2002 Toyota RAV4

I HAVE A 2002 RAV4 I PURCHASED USED IN MAY 2010 FOR $9,000. A FEW DAYS AFTER PURCHASING IT, THE TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING. ALMOST HAD NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS WHEN NEEDING TO ACCELERATE WHEN PULLING OUT INTO A BUSY ROAD AND THE TRANSMISSION FAILED TO GET OUT OF 2ND GEAR INTO 3RD GEAR. HAD THE TRANSMISSION REPLACED/REBUILT FOR $3,500, THE ECM FLASHED FOR $265, 3 NEW OXYGEN SENSORS PUT IN FOR $900. NOW THE CAR IS STILL DOING WHAT IT DID EVEN AFTER ALL THAT MONEY SPENT. LOOKING UP ON THE WEB, FOUND MANY OWNERS HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND ALMOST ALL HAD TO REPLACE THE ECM. I AM NOW TRYING TO GET AN APPOINTMENT WITH A TOYOTA DEALER TO GET THIS DONE. VERY DISAPPOINTED IN TOYOTA. *TR

2002 TOYOTA RAV4 - WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY, MY CAR MAY AUTOMATICALLY GO FROM 60 TO 40 MPR IN MATTER OF SECONDS. OR MY CAR WILL GET STUCK ON 60MPR & VIOLENTLY JERK. TWICE HAVE I TAKEN IT IN FOR AN ECM RECALL. MY ENGINE LIGHT HAS BEEN ON EVER SINCE 60,000 MILES AND NOW IT'S AT 150,000. THE EXTENDED WARRANTY HAS BEEN ISSUED BUT MY CAR IS OVER THE LIMIT (154,000 MILES). THIS EXTENDED WARRANTY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ISSUED "YEARS AGO" NOW IT'S TOO LATE. MY CAR HAS HAD PROBLEMS EVER SINCE MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAS TURNED ON AT 60K. *TR

ECM/TRANSMISSION FAILURE ON MY 2002 RAV 4. I ENDED UP CLEANING OUT MY SAVINGS OVER THIS CAR. AFTER RECENT BULLETIN FROM TOYOTA, I SUBMITTED NECESSARY PAPER WORK FOR SOME REIMBURSEMENT. I WAS TOLD THAT I WAS NOT ELIGIBLE BECAUSE THE CAR WAS MADE IN PUERTO RICO, NOT US!!!!!! I BOUGHT IT USED FROM A TOYOTA DEALER IN VA. WHY DID TOYOTA SEND ME THE NOTICE????? *TR

OUR 2002 TOYOTA RAV-4 HAS ABOUT 120,000 MILES ON IT. THE TRANSMISSION HAS BEGUN TO ACT UP BEGINNING ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO. IT HAS GONE FROM BAD TO WORSE, AND IN INVESTIGATING SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM, WE HAVE BEEN STUNNED TO READ ABOUT THE MANY HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS THAT TOYOTA HAS RECEIVED RE: 2001-2003 TOYOTA RAV-4S, WHICH WERE THOUGHT TO BE TRANSMISSION ISSUES EXCLUSIVELY, AND TURNED OUT TO BE FAULTY ECMS. THIS HAPPENS EVERY TIME THAT WE DRIVE THIS CAR, AND WE NOW REFUSE TO DRIVE IT ON THE HIGHWAY BECAUSE OF OUR DIFFICULTY IN GETTING IT TO ACCELERATE WITHOUT THE RPMS BEING SO HIGH THAT WE KNOW IT'S DAMAGING THE TRANSMISSION/ENGINE. *TR

2002 TOYOTA RAV4. AFTER STOPPING AT AN INTERSECTION I TOOK OFF AND THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SEEMED TO BE IN HIGH GEAR, THEN IT JERKED AND THE ENGINE RACED AND THE TRANSMISSION DOWN SHIFTED. THIS HAPPENED TWO OTHER TIMES WITHIN 10 MILES. THE ECM UNIT HAD FAILED. I RESEARCHED THIS PROBLEM ON-LINE AND FOUND THAT MANY OTHER PEOPLE HAD THE SAME ISSUE. TOYOTA CLAIMS THAT THIS PROBLEM WAS FIXED IN 2008 ON THIS VEHICLE BUT WE HAVE OWNED THE VEHICLE SINCE MAY OF 2007 AND DID NOT HAVE ANY REPAIRS DONE. *TR

FOR A LONG TIME THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT KEPT TURNING ON IN MY 2002 RAV4. I WENT TO A DEALER IMMEDIATELY. HE SAID THAT THIS ONLY HAPPENED BECAUSE I DIDN'T SCREW THE GAS CAP TIGHTLY ENOUGH. HE MANUALLY TURNED OFF THE LIGHT AND I WENT ON MY WAY. THE LIGHT KEPT COMING ON AND I KEPT GOING BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP WHO SAID THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. THEN SUDDENLY, IN MAY OF 2009, THE CAR STARTED JERKING AND SHAKING WHILE I DROVE. AT TIMES IT WOULD STALL ALMOST TO A STOP AND NOTHING I DID, EVEN APPLYING THE GAS DID MUCH MORE THAN REV THE ENGINE. I ENDED UP HAVING TO FORK OVER MORE THAN $3K TO GET IT FIXED, BUT THAT WASN'T THE END OF IT. MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT UP AGAIN. I TOOK IT TO A DIFFERENT SHOP, AS I HAD MOVED ACROSS THE COUNTRY AT THE TIME. THEY ENDED UP HAVING TO REPLACE MY 02 SENSORS, ALL 4 OF THEM. THAT COST ME ANOTHER $500. I ONLY FOUND OUT LATER FROM A FRIEND THAT TOYOTA HAD SENT OUT A RECALL ON THE ECU AND TRANSMISSIONS FOR VEHICLES WITH LESS THAN 80K MILES ON IT. MINE WAS ALREADY OVER 100K AND DID NOT HELP ME ONE BIT. NEEDLESS TO SAY, I NO LONGER HAVE ANY CONFIDENCE IN THIS COMPANY. MY FAMILY BOUGHT TOYOTAS FOR YEARS. I RECENTLY GOT A NOTE EXPLAINING THAT THEY WOULD PAY FOR MY REPAIRS... NOW I'M SCRAMBLING TO FIND THE RECEIPTS AND HOPE THEY WILL HONOR THEIR PROMISE. THEY CANNOT UNDO THE POTENTIAL DANGER THEIR MISTAKES COULD HAVE COST ME AND MY PASSENGERS. THERE IS NOT ONE NOTE OF APOLOGY IN THE RECALL EITHER. I FELT THE NEED TO FILE A COMPLAINT DESPITE THE RECALL BECAUSE TOYOTA SHOULD BE MADE TO FULLY REIMBURSE THEIR CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE HAD TO GO THROUGH NOT ONLY THE HEADACHE OF DEALING WITH THE MECHANICAL PROBLEMS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE OTHER PEOPLE AND FAMILIES THIS NEGLIGENCE MAY HAVE PHYSICALLY HURT, OR GOD FORBID, KILLED. THE FEAR AND DANGER OF DRIVING THIS ROAD HAZARD IS ALSO MOTIVATION ENOUGH TO MAKE SURE AS MANY COMPLAINTS ARE HEARD AND ADDRESSED. *TR

I HAVE BEEN A LOYAL TOYOTA OWNER WITH A 1995 CAMRY AND A 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4. I NOTICED THE TERRIBLE JERKING THAT STARTED WHILE DRIVING THE RAV4 ON MY WAY TO WORK. I COULD NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO SPEED UP WHEN NECESSARY AND ONCE I DID, THE CAR JERKED SO MUCH, I HAD TO PULL OVER AND EVENTUALLY GET THE CAR TOWED TO THE MECHANIC. THEY STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS THE PROBLEM SO WE PAID TO REPLACE IT AND RESOLVE THAT ISSUE. NOT EVEN A WEEK LATER, I HAD THE SAME EXACT PROBLEMS GOING HOME FROM WORK. I BROUGHT IT BACK TO THE MECHANIC AND NOW IT'S THE ECM THAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. I CANNOT AFFORD TO GET IT REPLACED SINCE I JUST PAID FOR THE NEW TRANSMISSION. THE MECHANIC ATTEMPTED TO RESET THE ECM BUT THAT DID NOT HELP AT ALL. NOW WE ARE DOWN TO THE 95 CAMRY AND CROSSING OUR FINGERS THAT WE DON'T HAVE ISSUES WITH OUR "OLD RELIABLE". *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH, APPROACHING A STOP SIGN. WHILE ACCELERATING FROM THE COMPLETE STOP THE TRANSMISSION FAILED TO SHIFT INTO THE FIRST GEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE RESIDENCE. THE CONTACT STATED THERE WAS TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN, NUMBER 00504 RELATED TO THE TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 74,000.