2017 Toyota Corolla: CVT failure

Filed Jan 2, 2024 · Transmission · FL

My college son was driving down from Orlando, and when he got here I took his/my car to my mechanic because the AC was not cold. I felt a hard shift when I put it in reverse, and when I started to drive the car to the mechanic, it didn’t feel right. They fixed my AC and I asked him to check the car as I was worried it did not feel safe to drive. They changed all the filters and did a complete transmission flush even though it was not due for 60,000 miles and there is less than 54,000 miles on this vehicle. They changed all the filters and upon doing the transmission flush my mechanic of 15 years found chunks of metal and shavings in the transmission pan. He took pics & told me my transmission was bad but it was an internal defect and I needed to take it to Toyota as there was no damage on the outside of my transmission, it’s pan, gasket or filter and there were no signs of any leak. He told me these CVT transmissions were a problem and there were a lot of ones not recalled, but there was a Special Service Campaign JSD for 1.3 million of these transmissions from Toyota. Toyota said my Vin number was not part of this Special Service Campaign JSD but I found there were also 3400 recalls on the CVT transmissions from the Toyota hatchback. Toyota told me because my car was already out of warranty, even if it was a manufacturing defect, they were not responsible. I take very good care of my cars. I have two Toyota Corollas, both 2017 and now I am very concerned about the other one. I’ve been on a lot of Toyota forums and it seems there are so many other Toyota Corollas that don’t have many miles on them and all of a sudden their transmission has an internal defect. I brought it to the dealership and they simply said it needed to be replaced, that it was hard shifting when going into reverse and banging gears intermediately. They told me if I wanted to know what the defect was I would have to pay at least 15 hrs of labor to start. My son could have been killed driving it

Filed May 21, 2019 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 50,000 miles · VA

While driving down a downgrade with the cruise control engaged and set to 65mph, the CVT transmission downshifts, the rpms increased and the vehicle accelerated to well over the speed limit. It felt like I was losing control. I had to activate the brakes to disengage the cruise control in order to reduce my speed to below the posted speed limit. I tried it again on another downgrade and the same situation was duplicated. The car will also engage rpms when you are downgrading or upgrading in cruise control I did not take the car into a dealer since the issue has been reported to dealerships with a solution to this problem.

Filed Mar 21, 2019 · Transmission · 34,423 miles · TX

Toyota special service campaign jsd. Understand that toyota has notified dealers there is a know defect with the CVT transmission. However, as an owner I have not been notified. Transmission does not operate smoothly when driving. Toyota is attempting to correct with a software update, but they are not actually disassembling the CVT transmission to check for problems\unnecessary wear. This needs to be a recall, so owners will be covered in the likely event the CVT transmissions break in the future due to the known defect issue and the vehicle is out of warranty. Appears toyota is trying to save money by not issuing a recall, and just trying an inexpensive and inadequate software update with investigating whether the problem has caused damage to the transmission.

Filed Mar 2, 2019 · Transmission · 2,464 miles · CO

Vehicle was stopped at a traffic light and when the light turned for a left turn I tried to accelerate to get through the intersection when the vehicle lost power. This has happened on three occasions and I took it to the dealership to get it checked and they said they could not replicate it. Transmission has not been shifting correctly and now the transmission is making a strange grinding noise. This corolla has a CVT transmission and the toyota corolla forums are telling me that toyota is aware of this problem and had issued a special service campaign to update the software. This has since been rescinded because the update did not fix the problem.I have read that this loss of power is causing some serious safety concerns, especially if it happens on high speed highways.

Filed Dec 29, 2018 · Acceleration · MO

Disappointed with toyota on this, last one I will purchase if they are unable to provide a fix! While in motion on every occasion the cruise control is engaged and the vehicle is on a decline the cruise control does not maintain the set speed. This is the first time of 4 other corolla's I have owned that responded like this. Depending on the severity of the decline the speed will increase from 5 to 15 MPH and the engine revs to 4,000 rpms in an attempt to maintain speed. Adam's toyota dealership has stated that this is a normal occurrence for all 2017 corolla's CVT's and I maintain it's not and cruise is useless therefore I should be reimbursed. The cruise control in all other vehicles (prior corolla's and other makes) I have owned has maintained a consistent speed no matter the road being traveled. Since I have owned this vehicle this issue has occurred every time I have engaged the cruise control. Others online have complaints on this issue as well. Toyota please provide fix

Filed Dec 22, 2018 · Acceleration · 1,079 miles · PR

The CVT transmission make a sound unknow the dealer say me that is all normal in the car for me is not normal other cars contain CVT transmission and this sound not make in others CVT transmission is more making sound in climb and when on air conditioner

Filed Aug 31, 2018 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 350 miles · PA

Car has several issues, one is definitely the vehicle warning lights in dash, the warning lights pop up at different times for no reason occasionally and dealers can't find issues, car also has issues with braking system. Several times went around curves it on stops and car locked up and went sideways, dealer said tested but less than a mile put on car?? Car does not act like it has normal ABS and almost got in several accidents with my kids and grandson because of it my stopping or locking up!! Also have issues since I bought it with radio/features/display. Things show up half way or it turns off at times and also calls out even when untouched. Worried about GPS cutting out when needed too. Also plastic part under passaged side glove box continuously falls off, took to dealer and they just put back in, didn't replace but you could see the bend where hook was. And gas mileage and the recent CVT recall, they updated, not replaced after I asked and described how it was driving, and still having issues because they didn't replace after I said it wouldn't go over a certain speed during highway travel or roads requiring over 45 MPH. The driving warning thing when you go over lines doesn't always work either, it does 50% of the time. Explained that too but nothing done. Very concerned about this car!! Had since 11/2016 and barely drove because of issues and safety concerns. It out has 8000 miles because of it.

Filed Jun 29, 2018 · Acceleration, Transmission · FL

While driving down a downgrade with the cruise control engaged and set to 65mph, the CVT transmission seemed to downshift, the RPM's increased and the vehicle accelerated to well over the speed limit. It felt like I was losing control. I had to activate the brakes to disengage the cruise control in order to reduce my speed to below the posted speed limit. I tried it again on another downgrade and the same situation was duplicated. I did not take the car into a dealer since the issue has been reported to dealerships with a solution to this problem.

Filed Aug 27, 2017 · Transmission · 120 miles · FL

I own a toyota corolla 2017 since 1/14/17.car shows 2 main issues: 1)- cooling fluid evaporates continuosly or decreases from fluid tank at about 1/4 of in. X month every time I've checked it in. I,first, refilled it once with correct or same fluid.it kept evaporating at the same rate.then,I reported it to dealership it was sold. 2)- shift lever or gear control; this car comes with CVT automatic trans- mission, every time I shift speed gear and move knob from parking to drive position and vice verse, the shifting doesn't ocurres correctly or got stuck in the previous speed temporarely and then it moves to position I shifted. When car is apllied brake pedal to park car in plain surface areas(parking lots, city streets) and speed gear knob is placed in parking position, car moves back and forths 2 to 3 times and then stop completely. Both issues were reported to dealership. In a programmed service car asked to dealership due to manufacturer's car warranty on june,11th/17 both issues were reported to dealership technician performing car services. According to technician's report and words, cooling fluid tank was refilled to correct levels, computer checking was applied and failures codes weren't found either on the cooling system or automatic transmission system.technician also reported that farther observation would be needed in case of transmission shifting issues,but it would take my car parked in dealership service areas for 3 hours before he tries any attempt to dissamble any transmission parts or any farther testing. Up to present, either issues haven't been addressed or fixed by dealership's technicians and both issues keep happening.

Filed Aug 24, 2017 · Transmission · OR

The transmission (CVT) doesn't respond when accelerating leaving a stop sign causing a delay in moving and we fear will one day cause an accident as it won't get out of the way of other traffic. It also doesn't shift correctly (it revs too high before it shifting) even though it is an automatic. To us it seems like a hazard to us and others on the road. Toyota maintenance says it is normal, but this is ongoing since we purchased the car.

Filed Mar 1, 2017 · Acceleration, Transmission · 550 miles · OH

While using cruise control on fairly level roadway, (rural road) at a speed of 45 MPH, the RPM were about 1500, but increased suddenly to about 4500 RPM. After awhile the RPM would drop back down to normal for the speed situation. This occurs also at highway speed of 60 MPH in our area. This occurrence has happened many times. Have returned to dealer twice now. Problem was observed by service manager and local toyota rep who was in town for local auto show. Car was analyzed and data send to engineer in california who later said car is behaving normal. I found that hard to believe as both loaner cars (2017 corolla) did not behave in this dangerous fashion. I feel this quick brush off by the engineer (tanaka) who is only observing data and not having to drive this car is wrong. I feel the computer should be adjusted for the CVT to solve this problem. Wife does not feel safe driving this vehicle. We have taken 3 videos to document this event.