2002 Toyota RAV4

ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 WHILE DRIVING MY RAV 4 TO WORK , I EXPERIENCED A STRANGE BEHAVIOR , THE CAR SUDDENLY STOPPED MOVING AND I HAD TO PRESS ON GAS SEVERAL TIMES AND IT WOULD MOVE AS IF LIKE IT IS CHOKED , IN A MINUTE EVERYTHING WENT NORMAL AS IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN, I WAS A LITTLE WORRIED BUT THEN AFTER DRIVING ABOUT 2 MILES AND STOPPING AT A STOP LIGHT , THIS THING HAPPENS AGAIN AND WHEN I TRY TO PUSH ON GAS IT STARTED MOVING A LITTLE AND THEN THERE IS THIS "THUD" SOUND AS IF SOMETHING WAS HOLDING WHEELS OF MY RAV 4 FROM MOVING AND THEN SUDDENLY IT LET THE WHEELS RUN. I TOOK THE CAR TO TOYOTA SERVICE CENTER (TOYOTA SCION OF CONCORD) AND BEEN TOLD THAT MY CAR NEEDS A ECM TO BEGIN WITH AND THAT TOYOTA HAS A TSB OUT THERE AS WELL "EXTENDED WARRANTY" WHICH IN MY CASE IS EXPIRED SINCE MY CAR IS 2002 AND THE WARRANTY IS 10Y/150 K MILES , WHICHEVER IS EARLIER. I AM CONCERNED AS TO WHY THIS DISCREPANCY , TOYOTA KNOWS OR HAD KNOWN OVER A PERIOD OF TIME THAT THEIR VEHICLE HAD AN ISSUE AND THEY CANT BE PUTTING LIFE'S OF BUYERS AT RISK BY NOT DOING A RECALL OF THAT . PLEASE I AM REQUESTING THAT SOME ACTION NEEDS TO BE TAKEN ON THIS AND SUCH CONTINUED ACTS OF CONCEALING INFORMATION WITH OWNERS / SUB-OWNERS OF VEHICLES AND THAT THIS CONDITION LEAVES AT LOT OF LIVES AT RISK BESIDES FINANCIAL LOSS. *TR

TODAY MY TOYOTA RAV4 2002 BEGAN TO HAVE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFTING ISSUES. IT HAS AN EXCESSIVE JERK WHEN SHIFTED FROM PARK TO REVERSE, IT IS SLOW TO SHIFT FROM 1 TO 2, AND IT JERKS LIKE I WAS REAR ENDED WHEN SHIFTING TO THE NEXT GEAR. I CONTACTED MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER AND WAS TOLD THERE ARE NO OUTSTANDING RECALLS ON MY CAR, THE ECM SOFTWARE WAS UPDATED BEFORE I PURCHASED IT USED. I ASKED IF THEY HAD ANY ISSUES WITH THE TRANSMISSION ON THIS MODEL AND YEAR AND I WAS TOLD "NO". THEY RECOMMENDED I BRING IT IN FOR A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK FOR $104 JUST TO CHECK IT OUT. AFTERWARDS I THOUGHT I WOULD CHECK THE NET. I FOUND NUMEROUS THREADS REGARDING THE 2001-3 ECM/TRANSMISSION ISSUE. IT APPEARS A NUMBER OF OWNERS HAVE SUBMITTED COMPLAINTS TO NHTSA. PLEASE ADD ME. THEY ARE IGNORING THIS ISSUE AND PRETENDING THEY DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

ORIGINAL OWNER OF 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 AWD. WAS DRIVING HOME FROM A FRIEND'S HOUSE AND STOPPED OFF NEAR MY HOME FOR AN ERRAND. LEFT THE STORE, (CAR WAS RUNNING, FAMILY INSIDE) AND PROCEED TO DRIVE TOWARDS MY HOUSE. THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING BUT THE CAR WAS BARELY MOVING. THE TACH WAS AT 4,000 AND I WAS BARELY GOING 5 MPH. SUDDENLY AND WITHOUT WARNING THE CAR RACED FORWARD AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. I SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES TO AVOID A REAR-END COLLISION. AFTER IT WAS SAFE TO MOVE, I STEPPED ON THE GAS AGAIN AND THE CAR SLUGGISHLY MOVED AT ABOUT 5MPH AGAIN. THE WHOLE RIDE HOME (LESS THAN 5 MINUTES) THE CAR WAS EITHER SLOW OR FAST WITHOUT MUCH PRESSURE ON THE ACCELERATOR. UPON ARRIVING AT HOME AND TRYING TO PARALLEL PARK THE CAR, I NOTICED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS SLUGGISH AND MADE LOUD NOISE WHEN SHIFTED INTO REVERSE. THIS WASN'T NORMAL AND IT TROUBLED ME. I LOOKED UP ONLINE THE SYMPTOMS AND SAW THE TSB AND THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST TOYOTA. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY INFORMATION ON THIS. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME HEARING ABOUT THIS. OK 10 YEARS/150,000 MILES FROM 1ST DRIVE. HERE'S MY PROBLEM - I BOUGHT THE CAR IN 11/2001 - I AM OVER THE YEARS AND UNDER THE MILEAGE, SO I DON'T QUALIFY? THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WAS SETTLED IN JAN/FEB 2012. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PEOPLE WHO PURCHASED THEIR CAR BEFORE JAN/FEN 2002 - ARE THE OUT OF LUCK? I AM NO LONGER DRIVING THIS CAR TILL THIS IS FIXED AND SAFE. PLEASE NHTSA - MAKE IT A MANDATORY RECALL - OVER 250,000 SUV'S ARE AFFECTED. MAKE IT RIGHT - MAKE IT SAFE!! *TR

I JUST GOT A TOYOTA RAV 4 2002 AUTO AND WHEN DRIVING WITH FAMILY THE VEHICLE STARTED TO RUN SLUGGISH, JERKS WHEN PRESSING GAS, STARTS SLOW REAL SLOW AFTER COMING TO A STOP AND THIS SITUATION ALMOST GOT US INTO AN ACCIDENT IN US 81 NEAR FRONT ROYAL VIRGINIA. ADDITIONALLY THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER TAKING VEHICLE TO A MECHANIC IT SHOWS A CODE P0755 AND READING ABOUT THE PROBLEM IS NOT A SOLENOID BUT IT IS ECM OR ECU MALFUNCTION THAT THE TOYOTAS RAV 2001-2003 ARE PRESENTING WHICH MAKES THE CAR SHOW A GHOST CODE NOT A TRANSMISSION CODE BUT RATHER A DEFECTIVE COMPUTER MALFUNCTION THAT CANNOT BE REPAIRED BUT REPLACED. TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND I DO NOT SEE TOYOTA ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY AND HAD PASSED THE COST TO VEHICLES OWNERS AND NOT A GENERAL RECALL TO BE FIXED AT MANUFACTURE EXPENSES. PLEASE RESEARCH AND MAKE THIS ISSUE A IMMEDIATE RECALL BECAUSE IT HAD CAUSED ACCIDENTS DUE TO THE MALFUNCTION. *TR

WE WERE JUST INFORMED FROM OUR LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP (GATEWAY TOYOTA IN TOMS RIVER, NJ) THAT THERE IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS (HIGH FAILURE RATE) AND WE WERE JUST INFORMED THAT OUR TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. I BELIEVE NHTSA NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE TOYOTA TO SEE IF A RECALL IS IN ORDER. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN SHIFTING GEARS, THERE WAS A DELAY BEFORE THE VEHICLE WOULD ENGAGE, CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO HESITATE AND LUNGE FORWARD ABNORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE ECM WAS DEFECTIVE AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 80,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 80,600.

THE DREADED 2001-2003 TOYOTA WELL KNOWN ECM SAFETY DEFECT BEGAN CAUSING THE TRANSMISSION TO SHIFT HARSHLY, AND START IN HIGH GEAR INSTEAD OF FIRST GEAR, ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS WHEN PULLING OUT IN TRAFFIC. SOMETIMES IT WOULD CAUSE THE TRANSMISSION TO SLIP, CAUSING HIGH RPMS. IF NOT FIXED THE ECM FAILURE WILL EVENTUALLY DESTROY THE TRANSMISSION. TOYOTA INCREASED THE WARRANTY AS A RESULT OF A CLASS ACTION SUIT TO 10 YRS OR 150,000 MILES INSTEAD OF HAVING A RECALL. I WAS OVER THE YEARS AND UNDER THE MILEAGE, SO TOYOTA DID NOT COVER THE COSTS FOR REPAIR OF THIS KNOWN DEFECT.. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE HESITATED AND JERKED WHILE ACCELERATING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST WHERE A DIAGNOSTIC WAS PERFORMED THAT INDICATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER ADVISED THE CONTACT THAT THE TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT WARRANTY WAS EXPIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 67,950. UPDATED 10/29/13*LJ

WHILE DRIVING ON HWY I85 AT 70MPH MY TOYOTA RAV4 SUDDENLY LOCKED UP AND CAUSED VEHICLE TO SKID OFF THE ROAD. THANKFULLY, NO ONE WAS INJURED, BUT CAR WAS TOWED TO MECHANIC AND ESTIMATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION TRANSFER CASE MAY BE CAUSE...SINCE THEN I HAVE LEARNED THAT TOYOTA HAD A RECALL ON THEIR ECM FOR RAV 4 CARS 2001-2003 THAT RESULTED IN TRANSMISSION SHIFTING PROBLEMS YET I WAS NEVER NOTIFIED BECAUSE MY VIN NUMBER WAS N/A INDICATING THAT MY CAR WOULD NOT EXPERIENCE ANY OF THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTING PROBLEMS COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS RECALL. UNFORTUNATELY, THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTING AND LOCK-UP PROBLEMS THAT I AM HAVING IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE COMPUTER FAULTY DESIGN OF TOYOTA'S ECM AND YET THEY ARE NOT TAKING ANY MORAL OR FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY REPAIRS. I'M FILING THIS COMPLAINT BECAUSE THERE HAS TO BE OTHER TOYOTA OWNERS THAT WERE NOT INFORMED ABOUT THE ECM RECALL SUCH AS MYSELF THAT ALSO LIKE ME, COULD BE DRIVING ALONG THE ROAD IN A WELL MAINTAINED CAR AND SUDDENLY SKID OUT OF CONTROL PERHAPS NEXT TIME CAUSING A FATALITY THAT COULD BE AVOIDED! PROPER NOTIFICATION REGARDLESS OF VIN NUMBERS SO CONSUMERS CAN HAVE CARS INSPECTED SPECIFICALLY FOR RECALL ISSUES WOULD HAVE BEEN THE RIGHT THING TO DO AND POTENTIALLY OFFSET THE CAR REPAIR ISSUES I CURRENTLY FACE. *TR