NHTSA ODI 11431159

The contact owns a 2014 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. After multiple attempts, the contact was able to restart the vehicle. Soon after the vehicle was restarted there was smoke coming from the vehicle and the vehicle stalled again. The contact stated that the battery had caught on fire. The battery was destroyed. The fire department was not notified of the fire. There was no injury sustained. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic for repair. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and remained in the possession of the mechanic. The failure mileage was approximately 135,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ODI 11425497

The contact owned a 2014 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while making a right turn at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was difficult to turn. During the failure, the instrument panel flashed approximately 4-5 times before going black. The contact stepped out to look under the hood and noticed a small fire. The police department was contacted and arrived and put out the fire. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed away and deemed a total loss. The contact was not injured. Medical attention was not needed. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case. The approximate failure mileage was 102,000.

NHTSA ODI 11424423

After a minor front end collision, the RAV4 immediately began smoking and caught fire. With a minor accident where the other car only had their front bumper minorly damaged, the RAV4 should not have caught fire. Their must be a defect in either the battery or oil line for the car to have caught fire. The car is a total loss and I am asking for a full investigation as my 2 children were in the car when the fire started.

NHTSA ODI 11419845

Making a turn onto a local toll road and entire car went dead without warning of any kind. I had to struggle with loss of power steering to complete turn without going off road. Car came to a stop. I tried to call my wife to advise her I was having car problems which is surprising as I haven't had issues previously and had an earlier version of the RAV4 that I drove for 210,000 miles. Anyway, another vehicle stopped alongside and inquired if I needed assistance. As I talked, I noticed a smokey smell from what I had initially assumed was steam. I stepped outside the vehicle and observed through the drivers side front wheel well to see fire at the bottom of the engine compartment. Since I was driving to trails to ride my mountain bike, I had a water bottle and squeezed it onto the flames which partially extinguished and then relit. I hit the hood release but decided it was better to leave the hood down. I went to the rear lift gate to open it to retrieve my expensive carbon fiber mountain bike but it was locked. I tried to open the back driver side door also without success and tried hitting the unlock button on the drivers door but there was no power. About this time the smoke coming from the hood increased and I decided to heed the advise being given to step away from the car. Had I remembered sooner, I probably could have reached around the driver's seat to recover my wallet from the back pocket of the seat. As the fire increased, I stepped increasingly further back from the vehicle. About 5 minutes into the fire a state trooper arrived and expended his only extinguisher in an unsuccessful attempt to put out the fire. It was probably another 12-15 minutes before the fire department arrived to extinguish the fire but by that time, the car and its contents were a total loss.

NHTSA ODI 11419257

ON MARCH 20, MY 2014 TOYOTA RAV4 CAUGHT FIRE. IT WAS PARKED IN MY GARAGE AND HAD NOT BEEN MOVED FOR AT LEAST 24 HOURS. THE CAR FIRE CAUGHT THE RAFTERS IN MY ATTACHED GARAGE AND THEN CAUGHT THE REST OF MY HOME ON FIRE.

NHTSA ODI 11406924

WHILE I WAS DRIVING IN CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK ON A WELL GRADED AND FULLY MAINTAINED DIRT ROAD, ALL THE LIGHTS IN MY DASH STARTED FLICKERING, AND THEN MY CARS ENGINE SHUT DOWN. IT FELT LIKE I WAS DRIVING / COASTING IN NEUTRAL. I PULLED OVER AND PUT THE CAR IN PARK, THEN SMOKE STARTED COMING FROM BENEATH THE HOOD. I GOT OUT OF THE CAR. IT WAS A LITTLE SMOKE, THEN MORE, AND THEN SUBSIDED TO BEING BARLEY NOTICEABLE AFTER A COUPLE OF MINUTES. AFTER IT SUBSIDED, I GOT BACK IN THE CAR TO TRY TO START IT, HOPING IT WAS AN OVERHEATED ENGINE AND I MIGHT GET THE CAR TO TURN OVER. IT WOULD NOT START. I CALLED A TOW TRUCK. SHORTLY AFTER THAT, I NOTICED A HISSING NOISE COMING FROM BENEATH THE HOOD, SAW A LIQUID DRIPPING BENEATH THE THE FRONT LEFT (DRIVERS SIDE) PART OF THE CAR. I ALSO SAW A SMALL FLAME. I CALLED 911 TO REPORT THAT MY CAR WAS ON FIRE. WITHIN 10-15 MINUTES, THE CAR WAS COMPLETELY ENGULFED IN FLAMES. THE PARK RANGER, SHERIFF, AND FIRE DEPARTMENT SHOWED UP SHORTLY AFTER THAT. A CHARRED CAR FRAME IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT'S LEFT.

NHTSA ODI 11404722

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2014 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH, THE VEHICLE CAUGHT ON FIRE COMING IN THE DRIVER'S SIDE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS CONTACTED AND ARRIVED AT THE SCENE AND EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DEEMED A TOTAL LOSS. UPON INVESTIGATION, THE CONTACT ASSOCIATED THE FAILURE WITH NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V011000 (TRAILER HITCHES, EXTERIOR LIGHTING) HOWEVER, THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 51,000. THE CONTACT CASE HAS BEEN CLOSED OUT WITH CASE MGMT AND WILL BE NOTIFIED BY THE TOYOTA CLAIMS DEPT IN REGARDS TO THE STATUS case and as of today my case 4/29/21.

NHTSA ODI 11394683

WHILE TRAVELING WESTBOUND ON INTERSTATE 295 IN JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA, WE HAD JUST GOT ON TO THE BUCKMAN BRIDGE WHEN THE CAR SLOWED, UNCOMMANDED TO 20MPH. I LOOKED AT THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AND THE ALTERNATOR AND THE AUTO LSD OR TRACK LIGHTS WERE ILLUMINATED. THE ENGINE OPERATING TEMPERATURE WAS NORMAL. SINCE THE ENGINE TEMPERATURE WAS NORMAL I TOLD MY DAUGHTER TO KEEP DRIVING TO GET OFF THE BRIDGE, I FELT AS THOUGH THE BRIDGE WAS A BAD PLACE TO PULL OVER. AFTER ABOUT A MINUTE WE STARTED TO SMELL SOMETHING BURNING AND AT THIS POINT WE DECIDED TO PULL OVER. WHEN WE CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP WE SAW SMOKE COMING FROM THE DRIVERS SIDE OF THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THREE OF US THEN EVACUATED THE VEHICLE AND STARTED WALKING AGAINST TRAFFIC ON THE BRIDGE. AS WE WERE WALKING AWAY THE SMOKE INTENSIFIED AND THEN ERUPTED INTO FLAMES THAT EMANATED FROM THE DRIVERS SIDE JUST BELOW THE WINDSHIELD. I CALLED 911 AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT CAME AND EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE. I HAVE ATTACHED PICTURES OF THE DAMAGE. I BELIEVE IT WAS AN ELECTRICAL FIRE.

NHTSA ODI 11114328

RAV4 2014 CAUGHT A FIRE WHEN WAS DRIVEN. THE STEERING WHEEL WAS SUDDENLY STUCK WHEN WAS DRIVEN ON THE LOCAL ROAD AT SPEED LESS THAN 40 MILES, SO PULLED OVER TO THE SHOULDER ON THE ROAD. SUDDENLY THE SMOKES CAME OUT UNDER THE HOOD, AND TURN TO FLAME. THE CAR BURNED ALL FRONT WINDSHIELD, ENGINE, BATTERY, AND HOOD. FIRE TRUCK COMES UP AND POLICEMAN HELP TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE. IT WAS NO ACCIDENT, NO HIGH SPEED ON LOCAL ROAD, AND NO RAINNING DAY.

NHTSA ODI 11034782

I WAS SITTING IN HEAVY STOP & GO TRAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAY. ALL THREE LANES WERE STOPPED. AND ALTERNATELY INCHING FORWARD DUE TO ACCIDENTS FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD. I WAS STOPPED WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE. MY VEHICLE - THE RAVE 4 SUDDENLYSURGED FORWARD AND HIT THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME. I STOOD ON THE BRAKES AS HARD AS POSSIBLE BUT COULD NOT STOP THE VEHICLE (RAV 4). ALL MY AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. I HAD AN INFANT IN THE BACK SEAT IN A CAR SEAT. I WAS EXTREMELY IN SHOCK AND SHAKEN AND HAD TROUBLE GETTING OUT OF THE VEHICLE AND BACK IN TO GET THE BABY OUT. MY VEHICLE WAS DECLARED A TOTAL LOSS. I ALSO QUESTION WHY ALL AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. TAKATA AIRBAGS

NHTSA ODI 10957766