2024 TOYOTA RAV4 Engine Problems

I am submitting this complaint to document an unresolved vehicle safety concern and loss of confidence in safe operation. My vehicle experienced serious safety-related malfunctions and warnings, and despite service visits, I was not provided written confirmation that the vehicle was safe to operate. After repairs were reportedly completed, I repeatedly requested written safety verification, which was not provided. Due to the unresolved safety concerns and lack of written safety assurance, I did not feel it was safe to resume driving the vehicle. A loaner vehicle was provided while the safety issues were being addressed. The loaner was later recovered before my safety concerns were resolved and without advance notice, leaving me without a vehicle that I could confirm was safe to operate. I am reporting this because I continue to lack confidence in the safety of the vehicle and want this documented as a safety concern. This complaint is not about customer service, but about unresolved safety issues and the absence of written confirmation that the vehicle is safe to drive.

I was driving home, about a 30 min drive, in heavy rain. Once I got home, I left my car running to run inside. When I came back out the car was shaking and idling funny. A "low steering power" diagnostic came up and then also a parking malfunction. I turned the car off. It would barely turn over and still multiple diagnostic lights on. I pulled in into the garage and after sitting off for about 10 minutes, it started fine. I've seen multiple posts about this same issue. It's definitely a safety concern.

Rav 4 2024 Mileage 44,780 Got off work and started car and drove home no issues was driving in the rain for about 30 mins. I get home and park and my car is sitting for a minute. Then it started to idle strange/ shaking and I see the rpms are jumping between 1k-2k I try to give it gas and nothing happens. I end up turning the car off and back on and the car starts but sputters/shakes and turns right off this happens multiple times. I leave it alone and start it 30 mins later it starts but is shaking very badly. I turn it off and call for a tow to the dealership. I go back and start it an hr later it starts fine and runs fine. I get it towed to the dealership and they keep it for 1 1/2 days they find nothing wrong saying everything is running the way it is designed to run. I go and pick it up and they state they completely inspected and drove multiple times there is nothing going wrong. I take the car and drive it for 3 mins around the block then park the car engine shuts off on its own but everything is still on message states engine stopped power steering low. Took it back the dealership has no idea what’s going wrong. This is a concern because it can happen while driving and the car will stop on its own and cause an accident. This needs to be addressed due to the dealership not knowing what is going on and it being a safety concern.

The first time I was stopped at a red light and the car started acting like it was missing and then it shut off this was during rain the message on the dash said engine stopped steering power low. The next time this happened I was parking it a parking lot and the engine did the same it rpm started going up and down like it was missing then it shut off and showed the message engine stopped steering power low this was also during rain after I had been driving in the rain. After about 20 minutes both times the car would start and drive as normal. I have looked online and multiple people have had the same issue.

Had to have my 2024 Toyota RAV 4 towed for a second time in 2 month after driving in heavy rain. During the first instance, I drove less than 10 miles on the highway in very heavy rain. Arrived at my destination, put the car in park and the engine and RPM meter started pulsating, revving feeling as if the car were going to stall. Turned the engine off, had the vehicle towed to the dealership who found "no issues" with the car. Again on September 23, 2025, I drove through a heavy rain storm, arrived a my destination and again the engine/RPM were pulsating/revving. An hour later when I went to leave (in no rain), started the vehicle and the engine began to sputter, all warning lights on the dash board went on including in part "Parking Support Brake Malfunction Visit Your Dealer", "Pre-Collision System Malfunction Visit Your Dealer" and "Engine Stopped Steering Power Low", and the engine sputtered and shut off. Had the vehicle towed to another dealership where it has been for 5 days with the technician telling me he cannot replicate the issue. This is a serious problem for a new vehicle with 17k miles. Not only is this is a safety risk due to vehicle failure/shut down, it is a serious defect in a product that I paid $40,000 for. Please do all that can be done to force Toyota to fix this issue, as it appears based on review of similar complaints on this website that this is happening quite a lot. Separately, it is more than concerning that total engine failure does not generate codes sufficient for Toyota technicians to diagnose such a fatal problem.

When idling with intermittent wipers on, the vehicle began smoking under the hood, engine light came on dash as well as “steering power low” warning, then engine shut off. The vehicle was unable to be started again after waiting a few minutes. The gear shift could not move from parked. The vehicle was purchased new and had only 20,000 miles on it. I ended up having it towed to a Toyota dealership but by that time the battery was drained from leaving the hazards on too long. They could not identify any other problems and sent me on my way with a working vehicle. After talking to a manager at another Toyota dealership, they identified that this is an occasional problem with this vehicle. The manager was able to contact Toyota who suggested they replace the air intake tube and bezel. Hopefully after these new parts are replaced I will not experience a random shutdown again. It’s such a specific set of conditions to cause the problem but a quick search online showed that other people have encountered similar situations with the wipers on intermittent while idling. Someone mentioned pressing the switch to turn off the automatic engine shut off as a temporary fix. I was blocking traffic and police had to direct traffic around me while I waited for the tow. Thankfully the traffic was not moving fast.

Vehicle has stopped in the middle of the road 3 times so far each time I’m getting a message: Engine stopped Steering Power low

Driving down the highway in the pouring rain. Pulled over because the engine felt like it was about to stall. Whole engine cut off and check engine light came on with “engine stopped - power steering low”. Would act like it wanted to start again but shut back off every time. After about 30 minutes it started back up without any check engine lights or messages. This is the 3rd time its happened. Always in the rain.

I was driving home in exceptionally heavy rain. Before getting home, I decided to stop at a coffee drive thru. It was still raining pretty heavily as I drove up to the pick up window. I had my foot on the brake as I waited for my order. A few minutes went by when suddenly the car shook a bit and completely shut off. A warning sign came up on the dash screen that read “engine stopped, steering power low” and instructed to put the car in park. That warning message would come up every time I tried to put the gearshift back in drive. I kept trying to restart the car many times, the engine cracked but no start. At one point I even tried putting the car in neutral to attempt to push it out of drive thru lane but the car and steering wheel were locked in place. There was no way to move either. It’s still raining at this point but it has significantly lightened up. About 15 - 20 minutes later, the car started up like normal and I was able to put the gearshift in drive. The car is less than a year old and nothing like this has ever happened before. There were absolutely no warning signs prior to this happening, everything on the dashboard and the mobile app associated with the car showed the car was in “good health.” I am SO incredibly lucky this happened at a drive thru and not in the middle of a highway or busy intersection. You are left completely helpless since the engine completely shuts off and the steering wheel locks. If this happened on a highway, it would immediately create a multi vehicle accident or potentially worse. This is a HUGE safety risk that needs to be addressed immediately. I plan to take the vehicle into the dealership for inspection because I do not feel 100% safe anymore.

I was sitting with the car in park. The car was running. My vehicle started shaking and said “Engine stopped, steering power low”.

I drove through heavy rain and after sitting in park for about 15 minutes, my car started shaking and the dashboard lit up. I received a power steering low message and when I tried shifting into drive, it said car not ready to drive. I turned it off and back on and it started, but eventually stalled after a few seconds. I called a tow truck to have it taken to the dealership and by the time he arrived, it start up like normal. Based on what im seeing online, this is becoming more of a common problem.

The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that after driving for 45 minutes, the vehicle was parked. While attempting to restart the vehicle, there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. The engine stopped; engine power was low, and the message “Not ready to Drive” was displayed. The contact stated that the gear shifter failed to move, and the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who determined that the vehicle was working as designed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer informed the contact that there were no diagnostic trouble codes saved in the history. The manufacturer was contacted, and referred the contact to another dealer, but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 8,063.

Mileage: 8,063

I was in a parking space at the local library, waiting on my children. It was raining, and had been raining most of the day. I had driven about 60 miles in the rain before going to the library. The car was on, but in park. The car started slightly shaking (like a big truck was going by), and it looked like some smoke was coming out of the engine. The car then flashed some lights on the dash and gave the following message: Engine Stopped. Steering Power Low. It then turned off, and I tried to turn it on multiple times to no avail. After researching online while waiting for a tow truck, I saw multiple references on Reddit to this problem. I waited about 20 minutes and was able to turn the car on, though it was hesitant. I was able to cancel the tow and drive the short distance home. It was scary because it came out of nowhere and this is a BRAND NEW CAR with only about 27,000 miles on it. I am not happy that this would be something I will have to worry about in the future. I have not reported it to the dealership, but saw online most people had no luck at the dealership and were told to report it here.

This is a follow up of an incident reported on 3/30/2025, after the vehicle was driven approximately 30 miles in the rain, then stopped for 5 to 10 minutes idling with windshield wipers on intermittent setting. Engine began to shudder, engine rpms increased/decreased erratically as the engine shook. The vehicle was turned off. After approximately 5 minutes, restarted vehicle and engine again ran erratically and then stalled, displaying “Engine Stopped, Steering Power Low” on the message center in the driver’s display. After the engine stalled, the vehicle would not restart and had to be towed. After being towed, the vehicle started and ran smooth. A short while later, the vehicle was started but again ran erratically, but did not stall right away and was turned off. The next day, 3/31/2025, the vehicle was taken to the dealership service department. The dealer stated that there were no diagnostic trouble codes stored in the vehicle computer, the battery was good condition, and the charging system was operating normally. They had no explanation for what happened. The service advisor suggested that when the gas tank was filled, it was overfilled after the gas pump clicked off. This, in fact is not the case. The gas tank was not overfilled. The service advisor was informed that there are other complaints online by other owners of the same symptoms under similar weather conditions while the vehicle is idling. The advisor stated that if it happens again, have it towed to the dealership service department

SUV shut off during heavy rain storm and won’t crank back up until after at least 5 to 7 minutes. I have had this happen four times and have had my vehicle towed to the Toyota dealership, etc..

On 3/30/2025, I drove my 2024 Toyota RAV 4 Adventure about 30 miles in the rain with the wipers on. I then put the car in park, with the wipers still on intermittent setting and the engine still running. After sitting in park like this for approximately 5 minutes, the engine began to shudder, with engine RPMs decreasing and increasing erratically, and the engine was also shaking as the RPMs increased and decreased. I then turned the car off for approximately 5 minutes. When I restarted the car after 5 minutes, the erratic RPM resumed, and then the engine stopped running, and my display screen showed the following message: “Engine Stopped, Steering Power Low”. The check engine, check steering, and check battery lights were also illuminated on the dashboard. The vehicle would not restart after several tries and ultimately ended up having the vehicle towed 30 minutes. Once the tow truck dropped it off, the engine started right up and the error messages were no longer displayed.

The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle started to shake abnormally. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the vehicle responded as needed. The contact stated that the engine shut off and the power steering fluid was low. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed, but no fault codes were retrieved, and the battery was in good condition. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,048.

Mileage: 13,048

Engine block cracked at 3600 miles on a 74 degree day. At 5714 miles, vehicle had another issue of coolant loss.

It was raining and we drove about an hour, parked and shutoff car, went into the store, came back out and car would not turn on. Error message that came up was “Engine Stopped Sterring Power Low” This is a brand new car just bought last year. We kept trying to turn car on and error message kept coming up. Waited for tow truck and car ended up turning on. Looked online and it seems a lot of other people are having the same issue in the rain.

Oil leak

While parked car engine stopped and got a message that said “ Steering Wheel Power Low”. Windshield wipers had been on for a while. Car will not start.

The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle was leaking oil. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that after the first failure, the vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no cause for the failure was found. The contact stated that the failure persisted, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer and an undisclosed part was cleaned; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.

While sitting idle in the parking lot at work, I suddenly got a "engine off steering power low" warning on my vehicle. The check engine and power steering warning lights came on. I could no longer operate the vehicle. When trying to restart the vehicle, it started up but the entire vehicle began shaking and the engine shut off again. I have researched this problem on Toyota and Rav4 forums online, and this problem has been happening to a lot of Rav4 owners. I had the vehicle towed. Toyota claims that everything is fine and they cannot find the cause of the problem. Some owners have reported that water is getting into the engine because of a faulty lower area intake tube. One user said that Toyota specifically told them to make a complaint here so that is what I am going to do as well. I no longer feel safe operating the vehicle and I am in a constant state of worry while I am driving. Other owners have reported near misses/accidents because of this problem. There were no symptoms/messages/warnings before this problem suddenly happened all at once.

Two week old 2024 RAV4 hybrid with less than 300 miles. In my driveway I put car in drive and it suddenly and aggressively accelerated. It would not stop or slow despite my attempts to brake, trying to avoid collision all I could do was steer to avoid impact. Finally grazed a tree trunk, car then rolled onto passenger side and came to rest against the bush by my front door. Spouse and I required extrication by fire Dept requiring jaws of life and removing windshield. Unsure of long-term injuries Been driving many years and never had an accident with vehicle damage Car was totaled

Two week old 2024 RAV4 hybrid with less than 300 miles. In my driveway I put car in drive and it suddenly and aggressively accelerated. It would not stop or slow despite my attempts to brake, trying to avoid collision all I could do was steer to avoid impact. Finally grazed a tree trunk, car then rolled onto passenger side and came to rest against the bush by my front door. Spouse and I required extrication by Fire Dept requiring jaws of life and removal of windshield. Unsure of long-term injuries Been driving many years and never had an accident with vehicle damage Car was totaled

Dear Tim Sir, Greetings to you and Team I hope this email finds you well, Brining it to your attention once again ( VOQ #11581817 Previous case no), In a less than 3 weeks of time and after Toyota's investigations and promises went unfaithful. As per Toyota's office sent email on the April 17th stating the vehicle is fit and safe after claiming highly on the investigation report and put me again into unsafe vehicle, Unfortunately, again last Sunday Morning [XXX] 2024 Time around 2:45 AM on the highway 10 near Orangeville this happened again when the vehicle was on the speed of 80KM a BIG Red steering wheel with exclamation mark appeared with warning sound and for a few seconds steering lost all its power by putting me and family in a dangerous situation and I had to stop the vehicle and its regain the power to pull over on the safer side. I called emergency roadside assistance of Toyota at 3:15 AM after taking car in near safe place, They said they would need a few hours to reach out me and requested me if you can still drive vehicle can park at home and contact your dealer, I had no choice than driving the vehicle as I was with my wife on the rainy night and dark road, I took this risk to reach home. I informed Toyota after reaching home safely. This is already brought to your attention briefly last time before with Toyota and so as dealership level and provided Digital facts regarding the safety issue in RAV4 XLE AWD I VIN: [XXX] . Toyota is just giving false commitments in the shape of reports and promises that could lead to accidents or someone's life. in last 3 months its 3rd time and vehicle spend almost 25 days in service centre and and its brand new vehicle with less than 3000 km on it. [XXX] Sir please help. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The vehicle simply shutoff while driving. I am told Toyota is aware of the defect related to water intrusion in the air intake. It causes water to intrude into the air filter and map sensor which in turn causes the vehicle to simply shut down.

On the [XXX] I purchased a TOYOTA RAV4 XLE AWB I VIN: [XXX] from Brampton East Toyota, 2 Maritime Ontario Blvd, Brampton, ON L6S 0C2 Canada. Very unfortunately, the vehicle is behaving dangerous to our lives because I've only had it for about 8 days and 300 KM on it on [XXX], I drove about 50 km into the city, while driving the vehicle seemed to start losing power and bucking. Several error symbols flashed including the engine light. I managed to pull mostly off the road but not all the way off. My rear was still on the road. The car was unresponsive. I waited a few seconds then tried to turn off and restart the car. The message "Steering Power Low" came on as well as several warning lights. I turned the car off totally and waited. I tried restarting again. Same bucking and error message. I turned the car off. and reported the issue to Brampton east toyota, they perform some checks and found battery issue and ask me to report if comes again I was promised this issue would not come again, but second time on Friday [XXX] evening this happened again and the car lost all power and slightly hit a road side wall, thanks to the the [XXX] the car was not in speed or on a express highway otherwise Toyota would found 5 dead bodies including a 5 year old child in car. Now with the "Steering Power Low" inow steering is not getting automatically back to the normal position I have to roll it back to normal and behaving really strange and since its in garage and Also The car is driving in the parking mode ON and the reverse camera is also displaying. I really don't feel safe to take the car out on the road, I don't want others to have problem because of my car I have showed all the videos and I would appreciate it if you could organise it before you find us with injuries on a highway or dead. and We look forward to an immediate action settling this matter amicably. If anything to ask feel free to call/write. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

After driving the vehicle in the rain, pulled into work and the car died. Would not restart, it popped up with power steering low error code. After leaving work car started right up and drove normal. Searching online and a lot of other people are having same issue, causing there cars to die and not restart when they are in traffic. Most people reporting the same issue have had their cars die on them while on the highway in stop and go traffic, which could lead to a wreck. I don’t want this to happen to me or anyone else as I travel a lot with my two small children in the vehicle. Other items to note, almost all the people I found online with same issue have said that it was also raining, with their windshield wipers on and the start stop function turned on. Thank you for looking into this for me and other customers.