Toyota RAV4 2021

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

0.46 per 1,000

1.0 times this nameplate’s own median · from 194 complaints filed in the first three years, of 502 ever. 95% lower bound 0.40.

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.

Air Bags 147 complaints

however part	69	47%
part recall	68	46%
repair made	63	43%
yet	62	42%
repair yet	47	32%
yet exceeded	44	30%

Unknown Or Other 99 complaints

explosion	11	11%
spontaneously	11	11%
shards	10	10%

Electrical System 86 complaints

experienced tool	13	16%
yet exceeded	13	16%
repair yet	13	16%

When it breaks

59% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 15,900 miles, from 81 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

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:

11353782 · 11364114 · 11364557 · 11365940 · 11382724 · 11386212

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.