Diagsheet

2019 Toyota RAV4 · symptom sheet

Engine overheats or leaks coolant

  • 139owner reports
  • 47,800median miles
  • $742median quote
  • 1involved a crash

Newest report May 18, 2026 · checked Sep 19, 2026

211 of the 875 complaints on this car are about the engine. 139 of those describe overheating, which makes it the most reported problem on the 2019 RAV4.

Tick what matches of 139 reports

40
134
1
37
7
2

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the coolant hose or reservoir (10 reports), the water pump (4 reports) and the head gasket (3 reports).

Recalls and investigations

One recall on the engine covers the 2019 model year. A recall on the same system isn't always the same failure, so read the defect text.

20V-064Feb 6, 2020
Engine And Engine Cooling

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020 Toyota Avalon Hybrid, Camry, Camry Hybrid and Lexus ES300h and 2019-2020 RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles equipped with 2.5L 4-Cylinder engines. Porosity in the engine castings may result in cracks than can allow coolant to leak internally and/or externally.

Risk and remedy
Risk: A coolant leak can cause the engine to overheat and cause a vehicle stall in conventional gasoline vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash. Additionally, for all involved vehicles, the engine may get damaged mechanically, possibly resulting in an engine oil leak, increasing the risk of a fire.
Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the engine including the engine block, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began April 3, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TA04. Lexus' number for this recall is 20LA02.

What owners paid

57 of the 139 reports quote a price. Each dot is one quote. The middle half runs $600 to $996.

$600$742$996
$0k$2k$4k$6k$8k

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 41,000 and 62,000 miles, from the 39 reports that gave a mileage.

220
422
4123
7024
2025
226

What owners wrote

“An “Engine Maintenance Required” signal came on my dash and turns out the coolant bypass valve needs to be replaced. Come to find out almost everyone else with this car has the same problem around 50,000 miles. I bought this car used and have had it for less than a week and the repair is at least $600. Super disappointed.”

Filed Jun 12, 2024 · 50,000 miles

“Engine maintenance required warning notice came on. Researched showed this to be a failure of the coolant bypass valve. It is a well known and documented problem with can lead to the engine overheating and seizing. Called dealership and they were well aware of issue and wanted $1,100. to repair. My car only has 46K miles on it. Toyota should issue a recall.”

Filed May 22, 2024 · 46,000 miles

“At 73,000 miles the "engine maintenance required" warning light came on indicating the coolant bypass valve is damaged or has failed. A quick google search will show this is an extremely common issue and a result of using inferior quality parts in manufacturing. Toyota should recall this issue asap as many people have had the same problem.”

Filed May 16, 2024 · 73,000 miles

“At 41K miles it pop up out of no where and for no aparent reason engine maintanance required. Took the dealer it was the engine coolant bypass malfunctioning. Car has all maintanance up to date by toyota dealer.”

Filed Oct 11, 2023 · 41,000 miles

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 1 of 139 reports involved a crash. 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.

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