2017 TOYOTA RAV4 — Complaint #1949743
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:SWITCH filed December 12, 2023
NHTSA complaint #1949743 (ODI reference 11559753) concerns a 2017 TOYOTA RAV4 and was filed on December 12, 2023. The owner reports the failure occurred on June 12, 2017. The vehicle had 5,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Massachusetts based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as electrical system:ignition:switch, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TOYOTA RAV4 cohort independently describe similar electrical system:ignition:switch failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2017 TOYOTA RAV4 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
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 vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1949743 |
| ODI Number | 11559753 |
| Date Filed | December 12, 2023 |
| Failure Date | June 12, 2017 |
| VIN | 2T3RFREV0HW |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.