2002 Toyota RAV4

CAR BEGAN TO SLIP OUT OF SECOND GEAR TO FIRST GEAR DURING ACCELERATION. I TOOK THE CAR TO A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE (ECM) WAS INOPERATIVE AND THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS DAMAGED AS A RESULT. I WAS TOLD THAT THE EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE TO THE TRANSMISSION COULD NOT BE DETERMINED UNTIL A NEW ECM WAS INSTALLED AT A COST OF $1500 BUT THAT THE COST OF THE TRANSMISSION COULD BE BETWEEN $3,000 TO $5,500. I WAS INFORMED BY THE DEALER THAT THE PARTS ARE OUT OF WARRANTY. *TR

OUR RAV4 BEGAN TO HAVE PROBLEMS SHIFTING, AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON. TOOK TO LOCAL DEALER. FIRST VISIT RESULTED IN TUNE-UP ITEMS. DEALERSHIP TREATED IT AS AN ENGINE-RELATED PROBLEM. CHECK ENGINE CAME BACK ON AGAIN THE SAME AFTERNOON. ON SECOND VISIT, DEALERSHIP KEPT CAR OVERNIGHT TO DRIVE IT WHILE IT WAS COLD. WE WERE TOLD THAT WE HAD A BAD CATALYTIC CONVERTER, AND THAT THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED BEFORE ANY FURTHER DIAGNOSIS COULD OCCUR. THE CC WAS ONLY THREE YEARS OLD, ALREADY HAVING BEEN REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. THEY HAD ALREADY REPROGRAMMED THE ECM. PER A TOYOTA SERVICE CAMPAIGN. AFTER THE CC REPLACEMENT, CAR IS STILL NOT SHIFTING PROPERLY, AND IS GETTING WORSE. DEALERSHIP ADVISED US THAT WE NEED AN ECM REPLACEMENT, AT A COST OF $1300. AFTER THE FACT, WE FOUND TOYOTA TSB TC002-06, WHICH DESCRIBES THE EXACT ISSUES OUR RAV4 IS HAVING. TOYOTA ADMITS IN THE TSB THAT THE ECM OF THE '01 THROUGH '03 RAV4'S CAN CAUSE THE HARSH SHIFTING THAT WE ARE SEEING, AND THAT TOYOTA MADE CHANGES TO THE "MANUFACTURING PROCESS TO REDUCE THE POSSIBILITY OF THIS CONDITION OCCURRING". THE RECOMMENDATION IS THE REPLACEMENT OF THE ECM. IT CANNOT BE REPROGRAMMED TO ELIMINATE THIS PROBLEM. THE RESULT OF THIS ECM FAILURE IS THAT THE CAR IS NO LONGER DRIVABLE, AS THE TRANSMISSION DOES NOT SHIFT PROPERLY AT ALL, AND IT CONSTANTLY LOOSES TENSION ON ITS CLUTCH PACK, RESULTING IN LOSS OF POWER TO THE ROAD. THE CONDITION GETS WORSE OVER A SHORT TIME. IN ONLY TWO WEEKS, THE CAR WILL NOT STAY IN ANY SINGLE GEAR WHEN DRIVING. A SEARCH OF THIS ISSUE ON THE INTERNET FOUND MANY OTHER PEOPLE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. OFTEN, THE ECM FAILURE CAUSES PHYSICAL TRANSMISSION FAILURE. THE DEALERSHIP WILL NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR FAULTY DIAGNOSIS, NOR WILL THEY MAKE TOYOTA HONOR THE WARRANTY, WHICH IS 80,000 MILES OR 8 YEARS. WE ARE UNDER THE YEARS, BUT OVER BY 8,000 MILES. HOW CAN THIS NOT BE TREATED AS A SAFETY ISSUE? IS IT NOT SERIOUS ENOUGH WHEN YOUR CAR SLIPS OUT OF GEAR IN TRAFFIC UNEXPECTEDLY? *TR

2002 TOYOTA RAV4 TRANSMISSION - TRANSMISSION IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY IN SHIFTING. ROUGH SHIFTING FROM 2/3 GEAR. HAD TO FIND INFORMATION ON FEDERAL 8YEAR/80K MILE MANDATED FREE REPROGRAMMING TO TRY TO FIX THIS. BUT READING ACCOUNTS THIS MAY NOT WORK AND EVEN THEN THE TRANSMISSION MAY BE DAMAGED ALREADY. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL REGARDLESS OF MILES DRIVEN AS THIS IS A CONSTANT PROBLEM ON THIS YEAR/MODEL. THANK GOODNESS I WAS LOW MILEAGE BUT THIS PROBLEM OCCURS REGARDLESS OF MILEAGE. THIS IS A TOYOTA DEFECT IN THE TRANSMISSION. *TR

I HAVE A TOYOTA RAV 4 2002. IT HAS 64,000 MILES. IT HAS HAD ALL IT'S RECOMMENDED SERVICES, NEW TIRES AND IS CLEAN. THE TRANSMISSION NEEDS REPLACING AND POSSIBLY THE COMPUTER. TOYOTA WILL NOT ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TRANSMISSION AND IT COSTS $3500.00 TO REPLACE THE PARTS. ON CARCOMPLAINTS.COM THERE ARE 120 COMPLAINTS RE THE TRANSMISSION AND THE 2002 RAV4. PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT A LAW SUIT. THEY HAVE SAID THAT I DESPITE REPLACING THE TRANSMISSION IT STILL NEEDED REPAIRS. *TR

I BROUGHT MY RAV BRAND NEW IN 2002. HAVE HAD NO PROBLEM WITH IT UP UNTIL A FEW A YEAR AGO WHEN THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON INTERMITTENT. EVERY TIME I WAS GOING TO TAKE THE VEHICLE INTO GET CHECKED IT WOULD GO OUT. WHEN I ARRIVED AT MY PRESENT DUTY STATION I WAS DEPLOYED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. WITHIN TWO MONTHS OF MY DEPLOYMENT MY WIFE TOLD ME THAT CAR WAS HAVING A HARD TIME MOVING AND COULD HEAR THE TRANSMISSION SLIPPING. SHE THEN TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE MECHANIC AND THEY TOLD HER THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS BROKE AND NEEDED TO BE REPAIRED. ONLY 52000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE. THE MECHANIC ALSO TOLD MY WIFE THAT THERE COULD BE A TSB OUT ON THE VEHICLE PERTAINING TO THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE, PART THAT TELLS THE TRANSMISSION TO SHIFT GEARS, "ECM"AND THERE WAS SEVERAL THAT PERTAINED THE PROBLEM AND WHAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. BEING IN ITALY SHE CONTACTED THE STATES REP FOR TOYOTA AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY COULDN'T LOCATE OUR CAR BECAUSE WE BOUGHT IT FROM A LICENSED DEALER "AMERICAN SPEC VEHICLE" FROM GERMANY. SHE THEN CONTACT THE AGENCY THAT IS AUTHORIZED TO SELL "AMERICAN SPEC CARS" AND WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE FELL UNDER THE WARRANTY AND THAT THEY "AMERICAN TOYOTA" SHOULD PAY FOR IT BASED ON AN AMERICAN TSB. CALLED TOYOTA AGAIN AND NOTHING. WHEN I CAME HOME, WE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND BECAUSE IT WAS AN AMERICAN TSB THEY WOULD CONSIDER THE REPLACEMENT. IN THE MEAN TIME THEY ASSURED US THAT THE VEHICLE WAS SAFE TO DRIVE AND BEING OUR ONLY VEHICLE MY WIFE WAS FORCED TO DRIVE IT. TOYOTA "ROME" OKED THE REPLACEMENT OF THE ECM, THE ACTUAL FAULT OF THE VEHICLE BUT HAS REFUSED TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION THE RESULT OF THE FAULTY PART. NOW THE TRANSMISSION IS COMPLETELY SHOT AND LOOKING ON LINE THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN CONSUMERS ARE PAYING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OUT TO REPLACE A PRODUCT THAT IS THE RESULT OF TOYOTA'S ENGINEERING FLAWS. I PERSONALLY FEEL THAT THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE THE TRANSMISSION AND THE REPLACEMENT. FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS REQUESTED. *TR