2002 Toyota RAV4

I PURCHASED A NEW 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4 IN 2002. LAST YEAR, A FEW YEARS AFTER THE PURCHASE DATE, TOYOTA HAD A RECALL FOR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER AND THE LIGHT WAS FIXED. MAYBE A YEAR OR TWO AFTER, THE LIGHT BEGAN TO COME ON AND HAS STAYED OFF AND ON FOR YEARS. LAST YEAR, MY TRUCK BEGAN TO "HESITATE" WHILE DRIVING AND FINALLY IT BEGAN TO STOP ALL TOGETHER. I TOOK IT TO A TRANSMISSION SHOP AND AN AIR CONDITIONER BELT WAS REPLACED AND THE AGENT TOLD ME THAT HE COULD NOT FIND A PROBLEM WITH IT. FOR A DAY OR TWO, I HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH THE TRUCK. BUT SHORTLY AFTER, THE PROBLEM CAME BACK AND I WAS STUCK WITHOUT TRANSPORTATION. I WAS TOLD IT WAS A $2,500 COMPUTER ENGINE PROBLEM. I DO NOT HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY. SO, I HAD TO RENT A CAR. MY INSURANCE WOULD NOT PAY RENTALS. EXTERNALLY, IT IS A BEAUTIFUL TRUCK, EVEN TODAY. BUT, INTERNALLY, IT COMPLETELY LET ME DOWN. WHEN I PURCHASED MY TRUCK, I THOUGHT I WAS GETTING A DEPENDABLE TRUCK THAT WOULD LAST FOR YEARS AFTER IT WAS PAID OFF. I PAID OFF THE CAR IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR AND IT IS SITTING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. HOW BAD CAN THIS GET? MY TRUCK HAS OVER 140,000 MILES WHICH ACCORDING TO MY RESEARCH, EXCEEDS WARRANTY DATES. IF THE REPAIR COST IS HIGH, I WILL HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO TRY TO SELL THE TRUCK. I WENT OUT AND BOUGHT AN AMERICAN MADE USED CAR THE OTHER DAY. IT CANNOT COMPARE WITH MY TOYOTA WHEN IT WAS IN GOOD CONDITION. NOW I AM BACK IN DEBT AGAIN. THIS TIME I GOT A THREE YEAR WARRANTY. TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN THE TOYOTA RAV4 TRUCKS. ACCORDING TO THE WEB, A LOT OF US ARE. *TR

I HAVE A TOYOTA RAV4 2002-IN MAY 2006 I WENT TO MILITARY TRAINING SCHOOL, I GOT BACK OCT 2006 WHILE DRIVING MY ENGINE FAILED ON THE HWY. I TOOK IT TO TOYOTA AND THEY TOLD ME IT WAS 420 MILES OVER THE WARRANTY AND IT WAS NOT COVERED. I DID ALL MY REQUIRED UPKEEP AND MAINTENANCE AND TO MY SURPRISE IT HAD OIL SLUDGE. HE CLAIMS ITS FROM SITTING BUT ALOT OF VEHICLES SIT AND DO NOT HAVE PROBLEMS ESPECIALLY MILITARY MEMBERS THAT ARE DEPLOYED. I HAD TO PAY 3989.00 FOR A USED ENGINE. AFTER RESEARCHING AND FINDING OUT 2001 -03 CAMRY AND LEXUS HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS AND WERE RECALLED. I FOUGHT GOT AND ATTORNEY AND STILL NO RECALL. I HOPE TO HAVE A CIVIL LAWSUIT WITH TOYOTA BECAUSE OF THIS BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED. MARCH 2007 MY TRANSMISSION WENT OUT WHILE ON THE HWY. I WAS DRIVING AND NOTICE IT KEPT JERKING. THEN IT WOULD HESITATE GETTING INTO GEAR AND REVERSE. I TOOK IT TO A TOYOTA DEALER AND THEY TOLD ME MY TRANSMISSION IS GOING OUT AND IT WOULD COST 4980.00. OK LET ME BREAK DOWN THE EXISTING PROBLEMS UP UNTIL THIS POINT. THE DRIVERS DOOR ELECTRIC LOCKING SYSTEM WENT OUT IT WAS REPAIRED 4 TIMES, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT NEVER GOES OFF SAID ITS A ELECTRICAL PROBLEM. THE ALARMS COMES ON AND WILL NOT GO OFF EVEN WHEN DOOR KEY OR KEY PAD IS INDICATED. SO I HAD TO UNHOOK. YESTERDAY MARCH 31ST I WAS DONE WITH THE RAV 4. I HAVE NOTICE THAT MORE THAN 35 % OF OWNERS HAVE THIS PROBLEMS AND TOYOTA REFUSES TO RECALL. *TR

I BOUGHT A TOYOTA RAV4 2002 AT THE DEALER "TOYOTA OF ALAHAMBRA" AND I BEEN HAVING A PROBLEM TO MANY TIMES WITH THE COMPUTER ENGINE LIGHT COME ON. WHEN I TAKE THE CAR TO THE DEALER THEY TOLD ME THAT NOTHING WAS WRONG. THEY TURNED OFF THE LIGHT AND SAID AND SAID THAT EVERYTHING WAS OK, THIS HAPPENED THREE TIMES. RECENTLY I HAD PROBLEMS AGAIN WITH THE COMPUTER ENGINE AND THEY CHARGED $1,200.00 DOLLARS TO FIX IT AND THEY TOLD ME THAT WAS MY FAULT THAT I WAS TAKING OFF IN 2ND GEAR BUT I NEVER USE THE 2ND GEAR. WHAT I KNOW THIS CARS HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINE COMPUTER. THE NAME OF THE DEALER IS "TOYOTA-SCION OF GLENDALE" 1260 S. BRAND BLVD. GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA 91204. AS I KNOW WE HAVE 170 COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS RAV4 TOYOTA CARS. FORTUNATELY I HAVE NOT ANY PROBLEM WITH DEATH, OR FIRE, OR CRASH, BUT I AM WORRY ABOUT THIS COMPUTER PROBLEMS, WHEN I AM DRIVING THE CAR I AM NOT COMFORTABLE DRIVING ANY MORE, CAN YOU TELL ME THAT CAN I DO ABOUT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION. *TR

OUR RAV4 BEGAN TO HAVE PROBLEMS SHIFTING, AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON. TOOK TO LOCAL DEALER. FIRST VISIT RESULTED IN TUNE-UP ITEMS. DEALERSHIP TREATED IT AS AN ENGINE-RELATED PROBLEM. CHECK ENGINE CAME BACK ON AGAIN THE SAME AFTERNOON. ON SECOND VISIT, DEALERSHIP KEPT CAR OVERNIGHT TO DRIVE IT WHILE IT WAS COLD. WE WERE TOLD THAT WE HAD A BAD CATALYTIC CONVERTER, AND THAT THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED BEFORE ANY FURTHER DIAGNOSIS COULD OCCUR. THE CC WAS ONLY THREE YEARS OLD, ALREADY HAVING BEEN REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. THEY HAD ALREADY REPROGRAMMED THE ECM. PER A TOYOTA SERVICE CAMPAIGN. AFTER THE CC REPLACEMENT, CAR IS STILL NOT SHIFTING PROPERLY, AND IS GETTING WORSE. DEALERSHIP ADVISED US THAT WE NEED AN ECM REPLACEMENT, AT A COST OF $1300. AFTER THE FACT, WE FOUND TOYOTA TSB TC002-06, WHICH DESCRIBES THE EXACT ISSUES OUR RAV4 IS HAVING. TOYOTA ADMITS IN THE TSB THAT THE ECM OF THE '01 THROUGH '03 RAV4'S CAN CAUSE THE HARSH SHIFTING THAT WE ARE SEEING, AND THAT TOYOTA MADE CHANGES TO THE "MANUFACTURING PROCESS TO REDUCE THE POSSIBILITY OF THIS CONDITION OCCURRING". THE RECOMMENDATION IS THE REPLACEMENT OF THE ECM. IT CANNOT BE REPROGRAMMED TO ELIMINATE THIS PROBLEM. THE RESULT OF THIS ECM FAILURE IS THAT THE CAR IS NO LONGER DRIVABLE, AS THE TRANSMISSION DOES NOT SHIFT PROPERLY AT ALL, AND IT CONSTANTLY LOOSES TENSION ON ITS CLUTCH PACK, RESULTING IN LOSS OF POWER TO THE ROAD. THE CONDITION GETS WORSE OVER A SHORT TIME. IN ONLY TWO WEEKS, THE CAR WILL NOT STAY IN ANY SINGLE GEAR WHEN DRIVING. A SEARCH OF THIS ISSUE ON THE INTERNET FOUND MANY OTHER PEOPLE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. OFTEN, THE ECM FAILURE CAUSES PHYSICAL TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THE DEALERSHIP WILL NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR FAULTY DIAGNOSIS, NOR WILL THEY MAKE TOYOTA HONOR THE WARRANTY, WHICH IS 80,000 MILES OR 8 YEARS. WE ARE UNDER THE YEARS, BUT OVER BY 8,000 MILES. HOW CAN THIS NOT BE TREATED AS A SAFETY ISSUE? IS IT NOT SERIOUS ENOUGH WHEN YOUR CAR SLIPS OUT OF GEAR IN TRAFFIC UNEXPECTEDLY? *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED AND LOST POWER WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A LEFT TURN. THE CONTACT APPLIED PRESSURE TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL NUMEROUS TIMES BEFORE THE VEHICLE GAINED POWER. IN ADDITION, THE GEARS SHIFTED ROUGHLY AND THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WAS JERKING AND VIBRATING. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS RELATED TO THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE. THE VEHICLE REPAIR WAS COVERED BY THE MANUFACTURER WARRANTY. THE CONTACT WAS CONCERNED OF THE SAFETY RISK INVOLVED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 78,846. UPDATED 09/24/08. *LJ UPDATED 09/26/08. *JB

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH AND DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL, THE SPEED REDUCED. THE VEHICLE BEGAN JERKING AND HESITATING WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE FAILED. THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY BEING REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 141,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4. THE VEHICLE WAS SERVICED FOR A RECALL REGARDING THE ENGINE LIGHT. A NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER WAS NOT FOUND. AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS RETRIEVED FROM THE DEALER, THE VEHICLE SHOOK WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 2-50 MPH. THERE WERE NO PRIOR FAILURES OR WARNING INDICATORS. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE ECM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 144,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 144,411.