Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2021 Toyota RAV4 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact stated that the owner of a 2021 Toyota Rav4 was driving approximately 35 mph when the odor of burning rubber was present inside the cabin of the vehicle. After stopping and exiting the vehicle flames were present coming from the engine compartment. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. The vehicle was destroyed during the incident. A fire report was taken at the scene and the vehicle was towed away. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified. The contact indicated that the vehicle had recently been repaired after a front-end crash had occurred. The contact also references an NHTSA open investigation(PE21005) for the same failure that had occurred. The failure mileage was 30,000
While parked in a commercial lot on [redacted] around [redacted], I noticed smoke coming from the front of the vehicle while sitting inside. There was a strong burning rubber smell. I exited and saw flames coming from beneath the front left bumper, directly under the fog light area. I had arrived at the location about 30 minutes earlier. I opened the hood from inside the vehicle, stepped back, and called 911. The fire rapidly engulfed the front of the vehicle. Firefighters arrived within 10 minutes and extinguished the fire. Police responded and created a report. Three nearby vehicles also sustained fire damage. The vehicle had previous front-end repairs (driver side bumper and fog light) and was well maintained. The vehicle had not shown any warning lights or messages prior to the fire. …
The contact rented a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he heard a vibrating sound coming from the front driver's side windshield. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the contact was informed that the vehicle was a rental and could not be diagnosed. The contact was informed to return the vehicle to Avis Car Rental. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact stated that he was able to restart the vehicle after several minutes. The contact stated that due to the loss of motive power, the front driver's and passenger's side headlights failed to operate as needed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the contact was informed that the vehicle could not be diagnosed since the vehicle was a rental. …
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, being driven, or stationary, the climate control module turned off sporadically. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact turned off the vehicle for half an hour and then restarted the vehicle, and the climate control module worked as needed for a month. The contact stated that the instrument panel was dim, and the numbers were difficult to see. The vehicle was repaired three times however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed with a climate control module failure. The vehicle was not repaired after the recent failure. The contact had replaced the climate control module three times prior. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.
I was parked at a store, engine off. Was in there 3 minutes and another customer ran inside and said a car was on fire, the employee asked if it was mine. I ran outside and it was indeed mine. The rear tail light was all melted and on fire, billowing smoke was coming out the sides of the hatch so I opened it quickly to get the fire out. The store employee put the fire out with his fire extinguisher. No prior warning lights were present when driving it before this occurred. The car is at Toyota dealer presently while they determine the cause.
Lane keeping assistance over corrected and caused an accident that resulted in total loss of my vehicle. My tire crossed white line , I was trying to gradually adjust to keep from over correcting. The lane keeping assistance caused the steering to pull in the opposite direction and would not allow me to correct. The more I tried to get back in the lane the harder the lane assistance pulled in the oppposite direction. It ultimatley jerked the steeing wheel in the opposite direction a caused me to hit a tree head on.
In the driver's side, rear therr was smoke coming and before that occurred the lights flickered several times. There may have been steering issues before the rear fire and blinking likes as smoke started to show. The safety is due to fire risk. There is some media information on the same vehicle yet 2017 vehicle year that similar electrical issue occurred. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone as it just occurred a few days ago. There were no warning lights or prior failures.
I had 2 sudden acceleration incidents. The first occurred 10/6/21.My car lurched forward & hit a pole. I was with my mom who saw me press the brake, which did not engage. My car has an auto-braking system which did not function as designed. I took it to Toyota.They determined there were no issues w/the vehicle. I insisted there was something wrong & warned this will happen again & could be much worse. I felt defeated but hoped it was an isolated glitch & hoped for the best. Fast forward 2 months to 12/13/21 I was in a drive-thru using the hold button, which is a feature that holds the brake in place, so my foot was not on any pedal. All of a sudden, my car began to accelerate & the brakes would not engage. An error message on the dash said "BRAKE MALFUNCTION". I could not stop the car. I put in park, but it did not stop the car. …
We were on a drive back from Nashville like normal. My mom had picked me up from work at around 07:15. The car started making strange sounds as we were driving down the highway. It started yelling at us to pull over to a safe spot and slowing down. All of the lights had come on flashing at this time. It didn't even make it to the shoulder; We made a stop on the triangle area for when cars come in from the exit. As soon as we stopped, smoke started engulfing us and 2 guys who saw this happening parked on the shoulder and came running out of their van with fire extinguishers and started telling us to get out. When we went around the car to check what was going on, we noticed the fire that had started from the bottom of it. They fired the extinguishers a couple of times to the bottom of it where we could see the fire but it didn't help much so we had to retreat to a safer spot. …
I was in a bad car accident last Wednesday July 26, 2023 It was very scary and Bizarre; My car accelerated (started racing)and when I stepped on brake, it accelerated more. I saw a message flash up on my GPS screen but obviously couldn't read it as I was trying to stop my car. The Auto brakes didn't work, I crashed into a tree; air bags didn't deploy and I got this message ("CHECK ENGINE! A MALFUNCTION IN THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL OF THE ENGINE,THROTTLE, OR AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN DETECTED.CONTACT YOUR TOYOTA DEALER IN ORDER TO HAVE YOUR VEHICLE INSPECTED." (See attached). Luckily I was in an almost empty parking lot when this happened, if not i could have been killed or killed someone else. All the safety back ups failed. I took a picture of the message-will attach it to this report. …
Electrical complaints in other RAV4 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2021 Toyota RAV4?
NHTSA has 47 complaints about the electrical system of the 2021 Toyota RAV4, 12% of the model year's 387 complaints. The component named most often is adas › autonomous/self driving (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2021 Toyota RAV4 electrical problems?
No. NHTSA lists no electrical system recall for the 2021 Toyota RAV4, though it has 1 recall 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 2021 Toyota RAV4 electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 30,000 miles, and 40% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 4 crashes, 5 fires and 4 injuries to electrical system 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.