Common problems

Toyota RAV4 electrical and lighting problems

How often MOT testers find lights and electrics faults on the Toyota RAV4 at each age, against all cars of the same age, and which items come up most. From 502,711 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 3 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=45,154)1.8

All cars at 3 years (n=8,016,463)2.9

Lights and electrics advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=45,154)0.4

All cars, same age (n=8,016,463)0.7

What stands out

At 3 years, 1.8 of every 100 MOTs of the Toyota RAV4 found a lights and electrics fail (n=45,154), against 2.9 for all cars of that age (n=8,016,463).
It is level with or below the all-car rate at every age with at least 1,000 tests.
The gap is widest at 16 years: 14.3 per 100 MOTs against 20.4 for all cars.
The lights and electrics fail item recorded most often at 3 years: headlamp aim: too low, on 1.1 per 100 MOTs.
The most common lights and electrics advisory or minor defect: side repeaters: lens defective which has no effect on emitted light, on 0.3 per 100 MOTs.

Lights and electrics fails by age

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Toyota RAV4: lights and electrics fails and advisories per 100 MOTs, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
3 years	45,154	1.8	2.9	0.4	0.7
4 years	41,421	1.7	3.1	0.5	1.0
5 years	36,244	2.1	3.7	0.8	1.3
6 years	32,193	2.5	4.7	1.0	1.9
7 years	28,810	3.6	5.8	1.6	2.5
8 years	27,495	4.1	7.3	1.9	3.4
9 years	25,539	5.2	9.2	2.5	4.5
10 years	21,136	6.8	11.2	3.6	5.9
11 years	19,334	8.0	13.3	5.4	7.5
12 years	17,313	9.4	15.4	8.2	9.3
13 years	14,770	11.6	17.0	11.0	10.8
14 years	16,888	13.0	18.3	12.3	12.2
15 years	19,894	13.5	19.5	13.2	13.7
16 years	21,768	14.3	20.4	13.0	15.3
17 years	25,003	15.4	21.0	16.3	16.9
18 years	25,532	16.3	21.4	18.5	17.8
19 years	23,734	17.8	21.5	20.3	17.9
20 years	21,212	18.4	21.2	22.3	17.4
21 years	15,859	18.8	20.6	22.6	16.7
22 years	10,289	18.3	19.7	22.5	15.5
23 years	6,346	16.9	18.6	20.6	14.2
24 years	4,025	14.5	17.2	15.4	12.5
25 years	2,752	14.2	16.3	10.9	11.1

Lights and electrics fail items at 3 years

Lights and electrics fail items on the Toyota RAV4 at 3 years (n=45,154), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=8,016,463).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Headlamp aim: too low	1.1	0.6	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Headlight aimed too high	0.2	0.9	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Front fog lamps: not working	0.1	0.1
Headlamp aim: too low and too far to the right.	under 0.1	under 0.1
Side/position light not working	under 0.1	0.1	£10 to £47 per lamp
Headlamp: not working on main beam	under 0.1	under 0.1	£18 to £86 per lamp
Headlamp aim: too far to the right	under 0.1	under 0.1
Rear fog lamp: not working	under 0.1	0.1	£10 to £47 per lamp
Headlamp cleaning device: for LED or HID headlamp inoperative	under 0.1	under 0.1

Lights and electrics advisories and minor defects at 3 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Lights and electrics advisories and minor defects on the Toyota RAV4 at 3 years (n=45,154), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=8,016,463).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars
Side repeaters: lens defective which has no effect on emitted light	0.3	0.1

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

What to check on a viewing

On the Toyota RAV4, the lights and electrics items testers fail most are headlamp aim: too low; headlight aimed too high; front fog lamps: not working.

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Ask for the car's MOT history: a lights and electrics advisory that repeats from year to year has not been fixed. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the common electrical and lighting problems on the Toyota RAV4?

At 3 years (45,154 MOTs), the lights and electrics fail items testers record most often are headlamp aim: too low (1.1 per 100 MOTs), headlight aimed too high (0.2 per 100 MOTs), front fog lamps: not working (0.1 per 100 MOTs). The most common lights and electrics advisories or minor defects are side repeaters: lens defective which has no effect on emitted light (0.3).

Does the Toyota RAV4 have more electrical and lighting problems than other cars?

At 3 years it has 1.8 lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs against 2.9 for all cars of the same age (1.1 fewer). It is level with or below the all-car rate at every age with enough tests.

What does a lights and electrics repair cost on the Toyota RAV4?

For headlamp aim: too low, an independent garage estimate is £16 to £39 per car (rough guide). This is a guide built from the national median garage labour rate and estimated labour hours, not a quote.

Electrical and lighting problems on other Toyota models

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Toyota RAV4?

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Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources