Apr 28, 2025Electrical systemBody & structureEngineFire
While shopping at the grocery store, I experienced an incident upon leaving the parking lot. After reaching my first red light, I noticed smoke rapidly billowing from under the hood of my vehicle. My husband, who was driving behind me, immediately saw the smoke and instructed me to pull over. Once I stopped, he asked me to pop the hood. Upon opening it, he urgently removed his shirt to try and extinguish the fire. The damage was extensive — a hole burned through the hood, significantly compromising the vehicle’s crash safety rating. Additionally, melted plastic covered the battery area, and the radiator hose was damaged, rendering the vehicle unsafe to drive.
NHTSA ODI 11657186
Dec 10, 2022Electrical systemEngineFire
The car rapidly caught on fire while parked and off. Smoke first appeared from the hood and subsequently flames came out of the hood causing the entire car to catch in fire. There were no warning lights/messages. The car was inspected by our insurance, USAA
NHTSA ODI 11496910
Sep 2, 2022Electrical systemEngineFire
While my wife was driving the car it suddenly shutoff. She was in the middle of a turn and was able to get to the side of the road. I few moments later she saw what she assumed was steam coming from under the hood and she immediately got out of the car. Within a minute of getting out of the car she saw flames dripping down from the engine. She called the fire department who put the flames out, but the car is most likely totaled. The fire department told her it looked like the battery exploded. I want to make sure you are aware of this as I see you have had other complaints.
NHTSA ODI 11482632
Apr 20, 2022EngineCrash
On the evening of February 5th, I drove to my friend's house to pick them up for dinner. They live on the same street and are about 1200' away. I made a left turn into their driveway which is concrete with a fairly steep decline. While my foot was on the brake the car suddenly accelerated and I was unable to stop it before it hit the rear bumper of my friend's pickup. There was no damage to the pickup and my car had damage to the passenger side bumper and fender. Erie insurance looked at the car on March 1st and provided an estimate and payment on the same day. ($2,716 minus the $1,000 deductible) After receiving the estimate, I drove the car to Nashville Toyota North where I agreed to pay for a scan of the computer. After returning home I received a call from them requesting me to pick up the car. Their tech told the service manager that they could not do the scan since the car had been involved in a crash. I was told I needed to contact corporate Toyota which I did on the same day. I didn't have a ride to get back to the dealership and they let me keep it there. It was at the dealership from March 1st through April 15th when I picked it up. The car is now at a body shop.
NHTSA ODI 11461442
Apr 12, 2022EngineFire
I called in a complaint a few weeks ago, the ref# is 1145-8214. ODI. I would like to upload my photos and other information of my RAV4 fire that started without any warning. I would also like to add that this was not a battery related issue. We never replaced the battery in the 2 years we had this RAV4. We bought this car from a reputable Toyota dealership. My husband would have also noticed if the battery was the incorrect size. We believe this fire was caused by rodents eating on the soybean wiring coating. We had issues with our Camry with chewed up wiring we had to replace those wires and saw feces in our all ourToyota cars.
NHTSA ODI 11460576
Mar 24, 2022EngineFire
The contact owns a 2016 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, unattended in the driveway, it caught fire in the engine. The fire department extinguished the fire. There were no reported injuries, property damage or police report filed. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was towed to an independent lot. The manufacturer was not contacted. The fire department provided report number 2022-05-FV. The approximate failure mileage was 112,000.
NHTSA ODI 11458214
Jul 9, 2021EngineCrashFire1 injury
The contact owned a 2016 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph when they noticed smoke and flames were coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The contact stated that when they attempted to move to the passenger side of the road they realized there was not enough room to do so causing them to roll over several times downhill eventually crashing into two trees. The contact stated that a civilian came and assisted them out of the vehicle once they noticed the crash. The air bags did deploy. The contact received head, neck, rib, sternum, and foot. Medical attention was needed. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed and deemed totaled. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 89,000.
NHTSA ODI 11424085
May 6, 2021Electrical systemEngineFire
OUR 2016 RAV4 PRODUCED A LOUD CLUNK THEN LOST POWER (AFTER BEING DRIVE 5-10 MINUTES) AND CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. THE ENGINE WOULD NOT TURN OVER NOR THE CAR POWER COME BACK ON. WHITE SMOKE BEGAN WITHIN 30 SECONDS OF LOSING POWER AND WITHIN ONE MINUTE FLAMES BEGAN SHOOTING OUT UNDER THE DRIVER'S SIDE UPPER HOOD.
NHTSA ODI 11415425
Mar 3, 2021Body & structureEngineVisibility & wipersFire
MY BRAND NEW CAR CAUGHT FIRE IN THE FRONT WHILE IT WAS PARKED OUTSIDE A RESTAURANT. I CAME OUTSIDE TO LEAVE AND IT WAS TOWED AWAY. THE CAR WAS TOTALED FROM THE FIRE. I SAW THE RAV4 INVESTIGATION IS HAPPENING AND WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU HAD MY REPORT INCLUDED. THE FIRE HAPPENED IN THE FRONT LEFT (AS IT WAS STATED IN THE ARTICLE OTHER CARS). I CAN SEND YOU ADDITIONAL DETAILS IF NEEDED BUT EVERYTHING IS MATCHING UP WITH THE OTHER INCIDENTS. IT WAS A BRAND NEW CAR WHICH IS WHY IT WAS SUCH A STRANGE EVENT.
NHTSA ODI 11398858
Jan 18, 2018Electrical systemElectronic Stability Control (esc)EngineCrash
IT WAS A COLD DAY IN MASSACHUSETTS. I WARMED UP THE CAR IN THE MORNING FOR 10 MINUTES BEFORE STARTING TO DRIVE TO WORK. I GOT ONTO THE MASSACHUSETTS PIKE AND AFTER A COUPLE EXITS OF CRUISING AT 60 HIT STOP AND GO TRAFFIC. AT ONE OF THE ENTRANCES AND WHEN I SLOWED DOWN TO A STOP IN THE TRAFFIC MY CAR FLASHED THE BATTERY CRITICAL CHARGING ERROR FOR A SPLIT SECOND BEFORE SAYING EVERYTHING NEEDED TO BE RESTARTED BY PUTTING THE CAR INTO PARK. AFTER THAT, THE CAR COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN. I WAS NOT ABLE TO PUT ON HAZARDS UNTIL ABOUT 15 SECONDS LATER OF TRYING TO GET THE POWER BACK ON DID THE CAR START UP. WITHIN THAT TIME A DRIVER BEHIND ME DECIDED TO HIT ME IN THE REAR. ON RESTART THE CAR DIDN'T SHOW THE FAULT BUT UPON LOOKING UP THE BATTERY CRITICAL CHARGING FAILURE IT STATES TO NOT DRIVE THE CAR AND TO IMMEDIATELY TAKE IT TO A SHOP. THE SHOP CANNOT FIND THE CODE DUE TO IT BEING WIPED MAKING SOLVING THE ISSUE EVEN MORE DIFFICULT.
NHTSA ODI 11063443