FUEL GAUGE IS INACCURATE AS WELL AS MILES REMAINING CALCULATIONS ARE INACCURATE. FUEL GAUGE INDICATES EMPTY WHEN APPROXIMATELY 2+ GALLONS REMAIN IN THE FUEL TANK. *TR
NHTSA ODI 11331193
Home · 2020 Toyota RAV4 Hv · Complaints
These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.
89 of 627 complaints match · Fuel system · clear filters · page 3 of 4
FUEL GAUGE IS INACCURATE AS WELL AS MILES REMAINING CALCULATIONS ARE INACCURATE. FUEL GAUGE INDICATES EMPTY WHEN APPROXIMATELY 2+ GALLONS REMAIN IN THE FUEL TANK. *TR
NHTSA ODI 11331193
I PURCHASED A 2020 TOYOTA RAV4 HYBRID LIMITED ADDITION FROM TOYOTA OF ESCONDIDO AND TOOK DELIVERY IN DECEMBER OF 2019. UPON DELIVERY, I NOTICED THE INSTRUMENTATION SAID THIS VEHICLE HAD 575 MILES TO EMPTY. WE WENT ON OUR ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TRIP TO N. CALIFORNIA. I NOTICED THAT OUR FIRST REFUELING I COULD NOT FILL THE TANK MORE THAN 9.5 TO 10 GALS OF FUEL WHEN SYSTEM SAYS LOW FUEL. THIS HAPPENS CONSISTENTLY SINCE THE FIRST FILL UP IN DEC 2019 TO NOW MAY 2020. THE BEST MILEAGE TO EMPTY HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY 415 - 430 MILES TO EMPTY. WHERE DOES THIS EXPLAIN THE 14.5 GALLON FUEL TANK. SECONDLY WITH VERY CAREFUL AND TEDIOUS DRIVING IN TOWN OR HIGHWAY CANNOT ATTAIN ANYWHERE NEAR THE VEHICLE STICKER OF 41/38 MPG. THE BEST I CAN OBTAIN IN TOWN IS 31.5 MPG. I TOOK THE VEHICLE IN SEVERAL TIMES TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE AND WAS TOLD THERE WAS NO FIX IN PLACE FOR THE FUEL ISSUE, BUT THEY ARE AWARE OF THIS ISSUE AND HAVE KNOWN OF THIS ISSUE SINCE 2019 MODELS. THEY HAD THE VEHICLE FOR THE DAY AND RETURNED IT TO ME WITH A FUEL ECONOMY READING OF 61 MPG. I WAS ASTONISHED AND ASKED HOW DID THEY DO THIS. THERE WAS NOT REPLY. JUST DRIVING THE VEHICLE HOME FROM THE DEALER THE FUEL ECONOMY STARTED TO FALL DRASTICALLY AND WITHIN 2 DAYS THE ECONOMY WAS BACK TO 31.5 MPG. *TR
NHTSA ODI 11325914
THE GAS TANK WILL HOLD UP TO 10 GALLONS OF GAS AND TRYING TO ADD MORE CAUSES THE TANK TO OVERFLOW, EVEN WHEN THE FUEL LIGHT INDICATES THE GAS TANK ISN'T FULL. VEHICLE IS ADVERTISED TO HOLD 14.5 GALLONS. *TR
NHTSA ODI 11323939
TOYOTA ADVERTISES THE 2020 RAV4 HYBRIDS ARE EQUIPPED WITH 14.5 GALLON FUEL TANKS, THE HYBRID ALLEGEDLY SHOULD GET 41 MILES PER GALLON FOR CITY DRIVING, 38 MPG FOR HIGHWAY DRIVING AND A COMBINED 40 MPG. THIS SHOULD APPROXIMATELY PROVIDE A RANGE OF 580 MILES ON A TANK OF GAS. HOWEVER, MY RAV4 HYBRID CANNOT REACH THAT RANGE BECAUSE WHEN REFUELING, THE GAS PUMP NOZZLE AUTOMATICALLY SHUTS OFF BEFORE THE TANK IS CLOSE TO BEING FULL. ADDING 8 GALLONS OF GAS WHEN THE LOW FUEL LIGHT IS ILLUMINATED CAUSES THE FUEL NOZZLE TO SHUT OFF. TRYING TO ADD MORE FUEL ALLEGEDLY CAUSES AN OVERFLOW EVEN THOUGH THE TANK SHOULD HOLD 14.5 GALLONS TOTAL. WHEN I CHECKED WITH THE DEALER ABOUT THE ISSUE THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY FIX FOR THIS ISSUE AND THEY HAVE SAID TOYOTA ALREADY KNOWS ABOUT THE ISSUE. I GOT PISSED OFF BECAUSE BOTH THE DEALER AND TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT THE ISSUE, BUT THEY HIDE THIS INFORMATION FROM ME WHILE SELLING THIS CAR. I GUESS THEY CANNOT ADVERTISE FUEL TANK CAPACITY AS 14.5 GAL, WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS UNETHICAL. I WISH I GET AN OPTION TO RETURN MY CAR AND GET MY MONEY BACK.
NHTSA ODI 11322412
FUEL GAUGE DOES NOT REFLECT THE TRUE AMOUNT OF FUEL IN THE FUEL TANK. IT SEEMS TO BE SHOWING LESS FUEL FOR EXAMPLE THE RAV4 HYBRID HAS A CAPACITY OF 14.7 GALS OF FUEL. FILLING UP WHEN THE INDICATOR SHOWING ABOUT 18 MILES AND ABOUT 1/4 TANK. RE-FUELING ONLY 9.8 GALLONS WAS PUT INTO THE TANK. THE 2020 RAV4 HYBRID WILL ACHIEVE GOOD GAS MILEAGE AND AT 1/4 TANK SHOULD BE ABOUT 3.7 GAL. IN THIS CASE IT SHOULD HAVE 4.5 GALLONS. I WOULD ASSUME THAT A RESERVE WOULD BE 2 GALLONS WHICH WOULD GIVE ME 60+ MILES UNTIL COMPLETELY EMPTY. NOW IT IS BETTER TO HAVE MORE FUEL INSTEAD OF THE OPPOSITE OF LESS FUEL. BUT DEFINITELY THE 2020 RAV4 HYBRID HAS A FUEL INDICATOR ISSUE. WHICH FROM MY RESEARCH HAS THE SAME ISSUE STARTING FROM THE REDESIGNED 2019 RAV4. IT WOULD ALSO SEEM THAT TOYOTA HAS NOT BEEN INCLINED TO PROVIDE A FIX FOR THE ISSUE, SINCE THIS IS OCCURRING IN TWO MODEL YEARS. TOYOTA NEEDS TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE IN A TIMELY MANNER AND IN MY OPINION IT HAS NOT DONE FOR ITS CUSTOMERS. I ASK THE NHTSA TO INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE TO PROVIDE REDRESS TO THE OWNERS OF THE RAV4 STARTING WITH THE REDESIGN 2019 MODEL YEAR. YOUTUBE HAS NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS FOR THIS ISSUE. I HAVE CONTACTED TOYOTA SUPPORT BY PHONE AND THEY SAY ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE I REPORTED BUT HAVE NO TRUE FIX OR WHY IT IS OCCURRING. I PREVIOUSLY OWNED A 2017 RAV4 HYBRID AND THIS ISSUE WAS NOT REFLECTED IN THIS MODEL YEAR. WHEN FILLING AT ABOUT 1/4 TANK I WOULD BE PUMPING ABOUT 12-12.5 GALLONS. THANK YOU [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR
NHTSA ODI 11321561
WITH FUEL GAUGE ON EMPTY AND DISTANCE TO EMPTY (DTE) SHOWING LESS THAN 20 MILES LEFT, AM ONLY ABLE TO FILL WITH 10-10.5 GALS OF FUEL IN A 14.5 GAL TANK.
NHTSA ODI 11319058
THE FUEL TANK DOES NOT FILL TO ITS ADVERTISED CAPACITY OF 14.5 GALLONS. I GET ONLY ABOUT 10 GALLONS UNTIL IT STOPS.
NHTSA ODI 11317076
ATTEMPTED TO FILL THE FUEL TANK ON 2020 RAV4 HYBRID WHICH REFLECTED THAT IS WAS BELOW 1/4 FULL, BUT WAS ONLY ABLE TO PUT IN 7 GAL WHICH OBVIOUSLY DID NOT REFLECT A FULL TANK (14.5GAL)
NHTSA ODI 11317143
I CANNOT FILL THE TANK FULL. I HAVE TRIED SEVERAL GAS STATION PUMPS AND FILLING SLOWLY AFTER THE PUMP CLICKS OFF. WITH TIME AND EFFORT, I CAN GET ANOTHER 2 GALLONS IN, BUT THE RANGE IS LESS THAN ADVERTISED. THIS HAS OCCURRED WITH EVERY FILL SINCE I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE. I INVESTIGATED ON-LINE AND WITH MY SERVICE DEPT AND SAW OTHERS ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. I ALSO SAW A CLASS ACTION SUIT. I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH TOYOTA AS WELL.
NHTSA ODI 11316516
THE FUEL TANK ACCEPTS BETWEEN 9.5 AND 10 GALLONS TOTAL FOR A REFILL, EVEN WHEN IT HAS THE LOW FUEL LIGHT LIT. AFTER ADDING 9.5 GALLONS TO AN EMPTY TANK, THE FUEL GAUGE SHOWS FULL. THE TANK SPECS CLAIM A 14.5 GALLON TANK. THE VEHICLE ESTIMATES THE DISTANCE YOU CAN TRAVEL APPARENTLY ASSUMING A 14.5 GALLON TANK. RELYING ON THE ESTIMATED DISTANCE YOU CAN DRIVE IS NOT A GOOD IDEA, YOU WILL END UP STRANDED. THE FUEL TANK NOT ACCEPTING A FULL 14.5 GALLONS IS A PROBLEM. THE SAFETY ISSUE COMES IN WHEN THE "DISTANCE TO EMPTY" IS SIGNIFICANTLY MISREPRESENTED, BEING OFF BY AS MUCH AS 140MILES RIGHT AFTER FILLING THE TANK AND DROPPING FASTER THAN WOULD MAKE SENSE GIVEN THE PROMINENTLY REPORTED MPG VALUE ON THE SCREEN.
NHTSA ODI 11316172
SINCE PURCHASING, THE VEHICLE WILL NOT ALLOW FOR FULL FILLING OF GAS TANK TO 14.5 SPECIFIED GALLONS. THE REPORTED RANGE OF THE VEHICLE IS THEREBY REDUCED. IN ADDITION, THE VEHICLE IS NOT ACHIEVING ANYWHERE NEAR ITS MFG SPECIFIED GAS MILEAGE OF 27/30/29. THE MOST THE VEHICLE CAN ACHIEVE IS 22.4 MPG.
NHTSA ODI 11315399
VEHICLE'S FUEL TANK WILL NOT FILL TO THE ADVERTISED CAPACITY OF 14.5 GALLONS. STOPS AT APPROXIMATELY 10 GALLONS. THIS ISSUE IS KNOWN BY THE MANUFACTURER AND DEALERSHIPS ABOUT THE MODEL YEAR AND CONTINUES INTO THE NEW. THE BUYERS ARE NOT INFORMED OF THIS BEFORE THE SALE IS MADE. WHY ARE TOYOTA AND THEIR DEALERSHIPS BEING ALLOWED TO CONTINUE THIS DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICE?
NHTSA ODI 11311871
WHILE FUELING THE VEHICLE CAN ONLY PUT 10 GALLONS OF FUEL IN THE GAS TANK NO MATTER HOW EMPTY THE VEHICLE IS.
NHTSA ODI 11311533
WHEN DOING MY FIRST FILL UP, MY GAS TANK WAS ONLY ABLE TO TAKE 11.19 GALLONS OUT OF THE 14.5-GALLON TANK AND THAT WAS AFTER DRIVING PAST WHEN THE REFUEL LIGHT HAD COME ON. THE RANGE OF THE TANK WAS THE PRIMARY REASON FOR PURCHASING THE RAV4 HYBRID AND UPON DOING MY RESEARCH I SEE THIS IS A PROBLEM FOR MANY RAV4 OWNERS. WITH A NEW 30 THOUSAND DOLLAR CAR HAVING THIS MUCH OF A FLUCTUATION IN ESTIMATED AND ACTUAL RANGE MEANS THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE OF OVER 100 MPG MISSING FROM THE RANGE. I DO NOT TRUST THE VEHICLE AND HOW IT REPORTS ITS INFORMATION AND DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE ENOUGH TO TAKE A FAMILY TRIP AS I CAN'T TELL WHAT THE TRUE RANGE OF MY VEHICLE IS. IT IS STATED THAT TOYOTA IS LOOKING INTO THE ISSUE BUT THAT THEY SENT THE NOTICE OUT TO DEALERS AND SERVICE DEPARTMENTS, THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISCLOSED BEFORE PURCHASING THE VEHICLE AND THIS IS NOT RIGHT AS FAR AS BUSINESS PRACTICES GO. ASIDE FROM THAT THE FACT THAT I DON'T GET TO FILL A FULL TANK THANK I PAID FOR BECAUSE OF THE SYSTEM OR DESIGN IS NOT OK. PLEASE HELP TO REMEDY THIS. I ALSO VIDEOTAPED MY FIRST TANK FILL UP WITH VIN EVIDENCE THAT THE VEHICLE IS MINE.
NHTSA ODI 11311222
GAS TANK EITHER DOES NOT HOLD THE 14 GALLONS PROMISED OR DOES NOT ALLOW ALL FUEL TO BE USED. TANK ONLY ACCEPTS APPROX 9 GALLONS ON FILLUP. RANGE DISPLAYED ON DASH IS GREATLY DIMINISHED FROM PUBLISHED INFORMATION.
NHTSA ODI 11310579
2020 RAV4 HYBRID XSE WILL NOT FILL TO A FULL TANK OF FUEL AFTER COUNTLESS REPEATED ATTEMPTS. THE OWNERS MANUAL STATES IT'S A 14.5 GALLON TANK AND ONCE THE LOW FUEL LIGHT COMES ON YOU SHOULD HAVE ABOUT 2.2 GALLONS OF RESERVE FUEL. I AM UNABLE TO GET EVEN CLOSE TO THE 12.3 GALLONS GIVE OR TAKE IT SHOULD NEED. I CAN ONLY PUMP AROUND 9 GALLONS OF FUEL. THIS LEAVES ME WITH ONLY GETTING A RANGE OF 350+ MILES TO A TANK. ALSO THIS ISSUE WAS DISCOVERED IN 2019 AND NO ONE LET ME KNOW MY 2020 WOULD BE AFFECTED BY THIS WHEN PURCHASING. TOYOTA SHOULD HAVE MADE THIS CLEAR BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE CHANGED MY DECISION. ALSO AFTER REPEATED ATTEMPTS AT THE DEALERSHIP THEY SAID THEY HAVE NO FIX FOR THIS ISSUE AT THE TIME.
NHTSA ODI 11310277
UNABLE TO FILL FUEL TANK TO ADVERTISED CAPACITY (14.5 GALLONS). THIS IS A RECURRING ISSUE. WHEN FUEL IS LOW INDICATED BY FUEL GAUGE AND DISTANCE TO EMPTY CALCULATION, NEARING EMPTY, I AM ONLY ABLE TO FILL 9.5-10.5 GALLONS MAX.
NHTSA ODI 11310145
THIS IS FOR A 2020 RAV4 HYBRID, THE NTHSA SYSTEM SEEMS TO BE LUMPING THIS TOGETHER WITH THE REGULAR RAV4. THE FUEL TANK HAS ISSUES ACCEPTING FUEL UP TO THE LEVELS SPECIFIED IN THE MANUAL OR THE CALIBRATION OF THE FUEL LEVEL SENSOR IS OFF. PER THE OWNERS MANUAL PROVIDED BY TOYOTA WHEN THE REFUEL LIGHT ILLUMINATES THE CAR HAS APPROXIMATELY 2.2 GALLONS OF FUEL REMAINING. WHEN THIS LIGHT ILLUMINATES I AM ONLY ABLE TO FILL THE CAR WITH 9-10 GALLONS OF FUEL. THE TANK CAPACITY IS 14.5 GALLONS SO THE CAR IS MISSING 2.3-3.3 GALLONS OF FUEL EVERY FILL UP. THE FUEL GAUGE DOES NOT READ FULL AT THIS POINT EITHER. TO GET THE MISSING FUEL INTO THE VEHICLE YOU CAN SLOWLY "TOP OFF" UNTIL THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF FUEL HAS BEEN ADDED BUT THIS BECOMES A SAFETY CONCERN AS THE PUMPS SAFETY MECHANISMS CONSTANTLY ENGAGE MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHEN THE TANK IS ACTUALLY FULL AND WHEN IT WILL BEGIN SPEWING OUT THE EXTRA FUEL ON TO THE GROUND. I WATCHED THE FIRST FILL AT THE DEALERSHIP AND THIS DID NOT OCCUR. THE ISSUE SLOWLY PROGRESSED IN THE FOLLOWING FILLS AND NOW OCCURS DURING EVERY FILL.
NHTSA ODI 11310155
HAS PROBLEMS FILLING UP GAS TO THE FULL TANK
NHTSA ODI 11310231
THE GAS TANK ON MY NEW TOYOTA RAV4 HYBRID, MODEL YEAR 2020 WILL NOT EVER FILL TO CAPACITY OR ANYWHERE NEAR IT. I PURCHASED IN NOVEMBER 2019. THE ADVERTISED RANGE OF THE CAR WAS OVER 500 MILES PER TANK AND MY RANGE IS ONLY 375 MILES TYPICALLY. AFTER A SEARCH ONLINE I SEE THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM EVEN BEFORE I PURCHASED THE CAR, YET I WAS NEVER INFORMED OF THE DEFECT OF THE TANK BY TOYOTA THAT IT WILL NOT FILL TO ANYWHERE NEAR THE STATED 14.5 GALLONS.
NHTSA ODI 11309704
GAS TANK DOES NOT FILL ALL THE WAY
NHTSA ODI 11309444
I PURCHASED MY CAR ON 12-21-19 WITH THE EXPLICIT SALES CLAIM THAT THE 2020 RAV4 HYBRID TANK HOLDS 14.5 GALLONS. I WAS PROMISED THAT I COULD DRIVE OVER 550 MILES ON ONE TANK OF GAS. HOWEVER, I HAVE HAD TO REFUEL MY CAR 3 TIMES ALREADY. EACH TIME WHEN MY CAR FUEL TANK EMPTY LIGHT TURNED ON, I COULD ONLY GET BETWEEN 10-10.8 GALLONS UNTIL IT'S 'FULL.' I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DRIVE ONLY 354-413 MILES ON A 'FULL' TANK OF GAS, A FAR CRY FROM THE 550 MILES PROMISED. I HAVE CONTACTED TWO DEALERSHIPS AND HAVE OPENED UP A CASE NUMBER WITH TOYOTA CORPORATION. THEY DENY EVER HAVING HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM AND DO NOT HAVE A FIX. DOING A QUICK SEARCH ONLINE PULLS UP COUNTLESS SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS CAR ON CAR FORUMS. I ALSO LEARNED THAT A COUPLE OF CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS HAVE ALSO BEEN RECENTLY FILED.
NHTSA ODI 11308400
CAR STOPPED AT GAS STATION WITH FUEL GAUGE EMPTY. CAR ADVERTISED AS HAVING A 14.5G FUEL TANK AND A RANGE OF 550+ MILES. WHEN TANK IS EMPTY IT WILL ONLY ALLOW 10-10.5 GALLONS OF FUEL BEFORE FULL. HAS EXHIBITED THIS BEHAVIOR ALL 4 TIMES BEING FILLED UP. TOYOTA HAS NOT ADDRESSED THIS SINCE THE REDESIGNED 2019 MODEL YEAR AND CONTINUES TO SELL CARS WITH NO NOTIFICATION TO CUSTOMERS LEAVING THEM TO GUESS HOW MUCH FUEL IS LEFT OR, AT WORSE TRY TO OVERFILL TO CAPACITY.
NHTSA ODI 11308536
MY 2020 TOYOTA RAV4 HYBRID DOES NOT GET THE RANGE NOR FUEL TANK CAPACITY AS ADVERTISED BY TOYOTA. THE FUEL TANK IS SPECIFIED AS 14.7 GALLONS, BUT MAXIMUM THAT I AM ABLE TO PUT IN IS AROUND 12 GALLONS AFTER FUEL TANK IS COMPLETELY EMPTY. BEING ABLE TO PUMP EVEN THIS MUCH FUEL INTO THE TANK IS ONLY POSSIBLE AFTER MANY PUMP RESTARTS. THIS IS A BOTH A SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD AS I HAVE TO CIRCUMVENT THE AUTOMATIC PUMP STOP.
NHTSA ODI 11307757
THE ACTUAL FUEL TANK CAPACITY OF THE 2019-2020 RAV4 HYBRIDS DO NOT MATCH THE ADVERTISED CAPACITY. THE AVERAGE AMOUNT OF FUEL THAT HAS BEEN ABLE TO ENTER THE TANK WHEN THE GAUGE SHOWS NEARLY EMPTY IS 9-11 GALLONS IF UNSAFE FUELING PRACTICES ARE USED. THE FUEL NOZZLE FROM THE PUMP MUST BE PULLED OUT FROM THE VEHICLE TO PREVENT IT FROM SHUTTING OFF WHILE REFUELING.
NHTSA ODI 11307182
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