2002 Toyota RAV4

WHILE ON AN ONRAMP, GOING INTO THICK, FAST TRAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAY (95) OUR RAV4 HAD WHAT I GUESS IS CALLED A "HARSH SHIFT" AND STALLED IN NEWTON, MA. WE THINK THIS IS DUE TO A FAULTY ECM OR TRANSMISSION (WE ALREADY HAD THE ECM REPLACED ONCE, IN PASADENA, CA AT THE END OF 2008, AND IT WAS LIKE PULLING TEETH TO GET TOYOTA TO DO IT!) I CAN'T BELIEVE THE VEHICLE IS EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM, AGAIN!! SOMEONE COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED! A QUICK SEARCH OF THE MESSAGE BOARDS (CARCOMPLAINTS.COM HAS 3 PAGES OF COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS ISSUE!) AND A LOVELY NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WRITTEN ON JULY 13, 2010 BY CHRISTOPHER JENSEN ABOUT TOYOTA EXTENDING THE WARRANTY ON THE OBVIOUSLY FAULTY ECM'S TELLS ME THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED, SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.

THE ECM FAILED AND CAUSED DAMAGED TO THE TRANSMISSION (2ND GEAR SPECIALLY). ON THE HIGHWAY, THE VEHICLE HAD DECREASED POWER; GEARS WERE SLIPPING AND THE CAR WERE JERK FROM GEAR TO GEAR. TOYOTA APPARENTLY WAS AWARE OF THE MALFUNCTION BECAUSE THEY EXTENDED THEIR WARRANTY TO 10 YEARS/150K MILES. BECAUSE OF MY MILEAGE, I AM NOT COVERED. IF THEY KNEW THERE WAS A FAULT, WHY DIDN'T THEY DO RECALL AND FIX THE PROBLEM?

S10 APPROPRIATE HANDLING RE TOYOTA VEHICLES SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION FWD FM OWNER OF A 2002 RAV4, 2002 COROLLA AND A 2007 TOYOTA PRIUS *TGW THE CONSUMER WAS INFORMED THAT NONE OF THE 2002 VEHICLES WERE INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. THE CONSUMER STATED HER OTHER TWO VEHICLES, WHICH ARE MUCH NEWER WERE NOT RECALLED EITHER AND COULD POTENTIALLY ACCELERATE AND CAUSE INJURY OR DEATH. THE CONSUMER ALSO ADDRESSED QUESTIONS IN HER COMPLAINT. *JB UPDATED 05/24/10

MY 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 HAD TC002-06 PERFORMED ON IT IN JANUARY 2007. THE RECALL WAS TO ADDRESS ISSUES WITH THE ECM AND TRANSMISSION SHIFTING ISSUES. MY VEHICLE IS OUT OF WARRANTY AND HAS 85,000. I CONTACTED TOYOTA AND THEY INFORMED ME THAT A LOGIC UPDATE WAS PERFORMED TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE. FROM WHAT I HAVE READ ONLINE, THE ECM SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPLACED AND NOT UPDATED. I ALSO FOUND THAT THE ECM CARRIES AN 80,000 MILE WARRANTY. THE PROBLEM I AM HAVING IS NOW THE TRANSMISSION HAS FAILED AND I WAS INFORMED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS DUE TO THE ECM NOT BEING REPLACED. ALL MAJOR SERVICE WORK ON THIS VEHICLE HAS BEEN PERFORMED AT A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. THE INDEPENDENT SERVICE AGENT HAS INFORMED ME THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REBUILT AND THE ECM REPLACED AT A TOTAL COST OF OVER $4200. I CONTACTED A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND A ROUGH ESTIAMTE FOR THIS REPAIR IS $5000-$6000. WHEN I CONTACTED TOYOTA AND ASKED ABOUT THIS TSB, THEY INFORMED ME THAT IT IS SIMPLY A MANUAL ADDENDUM AND NOTHING ELSE. THEY REFUSE TO HELP WITH THIS ISSUE AT ALL. IT IS SERIOUS BECAUSE THE VEHICLE BEGIN TO FAIL AND WOULD NOT ACCERLERATE WHEN I WAS TRYING TO DRIVE ONTO A MAJOR ROAD FROM BEING STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT. I HAVE RESEARCHED THIS ISSUE ON THE INTERNET AND I HAVE FOUND THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD THIS SAME ISSUE AROUND THE SAME MILEAGE WITH THIS MODEL YEAR VEHICLE. PLEASE HELP!

I DRIVE A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 WITH 63K I BOUGHT IT USED 4 YEARS AGO WITH WARRANTY I NOW HAVE PROBLEMS SHIFTING FROM 1 TO 2 GEAR TOOK IT TO TOYOTA DEALER TO HAVE A DIAGNOSE, I HAD PREVIOSLY TOOK MY CAR TO A TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST I WAS TOLD TO TAKE TO THE DEALER WERE IT WAS PURCHASED BECAUSE THE ECM HAD TO BE REPLACED/RESET ANYWAY I DID A RESEARCH AND FOUND THAT THERE WAS A EXTENDED WARRANTY ON THE ECM FOR 96 MONTHS OR 80K WHICH EVER COMES FIRST MY EXTENDED WARRANTY EXPIRED BECAUSE WARRANTY STARTS FROM ORIGINAL OWNER(DATE FIRST USE) TO REPLACE THE ECM IS GOING TO COST ME $1300 I THINK I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY THIS AMOUNT DUE TO TOYOTA RAV4 ECM PROBLEM BACK IN 2006 I SHOULD STILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR ECM WARRANTY SINCE I PURCHASED MY CAR IN FEB. 2006. I HOPE THE NEXT STEP IS NOT REPLACING THE TRANSMISSION. I AM NOT SATISFIED WITH TOYOTA CARS OR THERE SERVICES .

MY 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 AUTOMATIC IS HAVING SERIOUS TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. IT INTERMITTENTLY DOES NOT FIND THE SECOND GEAR, AND WHEN IT DOES, LURCHES FORWARD IF THE ACCELERATOR IS APPLIED. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS, BECAUSE PRIOR TO IT SLIPPING OUT OF GEAR, IT STARTS OUT SLOW, AND YOU MUST APPLY THE ACCELERATOR MORE THAN USUAL TO GET MOVING. IT HAS ALSO LOST THE GEAR WHILE AT HIGH SPEEDS, A POTENTIAL NIGHTMARE FOR SOMEONE THAT DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO REACT PROPERLY. AFTER RESEARCHING MY ISSUE, (AND HAVING THE TRANSMISSION FLUSHED AND FILTERS REPLACED) I FEEL LIKE I HAVE NO RECOURSE. TOYOTA INITIATED A RECALL TO RE-FLASH THE CONTROL MODULE IN 2007, WHICH I HAD DONE. THEY NEVER INFORMED ME THAT THERE WAS AN ACTUAL ERROR IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE MODULE, JUST SOMETHING ABOUT IT ELIMINATE A PROBLEM OF THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMING ON AROUND 60K. MY MODULE TESTS OUT FINE TODAY, YET IT APPARENTLY RUINED MY TRANSMISSION, AND NOW I HAVE LEARNED SOME INDIVIDUALS HAVE REPLACED THE CONTROL MODULE, AND SOME THE ENTIRE TRANSMISSION, ONLY TO BE REVISITED BY THE SAME PROBLEMS. MY CAR CURRENTLY HAS 111,000 MILES ON IT, AND THE REPAIRS WILL COST MORE THAN THE VALUE OF THE AUTO. HOW CAN I SELL THIS VEHICLE WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE KNOWING ALL OF THIS? PLEASE CONSIDER THIS FOR RECALL, TOYOTA WITHHELD INFORMATION FROM ITS CUSTOMERS WHEN INITIATING THIS RECALL IN 2007 (THE FLASH RESET), AND CAUSED MANY OF US DANGER AND GREAT EXPENSE AS A RESULT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, BRENDA KING

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