Here’s The Reverse Gear Noise Explained on the New RAV4 Hybrids

The sound is terrible, embarrassing! I will figure a way to disable it!!

We just got home from purchasing a 2021 RAV4 Hybrid Limited. While my husband was backing up, we heard the noise for the first time. We were not told anything about it when we purchased it. My feelings, I hate it. To me it’s sounds like something is very wrong with the car. If I heard the noise before we purchased it, I would think twice about buying it!

My neighbor across the straight from me purchased a RAV4 hybrid. When I first heard it sounded like a slipping fan belt. After a while it was fingers scratching on chalkboard, a little later I couldn’t be outside except with fingers in my ears when he backs up. It’s awful, an obvious case of noise pollution. The thing is, it’s one thing to make noise, but it’s another one, like this RAV4, that is so loud that I even have to do the finger in the ear thing at 250 feet away in my backyard in the hot tub, this is not angelic, this is approaching hell making my blood boil every time. And I’m slightly deaf…

We have a 2019 RAV. I have always hated the choir sound. It is disturbing to neighbors and passersby. Found out where the sounder is and wrapped it in foam. This lowered volume from about 69 to 63 db (about a quarter to half the loudness if I remember my physics correctly). This made a dramatic improvement but it’s still loud and annoying in my estimation. If you disconnect the device the computer reports a problem on the dashboard. I realize that it’s an important safety feature, but surely Toyota can find a better sound or a selection of better sounds to choose from and allow owners to retrofit the modification? The Tesla sound is much better. I would consider this problem enough to cause me to recommend to anyone not to buy these Toyota hybrid cars. I also think that the backup beeps we constantly hear from trucks in our area doing work or construction should be designed to warn the people directly behind, and not everyone in the neighborhood for hundreds of yards.

One more point to add to my last reply: if the purpose of this backup sound is to make people realize that a car is coming toward them, then why not a sound that is equivalent to the sound made by of a car engine and at an equal volume? Of course
this does not take into account that some gasoline engine cars are very quiet. The hybrid needs to sound louder than zero, but not as loud as Toyota has designed the 2019 and later.RAV4’s to be.

I have owned my 2022 RAV4 Hybrid now for 2 months and the reverse noise is actually starting to drive me crazy. It is the most irritating sound. T actually turns heads and I even had one gentleman shake his head. It’s quite embarrassing to garner this much negative attention and it is spoiling the joy of having such a beautiful new car. I am sure it wakes up all my neighbours as I leave for work very very early in the morning it echos through the neighborhood. I did not get the angelic sound you described on my new car! I have tried to find a place on the Toyota website for feedback in hopes they can improve this in the future
Otherwise I my just have to watch some YouTube videos to dismantle. Not ideal as I understand the need for some warning to others. But seriously going nuts!

Yup you explained it perfectly. I have a 2022 Honda Touring hybrid and it makes the same noise. Sounds like a Hallmark movie when the angels come down to earth. Thank you.

I hate this noise. everyone who hears it thinks there is something wrong with the vehicle. You guys need to do something about this ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel I am driving around in a 40 year old chevy. Hard to believe that Toyota could design something like this.

Very Bush League,

They all sound like milk floats.

The sound is INCREDIBLY annoying!! Not sure what the industry could do to make it less disturbing, other than changing the sound COMPLETELY and make it NON-annoying! Realistically, you don’t really hear fuel-run cars to a great degree while moving in reverse, if at all. The need to add the God-awful sound to e-cars is a reach in my opinion. Can you imagine when most cars on the road are fully electric? The parking lot at the mall or grocery store will sound like an electric car ZOO!!

I’m so grateful to know what the sound is for! Thank you Harutiun. We just bought a 2019 RAV4 Hybrid. I’d owned a 2012 Highlander Hybrid in the past so I was like what is that! I too thought there was an issue as the sales associate never mentioned it. As a safety feature I see the point. With my old Highlander I was always extra vigilant backing up because I knew people couldn’t hear the car.

I don’t mind it now I know what it is, but the newer models also have the distance sensors. We live on a busy street and a pedestrian thoroughfare so the car also beeps when we back out and a ped is also coming.

Do you need both? I say “Maybe”. I see the beeping as something to warn me but the backup choir as something to warn Peds. As video host stated, people stop in their tracks and pay attention… that’s what we want!! I can live with the noise knowing it helps keep kids and adults safe!

Thanks for this video! Bought my 2021 RAV4 Hybrid a week ago and you saved me a trip back to Carmax. So happy it's an intentional noise and not a defect.

There is nothing angelic about the horrendous sound my new Rav4 makes when put in reverse. It is ridiculously loud and annoying .

We have had our 2022 Prius hybrid less than a week. We soon noticed a low ringing kind of sound when we start the engine and now we hear a louder growling kind of noise when we put it in reverse. I read many comments but none on getting the problem fixed. It is not a backup warning! I will be trying to get Autonation to fix the problem but I'm worried about it. Sounds like something is wearing. Other people hear it as well as us.

The sound is hideous and embarrassing. People ghink you have transmission problem

This noise was not disclosed to me, and I thought something was wrong with the transmission also. It is annoying and I don’t like it! People that hear it and think there’s something wrong with the car. Well, isn’t that just great advertising for Toyota!

The metal on metal sound is an embarrassment. I have had several individuals ask me if there is something wrong with my RAV4. I am sure it is a sound Toyota invested a ton of money developing. Just a thought, how about the noise being the sound of a gas powered vehicle engine.

Angelic? Diabolic! The whole neighborhood knows when I’m leaving the house. I was also told about it when leaving the dealership, I don’t know it it would have been a deal stopper, but I don’t really like it. Sounds more like I’m taking off in my spaceship. RAV4 Hubrid 2023

I like the back-up sound in my ‘22 RAV4 especially if there are people nearby. They look at the car as if it’s breathing its last breath. At least they heard it!

I would give my left arm to have an angelic choir when reversing rather than the insanely loud, bin-lorry, external beeping that my Kia Niro gives out when reversing. It prevents me from parking in my driveway if I get home late at night as it would waken all my neighbours. The beep alerts are also proven to be less effective at warning pedestrians, especially in busy environments. Imagine walking through a supermarket car park with 5 cars all beeping away at the same time. Chaos!
These alerts are necessary on an EV but fake engine noise is much more effective and much less anti-social. My neighbours e-mini makes a lovely spaceship noise when reversing, which you can hear when you are next to the car but no when you are in bed, 50 feet away.
My advice to anyone buying an EV would be to make sure you get the salesman to reverse the car with you outside and ask yourself if you really want to inflict whatever noise it makes on your whole street every day.

At least it sounds better than the stock Rav4 horns! New vehicle and the very first thing I replaced on the week old hybrid was the pathetic ‘meep-meep’horn set. Toyota should be ashamed to still use the cheap land dangerous horns. Or at least give you the option when ordered to include a set like on 4Runners for pete sake.

Yes to me that sound is most annoying; is there a different sound (musical) module that one can buy a to replace it.

Extremely embarrassing and annoying. Everyone thinks there is something wrong with my car!! Should be some way to make us a quieter sound.

Kind of a stupid sound...and the Rav4 manual says nothing about it. Not that I could find anyway. Had to Google it and that's how I found the info you posted. thank you

We had 3 neighbours run out looking skyward as they thought it was a UFO!!! It’s quite loud

We have a 2023 rav 4 hybrid, it started making a loud noise when in reverse today. It makes the same noise when in drive, just not as loud. It is not a backup beeper.

Though some sort of reversing noise is necessary in an EV/Hybrid, there is no reason why it needs to be different to the VESS 'engine' noise that these cars make when going forward. That has been good enough for ICE vehicles for 100+ years.
The pitched bonging noises or 'angelic voices' are antisocial as they carry too far for the job they are supposed to do. My Kia Niro can be heard reversing from 100 yds away, with windows in the house shut! They have also been shown in several academic studies to be ineffective at actually warning pedestrians in typical spaces such as shopping mall car parks. This is because pitched sounds do not carry such good directional information to the human ear as more broadband sounds (like an ICE engine). Governments have been very slow in legislating effectively about these nuisances but I hope to see pitched reversing 'bongs' being banned in Europe soon.