2017 Toyota Rav4 Collision Avoidance Problems

Your car's Pre-Collision System (PCS) has engaged unexpectedly twice—once when a small branch fell on the dirt road, and once while your dog was in the car, which resulted in injury. In both cases, you felt the braking was unnecessary and prevented you from avoiding the hazard safely through steering alone. The system can be manually disabled through the menu, but it automatically reactivates each time you restart the car, which is inconvenient and concerning. Fixing this will likely require a software reprogram or diagnostic check by Toyota to prevent unintended brake engagement.

Your Adaptive Cruise Control system loses track of the car ahead when you're turning, even slightly, causing it to suddenly accelerate and then harshly brake when it picks up the car again. This jerking motion reduces your confidence in the system, and on at least one occasion at 45 mph on a gentle curve, the ACC accelerated toward the car in front of you as if it wasn't there, forcing you to take over manually to avoid a crash. This problem happens repeatedly and seems to be related to how the system detects vehicles while cornering. The fix will likely require a software update or recalibration of the forward collision avoidance sensors.