2007 Toyota RAV4
Complaints about this year name steering far more often than the other years of this generation — 28% of them, about 4× the usual rate of 6.7%.
Generation 1 of the Toyota RAV4, which began in 2006 and ran to 2012. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 1,002 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 287 |
| Involving a crash | 53 |
| Involving a fire | 37 |
| Recalls | 14 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- steering — 27.8% of this year's complaints, against 6.7% across the other years of this generation (4.1×).
- cost — 12.1% of this year's complaints, against 4.4% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: cost, labor, plus.
- turning — 11.4% of this year's complaints, against 4.3% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: turning, clunking sound.
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.
Also unusual this year
- oil — 19% of complaints, 5× usual
- intermediate — 9% of complaints, 12× usual
- oil consumption — 8% of complaints, 12× usual
What owners wrote
FOR ENGINE, IT HAS EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION. I NEED TO ADD 1 QTR OF OIL AFTER 1.5K MILES DRIVE. FOR STEERING, IT MAKES CRACKING SOUNDS WHEN HAVING TURN THE STEERING IN A SLOW MOTION DRIVE BACKING UP FROM GARAGE.
UNINTENDED ACCELERATION AFTER THE CAR HIT A POT HOLE ON I-270 SOUTHBOUND. WITH BOTH BRAKE AND EMERGENCY BRAKE FULLY ENGAGED THE CAR STILL WENT WITH A SPEED FASTER THAN MOST OF THE CARS ON THE ROAD. I WAS FORCED TO DRIVE THE CAR IN THE GRASS INTERMEDIATE AREA F…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V096000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V596000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 15V689000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 14V743000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V396000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V168000 AIR BAGS
- 12V373000 SUSPENSION
- 11V245000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 14. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2007 Toyota RAV4? What happened to yours?
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