Toyota RAV4 vs Ford EcoSport: which is more reliable?
The Ford EcoSport is clearly ahead of the Toyota RAV4 on the federal record: 81/100 against 65/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Toyota RAV4
- 14 model years scored
- 4,499 owner complaints on record
- about 58 complaints per year on the road
- 58 recall campaigns, 26 safety-critical
- best year 2013 (88/100) · worst 2020 (32/100)
Ford EcoSport
- 5 model years scored
- 1,840 owner complaints on record
- about 55 complaints per year on the road
- 12 recall campaigns, 1 safety-critical
- best year 2022 (93/100) · worst 2018 (70/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: RAV4 against EcoSport
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Toyota RAV4
- Electrical System — 907 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 814 complaints
- Engine — 718 complaints
Ford EcoSport
- Engine And Engine Cooling — 839 complaints
- Engine — 795 complaints
- Power Train — 217 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the RAV4's complaints concentrate in Electrical System, the EcoSport's in Engine And Engine Cooling. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Toyota RAV4 — avoid: 2019, 2020, 2024.
Ford EcoSport: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Toyota RAV4 prices at about $30,500 and a Ford EcoSport at about $23,700 — the Ford EcoSport is roughly $6,800 less, and they return 30.0 against 25.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Toyota RAV4 or the Ford EcoSport more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Ford EcoSport scores 81/100 against the Toyota RAV4's 65/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Ford EcoSport carries about 55 complaints per year on the road against 58 for the Toyota RAV4.
Which Toyota RAV4 and Ford EcoSport years should I avoid?
Toyota RAV4: 2019, 2020, 2024. Ford EcoSport: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Toyota RAV4 and the Ford EcoSport?
The largest complaint group on the Toyota RAV4 is Electrical System (907 complaints); on the Ford EcoSport it is Engine And Engine Cooling (839).
Is the Toyota RAV4 or the Ford EcoSport cheaper to own?
A recent used Toyota RAV4 prices at about $30,500 and a Ford EcoSport at about $23,700, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.