2010 Toyota RAV4 Acceleration Problems

Which parts fail

• Accelerator pedal
  7
• Cruise control
  1

Components named in complaints (accelerator pedal, throttle, sudden acceleration, cruise control).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  5779%
• 25k–50k
  913%
• 50k–75k
  34%
• 75k–100k
  23%
• 100k–150k
  11%
• 150k+
  00%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2010 Toyota RAV4 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

On August 10 2022 I was pulling slowly into a parking spot with foot lightly on brake to control forward motion car attempted to surge /accelerate . I stepped firmly on brake and since car was nearly stopped I put it in to park. RPM's went up dramatically and then car reverted to normal rpms. I estimate that the entire process.I estimate that the entire process took place in about 30 seconds or less. I immediately took vehicle to the Toyota dealer and they presumably checked it out and found no problems with vehicle. They "deemed it accidental accelerator pedal engagement by customer" which it was definitely not! A similar situation occurred about 3 months earlier. That time I was pulling slowly into traffic and suddenly car tried to accelerate. I pressed firmly on brake pedal and acceleration stopped. …

Steering becomes very hard to control with no slack and in the wheel and occasionally it feels like you hit ice and sliding when you change lanes, happens on dry paved road without warning. Also when using cruise control hitting button to slow down the headlights and dash lights fade out and then brighter when acceleration

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated the vehicle speed accelerated independently causing the contact to rear end the vehicle in front of her, while she had the brake pedal depressed. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. There were no medical injuries that were sustained that required medical attention. The vehicle was not towed, the contact able was to drive the vehicle home. The manufacturer was contacted and made aware of the failure and offered to buy back the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000. Updated 9/18/18

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 Toyota RAV4. While approaching a stop light and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle continued to accelerate. The vehicle crashed into a preceding vehicle that was stopped at the traffic light. There was no physical damage to either vehicle. Later, he was notified that there was a recall pertaining to unintended acceleration (NHTSA campaign id number: 10V017000, vehicle speed control: accelerator pedal). While taking the vehicle to his local dealer for recall repairs, the vehicle exhibited the same failure. While approaching a stop light at 15 MPH, the vehicle abnormally accelerated. The contact was able to control the vehicle by placing the gear shift into the neutral position. The failure mileage was 3,200 miles and the current was 3,700 miles. …

I was driving alone into the germonds village condominium development located off eastlyn drive near route 304 in bardonia, ny. I drove slowly into the complex parking lot. I turned right to park in a space in front of a garbage collection structure. While entering this space, I was driving very slowly. I placed my foot on the brake to stop when suddenly the car accelerated, made a 'changing-of-gear type sound' and catapulted into the garbage structure at a very high rate of speed. The structure caused the car to stop. I put the car into park and shut the engine off. Notably, neither the driver side or passenger side airbags deployed. I was shaken and very scared but not injured. The car sustained heavy damage to the front end, front right side and the right front tire. …

I had been driving app. 10 minutes in snow covered road conditions when I was approaching an intersection with traffic stopped for a red light. As I applied the brake to ease into a stop, the vehicle accelerated uncontrollably. I was in the center lane with stopped vehicles in front of me. I had to exert hard force on the brake pedal to finally bring my vehicle to a stop. The engine was at least over 4000rpms on the tachometer. When traffic started moving again, I eased off the brake pedal and slowly applied gas and eased over in to the right(curb) lane. I stayed slow at about 15-20 MPH and felt an acceleration again, but was able to brake successfully. I then turned right into the first available parking lot to gain composure before continuing on. I continued home at a safe rate of speed ( under 35mph). …

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle continued to accelerate. The vehicle crashed into the rear end of another vehicle. There was no personal injury. A police report was not filed of the incident. The vehicle was able to be driven from the scene. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer. The black box data detected that the brakes were not faulty. The vehicle had not been repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 24,000. The consumer stated it was not the first time, she and her husband experienced brake failure, with the vehicle continuing to accelerate. The dealer informed the consumer, that an update on the brakes had not been made. The consumer stated she never received any type of notification, to have service done.

I was at a complete stop at a red light with my foot on the brake, I was stopped for at least 10 or more seconds. With my foot on the brake the RAV4 started to move. I applied more pressure to the brake pedal, but the car continued forward. I struck the car in front of me. The engine was revving loudly. The car continued forward. I then placed both feet on the brake pedal in an attempt to stop the car,I struck the car a second time. At which point I was able to get the car in park. The engine continued to rev for a second then stopped.I moved the car a short distance to a parking lot. An accident report was filed with the police,and the car was towed to the Toyota dealership. Toyota was contacted and I am awaiting spx service solutions /eaa to inspect the car and download information from the event data recorder. The road conditions were dry,weather clear,air temp. Was minus 6.

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated he was struck in the passenger side by another vehicle going 30 MPH. The side curtain air bags deployed but not the frontal air bags. After the contact was struck, the vehicle began to abnormally accelerate. The contact was unable to stop the vehicle despite his attempts in abruptly applying the brakes. The vehicle drove over several curbs and proceeded to accelerate up a hill. The contact was able to steer the vehicle but could not bring the vehicle to a stop. The vehicle did not stop until all four tires were flat. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was available. The manufacturer advised they would send an engineer to further inspect the nature of the failure. The vehicle was towed to a salvage facility. The failure and current mileage was 7,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated that while driving 5 MPH, the vehicle surged forward and crashed into a handicap sign. There were no injuries reported. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that no failures had occurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the recalls associated with unintended acceleration associated with NHTSA campaign id numbers: 10V017000 (vehicle speed control:accelerator pedal) or 11V113000 (vehicle speed control:accelerator pedal). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 6,600. Updated 05/11/12 the consumer was informed there was a chip in the computer system that failed, not the accelerator. Updated 06/04/12

Related recalls

Acceleration complaints in other RAV4 years