Toyota Corolla transmission problems

VEHICLE LOST POWER WHEN EXITING ONE HIGHWAY TO ENTER ANOTHER. IN ADDITION, A LOUD SOUND STARTED TO COME FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. MOVED VEHICLE OUT OF TRAFFIC AND DROVE VERY SLOWLY. PRIOR TO FAILURE THERE WERE SOME SOUNDS FROM THE TRANSMISSION BUT NO LOSS OF POWER OR TROUBLE GETTING THE VEHICLE INTO TO GEAR. CONSIDERED IT LUCKY THAT THE TRANSMISSION DID NOT SEIZE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC AND CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE, SLOWLY, TO A REPAIR FACILITY BEFORE SOME OF THE GEARS BECAME INOPERABLE. MECHANIC IS IN THE PROCESS OF REPLACING THE TRANSMISSION, THERE ARE MANY REPORTS OF TRANSMISSION FAILURES FOR 2003 5 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS ON THE INTERNET, ESPECIALLY IN CANADA. MOST FAILURES ARE OCCURRING AFTER THE WARRANTY PERIOD EXPIRES BUT UNDER 100,000 MILES. MY MECHANIC IS SAVING THE OLD TRANSMISSION. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 TOYOTA COROLLA. WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 25-40 MPH, THE VEHICLE MADE A CLUNKING SOUND. A MECHANIC DISCOVERED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS WOBBLING AND SHAKING ON THE PASSENGER SIDE, AND THAT THE DIFFERENTIAL WAS WORN AND DEFECTIVE. THE COST FOR THE REPAIR WAS $1,700. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 45,300 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 45,000. UPDATED 07/29/08. *LJ

I PURCHASED A 2005 4 DOOR TOYOTA COROLLA CE FROM A DEALER HERE IN PUERTO RICO. I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE BRAND NEW. I AM STILL MAKING PAYMENTS ON THIS VEHICLE HAS I AM GOING INTO MY 4TH YEAR THIS YEAR OF MAKING PAYMENTS. THE DEALER SUGGESTED TRANSMISSION OIL CHANGE SERVICE EVERY 15,000 MILES. MY VEHICLE HAS ALREADY OVER 72,000 HIGHWAY MILES. SO FAR I HAVE DONE 3 TRANSMISSION OIL CHANGES MAINLY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT CHEAP. LAST DECEMBER I NOTICED THAT THE CARS TRANSMISSION AT CERTAIN PERIODS WOULD NOT SHIFT WHILE IDLING AND THEN TAKING OFF. MY CAR HAS AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. I TOOK IT IN FOR SERVICE THINKING THAT IT WAS TIME FOR AN TRANSMISSION OIL CHANGE. LAST NIGHT AGAIN I NOTICED THAT THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT SHIFT. I PARKED THE VEHICLE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, SHIFT THE VEHICLE INTO PARK, AND THEN STARTED INTO DRIVE AGAIN. FOR SOME REASON THAT SEEMS TO WORK AND FROM THEN ON THE VEHICLE SEEMS TO WORK FINE. I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THIS VEHICLE AND I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY COLLISIONS WITH THIS VEHICLE. I WAS ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR RECALLS ON THE NHTSA FOR THIS PARTICULAR VEHICLE AND ALL I COULD FIND WAS A RECALL FOR THE FRONT HEAD LAMPS FROM ENCO. PLS REPLY *TR

I WAS LOOKING FOR AN UNFAMILIAR ADDRESS ON A VERY STEEP HILL, AND I STOPPED BRIEFLY TO LOOK AROUND. I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE AND, AS WOULD BE EXPECTED, ROLLED BACK A BIT WHILE MOVING FROM BRAKE TO GAS. I PRESSED THE GAS PEDAL AND GOT NO RESPONSE; MY CAR STARTED ROLLING UNCONTROLLABLY AND SWIFTLY BACKWARD. NO GAS, NO BRAKE. I WAS ABLE TO STOP MY CAR ONLY BY PULLING THE PARKING BRAKE. I LEARNED AT THE DEALERSHIP THE MY CAR WAS DESIGNED TO DO THIS. NO KIDDING; IF YOU ROLL BACK MORE THAN A COUPLE OF INCHES WHEN YOUR CAR IS IN "DRIVE," AS YOU WILL NECESSARILY DO ON A STEEP HILL, YOUR ENGINE WILL SHUT OFF AUTOMATICALLY AND YOU WILL LOSE CONTROL OF YOUR CAR. THE TECH AT THE DEALERSHIP ACTED LIKE I WAS AN IDIOT FOR NOT KNOWING THIS. I ASKED "SO THE ENGINE WILL SHUT OFF TO SAVE THE TRANSMISSION, AT THE EXPENSE OF LIVES AND PROPERTY THREATENED BY AN UNCONTROLLABLE VEHICLE?" HE JUST SHRUGGED. IT IS A MIRACLE THAT I DID NOT HIT ANYONE OR END UP IN THE TREES. THE 2007 TOYOTA COROLLA IS AN UNSAFE CAR, AND SHOULD BE TAKEN OFF THE ROAD. *TR

VEH PURCHASED NEW MAY, 2007. IT HAD LESS THAN 150 MILES ON IT WHEN THE 1ST INCIDENT HAPPENED. I WAS DRIVING DOWN A GRADE AT APPROX 65 MPH. THERE WAS A TRAFFIC LIGHT APPROX 350 TO 450 FT AHEAD. I KNEW I COULD NOT MAKE THE LIGHT SO I APPLIED MY BRAKES. THE TRANSMISSION OR ENGINE SEEMED TO SEIZE UP AND SURGE AND MY BRAKES WERE ALMOST USELESS. IT IS AN AUTO TRANSMISSION & ALL I COULD THINK TO DO TO STOP WAS BRAKE HARD & SHIFT INTO PARK. THIS DID STOP IT...BUT I WAS FRIGHTENED. SUBSEQUENTLY, APPROX TWO MONTHS LATER, WHILE ON VACATION OUT OF STATE, THE VEH STARTED MAKING A TICKING SOUND AS SOON AS THE ENGINE HIT 3000 RPM'S. UPON RETURNING TO CA I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND TOLD HIM ABOUT BOTH PROBLEMS. THEY SUPPOSEDLY PUT IT ON THEIR SCOPE & NO DIAGNOSES CODE APPEARED. THEY SAID THE NOISE WAS A LOOSE HOSE??? FUNNY IT ONLY TICKED AT EXACTLY 3000 RPM'S!!!. THEY COULD NOT EXPLAIN THE SEIZING AND SURGING. THIS CAR HAS NOW DONE THIS SEIZING AND SURGING THING THREE MORE TIMES. IT IS SCARY AND FRIGHTENING!! THE 2ND & 3RD TIMES, I AGAIN WAS ON A DOWN GRADE GOING AROUND 65 MPH AT AROUND 3000 RPM'S. AGAIN IT WAS A SITUATION WHERE I BRAKED THAT CAUSED THE SEIZING THEN SURGING. THE LAST & 4TH TIME THIS THING HAPPENED WAS LAST WEEK. I WAS IDLING IN A DRIVE THROUGH , WAITING FOR MY FOOD. THE TRANSMISSION WAS IN DRIVE & I HAD MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE. IT WAS IN THIS POSITION FOR ABOUT 5-7 MINUTES, MOVING SLOWLY FORWARD EVERY 1-2 MINUTES. IT WAS A WARMER DAY- AS I MOVED FORWARD AGAIN, I PUSHED THE A/C BUTTON TO CIRCULATE SOME AIR. SUDDENLY, THE CAR SURGED FORWARD..MADE AN AWFUL SOUND & NO AMOUNT OF BRAKING SEEMED TO HOLD IT . AGAIN, AS WITH THE VERY FIRST TIME, THIS BROUGHT THE CAR INTO CONTROL! I WORK OUT OF TOWN AND DEPEND ON HAVING A CAR....BUT I AM GETTING SCARED TO DRIVE THIS CAR. I HAVE APPROX 8,500 MILES ON IT NOW. I DON'T KNOW IF I TRUST THE DEALER TO TAKE THIS MATTER SERIOUSLY & WOULD REALLY LIKE TOYOTA'S HELP. *TR

HAVE OWNED THE CAR JUST OVER ONE YEAR. ODOMETER IS JUST PAST 23K MILES. CAR HAS ONLY BEEN USED FOR NORMAL DAILY DRIVING. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER THE CAR DEVELOPED A JERK IN THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AT EACH GEAR SHIFT. TOOK CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS A SERVICE BULLETIN FOR THIS PROBLEM AND THAT THE COMPUTER WAS MALFUNCTIONING AND WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED WITH A NEW ONE WITH NEW "LOGIC". COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. *TR

ON 8-20-07 I BROUGHT THE COROLLA TO TOYOTA TO HAVE THE OIL CHANGED AND TO CHECK A HISSING SOUND AND THE BRAKE LIGHT THAT WAS GOING ON AND OFF. THE COURTESY INSPECTION SHOWED THAT THE BRAKES, THE DRIVE BELT TENSIONER, TIMING CHAIN AND THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION THROTTLE CABLE HAD TO BE REPLACED. I HAD ALL OF THE WORK DONE. ON 9-27-07 I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK TO TOYOTA BECAUSE THE CAR SLIGHTLY HESITATED WHEN I BACKED UP ON A HILL. I WAS INFORMED THAT THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED DUE TO A PROBLEM WITH THE REVERSE GEAR. I WAS TOLD THAT THE CAR WAS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE HOME AND THAT THE TRANSMISSION COULD GO WITH FLUIDS LEAKING EVERYWHERE. THE CAR ONLY HAD 53,821 MILES ON IT. I WAS TOLD THAT TOYOTA WOULD NOT COVER THE TRANSMISSION SINCE THE CAR WAS 6 YEARS OLD. I HAD THE CAR REPAIRED WITH A USED TOYOTA TRANSMISSION BECAUSE I COULD NOT AFFORD THE PRICE OF A NEW TRANSMISSION. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 TOYOTA COROLLA. THE VEHICLE WAS PUT INTO THE PARK GEAR, HOWEVER; IT SHIFTED TO REVERSE. THE DEALER REPLACED THE COMPUTER. AFTER THE REPAIR WAS MADE THE VEHICLE WAS SITTING AT A STOP LIGHT AND THE WARNING INDICATOR LIGHT FOR THE DOOR ILLUMINATED. THE SPEEDOMETER BEGAN TO RACE UP AND DOWN AND THERE WAS A NOISE HEARD COMING FROM THE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE SURGED FORWARD AND CRASHED INTO THE REAR END OF ANOTHER VEHICLE. THE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE WAS DAMAGED. THE DRIVER AND THE INFANT IN THE OTHER VEHICLE SUSTAINED INJURIES. THERE WAS NO POLICE REPORT. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE BUT WILL BE ADDED TO THE HARDCOPY. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 28,677. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 28,660.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1995 TOYOTA COROLLA. WHILE THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE WAS BEING SERVICED FOR AN OIL CHANGE ON FEBRUARY 28, 2007, SHE WAS INFORMED THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. AT THAT TIME, ATRA INFORMED HER THAT THIS WAS THE SECOND TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT. ATRA ALSO STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS DEFECTIVE AND THAT WAS THE ONLY TYPE THAT COULD BE USED IN HER VEHICLE. SHE PAID $845 TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION REPLACED. IN MARCH OF 2007, THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WAS REPLACED AT THE COST OF $650. ON JULY 25, 2007, THE CONTACT TOOK HER VEHICLE TO THE DEALER BECAUSE IT FAILED EMISSIONS. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION AND CATALYTIC CONVERTER HAD TO BE REPLACED. THE REPAIR WOULD COST $241. THE DEALER STATED THAT NOTHING COULD BE DONE. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 226,400, AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 215,850.