Other powertrain problem on the 2010 Toyota Rav4
2 crashes 2 of the 27 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2010 Toyota Rav4 report other powertrain problem at a median of 10,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 300 miles and a quarter after 55,000 miles, from 26 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 41 miles at the tenth percentile to 102,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 103,534 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
62% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 miles | 327 miles | 10,650 miles | 55,014 miles | 103,575 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 2 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $400–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 29 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2021, at a median of 2,500 miles, and latest on the 2023 at 180,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 157; the 2010 has 27. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
2010 rav4 limited delivered 10/26/09. Constant transmission whine at speeds from 10 MPH to 45mph. This whine appeared immediately after taking delivery of the vehicle. Took it back to dealer who said this happens in all rav4's. Wrote letter to president of toyota usa on 12/17/09 and have received no response. Called him also, and no response yet. *tr
I bought a 2010 rav 4 2w drive 4 cyl automatic from nwa toyota on dec18 2009. Immediately discovered that when starting off from a stop(brake on) and going to the accelerator the vehicle is in a freewheel mood. Even on just a modest incline dive ways, exits onto streets and highways, or anywhere except dead level ,this vehicle rolls backward with no drag whatsoever, at first quite alarming and after a couple more incidents I deem it very dangerous and really not normal. Took it back to the dealer and from the salesman servicemanager costumer relations person and g.m. All agreed that it was unsafe "an engineering defect " but all the new toyotas are like that" I was told that had I purchased a more expensive model that it would have a "hill holding feature" and eliminate the problem .however my 25000 rav4 does not have that feature available . It gets better. There suggesting for me were and I quote service manager said use your handbrake when putting it in d from any stop on a incline" due to no "stall speed " drive two footed on any incline' or the salesman suggestion , "put it in park on the incline and then go to drive. Like…
Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6) I am writing because I just experienced sudden acceleration in reverse in my new 2010 toyota rav4, 6 cylinder. This is a vehicle I was told by the dealer was not affected by the recall. Here are the details: I purchased the vehicle about a month ago from irwin toyota in new hampshire with VIN# [xxx] . I had contacted the dealer before the car was delivered to see what the recall meant for me. They said that the vehicle was made in japan and was not affected by the recall. On february 17th I put the rav4 into reverse to back down my driveway. I was cutting the wheel to the left to make a reverse k-turn when it began accelerating vigorously in reverse. I did not have my foot on the gas because it was idling in reverse down a 7% grade. The engine raced way up and it took all my leg power to bring it to a stop. I did stop the car just before hitting a tree on the side of my driveway. I had my wife and my infant son in the car and they were both terrified. When I called the dealer the service manager said he would be happy to look at it, but that…
Also reported on the 2010 Toyota Rav4
Other suspension problem
Other speed control problem
Other engine problem
Other brake problem
Other visibility problem
Other fuel system problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 27 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other powertrain problem happen on the 2010 Toyota Rav4?
Across 26 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 10,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 300 miles and a quarter after 55,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2010 Toyota Rav4?
27 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed