Toyota RAV4 2009

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.94 per 1,000

2.0 times this nameplate’s own median · from 135 complaints filed in the first three years, of 326 ever. 95% lower bound 0.79.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	0.82	112
2009	0.94	135
2010	0.86	137
2011	0.40	61
2012	0.51	78
2013	0.49	96
2014	0.15	37
2015	0.29	86
2016	0.32	107
2017	0.29	111
2018	0.29	122
2019	1.00	437
2020	0.56	248
2021	0.46	194
2022	0.22	88
2023	0.33	138

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Suspension 55 complaints

notification	15	28%
suspension arms	11	21%
rear lower	11	21%

When it breaks

52% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 26,000 miles, from 241 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

What NHTSA did

3 investigations covering this model year, 2 of which list a recall campaign. Owners had filed 41 complaints about this component over roughly 28 months before an investigation opened.

Power Window Master Switch Fire

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10270200 · 10272422 · 10280567 · 10284249 · 10285198 · 10285819

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is verified against a published figure.