Buyer's checklist: 5th gen Toyota RAV4 (2019–2025)

This checklist comes from a draft dossier that has not been approved yet, so read it with care.

What to look for on this generation, worst first. Tick each line as you check it.

Free while the site is being tested. Every line comes from the dossier and keeps its source, and the dossier itself stays free.

Look for 5

Known problems, and how to check for each.

Hesitation and lurching at low speed2019Drive it slowly in traffic and from a stop, and feel for hesitation or a lurch.¹
Grinding as the AWD connects and disconnects2019Listen for grinding or a moan as the AWD driveline engages and disengages on a test drive.²
Hybrid fuel tank will not fill2019–2020Fill the tank and check the gauge reads full, and ask whether the tank was replaced.³
Prime stalling in EV mode2021Ask a Toyota dealer whether the software recall was done.⁴
Corroded high-voltage cable2019–2022The Car Guide, a Canadian site, reports that Toyota extended cover for early corrosion of a high-voltage cable on select 2019–2022 RAV4 Hybrids, to 8 years or 160,000 km, and that it seems not to cover the Prime. No US program was found in the sources read.⁵

What owners and the press say to steer clear of.

2019, the first year2019CarComplaints.com rates the 2019 as the worse year even though the 2002 has more complaints, with hesitation and lurching at low speed the 2019's top complaint.^24,1