2002 Toyota RAV4: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed May 22, 2015 · Steering, Transmission · 18,000 miles · WV

I purchased the 2002 toyota rav4 new from the dealership. One day while I was on my way to work I almost wrecked because the drive belt got hung up on something and it chewed up my drive belt. Also, I started noticing every time that I wanted to speed up my rav4 would hesitate and not go in gear. If it did go in gear it made a noise like a grinding type of noise. I called the toyota dealership and they did nothing. I called the toyota motor USA and told them about my problem and I was told that toyota does not manufacture any defective vehicles and they refused to do anything. The I read where there had been a recall on all 2001, 2002 and 2003 rav4 toyota vehicles because of faulty transmissions. I then sent a letter to toyota motor corporation USA and again they refused to do anything. The rav4 has been parked in my garage and it has only 35,000 miles on it and everyone in my family is afraid to drive it. I thought that when a car manufacturer has a recall that the manufacturer has a responsibility to fix the defect. In my case toyota has refused to do anything. Can you agency ask toyota why they have never offered to do anything for a legitimate recall which involes the problems that I am having. Thank you.

Filed Nov 23, 2014 · Transmission · 37,000 miles · WV

Re: 2002 rav4 SUV transmission ECM/atm repairs. Dear sir: I am sending you this letter to explain what my situation is. I just found out that toyota motor sales USA is having a recall on 2001, 2002 and 2003 toyota rav4 SUV?s for transmission problems. I have tried for years to get toyota to fix my transmission. However, toyota has totally ignored me. I had to pay for a used transmission out of my pocket because toyota told me that they do not manufacture any defective automobiles. I just sent the below letter to the toyota motor sales USA asking that they reimburse me for the cost of the bad transmission and the labor costs and I received a letter this week stating that they are not going to do anything about reimbursing me anything. They are totally ignoring their own recall notice at my expense. When I first purchased my 2002 rav4 new from the bert wolfe toyota dealership in charleston, west virginia, I have had nothing but trouble with the rav4. The first month that I owned the rav4 SUV I almost wrecked because the drive belt was chewed up and of course this affected my steering capability and I almost went over an embankment. Ever since I purchased my 2002 rav4 SUV I have felt that there were several things wrong with the new 2002 rav4 because sometimes when I would try to speed up or to attempt to get on an interstate my transmission would not shift. If it would shift then it would make a grinding noise and make my rav4 SUV. Shake. A lot of times, I would have to just pull off of the road because I could not go anywhere and if I had not gotten off the road then I would have caused a wreck or maybe killed someone.

Filed Oct 21, 2014 · Acceleration, Steering · 22,000 miles · WV

I purchased my 2002 toyota rav4 SUV in august of 2002. Ever since I bought the rav4 something has been wrong with it. The first 3-months that I had the rav4 the drive belt was chewed up and almost caused me to wreck. The transmission started making funny noises like a grinding sound and the transmission would not shift. Sometimes I would just have to pull off of the road because the rav4 transmission would not shift. I called and talked with the dealership and they said that nothing was wrong with my rav4. I finally just parked it because my wife would not drive it and I would not drive it. Toyota would not fix my vehicle nor would the dealership. My brother-in-law said that he would try to find a used transmission and put it in my new rav4 SUV. The used transmission was purchased at a car parts and salvage place for $1,700.00 and my brother-in-law put the used transmission into my new toyota rav4 SUV. I have contacted toyota motor corporation several times and they said that they are not going to do anything about paying me for the used transmission that I had to purchase. Can you see if toyota will listen to you about my complaint? Than k you.

Filed Jul 28, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 2,800 miles · WV

I purchased a 2002 toyota rav4. Suv. And within the first six months of owning it, my drive belt broke and almost caused me to wreck and hit three other vehicles. I had my new car towed back to the dealership where I had purchased the vehicle and they told me that the drive belt was not covered under my warranty.a few months later I noticed that my transmission was making a weird grinding sound and was hard to shift. Sometimes the car would not shift and it would come to a complete stop and this almost caused me to wreck via hitting other vehicles or other vehicles hitting me. I took it to my dealership and told them that they had sold me a lemon and I wanted to know if they would give me another rav4, that is dependable. They told me no. I let the rav 4 sit in my garage for two years and my brother-in-law said that if he could find a used transmission from a wrecked vehicle then he would install it in my rav 4. He found a transmission and I had to pay in cash $1,300.00 for the transmission and I gave him $400.00 to install the transmission. Recently I found out that toyota has recalled 2001, 2002 and 2003 toyota rav4 SUV's for transmission problems. I contacted the toyota sales USA about their recalls of my vehicle and they told me that they were not going to do anything for me. I feel that toyota should reimburse me for the cost of buying a used transmission and for paying to have the transmission put in my rav4suv. Please advise.

Filed Jul 8, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 74,123 miles · CA

Several times during the week of june 2, 2014, my check engine light went on and off periodically. I had my mechanic check the codes, but she found nothing wrong. On june 13, 2014 I was driving n. On highway 101 near redwood city, ca. It was about 6p.m. In good weather; I was in stop-and-go commute traffic. I had slowed to a stop in the far left lane,of 5 lanes, due to slow traffic. When traffic began to move again, I accelerated and the transmission seemed to be "slipping"; I revved the engine,but there was no power going to the wheels. There were many cars behind me blowing their horns. Then the car began to "clank" and "chug" and it sounded like the transmission was grinding. I turned on my emergency flasher lights and pulled very slowly over to the shoulder across 5 lanes of traffic! I had several near accidents, but I made it to the shoulder! The car would only go very slowly, but the loud noises stopped, so I pulled off the freeway at the nearest exit (which was very close) . I would have stayed on the shoulder if the car was still "clanking" from the transmission area, but the noise had subsided. I felt that there was a serious mechanical (transmission) problem with my car. I called my daughter and asked her to drive to my location. I was going to call for a tow truck when she arrived. She arrived in about 45 minutes. I restarted the car and put it into "drive" and accelerated gently. The car sounder perfectly normal, and accelerated at a normal speed with plenty of power. We decided to try to slowly drive the car home if it continued to drive normally. We got home fine, but just as I was pulling into my parking lot, the car made loud noises again and lurched a few times as I pulled in the driveway. I had the car towed to the nearest toyota dealer the next day. That's when I began to discover all the problems rav 4's had had with class action's&ECM failures.

Filed Jan 11, 2012 · Engine · 128,000 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav4. While driving approximately 55 MPH, the contact heard a grinding sound coming from the front end of the vehicle followed by the vehicle stalling. The vehicle was towed to the contacts home and was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The contact had previously taken the vehicle to the dealer for a similar failure where the technicians replaced the flywheel. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 128,000. Updated 04/19/12*lj updated 04/25/12

Filed Mar 1, 2010 · Brakes · 112 miles · AZ

Tl*the contact 2002 toyota rav4. The contact stated that the brakes have made a noise when applied since the vehicle was purchased. The speed varies whenever the failure occurred. The dealer diagnosed he failure several times and there was never a resolution. The contact has service records for the brakes. The contact stated that the vehicle is not safe. The vehicle had 112 miles at the time of failure. The current mileage is 63,530. The consumer stated the brakes continue to squeak. Updated 04/30/10