2012 Toyota RAV4
This year drew an ordinary 266 complaints for a Toyota RAV4 — the model's median is 302. What they were about is the unusual part: 24.8% of them mention visibility, against 8.8% across the other years of this generation.
Last year of its generation. This Toyota RAV4 ran from 2006 to 2012, so it had the whole run for its faults to be found and fixed. Last years are usually the most sorted of a generation.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 266 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 302 |
| Involving a crash | 39 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 22.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- visibility — 24.8% of this year's complaints, against 8.8% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: visibility, amount time, wiper, visibility wiper.
- belts — 9.8% of this year's complaints, against 3.3% across the other years of this generation (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: belts, provide, belts however.
- windshield — 8.3% of this year's complaints, against 2.1% across the other years of this generation (3.9×). Owners wrote it as: windshield, link.
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
NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 15V577000 (VISIBILITY/WIPER) AND 16V096000 (SEAT BELTS). THE PARTS NEEDED FOR THE REPAIR WERE NOT AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE [VIN] EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE [VIN] WAS MAD…
WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS FAILED TO FUNCTION. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT'S VISIBILITY WAS REDUCED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER, BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE VIN WAS INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 15V577000 (VISIB…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V096000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V054000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 15V577000 VISIBILITY/WIPER
- 13V014000 AIR BAGS
- 13V123000 EQUIPMENT
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 2012 Toyota RAV4? What happened to yours?
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