2003 Toyota RAV4 electrical system problems
42 complaints about electrical system have been filed for the 2003 Toyota RAV4, which is 11% of all its NHTSA complaints.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 42 11% of this year's complaints
- Typical mileage
- 98,000 miles 37 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
When electrical system problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 13 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 37 electrical system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 98,000 miles, and 14% were reported before 60,000 miles.
These complaints mention 3 fires.
What owners wrote
As my husband and I drove we smelled a strange odor we thought it was the air outside. My husband noticed there was smoke rising from the hood. He drove to the shoulder and got out of the vehicle. Sparks began to appear and very quickly the entire car became engulfed. We were very luckily not to be injured. We lost a significant amount of our belongings. We were going away for the weekend to our home in pa. And were carrying clothing, luggage,etc. To store.
Bought car used and didn't notice the shift problem til later.shifts hard from 2 to 3rd gear. Many people have issue with this mostly being the ECM going bad then destroying the transmission. Both are expensive fixes and both are dangerous leading to accidents.
Other problems reported for the 2003 Toyota RAV4
- Transmission 109 complaints
- Drivetrain & axles 100 complaints
- Engine 47 complaints
- Cruise control 29 complaints