2002 Toyota RAV4

TODAY MY TOYOTA RAV4 2002 BEGAN TO HAVE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFTING ISSUES. IT HAS AN EXCESSIVE JERK WHEN SHIFTED FROM PARK TO REVERSE, IT IS SLOW TO SHIFT FROM 1 TO 2, AND IT JERKS LIKE I WAS REAR ENDED WHEN SHIFTING TO THE NEXT GEAR. I CONTACTED MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER AND WAS TOLD THERE ARE NO OUTSTANDING RECALLS ON MY CAR, THE ECM SOFTWARE WAS UPDATED BEFORE I PURCHASED IT USED. I ASKED IF THEY HAD ANY ISSUES WITH THE TRANSMISSION ON THIS MODEL AND YEAR AND I WAS TOLD "NO". THEY RECOMMENDED I BRING IT IN FOR A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK FOR $104 JUST TO CHECK IT OUT. AFTERWARDS I THOUGHT I WOULD CHECK THE NET. I FOUND NUMEROUS THREADS REGARDING THE 2001-3 ECM/TRANSMISSION ISSUE. IT APPEARS A NUMBER OF OWNERS HAVE SUBMITTED COMPLAINTS TO NHTSA. PLEASE ADD ME. THEY ARE IGNORING THIS ISSUE AND PRETENDING THEY DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

ORIGINAL OWNER OF 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 AWD. WAS DRIVING HOME FROM A FRIEND'S HOUSE AND STOPPED OFF NEAR MY HOME FOR AN ERRAND. LEFT THE STORE, (CAR WAS RUNNING, FAMILY INSIDE) AND PROCEED TO DRIVE TOWARDS MY HOUSE. THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING BUT THE CAR WAS BARELY MOVING. THE TACH WAS AT 4,000 AND I WAS BARELY GOING 5 MPH. SUDDENLY AND WITHOUT WARNING THE CAR RACED FORWARD AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. I SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES TO AVOID A REAR-END COLLISION. AFTER IT WAS SAFE TO MOVE, I STEPPED ON THE GAS AGAIN AND THE CAR SLUGGISHLY MOVED AT ABOUT 5MPH AGAIN. THE WHOLE RIDE HOME (LESS THAN 5 MINUTES) THE CAR WAS EITHER SLOW OR FAST WITHOUT MUCH PRESSURE ON THE ACCELERATOR. UPON ARRIVING AT HOME AND TRYING TO PARALLEL PARK THE CAR, I NOTICED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS SLUGGISH AND MADE LOUD NOISE WHEN SHIFTED INTO REVERSE. THIS WASN'T NORMAL AND IT TROUBLED ME. I LOOKED UP ONLINE THE SYMPTOMS AND SAW THE TSB AND THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST TOYOTA. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY INFORMATION ON THIS. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME HEARING ABOUT THIS. OK 10 YEARS/150,000 MILES FROM 1ST DRIVE. HERE'S MY PROBLEM - I BOUGHT THE CAR IN 11/2001 - I AM OVER THE YEARS AND UNDER THE MILEAGE, SO I DON'T QUALIFY? THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WAS SETTLED IN JAN/FEB 2012. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PEOPLE WHO PURCHASED THEIR CAR BEFORE JAN/FEN 2002 - ARE THE OUT OF LUCK? I AM NO LONGER DRIVING THIS CAR TILL THIS IS FIXED AND SAFE. PLEASE NHTSA - MAKE IT A MANDATORY RECALL - OVER 250,000 SUV'S ARE AFFECTED. MAKE IT RIGHT - MAKE IT SAFE!! *TR

I JUST GOT A TOYOTA RAV 4 2002 AUTO AND WHEN DRIVING WITH FAMILY THE VEHICLE STARTED TO RUN SLUGGISH, JERKS WHEN PRESSING GAS, STARTS SLOW REAL SLOW AFTER COMING TO A STOP AND THIS SITUATION ALMOST GOT US INTO AN ACCIDENT IN US 81 NEAR FRONT ROYAL VIRGINIA. ADDITIONALLY THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER TAKING VEHICLE TO A MECHANIC IT SHOWS A CODE P0755 AND READING ABOUT THE PROBLEM IS NOT A SOLENOID BUT IT IS ECM OR ECU MALFUNCTION THAT THE TOYOTAS RAV 2001-2003 ARE PRESENTING WHICH MAKES THE CAR SHOW A GHOST CODE NOT A TRANSMISSION CODE BUT RATHER A DEFECTIVE COMPUTER MALFUNCTION THAT CANNOT BE REPAIRED BUT REPLACED. TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND I DO NOT SEE TOYOTA ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY AND HAD PASSED THE COST TO VEHICLES OWNERS AND NOT A GENERAL RECALL TO BE FIXED AT MANUFACTURE EXPENSES. PLEASE RESEARCH AND MAKE THIS ISSUE A IMMEDIATE RECALL BECAUSE IT HAD CAUSED ACCIDENTS DUE TO THE MALFUNCTION. *TR

FIRST THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON THEN WHILE TRYING TO ACCELERATE, THE CAR HESITATES AND THEN SHIFTS HARD AND JERKS THE CAR FORWARD. THE SAFETY ISSUE IS THAT THE CAR HESITATES AND ACCELERATION IS AFFECTED SO IT IS UNSAFE TO TRY TO GET ON THE HIGHWAY WITH ONCOMING CARS BEHIND YOU. I TALKED TO TOYOTA ABOUT THIS ISSUE BUT THEY STATED MY CAR WAS NOT COVERED BY THE RECALL OF (HARSH SHIFT CONDITION AND/OR MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHT). *TR

OUT OF THE BLUE WHILE IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC, MY CAR STARTED SHAKING, JERKING, SLAMMING INTO GEAR, NOT ACCELERATING, AND AT TIMES IT FELT LIKE THE BRAKE WAS BEING APPLIED WHEN I STEPPED THE GAS. WHEN I FIRST TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP A DAY AFTER THIS HAPPENED THE FIRST TIME, THEY COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE ISSUE DURING A TEST DRIVE. LITERALLY MINUTES AFTER PICKING MY CAR UP AND DRIVING OFF THE DEALERSHIP LOT, IT STARTED HAPPENING AGAIN IN STOP-AND-GO TRAFFIC. THIS TIME IT WAS MUCH WORSE AND I WAS AFRAID AS THE PERSON BEHIND ME ALMOST REAR-ENDED ME. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY TELL ME I EITHER NEED A NEW ECM OR A NEW TRANSMISSION. BUT AFTER RESEARCHING THIS ON THE INTERNET, IT IS A HUGE ISSUE THAT IS HAPPENING TO A LOT OF 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 OWNERS. AND WE AS THE OWNERS ARE AT THE MERCY OF THE UNKNOWN - THIS HAPPENS OUT OF NO WHERE AND IS HORRIBLY UNSAFE AND YET TOYOTA TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY. *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

MY WIFE WAS DRIVING OUR RAV 4 WITH MY SON ABOARD. THE CAR BEGAN EXPERIENCING TROUBLE ACCELERATING, CAR WOULD HESITATE, THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT WOULD LURCH FORWARD. IT WAS TOTALLY UNSAFE TO DRIVE AT THAT POINT. I HAVE LEARNED THAT THIS IS DUE TO A FAULTY ECM WHICH HAS CAUSED THIS VEHICLE TO BE EXTREMELY UNSAFE. II TOOK THE CAR TO MY MECHANIC AND SURE ENOUGH THE CAR SHOWED THE P0755 OBD II CODE WHICH INDICATES THAT THE ISSUE IS WITH THE ECM. F LEFT UNATTENDED, THE TRANSMISSION WILL REQUIRE REPLACEMENT AT A COST OF $4000 - $5000. I TALKED TO TOYOTA ABOUT IT AND THEY SAID A REPAIR WAS COVERED UNDER A CUSTOMER SUPPORT WARRANTY EXTENSION PROGRAM (*CASE # 1010011845). HOWEVER, NOW I TALK TO FITZGERALD TOYOTA IN GAITHERSBURG (JUDITH) AND THEY INDICATE THAT THEY HAVEN'T EVEN HEARD OF THIS PROGRAM. *TR