Here Are Some Toyota RAV4 Years You Might Want To Avoid

The 2014 RAV4 would have been a good car if it hadn’t been for the possibility of catching fire. In November 2023, the NHTSA issued a recall for Toyota RAV4s spanning from 2013 to 2018, affecting almost 2 million vehicles.

It’s not like the car’s engine would spontaneously combust or anything like that. Instead, this poorly designed 12-volt replacement battery has a smaller top than the original. So, when driving a little rough, it could free itself from the hold-down clamp and come in contact with it, causing a short circuit and eventual fire.

Of course, the battery fire isn’t unique to the 2014 RAV4, but this, combined with some other problems it has, makes less desirable. The 2014 RAV4 is plagued with poor interior quality problems, like navigation screen glare, general infotainment system failure, and (while rarer) electric system failure. That’s not all, though. RAV4s from this year with factory white paint could experience bubbling and peeling. Toyota started a customer support program to address 2008 to 2017 RAV4s, as they will likely have this problem.

We’d recommend you skip the 2014 model and either go back to a 2013 or forward to 2015; they’re less likely to give you a headache.