2002 Toyota RAV4

MY TOYOTA RAV IV WAS RECALLED TO HAVE THE ECM REPROGRAMMED. I TOOK IT TO TOYOTA TO HAVE IT REPROGRAMMED, THE PROBLEMS WHERE FIXED FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS BUT THEN THEY CAME BACK. THE CAR DOES NOT RESPOND FOR A WHILE WHEN SHIFTING FROM FIRST TO SECOND GEAR, THEN IT JUMPS MAKING A LOUD NOISE AND RESTARTS RUNNING IN 2ND GEAR. THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS, SPECIALLY WHEN THERE ARE CARS BEHIND, I ALMOST WAS HIT BY CARS GOING BEHIND ME AT LEAST TWICE. I TOOK IT TO AAMCO, AND THEY SAID THE TRANSMISSION IS OK, IT IS JUST A COMPUTER PROBLEM. TOYOTA SHOULD FIX THE ENTIRE PROBLEM WITH THE ECM. A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE REPLACED THEIR TRANSMISSION JUST FOR THE PROBLEM TO REOCCUR, OTHERS HAVE HAD TO REPLACE THE COMPUTER AT THEIR OWN COST. THIS SEEMS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM FOR THIS MODEL OWNERS, THERE ARE MANY BLOGS REGARDING THIS PROBLEM: HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/TOYOTA/RAV4/2002/TRANSMISSION/PROBLEMS_SHIFTING.SHTML. *TR

CES LIGHT CAME ON. TRANS STARTED SLIPPING. TOOK TO DEALER. DIAGNOSED KNOWN ECM PROBLEM. PERFORMED TOYOTA RECOMMENDED ECM UPDATE, BUT SAID TRANS WOULD HAVE TO BE REBUILT DUE TO DAMAGED ALREADY CAUSED. HAD TRANS REBUILT. DEVELOPED SAME SLIPPING PROBLEM. SAID IT WOULD RUIN TRANS AGAIN UNLESS ECM WAS REPLACED. THIS IS A TOYOTA PROBLEM THAT THEY NEED TO FIX. *TR

NEAR ACCIDENT DUE TO ERRATIC SHIFTING PROBLEM OF RAV4 2002. APPARENTLY RELATED TO THE ECM. THE VEHICLE HAS A VERY SLUGGISH START FROM A STANDSTILL AS IF THE EMERGENCY BRAKE IS ON. ATTEMPTING TO TURN ACROSS ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND VEHICLE WOULD NOT MOVE AND ALMOST HIT BY ONCOMING TRAFFIC. VEHICLE ALSO SHIFTS ERRATICALLY WHEN DRIVING. VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE. TOYOTA DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE AWARE OF THIS VERY SERIOUS AND DANGEROUS PROBLEM THAT SHOULD BE RECALLED BEFORE SOMEONE IS INJURED. *TR

I BOUGHT IN 2002 A TOYOTA RAV 4 BRAND NEW, I HAVE BEEN THE SOLE OWNER, JUST ABOUT 3 TO 4 WEEKS AGO (MAY 2008) AND WITH 87,000 MILES IT STARTED TO HAUL WHILE DRIVING, I TOOK IT TO A CERTIFIED TOYOTA MECHANIC WHO RAN A COMPUTER DIAGNOSTIC GIVING A SIGNAL THAT THE TRANSMISSION COULD BE DAMAGE, WHEN HE TOOK IT APART THE TRANSMISSION FILTER WAS FILLED WITH METAL PARTICLES AND WHEN HE DISMANTLE IT THE PLANETARIUM WAS BROKEN. I WAS IN SHOCK TO FIND OUT THAT A 6 YEAR OLD CAR AND SPECIALLY A TOYOTA COULD HAVE A BAD TRANSMISSION, THE MECHANIC SPOKE TO TOYOTA TO SEE IF THERE IS ANY WARRANTY AND THEY TOLD HIM THE CAR WAS COVERED UP TO 80,000 AND SINCE MINE WAS 87,000 IT IS NOT UNDER THE WARRANTY AND NOW I HAVE TO PAY WELL OVER $2,000.00 UNBELIEVABLE, COULD YOU TELL ME IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HAVE TOYOTA COVER FOR THE DAMAGE BECAUSE I DEFINITELY BELIEVE IS A MANUFACTURER DEFECT. *TR

I HAVE A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 L; AUTO TRANSMISSION; ODI 82,200 MILES. THE CAR BEGAN HAVING HARD SHIFTING PROBLEM. SHIFTS ERRATICALLY FROM 1ST TO 2ND, SLUGGISH FROM START. I FEEL IT'S BECOME VERY DANGEROUS, ESPECIALLY WHEN I AM ON THE HIGHWAY. THE CAR DIDN'T WANT TO ACCELERATED, AND THEN WOULD SHIFT VERY HARD. SO I TOOK MY CAR TO THE TOYOTA DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT IT WOULD NEED AT THE LEAST A NEW ECM, AND POSSIBLY EVEN A NEW TRANSMISSION. THE COST FOR THE ECM $1300, AND PERHAPS THE TRANSMISSION $4000. THAT'S $5,300!!!! HOW COULD I EVEN FIND THAT KINDA MONEY. I AM JUST A STUDENT WHO TRIES TO MAKE IT THROUGH DAY BY DAY, SUPPORTING MYSELF THROUGH SCHOOL WHILE WORKING FULL-TIME. I CAN BARELY PAY MY RENTS OR EVEN TUITION. AND I AM SOLELY DEEPENING ON MY CAR TO MAKE IT TO WORK AND SCHOOL; WITHOUT IT I WOULD BE IN A BIG MESS. CERTAINLY, I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FIX IT AND I REALLY HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. IF TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, THEY SHOULD REPAIR OR RECALL ALL ECM'S BEFORE MORE PEOPLE END UP SPENDING THIS KIND OF MONEY. I'D LIKE TO ALSO REFER TO MY OTHER FOLLOWING RAV4 DRIVERS LIKE ME WHO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM ON THE LINK BELOW. HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/TOYOTA/RAV4/2002/TRANSMISSION/PROBLEMS_SHIFTING.SHTML. *TR

PURCHASED USED 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 IN OCT 2004. BOTH VISORS WERE ALREADY SAGGING A BIT AND WERE A HAZARD TO DRIVING WITHIN 8 MONTHS. I PURCHASED THE REPLACEMENT VISORS FROM THE DEALER IN JULY 2005 FOR A TOTAL OF $131.27. THEY TOLD ME THE ORIGINAL OWNER MUST NOT HAVE BEEN CAREFUL AND I NEEDED TO BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN USING THE VISORS. I TOOK THEIR WORD AND WAS GENTLE WHEN I PUT THE VISORS UP AND DOWN. LESS THAN 3 YEARS LATER AND I ALREADY NEED TO REPLACE THEM AGAIN!! I HAVE SMALL CHILDREN WHO ONLY SIT IN THE BACK SEAT, SO THE PASSENGER VISOR DOESN'T GET USED VERY OFTEN AND IT IS JUST AS BAD AS THE DRIVER'S SIDE VISOR THAT GETS USED EVERY DAY. I HAD MY LAST VEHICLE FOR 13 YEARS AND BOTH VISORS WERE STILL IN PERFECT CONDITION WHEN I TRADED THE VEHICLE IN FOR THIS ONE. BASED ON MY RESEARCH, THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH SEVERAL DIFFERENT TOYOTA MODELS. I CAN'T FIND ANY SOLUTIONS AND THE DEALER HAS TOLD ME THAT ALL I CAN DO IS PURCHASE ANOTHER SET - WITH NO GUARANTEE THAT THEY WON'T BREAK AGAIN. *TR

THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION OF MY RV4 FAILED AT 111,649 MILEAGE. HOWEVER, THE MILEAGE IS THE PROBLEM, AAMCO TECHNICIAN REPORTED THAT THE FOLLOWING VEHICLES ; LEXUS EX 300, LEXUS RX300, RV4, TOYOTA CAMRY AND TOYOTA HIGHLANDER ARE ALL EQUIPPED WITH BAD TRANSMISSIONS U140F AND U140E. THOSE TRANSMISSIONS ARE MADE FOR FAILURE. TOYOTA COMPANY IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT REFUSED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY TO EITHER REPAIR IT OR REIMBURSE CUSTOMERS. IT COST ME 2,760.58 DOLLARS TO HAVE MY TRANSMISSION REBUILT. ALSO WITHIN TWO MONTHS, THE COMPUTER ENGINE FAILED AND WAS REPLACED FOR 1,403.53 DOLLARS. ONCE AGAIN, THAT WAS ANOTHER MATTER TOYOTA HAD TO BE ACCOUNTABLE. THE SAME MODEL HAD A RECALL IN MARCH 2007 AND NOTHING WAS DONE. *TR

VEHICLE WOULD HESITATE FROM A STOP CREATING A POTENTIAL HAZARD. BROUGHT CAR TO DEALER WHO CLAIMED NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH CAR, CHANGED TRANSMISSION OIL AS PART OF 75,000 MAINTENANCE. NEXT DAY CAR BROKE DOWN COMPLETELY WITH MY SIX YEAR OLD GRANDSON IN CAR. DEALER SAID I NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION FOR $4000. IT WAS NOT UNTIL I STARTED READING ON-LINE COMPLAINTS THAT I LEARNED THAT IT IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH 2002 RAV-4 AND CAN BE FIXED WITH A NEW ECM FOR $$1,200. THEY DO HOWEVER HAVE A TECHNICAL BULLETIN THAT ADDRESSED THE TRANSMISSION HESITATION TO THE FAULTY ECM? *TR

I AM WRITING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT A DEFECT IN THE 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 THAT I FEEL COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS. I JUST FINISHED HAVING MY CAR REPAIRED, AND I KNOW THAT TOYOTA IS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM, YET REFUSES TO RECALL THE MODEL. THE ECM IS DEFECTIVE, WHICH IS CAUSING THE CAR TO STALL OUT WHEN ACCELERATING AND THEN SHIFT VERY HARD. I MYSELF, WITH TWO CHILDREN IN THE CAR, WENT TO PULL INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC WHEN MY RAV4 DECIDED TO PRESENT THIS PROBLEM. I WAS ALMOST HIT. UPON RESEARCHING THIS, I HAVE FOUND NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ON THE INTERNET WITH THIS MAKE OF CAR, AND TOYOTA HAS EVEN PUT OUT A MECHANICS STATEMENT WHICH SHOWS THEY ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. MY CONCERN: OTHERS WHO DO NOT KNOW THEY ARE DRIVING A TICKING TIME BOMB, AND PULL OUT INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC WHEN THEIR TOYOTA DECIDES TO MALFUNCTION. JUST AS AN FYI--EVEN THOUGH TOYOTA IS AWARE OF THIS SITUATION, I HAD TO PAY $1300 FOR A NEW ECM, AND IF MY TRANSMISSION WAS ULTIMATELY DAMAGED WILL HAVE TO PAY TO REPAIR THAT AS WELL FOR A COST OF ANOTHER $3,600. *TR

I HAVE A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4, I HAD TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION REBUILT BECAUSE FROM WHAT I HAVE READ TOYOTA FOUND THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE ECM. BUT THERE WAS NEVER A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM AND THE WARRANTY WAS FOR 80,000 MINE WHEN AT 88,000. I HAD THE TRANSMISSION REBUILT BUT THE VEHICLE IS EXHIBITING THE SAME PROBLEM. I HAVE SINCE LEARNED THAT THE ECM NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AND CAN DAMAGE A NEW TRANSMISSION IF NOT DONE. NO NOTICE FROM TOYOTA ABOUT THIS I HAD TO FIND THIS OUT ON THE WEB. I ALSO LEARNED THAT THE ECM COST $1200 AND TOYOTA IS NOT OFFERING ANY DISCOUNTS EVEN THOUGH THEY KNEW OF THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM AND DAMAGES THAT MAY OCCUR. *TR