Owners of the sixth-generation Toyota RAV4, new for the 2026 model year, say the wide center console presses into the right knee during ordinary driving. The sore spot sits below the drive mode selector, around the USB-C ports, where the plastic is harder and scratchier than elsewhere in the cabin. Some drivers have started installing makeshift pads and mini cushions to cope.
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The complaint is real but uneven. It comes from owners posting on Reddit and social media, not from a recall or a regulator, and it appears to hit some drivers far harder than others depending on height and seating position. Autoblog’s article contains no statement from Toyota as of November 2, 2026.
Console shape below the drive mode selector
Karl Furlong, a senior editor at Autoblog, collected the complaints in a piece published November 2. He points to the area under the drive mode selector as the pressure point and notes that the harder plastic there makes the contact feel worse. A thread on the r/rav4club forum captures the typical report: an owner who is 6’1″ says the small outward curve of the console makes the knee uncomfortable and that no seat position fixed it.
Another owner, posting in r/Rav4 about a 2026 plug-in hybrid Woodland, called the console unnecessarily huge, and a separate commenter described it as a huge design flaw. Those posts sit alongside a video referenced in Autoblog’s article showing owners fitting soft knee pads to the console sides, which Furlong cites as evidence the problem is widespread enough to have spawned a workaround.
Owners who do not feel it, and a mixed first-drive record
Plenty of Reddit users reported the opposite: the console does not bother them, or a change in seating position solved the problem. Furlong’s own test drives did not turn it up as a major issue either, which he suggests may reflect how the test drivers happened to sit. Knee contact is a function of body proportions and seat setup, so a short owner and a tall owner can describe the same vehicle differently. Reddit also skews toward people with something to report, which is why the volume of posts alone cannot say how many of the vehicles on the road are affected.
The console is otherwise praised. Furlong lists large cupholders, a reversible armrest and storage bin, phone trays, physical controls and USB-C ports among its strengths. Cole Attisha, writing in Autoblog’s first-drive review of the Woodland in October 2025, singled out a detachable console lid that pops out and doubles as a notepad as a creative touch.
Furlong’s piece also covers the rest of the cabin. The new infotainment system, which comes with a 10.5-inch screen as standard or a 12.9-inch screen as an option, is described as a major improvement and glitch-free in his first drive. Rear-seat space is adequate for adults, and he suggests brighter interior color choices because black cabins can look drab. None of those remarks soften the knee complaint, but they place it as a flaw in an otherwise well-regarded interior, and Furlong’s closing suggestion is that the problem is fixable with a modest piece of soft material rather than a rethink of the cabin.
The powertrain side of the generation is a strength by Autoblog’s account. Attisha’s Woodland review cited a Gen 5 2.5-liter hybrid system with 236 combined horsepower and up to 44 mpg combined, and a plug-in version with up to 324 combined horsepower and up to 49 miles of electric range. For many shoppers those numbers are the reason to consider the vehicle, which is why a console that fatigues the right knee on long drives draws attention. Buyers choosing between hybrid and plug-in versions will spend the same hours in the same driver’s seat, so the ergonomics follow the vehicle whichever powertrain is chosen.
Pads, a possible facelift fix and an older precedent
The grievance has a history. A forum member called Nick72 posted in a Toyota owners club thread around late 2021 that the wide console and hard plastic hurt his lower leg on long drives in a 2019-or-later RAV4 plug-in hybrid. He is 6ft2 and went hunting for a boomerang-shaped knee-rest pad priced around 20 pounds. The earlier thread covers a prior generation, so the new complaint is a recurrence of a familiar fit issue rather than a brand-new one.
Furlong’s recommendation is modest. At minimum, he suggests Toyota add soft knee pads on each side of the console, and he floats a light console redesign, possibly as part of a first facelift. For shoppers, his advice is to spend time in the preferred driving position before buying. Autoblog’s RAV4 generations overview and 2026 model page give the wider context on how this generation differs from earlier ones.
Whether Toyota responds is the open question, and the Autoblog article records no statement from the company. Until Toyota says something, the Reddit threads and the aftermarket cushions remain the only record of how many owners are affected, and Furlong’s own suggestion of factory knee pads is the clearest sign of what a fix could look like.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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