2002 Toyota RAV4

TRANSMISSION FAILURE/ECM FAILURE ON 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4, ALMOST CAUSING ME TO BE IN AN ACCIDENT. I HAD TO SPEND OVER $4700 TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION REBUILT AND A NEW CONTROLLER INSTALLED. TOYOTA DEALER TOLD ME THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF ANY PROBLEMS WITH THE ECM CAUSING TRANSMISSION DAMAGE. THEN I RESEARCH IT ON THE INTERNET TO FIND MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS. TOYOTA SHOULD HAVE WARNED OWNERS OF THE PROBLEM AND ALLOW OWNERS TO CHANGE THE ECM BEFORE RUINING THE TRANSMISSION AND ALMOST HAVING AN ACCIDENT. *TR

MY TOYOTA RAV4 (2002) WITH LESS THAN 90,000 MILES HAS BEEN SLIPPING AND IT HAS CAUSED ME TO BE IN SOME PRETTY RISKY SITUATIONS, SUCH AS NEARLY GETTING INTO A FATAL CAR ACCIDENT WHEN STOPPING AND TRYING TO PROCEED AGAIN AT STOP LIGHTS AND STOP SIGNS. APPARENTLY THE ECM IS CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE TRANSMISSION AND INSTEAD OF THEM TRYING TO FIX THE PROBLEM AS A COMPANY, THEY ARE RECOMMENDING ME TO SPEND OVER 4,000 TO FIX A PROBLEM THAT THEY HAVE FELL TO RESOLVE. IT HAS BECOME A FINANCIAL NIGHTMARE AND I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN MY HOUSE AND MY CAR BECAUSE I NEED BOTH! *TR

ABOUT A MONTH AFTER HAVING MY 90,000 TUNE UP AT MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER, I NOTICED MY TRANSMISSION WAS SLIPPING; FROM FIRST TO SECOND AND SECOND TO THIRD. IT STARTED INTERMITTENTLY AND THEN BECAME MORE FREQUENT TO THE POINT THAT I NEEDED IT TO BE INSPECTED. ON MY WAY TO THE DEALER MY CAR STALLED IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION; CARS WERE HONKING AND I WAS THANKFUL NO ONE REAR-ENDED ME SINCE I WAS EXITING OFF A RAMP. AT THE DEALER THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE MY PROBLEM (DON'T KNOW HOW THEY COULDN'T ;EVERYONE DRIVING IN MY CAR NOTICED!) AND I DROVE IT AWAY WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS FOR ALMOST 2 WEEKS; THE SLIPPING STARTED AGAIN. THIS TIME MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER TAKING IT BACK FOR A SECOND INSPECTION THEY DETERMINED THAT MY ECM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $1,200. IT HAS BEEN ALMOST 2 WEEKS AND MY CAR IS WORKING GREAT AFTER THEY REPLACED THE ECM. WHAT UPSETS ME IS THE FACT THAT TOYOTA KNEW THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE ECMS. BACK IN 2006 I WAS NOTIFIED BY MY DEALERSHIP THAT MY ECM NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. I HAD MINE REPROGRAMMED BUT IT DIDN'T HELP. I JUST HOPE THAT NO ONE IS INJURED AS A RESULT OF THESE DEFECTIVE ECMS. *TR

I HAVE A 2002 RAV4. ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO, I NOTICED THAT WHEN I ACCELERATED, MY CAR HESITATED AND THEN JUMPED INTO GEAR. THE PROBLEM WORSENED, AND WHEN I TOOK IT TO BE LOOKED AT, THE MECHANIC INFORMED ME THAT THE REPAIRS TO THE DAMAGED TRANSMISSION WOULD COST CLOSE TO $4,000. AFTER RESEARCHING TOYOTA RAV 4 + TRANSMISSIONS, I QUICKLY FOUND MANY SITES STATING THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS EXACT SAME PROBLEM WITH THEIR TOYOTA 2001 - 2004 RAV 4 TRANSMISSIONS, AND THAT THE PROBLEMS ARE DUE TO A FAULTY COMPUTER THAT TOYOTA HAS KNOW ABOUT FOR YEARS. *TR

ON THE EVENING OF DECEMBER 21, 2009, I WAS DRIVING OUR 2002 TOYOTA RAV4, EXITING A MAJOR SHOPPING CENTER, IN A LONG LINE OF VEHICLES AT A SLOW SPEED. SUDDENLY THE ENGINE STALLED (SOMETHING THAT NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE). I RESTARTED THE ENGINE AND MOVED A FEW CAR LENGTHS, STILL IN A LONG LINE OF SLOW MOVING VEHICLES AND THE ENGINE STALLED AGAIN. I RESTARTED THE ENGINE AND WAS ABLE TO PROCEED HOME (ABOUT 10 MILES) WITHOUT FURTHER DIFFICULTY. THE NEXT DAY, DECEMBER 22, 2009, MY WIFE USED THE VEHICLE TO DO SOME SHOPPING. DURING HER TRIP SHE MADE 4 UNEVENTFUL STOPS AND RESTARTS. AT HER 5TH STOP, AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT AT AN INTERSECTION (ON A VERY BUSY HIGHWAY) SHE STOPPED FOR A RED LIGHT. SHE THEN PROCEEDED FROM THE RED LIGHT - BUT THE ENGINE STALLED AGAIN. MY WIFE WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE, BUT AS SOON AS THE GEAR SHIFT WAS PUT INTO DRIVE, THE ENGINE STALLED AGAIN. REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO RESTART THE ENGINE AND MOVE THE CAR WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. MY WIFE WAS STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION WITH TRUCKS AND CARS PASSING AROUND HER WITH HORNS BLOWING. A PASSING MOTORIST ULTIMATELY CAME TO HER ASSISTANCE AND PUSHED THE VEHICLE OUT OF THE INTERSECTION TO THE SHOULDER OF THE HIGHWAY OUT OF POTENTIAL DANGER. WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE LOCATION, I ALSO COULD NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE. THE ENGINE WOULD START, BUT ENGAGING ANY DRIVE POSITION (D, 2, 1, R) WOULD CAUSE THE ENGINE TO SHUT DOWN. THE VEHICLE(WITH 88,000 MILES) WAS TOWED TO MY REPAIR SHOP. THE SHOP DIAGNOSED AN ECM/TRANSMISSION PROBLEM - AND THEN TRANSFERRED THE VEHICLE TO A TRANSMISSION SHOP FOR FURTHER DIAGNOSIS AND REPAIR ON DECEMBER 23, 2009. *TR

I HAVE A 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4 WITH 82K MILES ON IT. AT THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER, 2009, I WAS DRIVING MY VEHICLE AND IT BEGAN TO JERK VIOLENTLY WHEN I ACCELERATED BETWEEN 1ST AND 2ND GEARS. I HAD DIFFICULTY MAINTAINING CONTROL AND AVOIDED AN ACCIDENT. SUBSEQUENTLY, I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND LEARNED THAT I HAD A COMMON PROBLEM FOR 2002 RAV 4'S -- A FAULTY ENGINE CONTROL MODULE. I RESEARCHED THE PROBLEM AND LEARNED THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE ALSO HAD THIS PROBLEM IN 2001 AND 2002 RAV 4'S. TOYOTA IS NOT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS PROBLEM. THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL ITEM. *TR

ONE DAY, OUT OF THE BLUE, MY 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 STARTED HAVING TROUBLE GETTING FULL POWER IN 1ST GEAR, AND OFTEN SLIPPED WHEN GOING FROM 1ST TO 2ND, AND 2ND TO 3RD. SINCE THIS WAS SO SUDDEN, I OFTEN HAD TROUBLE GETTING UP TO SPEED WHEN PULLING INTO TRAFFIC. THERE WERE NO ACCIDENTS, BUT A FEW CLOSE CALLS. I HAD THE ECM (ENGINE CONTROL MODULE) REPLACED THE NEXT DAY BECAUSE MY MECHANIC SAID THAT THIS WAS A FAIRLY COMMON FAILURE FOR THE RAV4, AND TOYOTA HAD PUT OUT A TSB FOR THIS PROBLEM. UNFORTUNATELY, I WAS WELL PAST THE MILEAGE NEEDED TO GET THIS DONE UNDER WARRANTY. *TR