2004 TOYOTA RAV4 — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 153 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (45 complaints · 29.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 16
  • Fires 4
  • Injuries 14
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2003 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution AIR BAGS appears in 45 of 153 owner complaints (29.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 45 complaints, 29.4% of reports AIR BAGS 45 · 29.4% · 5 crash reports ENGINE: 27 complaints, 17.7% of reports ENGINE 27 · 17.7% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 18 complaints, 11.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 18 · 11.8% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 17 complaints, 11.1% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 17 · 11.1% · 6 crash reports VISIBILITY: 11 complaints, 7.2% of reports VISIBILITY 11 · 7.2% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 7 complaints, 4.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 · 4.6% · 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 5 complaints, 3.3% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 5 · 3.3% STRUCTURE: 3 complaints, 2.0% of reports STRUCTURE 3 · 2.0% · 1 crash reports SUSPENSION: 3 complaints, 2.0% of reports SUSPENSION 3 · 2.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 41 complaints, 26.8% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 41 · 26.8% · 4 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
AIR BAGS 45 29.4% 5 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 27 17.7% 1 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 18 11.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 17 11.1% 6 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 11 7.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 7 4.6% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 5 3.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 3 2.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 3 2.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 41 26.8% 4 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 2004; the first recall shown was reported in May 2015. 2004-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2010-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2010-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2010-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2011-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2011-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2015-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 2015-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 2016-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2016-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2016-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2017-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2026-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 2004 Jul 2026 Recall campaign 15V284000 ◆ Recall campaign 15V284000 Recall campaign 19V741000 ◆ Recall campaign 19V741000
  • Campaign 15V284000 was reported 2,996 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 19V741000 was reported 4,614 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2004-Q1 Owner reports 2
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 3
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 3
2005-Q4 Owner reports 2
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q3 Owner reports 3
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2007-Q4 Owner reports 3
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 2
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 5
2010-Q1 Owner reports 7
2010-Q2 Owner reports 4
2010-Q3 Owner reports 2
2010-Q4 Owner reports 2
2011-Q1 Owner reports 5
2011-Q2 Owner reports 3
2011-Q3 Owner reports 4
2011-Q4 Owner reports 2
2012-Q1 Owner reports 1
2012-Q2 Owner reports 2
2012-Q4 Owner reports 2
2013-Q1 Owner reports 2
2013-Q2 Owner reports 2
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 2
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 4
2015-Q3 Owner reports 17
2015-Q4 Owner reports 13
2016-Q1 Owner reports 5
2016-Q2 Owner reports 7
2016-Q3 Owner reports 6
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 3
2017-Q2 Owner reports 2
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 5
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
2019-Q3 Owner reports 1
2019-Q4 Owner reports 1
2020-Q3 Owner reports 1
2022-Q4 Owner reports 1
2023-Q1 Owner reports 1
2024-Q3 Owner reports 1
2024-Q4 Owner reports 1
2026-Q2 Owner reports 2
2026-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 15V284000
Recall campaign 1 19V741000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 15V284000

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    Consequence:
    In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
    Remedy:
    Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag, free of charge. Owners were mailed an interim notice June 17, 2015. The recall began on August 21, 2015. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 19V741000

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    Consequence:
    An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
    Remedy:
    Toyota will notify owners. Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will replace the front driver inflator, front passenger airbag inflator, the airbag assembly, or the front passenger airbag sub-assembly and inflator. The recall began November 20, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's numbers for this recall are J0A, J0B, and J0C. Lexus' numbers for this recall are JLI, JLJ, and JLK.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 153 complaints · page 1 of 7

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources