There are 3 owner-reported fuel system complaints for the 2003 Toyota RAV4in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
2003 RAV 4 85,401 MILES. THE TRANSMISSION BEGAN TO MISS SHIFT, ENGINE WOULD SPEED UP AND THERE WOULD BE A LOSS OF POWER. FROM A STOPPED POSITION THE ENGINE WOULD REV AND NOT SHIFT INTO GEAR. TOYOTA TECH ADVISES THAT THE VEHICLE REQUIRES NEW COMPUTER AND TRANSMISSION , A $6,000 EXPENSE. MIND YOU THAT THIS VEHICLE IS 13 YEARS OLD BUT HAS ONLY 85,000 ORIGINAL MILES AND HAS BEEN MAINTAINED. TOYOTA ADVISES NO WARRANTY EFFECT FOR THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS BEING DRIVEN ON A MAIN HIGHWAY ( SUNRISE HIGHWAY LONG ISLAND) WHEN MALFUNCTION OCCURRED.
2003 RAV4 WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION STARTED HAVING TROUBLE ACCELERATING FROM A STOP. THERE SEEMED TO BE HARDLY ANY POWER WHEN THE GAS PEDAL WAS PRESSED, AND THEN ABOUT 5-8 SECONDS LATER THE CAR WOULD JOLT INTO GEAR. THIS PROBLEM WOULD HAPPEN ALSO WHEN INCREASING SPEED, OR ANY TIME THE GAS PEDAL WAS PRESSED DOWN. THE CAR WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTO SHOP WHERE THEY SAID THE TRANSMISSION WAS BROKEN AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I AM A VERY CONSERVATIVE DRIVER (I NEVER TRY TO ACCELERATE TOO QUICKLY), AND THIS TRUSTY TOYOTA HASN'T EVER HAD ANY ENGINE PROBLEMS... EVER! THERE ARE LESS THAN 77,000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE. *TR
S10 APPROPRIATE HANDLING RE SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION INCIDENT FM OWNER OF A 2003 TOYOTA RAV4. *KB THE CONSUMER STATED ON 3 SEPARATE OCCASIONS, WHEN SHE TRIED TO CHANGE LANES TO GET IN FRONT OF ANOTHER VEHICLE, IT WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. THE CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED NOTHING WAS WRONG. AFTER THE THIRD OCCURRENCE, THE CONSUMER WENT BACK TO THE DEALER AND THEY KEPT THE VEHICLE. UPON INSPECTION, THE DEALER DISCOVERED THE SENSOR IN THE GAS TANK WAS NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. *JB
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026