2012 TOYOTA RAV4 — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 266 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: VISIBILITY (57 complaints · 21.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 39
  • Fires 4
  • Injuries 23
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2011 →
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 VISIBILITY appears in 57 of 266 owner complaints (21.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. VISIBILITY: 57 complaints, 21.4% of reports VISIBILITY 57 · 21.4% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 42 complaints, 15.8% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 42 · 15.8% · 9 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 22 complaints, 8.3% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 22 · 8.3% · 7 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 21 complaints, 7.9% of reports SEAT BELTS 21 · 7.9% AIR BAGS: 18 complaints, 6.8% of reports AIR BAGS 18 · 6.8% · 12 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 16 complaints, 6.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 16 · 6.0% · 1 crash reports 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 15 complaints, 5.6% of reports POWER TRAIN 15 · 5.6% · 5 crash reports ENGINE: 13 complaints, 4.9% of reports ENGINE 13 · 4.9% · 1 crash reports STRUCTURE: 9 complaints, 3.4% of reports STRUCTURE 9 · 3.4% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 51 complaints, 19.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 51 · 19.2% · 3 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)
VISIBILITY 57 21.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 42 15.8% 9 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 22 8.3% 7 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 21 7.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 18 6.8% 12 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 16 6.0% 1 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 15 5.6% 5 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 13 4.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 9 3.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 51 19.2% 3 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 2012. 2012-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2012-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2012-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2013-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2013-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2013-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2013-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2014-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2014-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2014-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2014-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 2015-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2015-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2015-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2016-Q1: 15 owner reports 15 2016-Q2: 23 owner reports 23 2016-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 2016-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2017-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2017-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 2017-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2018-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2019-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2019-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2019-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2020-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2020-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2021-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2022-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2023-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2025-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2025-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2025-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Jan 2012 Apr 2026 Investigation DP22005 ● Investigation DP22005
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2012-Q1 Owner reports 1
2012-Q2 Owner reports 4
2012-Q3 Owner reports 6
2012-Q4 Owner reports 7
2013-Q1 Owner reports 8
2013-Q2 Owner reports 6
2013-Q3 Owner reports 10
2013-Q4 Owner reports 5
2014-Q1 Owner reports 10
2014-Q2 Owner reports 7
2014-Q3 Owner reports 5
2014-Q4 Owner reports 12
2015-Q1 Owner reports 6
2015-Q2 Owner reports 8
2015-Q3 Owner reports 3
2015-Q4 Owner reports 6
2016-Q1 Owner reports 15
2016-Q2 Owner reports 23
2016-Q3 Owner reports 14
2016-Q4 Owner reports 11
2017-Q1 Owner reports 4
2017-Q2 Owner reports 12
2017-Q3 Owner reports 4
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 5
2018-Q2 Owner reports 3
2018-Q3 Owner reports 6
2018-Q4 Owner reports 3
2019-Q1 Owner reports 7
2019-Q2 Owner reports 2
2019-Q3 Owner reports 7
2019-Q4 Owner reports 3
2020-Q1 Owner reports 2
2020-Q2 Owner reports 1
2020-Q3 Owner reports 4
2020-Q4 Owner reports 3
2021-Q1 Owner reports 1
2021-Q3 Owner reports 4
2021-Q4 Owner reports 4
2022-Q1 Owner reports 1
2022-Q2 Owner reports 1
2023-Q1 Owner reports 3
2023-Q2 Owner reports 2
2023-Q3 Owner reports 2
2023-Q4 Owner reports 1
2024-Q2 Owner reports 1
2024-Q3 Owner reports 1
2024-Q4 Owner reports 1
2025-Q1 Owner reports 2
2025-Q2 Owner reports 2
2025-Q3 Owner reports 2
2025-Q4 Owner reports 1
2026-Q1 Owner reports 1
2026-Q2 Owner reports 2
Defect investigation 1 DP22005
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 266 complaints · page 1 of 11

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 Aug 21, 2026
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