Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2012 Toyota RAV4 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Over the last several years, I have experienced a minimum of four, possibly one or two more, incidents of this vehicle accelerating at a high rate while I have had my foot on the brake. In all of these cases, I was braking to come to a stop - braking quickly and hard in a couple cases. While braking and slowing, my engine revved/accelerated at a very high rate. In all of these incidents, I changed gears to neutral, and the acceleration stopped. These incidents were random and very far apart from one another in terms of time. In all cases, my foot was firmly (and only) on the brake pedal, and my floor mat was in the proper position and secure. There was nothing in contact with the acceleration pedal. On Monday, March 10, 2025, I got into my car in our garage to go to work. The car started normally. …
When pulling my 2012 Toyota RAV4 into a parking space at very low rate of speed, I tapped the brake pedal and the engine immediately started roaring and accelerating out of control. The car jumped the curb that was directly in front of the parking spot, crossed the road, jumped another curb, and landed in a muddy ravine. The car was towed to the Toyota dealership to be repaired and the tech couldn't find anything wrong with the brakes. I reported the incident to Toyota. They sent an investigator. They claim the edr detected no defects in the vehicle and blamed it on either me mistaking the accelerator for the brakes or my custom fitted, lock-in weathertech floor mat which has been in place since day one of owning this vehicle since 2012. I had never had any problems with the vehicle before this and I have always loved my car but am now terrified that it will accelerate on it's own again.
While stopped in a left turn lane at a major city intersection behind a line of about 6 stopped cars, the engine suddenly began to race at high speed. The car moved forward and hit the rear of the car in front before I could depress the brake hard. I did that, put the car into neutral, applied the emergency brake, and turned the engine off at the ignition key before checking on the condition of the folks in the car in front. There was no way that I could have mistaken which pedal was which, as I was already depressing the brake pedal to keep from moving.
Tl* the contact owned a 2012 Toyota RAV4. While driving at approximately 20 MPH, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration causing the driver to lose control and crash into a traffic light pole. During the crash, the vehicle shook and wobbled from side to side and could not be stopped when depressing the brake pedal. The driver sustained a fractured rib and upper torso contusions. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 16,500.
On june10th. I had a majoir accident in which both my wife & myself suffered fractured sternums & fractured ribs. What happened was that I pulled into a lot in princeton, n.j. & after stopping to set my GPS, I just tapped the accelerator & the car shot forward, as if shot out of a cannon. While stopped I put the car in reverse & the car shot backwards in the same manner, thereby striking a wall. Now I went forward like a rocket, with no time to hit the brake, thereby going headfirst into a parked construction truck.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 Toyota RAV4. While attempting to park, the vehicle surged forward, went over the curb, and slammed into a brick wall. The front air bags did not deploy. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent body shop. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was not repaired and was under evaluation by the insurance company. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 105,000.
I was driving in heavy traffic at appx: 35-40mph. On us interstate #66. The weather was clear, and the road was relatively level. As the other cars slowed, I took my foot off the accelerator but the car surged forward. Updated 01/11/17 I --literally--had to stand on the brake as the engine surged. I managed to push the shifter into park. The engine continued to race but, when I pumped the accelerator several times, the engine speed dropped back to idle. I did not hit any other vehicle or object. I have had two (2) similar incidents in the last 5-6 months-- but this is the first time that I reported it--to both NHTSA and Toyota. I took it to the Toyota dealership, expecting a quick fix but instead, the dealership personnel became defensive, claimed that the well known history of Toyota acceleration problems was a fraud. …
My RAV4 accelerates excessively out of the blue, in a dangerous manner far exceeding any need to maintain the set speed. Slamming on the brakes is the only way to stop it is happening more frequently. In a day and a half of highway driving it happened three separate and random occurrences yesterday, sep 4th and today sep 5th, 2019. For example I was driving on I-44 eastbound at cruise control of 70 MPH. And as I was going along it had accelerated to 75 before I recognized what was happened and slammed aggressively on the brake pedal or it would have surpassed 85 MPH easily. It put me in danger of having an serious accident with a semitrailer in July. I sought answers from a mechanic today. He said it sounded similar to what has happened to other Toyota models. Because of this similarity, I am reporting my experiences to the NHTSA now. Yours truly, [redacted].
While attempting to roll the vehicle forward to clear a doorway, the vehicle jumped forward about 6 feet. At that time I pulled my foot off the gas and pushed the brake pedal to the floor. The vehicle stopped momentarily, then began to accelerate picking up speed rapidly as evidenced by the revving of the engine. I continued to pump the brake since holding it to the floor was doing nothing. By this time I had gone through a chain link fence, through a ditch over a curb and continued to pick up speed to pass through a concrete block wall and into the back of a parked r.,the vehicle impaling itself on the steel pipes of a motorcycle carrier attached to the back of the r.v. The vehicle could not move any further but the engine was still revving. Needless to say the RAV4 was totaled and amazingly I suffered only minor bumps and bruises. At no time did any of the air bags deploy.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 Toyota RAV4. On several occasions, while driving various speeds, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to ball Toyota of charleston (1905 patrick st plaza, charleston, wv 25387, [phone]) to be diagnosed, but the mechanic was unable to retrieve a fault code or duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The contact stated that Toyota corporation sent an engineer to retrieve data from the vehicle data recorder, but was unsuccessful. The approximate failure mileage was 33,450. The consumer stated inspection was performed in sept 2019 and no defect was found in vehicle. And last incident was on December 16th and brakes/tires were replace a month prior.
Acceleration complaints in other RAV4 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2012 Toyota RAV4?
NHTSA has 49 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2012 Toyota RAV4, 19% of the model year's 260 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2012 Toyota RAV4 acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2012 Toyota RAV4, though it has 5 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2012 Toyota RAV4 acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 11,000 miles, and 58% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 12 crashes, 0 fires and 4 injuries to speed control & acceleration problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.