2005 Toyota RAV4
This year drew an ordinary 141 complaints for a Toyota RAV4 — the model's median is 302. What they were about is the unusual part: 28.4% of them mention bags, against 8.5% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 141 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 302 |
| Involving a crash | 22 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 22.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- bags — 28.4% of this year's complaints, against 8.5% across the model's other years (3.3×). Owners wrote it as: bags, air bags, amount time, time recall.
- takata — 24.1% of this year's complaints, against 6.5% across the model's other years (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: takata, rental, rental car, suffered.
- vsc — 9.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.5% across the model's other years (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: vsc, remove, trac, vsc trac.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V284000 (AIR BAGS) AND STATED THAT THE PART NEEDED FOR THE REPAIR WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE [VIN] EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUN…
TAKATA AIR BAGS. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V284000 (AIR BAGS) HOWEVER, THE PART TO DO THE REPAIR WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE [VIN] EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FO…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V741000 AIR BAGS
- 15V284000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 10V036000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 10V035000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 06V096000 AIR BAGS
How this was worked out
Every year of the Toyota RAV4 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Toyota RAV4? What happened to yours?
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