2002 Toyota RAV4

No clear pattern

2% of complaints about the 2002 Toyota RAV4 arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 2002 vehicle, but with only 615 complaints on record the sample is too small to call it a pattern — the margin of error covers the range where ordinary vehicles sit. The figures below are reported without a verdict. The most-reported system is power train (344 complaints), typically at 8.1 yr or about 96,000 miles.

Complaints: 615
Median age at failure: 8.1 yr
Median mileage: 94,000 n=560
Crash / fire / tow: 8.8% of reports
Safety recalls: 0

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

System

0y2y4y6y8y10y12y14y

Power train

344 reports · 96,000 mi

8.1 yr

2.6%

Electrical system

85 reports · 94,000 mi

8.1 yr

7.1%

Engine cooling

36 reports · 88,000 mi

6.8 yr

8.3%

Speed control

30 reports · 88,000 mi

11.1 yr

13.3%

Air bags

22 reports · 38,000 mi

13.8 yr

90.9%

Engine

22 reports · 95,000 mi

12.0 yr

9.1%

Other

18 reports · 116,000 mi

12.0 yr

5.6%

Electronic stability control (esc)

16 reports · 95,000 mi

8.7 yr

In owners’ own words

Electrical system mileage not reported 7 mo in service crash / fire / tow

ENGINE COMPARTMENT CAUGHT ON FIRE RIGHT AFTER CONSUMER PARKED VEHICLE. CONTACTED DEALER, AND THE DEALER WAS NOT WILLING TO DO ANYTHING.*AK

Electrical system mileage not reported 4 mo in service

WHEN DRIVING FOR MORE THAN 15 MILES AND STOPPING THE VEHICLE SHAKES. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT IT WAS NORMAL FOR VEHICLE TO SHAKE. *AK CONSUMER STATES THAT THE ENGINE IS LOUD, WHEN STOPPING, IT FEELS LIKE THE BRAKES LOCK UP AND WHEN THE VEHICLE IS TURNED OFF THE POWER WINDOWS CONTINUE TO WORK AND THE LIGHTS GO ON AND OFF. *SLC

Electrical system 63,000 mi 5.2 yr in service crash / fire / tow

NOVEMBER 17, 2006 - AFTER BEING PARKED IN MY DRIVEWAY FOR APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES THE ENGINE CAUGHT ON FIRE. THE RAV4 ENGINE COMPARTMENT AND ENTIRE INTERIOR WAS DEMOLISHED, TIRES EXPLODED, GLASS EXPLODED OVER AT LEAST A 20 FOOT RADIUS. TWO ENGINE TRUCKS AND 10 RESPONDERS LATER THE FIRE WAS OUT. 63,000 MILES, NO PRIOR PROBLEMS, 50K MAINTENANCE COMPLETED BY DEALER JAN 2006. VIN HAS ZEROS AND LETTER O WHICH ARE INDISTINGUISHABLE. TRY BOTH. *JB

Engine cooling mileage not reported 4 mo in service

WHEN DRIVING FOR MORE THAN 15 MILES AND STOPPING THE VEHICLE SHAKES. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT IT WAS NORMAL FOR VEHICLE TO SHAKE. *AK CONSUMER STATES THAT THE ENGINE IS LOUD, WHEN STOPPING, IT FEELS LIKE THE BRAKES LOCK UP AND WHEN THE VEHICLE IS TURNED OFF THE POWER WINDOWS CONTINUE TO WORK AND THE LIGHTS GO ON AND OFF. *SLC

Other RAV4 model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.