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What 375 owners told NHTSA about the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid

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.

All (375)Crash / fire / injury (53)Airbags (125)Electrical system (45)Engine (36)Visibility & wipers (30)Fuel system (24)Body & structure (21)Brakes (20)Steering (20)Transmission & drivetrain (19)Driver assistance (17)

1 of 375 complaints match · Fuel system · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Apr 5, 2023AirbagsFuel systemDriver assistanceCrashFire

While accelerating ~6ft from a complete stop, a minor collision occurred affecting the front right headlight. The air-bags did not activate and the engine compartment was immediately on fire. Within ~1minute, the fire had spread to and completely engulfed the passenger compartment. The contents were immediately destroyed. The speed with which the fire spread through the vehicle was a significant risk to my life and the motorists around me. There were no warning lights on the dashboard prior to the incident, and the car had never before experienced an accident. Witnesses and firefighters estimated that any fire barrier between the engine and passenger compartments had failed, and that a fire of that severity from such a minor accident indicated some fault with the vehicle. The vehicle was an immediate total loss as inspected by our insurer.

NHTSA ODI 11515666

Working with the data? Download all 375 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 21, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2021 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid verdict →