Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2017 Toyota RAV4 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns 2017 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving downhill at night with the headlights illuminated, the windshield darkened, and the contact lost visibility of the roadway. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the windshield was compliant to safety standards. The contact stated that he had contacted an unknown dealer, who informed him that the failure was related to the design of the headlights. Additionally, the contact stated that while attempting to turn the key in the ignition switch, the key would not turn and remained stuck. The contact stated that he continuously attempted to turn the key while wiggling the steering wheel, and he was able to turn the key in the ignition switch. There was no warning light illuminated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened; however, no further assistance was provided. …
The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that after turning the vehicle off and later attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to restart. The battery was then recharged. The failure occurred on several occasions before the vehicle was taken to the local mechanic. The local mechanic was unable to diagnose a failure or determine a cause for the failure. Additionally, after opening the rear hatch door, the door failed to close and remained open. The contact stated that water and condensation were present inside the rear brake light assembly. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 30,000.
I bought my Rav4 in September of 2017 brand new and within 6 months I had a dead battery needing replacement so I replaced it via AAA. Since then, I have had the battery replaced an additional 3 times! I always serviced my car at the dealer and took very good care of it. Then after 50k miles, I started having odd lighting issues...both headlight bulbs had to be replaced within 3 weeks of each other and one high beam bulb, and then my tail lights went out! Then I would occasionally have trouble starting the car and with a natural gas smell, rotten eggs. Which could be a catalytic converter or fuel pump issue but can also be the battery. Well, my Rav was in the driveway with a dead battery and with no tail lights and had been sitting there for a month since I mainly drive our Sienna.My Rav just caught on fire and was completely destroyed. …
Both of my headlights burned out at the same time. I was driving on a rural mountain highway at about 7:30pm and was using my adaptive headlights. They were working fine, I noticed no issues, until they both burned out at the same time. It was dangerous, there was no shoulder to pull over on, and a steep drop-off i couldn't see and no warning whatsoever I'd be in pitch black dark in the middle of the road. Thankfully there was very little traffic, it could have been much worse. My dash camera captured the event and I've shared it to YouTube. https://youtu.be/plJlQYcA8-A No indicator lights ever came on, before or after. I had to drive the last hour to my destination through the mountains in the dark with only fog and running lights. I had been to the dealership for scheduled interval maintenance just the week before. …
This and other year model RAV4s have a known and reported issue of the tail light lenses not being properly sealed with and connected to the tail light housing. This is allowing water intrusion into the tail light and electrical system and vehicle body. This is the case with both of my tail lights on my 2010 RAV4. Water has been entering the tail lights where the lens is not sealed to the housing. The lack of plastic welding / sealant can be seen at the lens and housing. Water is intruding corroding the electronics and electrical connectors as well as portions of the body. The lenses are becoming deteriorated and discolored due to the water intrusion diminishing the effectiveness of the rear lighting. Of course, this is a safety issue as well as the corrosion of the electrical connectors and electronics within the tail light that may cause them to completely fail. …
The tail light assembly on these vehicles seems to be a reoccurring issue reported by other owners on online forums and unfortunately we seem to fall under the same category. Water and moisture constantly gets into the rear brake/turn lighting assembly and has been constantly burning out the bulbs it's become quite ridiculously expensive now. How was my safety put at risk? Well it's the brake lights! If my brake lights are out or greatly dimmed from moisture that puts me at a higher risk of having someone rear end me at any moment! No the component has not been inspected again by the dealer! I had already brought it up once during a regular maintenance visit but was ignored. There was no warning lamps or such thing. I can not remember when it first began to give problems. But the most recent incident where I had to change out all the bulbs again was just recently on 09/02/2026
Even when properly aimed, with new headlight bulbs, visibility is poor at night. I recently had an incident while driving in town at less than 25 miles hour where I almost hit a deer that I could see on the side of the street, and this is actually not the first of many such incidents. I feel unsafe driving the vehicle at night due to the poor amount of light put out by the headlights. Toyota should offer to retrofit these with LEDS for people with issues. It's downrigtht scary, especially on poor lit streets or driving on the highway.
While we were driving in the mountains, the wiring harness shorted and fried all 4 of our front bulbs, causing us to have no visibility while driving on unlit back roads in Colorado. Toyota has a known TSB for this issue but claims it's not a safety issue, and has a kit to repair the issue, charging us $500 to install the kit. When asking about this 2 different employees explained it was a design issue with the car. Why is this not a recall? How is frying all my headlights not a safety issue?
I purchased a 2017 RAV4 le in December 2017. After driving it in the dark, I realized how horrible the headlights are. I had them adjusted on May 5, 2018, but little difference was noticed. Those that buy the high end models of the RAV4 get better headlights. And they cannot be retro fitted into the le model. Driving at night scares the bejezzus out of me. My parents live in montana (lots of wildlife), and hitting a deer is not my idea of fun. I drive high beams as much as possible, but don't want another car to wreck due to my headlights. I can't even see across the street with the headlights on low beam. I can't believe Toyota has not remedied this issue. Driving in the rain on November 23, 2018, was horrible! I couldn't even tell if the headlights were on. I went to the Toyota dealership on November 24, 2018, and gave the salesman a piece of my mind. …
Automatic high beams (ahb) malfunction. When driving at night the ahb systems occasionally (every ~10 minutes lately) shuts down and the green "auto high beam" indicator goes off - resulting in total loss of high beams in all ambient conditions. This usually lasts about a minute and then the systems recovers. There are many cases of this reported on the internet - which can be found by googling "Toyota auto high beams malfunction". The issue seems to affect all Toyota and Lexus vehicles manufactured in the last ~3 years and equipped with ahb. Lexus owners seem to be able to successfully fix this under warranty by their dealers - the fix is cleaning the camera lens and the windshield in front of the camera. Unfortunately it seems impossible to get this addressed by Toyota. …
Headlight complaints in other RAV4 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are headlight problems on the 2017 Toyota RAV4?
NHTSA has 32 complaints about the lights of the 2017 Toyota RAV4, 10% of the model year's 307 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2017 Toyota RAV4 headlight problems?
No. NHTSA lists no lights recall for the 2017 Toyota RAV4, though it has 3 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 2017 Toyota RAV4 headlight problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 6,000 miles, and 74% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 1 fire and 0 injuries to lights 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.