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2013 TOYOTA RAV4 — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

fire · 2238717 · 2026-08-24

Vehicle

Make
TOYOTA
Model
RAV4
Year
2013
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Corporation
Component
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
Yes
Crash
No
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

The system that failed is the 12-volt battery hold-down assembly and associated electrical infrastructure, exactly as described under NHTSA Safety Recall Campaign Number 23V-729 (Toyota Recalls 23TA13 / 23TB13). The vehicle is fully preserved in its post-fire state and is completely available for physical inspection upon request.Safety was severely compromised as the vehicle experienced a sudden, violent engine bay fire while actively traveling at highway speeds on Highway [XXX] in [XXX]. This forced an emergency evacuation on a high-speed corridor, directly endangering the lives of four occupants: an [XXX] driver, one adult passenger, and two minor children. A multi-fatality tragedy was avoided solely due to the driver navigating the failing vehicle into a parking lot, alongside the chance proximity of a local fire station a quarter-mile away.Prior to the sudden fire, there were zero warning lamps, dashboard messages, or mechanical symptoms of an issue. The problem has not been reproduced as the fire caused a complete loss, but the localized burn damage and melted main wiring harness at the battery housing confirm the recall's exact failure mechanism.The local franchised Toyota dealership has the vehicle at their service center, but deflected corporate liability, uncooperatively stating there was only a "50/50 chance" the fire was related to the federal recall. The local fire department responded to the scene, suppressed the blaze, and has officially issued an incident repor

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
11759089
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown