2002 Toyota RAV4

TAKATA RECALL: I WAS INVOLVED IN A HEAD-ON COLLISION WHILE I WAS DRIVING MY TOYOTA RAV4 2002 SUV AND I WAS DRIVING AT 45MPH AT THE TIME. THE OTHER VEHICLE RAN OUT OF HER LANE AND HIT ME HEAD-ON. THE AIRBAGS IN MY TOYOTA DID NOT WORK WHICH CAUSED ME AND MY WIFE TO SUSTAINED SEVERAL INJURIES. THE OTHER VEHICLE THAT HIT ME HEAD-ON, THE AIR BAGS WORKED. I WOULD LIKE FOR YOUR AGENCY TO INVESTIGATE AND TO FIND OUT WHY MY TAKATA AIR BAGS DID NOT WORK. MY VEHICLE HAD ONLY 33,000 MILES ON IT AND IT LOOKED BRAND NEW. MT TOYOTA WAS TOTALED AND I HAD TO SPEND A FEW DAYS IN THE HOSPITAL FROM MY INJURIES. CAN THE NHTSA PERFORM AN INVESTIGATION INTO WHY MY AIR BAGS DID NOT WORK? IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE AIR BAGS ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK IF YOU ARE IN A HEAD ON COLLISION GOING TWENTY MPH. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE NHTSA HAS OVERLOOKED THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOME OF THE TAKATA AIRBAGS DO NOT WORK AND HAS CAUSED MANY ACCIDENTS THAT THEY ARE NOT AWARE OF. PLEASE ADVISE.

RAV4 CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON SO HAD A DIAGNOSTIC TEST DONE. CODES INDICATE THERE MAY A PROBLEM WITH CATALYTIC CONVERTER. MY VEHICLE ONLY HAS 107K MILES. I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER AND HAVE MAINTAINED ALL SERVICE RECOMMENDATIONS. MECHANIC INDICATED I SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED A CAMPAIGN NOTICE FOR THIS PROBLEM. NOW LOOKING AT A REPAIR BILL OF APPROX. $2K. TOYOTA SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR FIXING THIS. I HAVE HAD THE SAME ADDRESS FOR YEARS.

TAKATA RECALL: I WAS INVOLVED IN A HEAD-0N COLLISION AND MY AIR BAGS DID NOT DEFLATE LIKE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO. THE OTHER VEHICLE THAT HIT ME, THEIR AIRBAGS DEFLATED. I WAS GOING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH AND THE IMPACT PUSHED EVERYTHING BACK FROM THE FRONT END OF MY VEHICLE, WHICH BLOCKED THE DOORS SO THAT WE COULD NOT GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE. THE ACCIDENT WAS THE OTHER PARTIES FAULT AND SHE WAS CITED FOR THE ACCIDENT. I RECEIVED SEVERAL INJURIES WHICH RESULTED WITH ME BEING IN THE HOSPITAL FOR SEVERAL DAYS. THE POLICE OFFICERS, THE AMBULANCE PEOPLE AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT PEOPLE ALL WONDERED WHY MY AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY WHEN THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED. ALL OF THE PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE ON THE ACCIDENT SCENE SAID THAT MY AIRBAGS WERE PROBABLY MADE BY TAKATA AND WERE DEFECTIVE. AS THE RESULT OF MY AIRBAGS NOT DEPLOYING CAUSED ME TO HAVE EXTENSIVE INJURIES AND I AM HAVING TO HAVE PHYSICAL THERAPY ON MY LEFT ARM AND HAND. I WOULD LIKE FOR THE NHTSA TO PERFORM A CHECK ON THE TOYOTA RAV4 2002 SUV'S TO SEE IF THEY ALSO SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. AS THE RESULT OF THE ACCIDENT, MY SUV WAS TOTALED AND IT ONLY HAD 33,000 MILES ON IT.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 55 MPH AND DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED INDEPENDENTLY. THE FAILURE RECURRED NUMEROUS TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 150,000.

THIS CAR IS A VERY DANGEROUS DEATH TRAP AND LEMON BECAUSE THE TRANSMISSION DOESN'T WORK PROPERLY EVEN THOUGH MY USED RAV4 ONLY HAS 75K MILES ON IT. WHAT A BLACK EYE ON TOYOTA AND THE NHTSA FOR NOT RECALLING THIS MESS OF A CAR! THIS IS A TRAVESTY...WE BOUGHT A TOYOTA FOR $8200 BECAUSE WE THOUGHT TOYOTA WAS A GOOD CAR...NOW WITH ONLY 75K MILES BUT 13 YRS OLD IT IS A TOTAL DANGEROUS LEMON....WHY WON'T YOU FORCE TOYOTA TO DO A MANDATORY RECALL BEFORE PEOPLE ARE KILLED IN THIS DEATH TRAP? NOT RIGHT, PLEASE ACT....

I PURCHASED THE RAV IN 2007 WITH LESS THAN 50,000 MILES. SOON AFTER THE PURCHASE THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WOULD COME ON AND OFF. WHEN I TOOK THE VEHICLE MULTIPLE TIMES TO BE SERVICED THE ENGINE LIGHT WOULD NOT BE ON AND THE DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT DID NOT CHECK FOR CODES BECAUSE DEALER POLICY IS IF ENGINE LIGHT WAS NOT ON, CODES WOULD NOT BE CHECK. THIS VEHICLE WAS SUBJECT TO A 2007 RECALL ON ECU AND THE ECU WAS RESET PER RECALL INSTRUCTIONS PER THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. SINCE THAT TIME I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE MULTIPLE COMPONENTS WITH THE MOST RECENT REPAIR OF $3,600 FOR A REBUILT TRANSMISSION. I BELIEVE THAT IF COMPUTER WOULD HAVE BEEN CHECKED BACK IN 2007 THESE REPAIRS (REPLACEMENT OF MULTIPLE SOLENOID, OXYGEN SENSORS AND VALVE SWITCH) WOULD NOT HAVE NOT TAKEN, INCLUDING THE RECENT FAILURE AND REPLACED OF THE TRANSMISSION AND I WOULD NOT BE IN THIS SITUATION NOW. PER MULTIPLE TOYOTA SERVICE DEPARTMENT STAFF, I WAS TOLD THIS MODEL HAS A HISTORY OF ECU PROBLEMS CAUSING TRANSMISSION FAILURES. RESETTING THE ECU ONLY MASKED OR PUT A BAND AIDE ON THIS TRANSMISSION PROBLEM.

I AM REQUESTING THAT DOT NHTSA RECALL THE ECM IN ALL 2002 TOYOTA RAV4S. WHEN I CONTACTED TOYOTA AFTER A BADLY DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED ECM IN OUR RAV4 FAILED AND ALSO DESTROYED OUR TRANSMISSION, I WAS TOLD THAT THEY KNEW THE PART WAS BAD, BUT THEY HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO AVOID A RECALL BY OFFERING A SHORT TERM CONSUMER SUPPORT PROGRAM (CSP 01-03MY RAV4 TRANSAXLE ECM)--AND THAT PROGRAM IS OVER. THEY OFFERED NO HELP, ONLY AN EMPTY APOLOGY. TOYOTA MADE A BAD PART THAT COST MY FAMILY OVER $3500 FOR PARTS AND REPAIRS'AND DEBORAH A. HOUSTON OF THE TOYOTA MOTOR SALES EXECUTIVE OFFICE VERY CLEARLY ADMITTED THAT TO ME; YET BECAUSE THERE WAS NO RECALL, TOYOTA DOESN'T HAVE TO COMPENSATE US FOR THE WORK. THEY MADE A BAD PART, YET THEY WERE REWARDED FOR IT WHEN WE HAD TO BUY A NEW ECM BEFORE WE COULD HAVE THE TRANSMISSION REBUILT. WE NEVER RECEIVED A LETTER ABOUT THE CONSUMER SUPPORT PROGRAM, AND TOYOTA ALSO ADMITTED THAT MANY PEOPLE DIDN'T DUE TO ADDRESS ISSUES, ETC. HUNDREDS OF 2002 RAV4 OWNERS HAVE REPORTED THIS ISSUE, AND AS DIFFICULT AS IT IS TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT FOR MOST OF US, PROBABILITY SAYS THAT MANY MORE OF THE CARS HAVE BEEN FIXED OR JUNKED WITHOUT THE ISSUES REPORTED. A QUICK INTERNET SEARCH YIELDS NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS. IT SHOULD BE CUT AND DRY: MAKE A BAD PART--PAY FOR THE REPAIRS. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WORN OUT PART AND SHODDY DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING. THE TRANSMISSION SHOP OWNER WHO REPAIRED OUR CAR SAID THAT HE'D BEEN BROUGHT SEVERAL RAV4S FROM 2002 WITH THE SAME ISSUE. THAT'S SEVERAL IN ONE, SMALL TOWN. IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO RECALL THE 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 ECM. THE PEOPLE STILL NEEDING THESE CARS FOR TRANSPORTATION ARE THE PEOPLE WHO CAN'T AFFORD $3500 PLUS REPAIRS.