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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2017 Toyota Rav4 — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 307 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

307
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
33
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
24
Involved Fire
owner-reported
28 / 2
Injuries / Deaths
across all reports
Years to Avoid

Toyota Rav4 — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

400 complaints

287 complaints

266 complaints

256 complaints

197 complaints

305 complaints

239 complaints

307 complaints

333 complaints

880 complaints

635 complaints

387 complaints

149 complaints

159 complaints

176 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Electrical System 108 reports
Unknown Or Other 62 reports
Service Brakes 38 reports
Exterior Lighting 32 reports
Engine 31 reports
Air Bags 20 reports
Structure 19 reports
Power Train 16 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Steering ODI 11057714 12/31/2017

AIR PRESSURE SEEMS WRONG AND THE CAR SHAKES SOMETIMES WHILE DRIVING. I HIT POTHOLES ALL OVER THIS TOWN BUT IT CAN'T BE HELPED.

Electrical System ODI 11562641 12/29/2023

Battery became disabled without any warning. Safety of driving down the road and battery stop working is an issue. I replaced battery through no help of Toyota. Only person to inspect was person replacing battery.

Service Brakes ODI 10938656 12/29/2016

I WAS DRIVING AND TAKING A TURN AND AS I APPLIED THE BRAKES THE CAR DID NOT SLOW DOWN RESULT IN A MINOR ACCIDENT. *TR

Vehicle Speed Control ODI 10937816 12/28/2016

WHILE DRIVING ON CRUISE CONTROL AT THE POSTED SPEED LIMIT OF 65 MPH, MY RAV 4 CAME TO AN ABRUPT DEAD STOP WITH NO WARNING. THERE WAS NOT A CAR IN FRONT OF MINE, BUT A CAR WAS STOPPED IN A MEDIAN TO MY LEFT FACING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF MY CAR. I COULD ONLY ASSUME THAT MY RAV 4 APPARENTLY SENSED THAT CAR WHEN IT CAME TO A SUDDEN DEAD STOP. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS HAPPENING…

Steering ODI 11445128 12/27/2021

The contact owns a 2017 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the instrument cluster failed, which caused the speedometer and RPM gauge to be inoperable. Additionally, the power steering assist failed, and the steering wheel was locked up. The failure occurred on four separate occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and Toyota of Br…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2017 Toyota Rav4, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

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Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2017 Toyota Rav4 reliable?
Owners have filed 307 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2017 Toyota Rav4, most often about electrical system. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.
Which Toyota Rav4 years should I avoid?
The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.
Where do these complaints come from?
Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.
Do complaints mean a recall is coming?
Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.