2018 Toyota RAV4 · symptom sheet

Brakes grind, pulse or wear early

30owner reports
18,000median miles
10involved a crash

Newest report May 19, 2024 · checked Oct 2, 2026

30 of the 331 complaints on this car describe brake wear.

No recall on this systemas of Oct 2, 2026

10 crashesin 30 reports

2 people hurtin these reports

2 firesin 30 reports

Tick what matches of 30 reports

grinding or squealing

pulsing or shaking when braking

pedal goes soft or to the floor

pads or rotors replaced early

a brake warning light

the car did not stop in time

Brake wear on other RAV4 years

201531 reports 201646 reports 201738 reports 201830 reports 201935 reports

Report counts are for each model year on its own, so a newer car has had less time to collect them. Model years with too few reports of it for a sheet: 2014, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.

What this problem usually is

Brake reports cover a wide spread of symptoms. Grinding or squealing is common, and so is a pulsing pedal or a shake through the car when stopping. Others describe pads and rotors worn out long before they expected, a brake warning light, or a pedal that goes soft or sinks toward the floor. The most serious ones say the car didn't stop in time.

Read the full explainer · Which cars report it most

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the pads and rotors (5 reports).

Recalls and investigations

No recall on the brakes covers the 2018 model year as of Oct 2, 2026.

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 7,000 and 40,000 miles, from the 19 reports that gave a mileage.

Is this a known problem?

The manufacturer has sent NHTSA 3 service bulletins or notices for the 2018 Toyota RAV4 that deal with this problem. Newest first.

Federal rules make a manufacturer send NHTSA a copy of any notice about a defect that goes to more than one dealer or owner. Most of these are service bulletins, the repair instructions manufacturers send to dealers. NHTSA generally leaves safety recall bulletins out of this file, and recalls are listed separately.

Service bulletinT-TT-0636-20Dec 14, 2020
TT: Some Toyota vehicles installed with Toyota Complete Maintenance Care (TCMC) brake pads may exhibit a groan or squeak noise in various driving conditions.
Service bulletinT-SB-0025-19_RevSep 26, 2019
REVISION NOTICE September 26, 2019 Rev1: ? The Warranty Information, Parts Information, and Repair Procedure sections have been updated. Any previous printed versions of this bulletin should be discarded.
Service bulletinT-SB-0025-19Mar 12, 2019
Some 2009 ? 2018 model year RAV4 and 2017 ? 2018 model year iM vehicles may exhibit a grind/groan noise from the front brake pads. An updated pad kit is now available as a service part. Follow the Repair Procedure in this bulletin to address this condition.

What owners wrote

“This is 2 times now my brakes give me trouble since i bought the vehicle, the 1st time the brakes died n i had to keep pumping for it to work, the 2nd time it stuck to the floor n i had to use my hand brakes on the freeway.”
Filed Sep 4, 2023

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 10 of 30 reports involved a crash and 2 people were hurt. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.

File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation. How reports land on this sheet.

Guide Taking it to a shop? How to describe this problem so it gets found