Toyota RAV4 2019

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

1.00 per 1,000

2.2 times this nameplate’s own median · from 437 complaints filed in the first three years, of 898 ever. 95% lower bound 0.91.

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.

Fuel/Propulsion System 266 complaints

gallons	150	56%
advertised	47	18%
tank fill	38	14%
gallon tank	32	12%
tank capacity	22	8%
tank gallons	18	7%

Engine 206 complaints

coolant	130	63%
valve	117	57%
bypass	112	54%
coolant bypass	105	51%
bypass valve	97	47%
maintenance	84	41%

Unknown Or Other 170 complaints

coolant	32	19%
valve	28	17%
bypass	27	16%
coolant bypass	25	15%
bypass valve	22	13%
maintenance	20	12%

When it breaks

85% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 3,000 miles, from 326 complaints that recorded one).

Failures cluster early, which is the signature of how the car was built rather than of wear. A low-mileage example has not yet passed the risk window.

What NHTSA did

1 investigation covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign.

Pedestrian alert sounds

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:

11186970 · 11204698 · 11204777 · 11205702 · 11209676 · 11210541

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.