2005 Toyota RAV4 problems
Owners have filed 168 complaints with NHTSA about the 2005 Toyota RAV4. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 35% of complaints. After that come engine (9%) and cruise control (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 168 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 35% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 31 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 18 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 81,000 miles 108 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 9 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 13 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 14 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 15 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 16 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 12 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 11 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 5 |
| 200k+ miles | 7 |
What the data shows
Among the 108 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 81,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 91,000 miles (18 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 31 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 18 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 87% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2005 ranks 26th most-complained-about out of 30 model years of the Toyota RAV4 with enough data (46 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
My car was a toyota rav4 basic model 2005 bought toyota purchase at dealer in (la,ca)， a car accident occurred on june 09, 2017 and another car accident occurred on february 26, 2018; the second accident was caused by a lack of work on my car airbag. My head and body collided with the front windshield and steering wheel, causing me to lose my job and pay too much time and maintenance costs.
My wife was hit in a head on collision that did over $8,000 in damage in the toyota, 2005 , rav 4. With this damage you would think one airbag would deploy, and that did not happen.we are very concerned about this when getting the car back out of the shop.toyota airbag technician said they didn't always deploy depending on the impact, what??,head on with over $8.000 in damage,what will it take someone to be killed.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota rav4. While the contact was shifting into park, the engine revved and the rpms increased. The vehicle crashed into a metal post and building. A passenger was slightly bruised. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact filed a complaint with the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 72.330 updated 01/26/11 updated 03/28/11
I received a recall notice on my 2005 toyota rav4 about a defective takata driver's airbag. According to the dealership, the airbag was replaced on aug. 27, 2015. To date I haven't received a second letter from toyota explaining the solution to the recall, and I've called them and been provided with no information. I'm calling toyota again today. On sept. 2, I learned from leith toyota that my defective takata airbag was replaced by another potentially defective takata airbag. This is the solution?
When driving at or under the speed limit on some turns my cars slip indicator goes off without any apparent issues and it will start beeping and sometimes it even breaks on it's own and jerks the car. The slip indicator light has turned one while driving under 30 MPH in a dry and paved road. The beeping and jerking has happened on the freeway