I PURCHASED THE 2004 RAV4 THE LAST WEEK OF NOVEMBER 2003. - AFTER MY 1ST INITIAL OIL CHANGE, I NOTICED AFTER GETTING MY CAR BACK FROM THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT ALL OF MY PANEL LIGHTS WERE ON. I.E., TIRE GAUGE, VCS, TRAC OFF, MAINT REQ., & CHECK ENGINE LIGHT.. I TOOK MY CAR BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP THE DAY AFTER HOPING IT WOULD JUST TURN OFF DURING THE DAY & THEY SAID THAT I NEEDED TO RESET MY CAR. LIKE I'M SUPPOSE TO KNOW THIS & WHY DOES MY CAR HAVE TO BE RESET IF ITS BRAND NEW? - AFTER THE SECOND OIL CHANGE EVERYTHING WAS OKAY, AND NOW I'M UP TO MY 3RD OIL CHANGE AND THE SAME THING HAS HAPPENED ALL OVER AGAIN A FEW DAYS AFTER I WENT ON A TRIP.. THIS TIME THE LIGHTS KEEP COMING BACK OVER AND OVER.. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP, ONLY TO BE TOLD THAT MY AIR FUEL RATIO SENSOR HAD BLEW & THAT I NEEDED TO LEAVE IT.. THE DEALERSHIP KEPT MY CAR THERE ALL DAY WHEN THEY SAID IT WOULD ONLY TAKE 3 HOURS.. I HAD TO FINALLY CALL AND ASK WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS, AND COME TO FIND OUT, THAT THEY ORDERED THE WRONG PART.. SO NOW I HAVE TO WAIT AN EXTRA 2 WEEKS FOR THE PART TO ARRIVE. WHY AM I HAVING PROBLEMS LIKE THIS AND MY CAR ISN'T EVEN A YEAR OLD YET? - *AK
2004 Toyota RAV4 complaints
Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2004 record →
WHEN I ACCELERATE, THERE IS A WHISTLING/RATTLING NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE OR FRONT OF THE CAR. THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMS THAT THIS IS A NORMAL NOISE ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTAKE, BUT NO NEW CAR SHOULD RATTLE/WHISTLE THIS LOUDLY!THE NOISE BECOMES MORE AUDILBLE AS THE ENGINE GETS WARMER OR THE TEMPERATURE (WEATHER) IS HOTTER. I WILL FILE THIS COMPLAINT UNDER "UNKNOWN" BECAUSE THIS IS MY VERY FIRST CAR AND I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH CARS AND HOW THEY WORK. I AM SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT THIS NOISE ISN'T NORMAL. *JB
SUDDEN AND RAPID ACCELERATION WHEN AUTO WAS PUT IN REVERSE. BRAKES DID NOT WORK. CAR FORCED INTO PARK AND CONTINUED TO ROLL BACKWARDS WHILE ENGAGED IN PARK. *AK
NEW 2004 RAV4 SUFFERS COWL RATTLE WHEN TEMPERATURE IS BELOW 25F AND THE COWL AREA IS DRY. THIS SEEMS TO BE A NEW PROBLEM FOR THE 2004 RAV4 FOR THE DEALER HAS NO CLUE HOW TO FIX IT. PLEASE INVESTIGATE. *LA
Reading these
NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 2004 Toyota RAV4 → · Every RAV4 year → · How the figures are calculated →