2002 Toyota RAV4

WRITTEN IN EARLY MAY TO PLANETFEEDBACK.COM: MY WIFE AND I PURCHASED A 2002 RAV4 NEW AT PENN TOYOTA IN GREENVALE, NY AND IT NOW HAS 97,981 MILES ON IT. IN LATE APRIL IT STARTED JERKING/JUMPING WHEN TRYING TO UPSHIFT AND WE BROUGHT IT IN FOR SERVICE AT PENN TOYOTA. ONCE THERE THE SERVICE CENTER ADVISED US TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION FLUIDS FLUSHED AND REFILLED, WHICH WE DID. THEY ALSO STATED THAT THEY WOULD DO AN UPDATE TO THE ECM, WHICH THEY ALSO DID. WHILE DRIVE THE VEHICLE HOME (AFTER THE REPAIRS), THE CAR WAS JUMPING/JERKING WORSE THAN WHEN WE BROUGHT IT IN. WE IMMEDIATELY BROUGHT IT BACK WHERE IT WAS RE-EVALUATED AND WE WERE NOW TOLD THAT ECM WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $1589.00. MY WIFE AND I DID SOME RESEARCH AND ARE FINDING THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN SEVERAL OF THE SAME TYPE OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR PROBLEM AND TOYOTA ITSELF HAS EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON THIS PRODUCT TO 96 MONTHS OR 80,000 MILES. WE FALL OUT OF THAT RANGE, BUT THERE IS OBVIOUSLY A PROBLEM WITH THIS PRODUCT (WHICH IS WHY TOYOTA PUT OUT THE NOTICE AND EXTENDED THE ORIGINAL WARRANTY) AND WE WOULD LIKE FIXED AS "IN WARRANTY". THERE IS NO REASON FOR A CAR THAT HAS BEEN WELL MAINTAINED TO HAVE A FAILURE OF THIS KIND BEFORE 100,000 MILES. UPDATE (6/9/08): PENN TOYOTA HAS REPLACED THE ECM AS A "GOOD WILL" GESTURE BUT WE STILL ARE HAVING THE PROBLEM WITH JERKING/JUMPING BETWEEN 2ND AND 3RD GEARS AS WELL AS WHEN GOING IN REVERSE. THEY HAVE SAID THAT WE COULD REPLACE THE FAULTY ECM PROBABLY CAUSED AN ISSUE WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND WE SHOULD REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION AND HARNESS AS WELL. THEY STATED THAT THEY WOULD BE UNABLE TO COVER THIS AS A "GOOD WILL" GESTURE BUT IT WOULD COST AN ESTIMATED $3800 FOR ME AND MY WIFE. *TR

I OWN A 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN RUNNING GREAT. ONE DAY 1ST & 2ND GEAR BEGAN TO SLIP. THE CAR WILL ACCELERATE THEN JUST STOP UNTIL 1ST GEAR CATCHES ABRUPTLY JOLT. THE TRANSMISSION IS AUTOMATIC. THE CAR HAS JUST OVER 87,000 MILES. AFTER RESEARCHING I SAW THERE WERE SEVERAL VEHICLES WITH THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM. TOYOTA DID PUT OUT AN ALERT STATING THAT THERE ARE COMPUTER PROBLEMS BUT THOSE FORMS WERE NOT SENT TO THE OWNERS ONLY TO THE SERVICE CENTERS. NOW I HAVE TO TAKE MY VEHICLE IN HAVE SOLENOIDS CHANGED AND POSSIBLY THE ENGINE COMPUTER. THESE ARE THE PROBLEMS LISTED IN THE ALERT SENT OUT. IF TOYOTA KNOWS 2002 RAV 4'S ARE HAVING THESE ISSUES WHY HAVE THERE BEEN NO RECALLS. I ALSO MUST SAY THAT IT IS UNJUST THAT WE AS CONSUMERS HAVE TO SPEND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON PARTS AND LABOR FOR WHAT IT SEEMS TO BE MANUFACTURER DEFECTS. I'VE ADDED A LINK WHERE ONE CAN VIEW SEVERAL OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THE SAME DEFECT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/TOYOTA/RAV4/2002/TRANSMISSION/PROBLEMS_SHIFTING.SHTML. *TR

MY 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4 STARTED HAVING SHIFTING PROBLEMS. IT'S OUT OF WARRANTY. I TOOK IT TO AN INDEPENDENT TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST. WHY TAKE IT TO A DEALER, RIGHT? HE REBUILT THE TRANSMISSION TO THE TUNE OF $2500.00. HE TOOK IT FOR A TEST DRIVE AND IT STILL WOULDN'T SHIFT. HE TALKED TO A SERVICE TECHNICIAN AT TOYOTA AND WAS TOLD THAT TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT AN ISSUE WITH THE ECM HAVING BAD COMPUTER CODE AND THAT'S WHAT WAS TEARING UP TRANSMISSIONS. BUT SINCE MY CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY AND I TOOK IT TO AN INDEPENDENT TRANSMISSION PLACE, TOYOTA WILL NOT EVEN LISTEN TO MY COMPLAINT. *TR

I OWN A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4, THERE WAS A RECALL AND I HAD THE ECM RECALIBRATED. I UNDERSTAND THIS CONTROLS THE TRANSMISSION. NOW I HAVE ECM AND TRANSMISSION FAILURE TO THE TUNE OF $4900. I HAVE GOGGLED THIS PROBLEM AND NOTE THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER CONSUMERS WHO HAVE HAD THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM - THE CAR STUTTERS ALMOST TO A STALL IN TRAFFIC, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON AND THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP DX AS ECM FAILURE/TRANSMISSION FAILURE, NOT PREVENTABLE BY CONSUMER. OTHER COMPLAINTS OF THE SAME NATURE AT AUTOBEEF.COM. *TR

I RECENTLY HAD TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION ON MY CAR BECAUSE THE CAR WAS SHIFTING ERRATICALLY. AFTER THE TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED I STILL HAD THE PROBLEM AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS A TECHNICAL BULLETIN FROM TOYOTA TC002-6 WHICH SAID THAT A FAULTY ENGINE CONTROL MODULE (ECM) WILL CAUSE HARSH SHIFTING. TOYOTA DID NOT COMMUNICATE THIS PROBLEM TO ME BACK IN MARCH 2006. IF TOYOTA WOULD HAVE COMMUNICATED THIS DEFECT, I COULD HAVE HAD THE ECM CHECKED AND PROBABLY SAVED MY TRANSMISSION. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE IDLING OR DRIVING AT VERY LOW SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE WOULD CONSISTENTLY FAIL. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE REPAIR, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE DEALER REPLACED THE ECM AT THE COST OF $1,225.69, WITHOUT THE CONTACT'S APPROVAL. THE REPAIR WAS NOT INCLUDED IN HER EXTENDED WARRANTY. SHE CALLED THE MANUFACTURER, BUT THEY REFERRED HER BACK TO THE DEALER. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 89,000.

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