2002 Toyota RAV4

I OWN A 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN RUNNING GREAT. ONE DAY 1ST & 2ND GEAR BEGAN TO SLIP. THE CAR WILL ACCELERATE THEN JUST STOP UNTIL 1ST GEAR CATCHES ABRUPTLY JOLT. THE TRANSMISSION IS AUTOMATIC. THE CAR HAS JUST OVER 87,000 MILES. AFTER RESEARCHING I SAW THERE WERE SEVERAL VEHICLES WITH THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM. TOYOTA DID PUT OUT AN ALERT STATING THAT THERE ARE COMPUTER PROBLEMS BUT THOSE FORMS WERE NOT SENT TO THE OWNERS ONLY TO THE SERVICE CENTERS. NOW I HAVE TO TAKE MY VEHICLE IN HAVE SOLENOIDS CHANGED AND POSSIBLY THE ENGINE COMPUTER. THESE ARE THE PROBLEMS LISTED IN THE ALERT SENT OUT. IF TOYOTA KNOWS 2002 RAV 4'S ARE HAVING THESE ISSUES WHY HAVE THERE BEEN NO RECALLS. I ALSO MUST SAY THAT IT IS UNJUST THAT WE AS CONSUMERS HAVE TO SPEND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON PARTS AND LABOR FOR WHAT IT SEEMS TO BE MANUFACTURER DEFECTS. I'VE ADDED A LINK WHERE ONE CAN VIEW SEVERAL OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THE SAME DEFECT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/TOYOTA/RAV4/2002/TRANSMISSION/PROBLEMS_SHIFTING.SHTML. *TR

MY 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4 STARTED HAVING SHIFTING PROBLEMS. IT'S OUT OF WARRANTY. I TOOK IT TO AN INDEPENDENT TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST. WHY TAKE IT TO A DEALER, RIGHT? HE REBUILT THE TRANSMISSION TO THE TUNE OF $2500.00. HE TOOK IT FOR A TEST DRIVE AND IT STILL WOULDN'T SHIFT. HE TALKED TO A SERVICE TECHNICIAN AT TOYOTA AND WAS TOLD THAT TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT AN ISSUE WITH THE ECM HAVING BAD COMPUTER CODE AND THAT'S WHAT WAS TEARING UP TRANSMISSIONS. BUT SINCE MY CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY AND I TOOK IT TO AN INDEPENDENT TRANSMISSION PLACE, TOYOTA WILL NOT EVEN LISTEN TO MY COMPLAINT. *TR

I OWN A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4, THERE WAS A RECALL AND I HAD THE ECM RECALIBRATED. I UNDERSTAND THIS CONTROLS THE TRANSMISSION. NOW I HAVE ECM AND TRANSMISSION FAILURE TO THE TUNE OF $4900. I HAVE GOGGLED THIS PROBLEM AND NOTE THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER CONSUMERS WHO HAVE HAD THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM - THE CAR STUTTERS ALMOST TO A STALL IN TRAFFIC, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON AND THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP DX AS ECM FAILURE/TRANSMISSION FAILURE, NOT PREVENTABLE BY CONSUMER. OTHER COMPLAINTS OF THE SAME NATURE AT AUTOBEEF.COM. *TR

I RECENTLY HAD TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION ON MY CAR BECAUSE THE CAR WAS SHIFTING ERRATICALLY. AFTER THE TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED I STILL HAD THE PROBLEM AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS A TECHNICAL BULLETIN FROM TOYOTA TC002-6 WHICH SAID THAT A FAULTY ENGINE CONTROL MODULE (ECM) WILL CAUSE HARSH SHIFTING. TOYOTA DID NOT COMMUNICATE THIS PROBLEM TO ME BACK IN MARCH 2006. IF TOYOTA WOULD HAVE COMMUNICATED THIS DEFECT, I COULD HAVE HAD THE ECM CHECKED AND PROBABLY SAVED MY TRANSMISSION. *TR

MY CAR STARTED ACTING UP IN MARCH 2008. I HAD MY TRANSMISSION REBUILT IN APRIL AND GOT THE CAR BACK STILL ACTING UP! I AM TRYING TO GO BY THE DEALERSHIP WHO SOLD IT TO ME AND GET THEIR MECHANIC TO LOOK AT IT AND HE IS TOO BUSY WHEN IT IS MESSING UP. IT ONLY DOES IT SOMETIMES NOW BUT IT SEEMS TO GET MORE FREQUENT. THE TSB I READ MENTIONED THE ECM AND THE TRANSMISSION GOING BAD SO IS THAT MY NEXT COSTLY EXPENSE? *TR

MY TOYOTA RAV IV WAS RECALLED TO HAVE THE ECM REPROGRAMMED. I TOOK IT TO TOYOTA TO HAVE IT REPROGRAMMED, THE PROBLEMS WHERE FIXED FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS BUT THEN THEY CAME BACK. THE CAR DOES NOT RESPOND FOR A WHILE WHEN SHIFTING FROM FIRST TO SECOND GEAR, THEN IT JUMPS MAKING A LOUD NOISE AND RESTARTS RUNNING IN 2ND GEAR. THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS, SPECIALLY WHEN THERE ARE CARS BEHIND, I ALMOST WAS HIT BY CARS GOING BEHIND ME AT LEAST TWICE. I TOOK IT TO AAMCO, AND THEY SAID THE TRANSMISSION IS OK, IT IS JUST A COMPUTER PROBLEM. TOYOTA SHOULD FIX THE ENTIRE PROBLEM WITH THE ECM. A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE REPLACED THEIR TRANSMISSION JUST FOR THE PROBLEM TO REOCCUR, OTHERS HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE COMPUTER AT THEIR OWN COST. THIS SEEMS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM FOR THIS MODEL OWNERS, THERE ARE MANY BLOGS REGARDING THIS PROBLEM: HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/TOYOTA/RAV4/2002/TRANSMISSION/PROBLEMS_SHIFTING.SHTML. *TR

CES LIGHT CAME ON. TRANS STARTED SLIPPING. TOOK TO DEALER. DIAGNOSED KNOWN ECM PROBLEM. PERFORMED TOYOTA RECOMMENDED ECM UPDATE, BUT SAID TRANS WOULD HAVE TO BE REBUILT DUE TO DAMAGED ALREADY CAUSED. HAD TRANS REBUILT. DEVELOPED SAME SLIPPING PROBLEM. SAID IT WOULD RUIN TRANS AGAIN UNLESS ECM WAS REPLACED. THIS IS A TOYOTA PROBLEM THAT THEY NEED TO FIX. *TR

NEAR ACCIDENT DUE TO ERRATIC SHIFTING PROBLEM OF RAV4 2002. APPARENTLY RELATED TO THE ECM. THE VEHICLE HAS A VERY SLUGGISH START FROM A STANDSTILL AS IF THE EMERGENCY BRAKE IS ON. ATTEMPTING TO TURN ACROSS ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND VEHICLE WOULD NOT MOVE AND ALMOST HIT BY ONCOMING TRAFFIC. VEHICLE ALSO SHIFTS ERRATICALLY WHEN DRIVING. VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE. TOYOTA DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE AWARE OF THIS VERY SERIOUS AND DANGEROUS PROBLEM THAT SHOULD BE RECALLED BEFORE SOMEONE IS INJURED. *TR

I BOUGHT IN 2002 A TOYOTA RAV 4 BRAND NEW, I HAVE BEEN THE SOLE OWNER, JUST ABOUT 3 TO 4 WEEKS AGO (MAY 2008) AND WITH 87,000 MILES IT STARTED TO HAUL WHILE DRIVING, I TOOK IT TO A CERTIFIED TOYOTA MECHANIC WHO RAN A COMPUTER DIAGNOSTIC GIVING A SIGNAL THAT THE TRANSMISSION COULD BE DAMAGE, WHEN HE TOOK IT APART THE TRANSMISSION FILTER WAS FILLED WITH METAL PARTICLES AND WHEN HE DISMANTLE IT THE PLANETARIUM WAS BROKEN. I WAS IN SHOCK TO FIND OUT THAT A 6 YEAR OLD CAR AND SPECIALLY A TOYOTA COULD HAVE A BAD TRANSMISSION, THE MECHANIC SPOKE TO TOYOTA TO SEE IF THERE IS ANY WARRANTY AND THEY TOLD HIM THE CAR WAS COVERED UP TO 80,000 AND SINCE MINE WAS 87,000 IT IS NOT UNDER THE WARRANTY AND NOW I HAVE TO PAY WELL OVER $2,000.00 UNBELIEVABLE, COULD YOU TELL ME IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HAVE TOYOTA COVER FOR THE DAMAGE BECAUSE I DEFINITELY BELIEVE IS A MANUFACTURER DEFECT. *TR

I HAVE A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 L; AUTO TRANSMISSION; ODI 82,200 MILES. THE CAR BEGAN HAVING HARD SHIFTING PROBLEM. SHIFTS ERRATICALLY FROM 1ST TO 2ND, SLUGGISH FROM START. I FEEL IT'S BECOME VERY DANGEROUS, ESPECIALLY WHEN I AM ON THE HIGHWAY. THE CAR DIDN'T WANT TO ACCELERATED, AND THEN WOULD SHIFT VERY HARD. SO I TOOK MY CAR TO THE TOYOTA DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT IT WOULD NEED AT THE LEAST A NEW ECM, AND POSSIBLY EVEN A NEW TRANSMISSION. THE COST FOR THE ECM $1300, AND PERHAPS THE TRANSMISSION $4000. THAT'S $5,300!!!! HOW COULD I EVEN FIND THAT KINDA MONEY. I AM JUST A STUDENT WHO TRIES TO MAKE IT THROUGH DAY BY DAY, SUPPORTING MYSELF THROUGH SCHOOL WHILE WORKING FULL-TIME. I CAN BARELY PAY MY RENTS OR EVEN TUITION. AND I AM SOLELY DEEPENING ON MY CAR TO MAKE IT TO WORK AND SCHOOL; WITHOUT IT I WOULD BE IN A BIG MESS. CERTAINLY, I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FIX IT AND I REALLY HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. IF TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, THEY SHOULD REPAIR OR RECALL ALL ECM'S BEFORE MORE PEOPLE END UP SPENDING THIS KIND OF MONEY. I'D LIKE TO ALSO REFER TO MY OTHER FOLLOWING RAV4 DRIVERS LIKE ME WHO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM ON THE LINK BELOW. HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/TOYOTA/RAV4/2002/TRANSMISSION/PROBLEMS_SHIFTING.SHTML. *TR