NHTSA has received 347 owner complaints about the 2018 Toyota RAV4, or 39.5 per year on the road — a typical number of complaints (complaint index 0.98, where 1.00 is the average of all tracked vehicles). Among the 76 model-year 2018 vehicles we track, it ranks #48 of 76 by complaints per year (#1 = fewest). Against other Toyota models its rate is 15% higher; against other Compact SUVs it is 35% lower.
Counts are normalized by time on the road, not by sales volume: a popular model generates more reports than a rare one, and complaints are not verified individually. How we count
Complaints filed between 2017-12-13 and 2026-10-06. Median delay from incident to filing: 9 days.
347Complaints
39.5Complaints per year on the road
0.98Complaint index vs. all tracked vehicles
3Recalls
18.4%Share involving a crash or fire
22Last 12 months
Analysis
The following model year (2019) drew 115.7 per year, more than this one. In its first two years on the road the 2018 model collected 91 complaints, 6% higher than the average vehicle of the same model year.
The most common problem area is Electrical (31.7% of complaints), followed by Unspecified or other (15.9%) and Engine (10.1%). Electrical complaints are 2.0 times as common here as across all tracked vehicles. 64 reports (18.4%) describe a crash or fire; owners mention 19 injuries and 0 deaths.
Half of the reported incidents happened within 48 months of the model year's start; the busiest period was after five years (42% of incidents). In the last 12 months 22 new complaints were filed, versus 65 in the 12 months before — down 66%.
NHTSA lists 3 safety recalls for this model year. 2 NHTSA investigations cover this model year; the most recent is “Pedestrian alert sounds” (defect petition, opened 2023-01-27, closed 2023-08-07).
Complaint index
vs. all tracked vehicles0.98
vs. other Toyota models1.15
vs. other 2018 models0.83
vs. other Compact SUVs0.65
Complaints in first 2 years on the road · vs. same-year average (91)1.06
We were part of a 4 car collision on the freeway. A Ford Expedition that was slammed into then slammed into our RAV. The airbags never deployed and an error code came up saying fail for airbags.
On October 27, 2025, I was housesitting and watching a friends' son and dropped him off at school. I returned to their house, shut off the car, went into the house, started cleaning home in preparation of returning to my home.
Electrical · 2026-04-07 · ODI 11729761 · Fire
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and turning right or left, the vehicle lost power and failed to accelerate as needed while depressing the accelerator pedal.
Fuel system · 2026-10-06 · ODI 11769276
Cooper tires 225/65R17. Purchased 4 tires in June. From installation the tires were bouncy. The garage said it was the struts, so I replaced the struts, but the problem persists. 2 weeks later I took the car back.
Wheels, tires & suspension · 2026-09-13 · ODI 11763934
Before o had taken my RAV4 into Toyota for the recall a AAA tech. had replaced the battery after jump starting it. There was nothing wrong with the sensors or anything else but after the battery was replaced all the electric sensors that are for lane change…
Electrical · 2026-08-03 · ODI 11754574
Excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length. The ODI number is NHTSA's record identifier.
Summary: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2013-2018 RAV4 vehicles. Certain replacement 12-volt batteries may not fit properly in the battery tray, allowing the battery to move and contact the hold-down bracket, possibly causing a short circuit.
Risk: A battery short circuit increases the risk of a fire.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the battery clamp sub-assembly, battery tray, and positive terminal cover, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed December 27, 2024, to 2013-2014 RAV4 owners. Additional owner notification letters will be mailed in phases, phase 2 will begin on May 14, 2025, and phase 3 in late July 2025. Owners may contact Toyota's customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 23TB13 and 23TA13.
Summary: Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Toyota Camry, Corolla, Rav4, Sienna, and Yaris iA vehicles equipped with factory-installed floor mats. The load carrying capacity modification label may be incorrect. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Risk: An incorrect label may lead to unintentionally overloading the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: SET will notify owners and provide a corrected label for placement over the inaccurate label, free of charge. The recall began August 23, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. SET's number for this recall is SET19A.
Summary: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Toyota 4Runner and Tundra, 2018 Toyota Highlander, RAV4 and Lexus GX460 and 2017 Toyota Sienna and Tacoma vehicles. These vehicles may have incorrect load carrying capacity modification labels. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Risk: An incorrect load information label can result in the operator overloading the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Toyota will notify owners and provide them with corrected labels, free of charge. The recall began on January 23, 2018. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are H0Z for Toyota vehicles, and HLF for Lexus vehicles.
DP22005 · defect petition · ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM · Opened 2023-01-27 · Closed 2023-08-07 · Campaign 22V063000 · Model years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and ele…
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to understand the contributing factors and frequency of vehicle fires originating from the battery region of the engine compartment in Model Year (MY) 2013-2018 Toyota RAV4 vehicles on 25 February 2021. At the time of opening, ODI attributed eleven allegations and additional EWR events to this PE. PE21005 focused on rep…
