2002 toyota rav4, 207,000 miles. Auto transmission suddenly shifting hard from 2/3 gears, hard into reverse, slow to engage after full stops, jerks abruptly. Contacted dealer/ toyota service center, will have them inspect the vehicle. Well maintained, recently had routine service done by dealer, transmission flush. Fluid levels all topped.
2002 Toyota RAV4 transmission complaints
Page 12 of 14: complaints 311 to 340 of 376, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was driving my fathers 2002 toyota rav4 awd when the transmission suddenly shifted from 2nd to 1st gear and then the drive line locked-up causing the vehicle to stop suddenly. A car following me tried to stop but "tapped" my rear bumper. No damage to either vehicle. Diagnosis of the problem was a bad vehicle computer and new transmission was needed. Costs were $4500.
Suddenly, my car starting shifting very roughly into reverse. It happens every time I put the car into reverse. I was told the ECM needed to be replaced because it was defective. This is the same ECM that had a factory recall issued that I had serviced last year.
Car began to slip out of second gear to first gear during acceleration. I took the car to a toyota dealership and they told me that the engine control module (ECM) was inoperative and that the transmission was damaged as a result. I was told that the extent of the damage to the transmission could not be determined until a new ECM was installed at a cost of $1500 but that the cost of the transmission could be between $3,000 to $5,500. I was informed by the dealer that the parts are out of warranty.
Car had very sluggish acceleration onto highway after ecu failed and transmission is slow to get into gear. Had to pull over to shoulder as the vehicle could not get up to interstate speed.
Our rav4 began to have problems shifting, and the check engine light was on. Took to local dealer. First visit resulted in tune-up items. Dealership treated it as an engine-related problem. Check engine came back on again the same afternoon. On second visit, dealership kept car overnight to drive it while it was cold. We were told that we had a bad catalytic converter, and that this would have to be replaced before any further diagnosis could occur. The cc was only three years old, already having been replaced under warranty. They had already reprogrammed the ECM. Per a toyota service campaign. After the cc replacement, car is still not shifting properly, and is getting worse. Dealership advised us that we need an ECM replacement, at a cost of $1300. After the fact, we found toyota tsb tc002-06, which describes the exact issues our rav4 is having. Toyota admits in the tsb that the ECM of the '01 through '03 rav4's can cause the harsh shifting that we are seeing, and that toyota made changes to the "manufacturing process to reduce the possibility of this condition occurring". The recommendation is the replacement of the ECM. It cannot be reprogrammed to eliminate this problem. The result of this ECM failure is that the car is no longer drivable, as the transmission does not shift properly at all, and it constantly looses tension on its clutch pack, resulting in loss of power to the road. The condition gets worse over a short time. In only two weeks, the car will not stay in any single gear when driving. A search of this issue on the internet found many other people having the same problem. Often, the ECM failure causes physical transmission failure. The dealership will not stand behind their faulty diagnosis, nor will they make toyota honor the warranty, which is 80,000 miles or 8 years. We are under the years, but over by 8,000 miles. How can this not be treated as a safety issue? Is it not serious enough when your car slips out of gear in traffic unexpectedly?
2002 toyota rav4 transmission - transmission is not working properly in shifting. Rough shifting from 2/3 gear. Had to find information on federal 8year/80k mile mandated free reprogramming to try to fix this. But reading accounts this may not work and even then the transmission may be damaged already. There should be a recall regardless of miles driven as this is a constant problem on this year/model. Thank goodness I was low mileage but this problem occurs regardless of mileage. This is a toyota defect in the transmission.
I have a toyota rav 4 2002. It has 64,000 miles. It has had all it's recommended services, new tires and is clean. The transmission needs replacing and possibly the computer. Toyota will not assume any responsibility for the transmission and it costs $3500.00 to replace the parts. On carcomplaints.com there are 120 complaints re the transmission and the 2002 rav4. People are talking about a law suit. They have said that I despite replacing the transmission it still needed repairs.
Automatic transmission started thumping/jerking when shifting from park to drive or reverse, despite having foot on the brake. Within a month, the transmission started slipping and would not shift from first gear. Engine races at 4,000+ rmp and does not shift to other gears.
I brought my rav brand new in 2002. Have had no problem with it up until a few a year ago when the engine light came on intermittent. Every time I was going to take the vehicle into get checked it would go out. When I arrived at my present duty station I was deployed almost immediately. Within two months of my deployment my wife told me that car was having a hard time moving and could hear the transmission slipping. She then took the vehicle to the mechanic and they told her that the transmission was broke and needed to be repaired. Only 52000 miles on the vehicle. The mechanic also told my wife that there could be a tsb out on the vehicle pertaining to the electronic control module, part that tells the transmission to shift gears, "ECM"and there was several that pertained the problem and what needed to be replaced. Being in italy she contacted the states rep for toyota and was told that they couldn't locate our car because we bought it from a licensed dealer "american spec vehicle" from germany. She then contact the agency that is authorized to sell "american spec cars" and was informed that the vehicle fell under the warranty and that they "american toyota" should pay for it based on an american tsb. Called toyota again and nothing. When I came home, we took the vehicle to local dealership and because it was an american tsb they would consider the replacement. In the mean time they assured us that the vehicle was safe to drive and being our only vehicle my wife was forced to drive it. Toyota "rome" oked the replacement of the ECM, the actual fault of the vehicle but has refused to replace the transmission the result of the faulty part. Now the transmission is completely shot and looking on line thousands of american consumers are paying thousands of dollars out to replace a product that is the result of toyota's engineering flaws. I personally feel that they are responsible the transmission and the replacement. Further investigation is requested.
The 2002 toyota rav4 has a faulty ECM and has caused the transmission to go out. I almost had an accident the other day. Toyota is aware of the problem but did not do a recall. Here is a list of the same problem owners had: http://www.carcomplaints.com/toyota/rav4/2002/transmission/problems_shifting.shtml.
The check engine light comes on continuously. At stop signs and traffic lights the vehicle begins jerking and hesitating when you push on the acceleration peddle. When you press down on the acceleration to go forward that is when the hesitation and jerking begin. Once the vehicle takes off it continues to jerk. Which is dangerous when you have passengers and small children in the vehicle because the jerking pulls your neck forward abruptly. The diagnostic said that it is the computer which cost roughly between $800.00 to $1200.00. Several complaints have been made regarding this problem to toyota but there have not been any recalls for this particular computer part on the 2002 toyota rav 4.
2002 toyota rav4 just stops, it doesn't shift 2nd and 3rd gear , the engine light turns and some times it work correctly with no problem but in the middle of a drive the rav4 it just stop jerking almost to a dead stop. Dealer said "you need a new transmission and it will cost you $4,989.00 dollars."
Accelerating and shift failure in automatic transmission -toyota issued tsb on march 2006 to change ECM which controls shift sequencing. Defective ECM could cause transmission failure. As a toyota owner I think this should be a recall item. My opinion is this is a safety issue.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav4. While the vehicle was stopped, the contact began to remove her foot from the brake pedal and the vehicle suddenly jerked forward three times. While driving 15 MPH, the vehicle jerked forward three times again while making a left turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. There were no warnings prior to the failures. The VIN was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 148,000.
Toyota rav4 2002, 98367 miles, taken to toyota dealer for recall on ECM reprogram, after done the recall by toyota dealer, transmission shifting very erratically. Took car back to dealer and they said that transmission needs to be replaced. Also it is dangerous to drive due to loss of transmission.
Check engine light came on - slippage of transmission. Evaluated by dealer and informed that it was the ECM/transmission. Ecm was adjusted and failed to alter problem. Recommendation replacement of ecu/ecu.
Vehicle suddenly started hesitating and has difficulty shifting from 1st to 2nd gear in an automatic transmission. The first repair, transmission flushing, did not correct the problem. 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. Other complaints of the same nature at autobeef.com.
I own a toyota 2002 rav4. It is experiencing major problems with the transmission. It jerks and hesitates and is extremely dangerous to drive as you never know if it is going to proceed forward or not. Pulling out in an intersection is dangerous.
I drove my car saturday 8-1-08 and noticed that from park to reverse the car was shifting very hard. I had the tranny drained and filled and additive placed. The shifting was so violent that I called around and did internet research. After reading http://www.carcomplaints.com/toyota/rav4/2002/transmission/problems_shifting.shtml and http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?s=eec4529e47f582cec0a62327b81dbe0c&showtopic=28020&pid=308037&st=450&#entry308037 it has become clear that a documented history of malfunction exists with this toytoa transmission. I have thus far had the drain and fill performed and am going to see a diagnostic test from the dealership. I am concerned for my safety. I worry that my car will have the shifting and jerking and failures during the travel, as is described elsewhere. Because of my safety concerns and inability to pay for $4,000 in repairs, I intend to sell this vehicle and experience a hardship as a result.
I bought my 2002 toyota rav4 new at toyota of hollywood, fl in 2002. My wife has been driving the vehicle and I have performed all service at the dealership. The car has only 55k miles on it. Recently the car has been experiencing hesitation when shifting. We took the vehicle to the dealership and they replaced the computer "under warranty". This is something that should have been done 2 years ago when the tsb was first put out. The tsb would have prevented this transmission problem from appearing. Now the dealership is saying that it didn't fix the problem and that they must replace the solenoids but the are not sure if that will fix the problem. Had they fixed the problem with the computer 2 years ago, we wouldn't have a problem now. The car only has 55k miles. The transmission on a toyota should not fail in 55k miles. That's the reason I bought a toyota. This is well know issue. Thousands of people ar writing about this issue on the internet every day. These are just some of the links. Http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0c4213/0 http://rav4world.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15515 toyota should replace the transmission under warranty for free since I wouldn't have this problem now if the dealership had performed the work that was supposed to be done.
2002 toyota rav 4 2 wheel drive, driven for 2 years by my wife, last week started shifting from first to 3rd. Also it slips now.
This "certified, pre-owned" vehicle suddenly started hesitating and has difficulty shifting from 1st to 2nd gear in an automatic transmission. The first repair, transmission flushing, did not correct the problem. It is now in the shop with a transmission specialist for a "check engine" code for solenoid/transmission problem, code 1760 and/or 770 - not covered under warranty. The first mechanic stated the transmission fluid was "burnt." there are an unbelievable amount of documented complaints about this same problem, there needs to be a recall. I have only owned this car for 20,000 miles and owe alot of money on it. According to the complaints I have read, people are losing thousands of dollars, out-of-pocket trying to fix their vehicles. I am next. It is extremely dangerous to attempt to accelerate onto the highway when the transmission won't kick in. I have had several close call accidents.
Automatic transmission shifts erratically and completely loses power at any given time. I was coming off of the freeway and slowed down for my exit when it lost all power . When I got power again it began jerking and shifting on it's own. It was really a dangerous situation as there were many vehicles behind me that had to basically stop on the exit of the freeway. Please help us rav4 drivers get a recall for this problem from toyota.
I was driving on the freeway when my transmission started slipping. I was in heavy traffic and was scared that I was going to lose my automatic transmission completely and be stuck on the road or rear-ended due to it hesitating badly between gears. It happened so quickly I was thrown off by what I should do but I did manage to make it home then I parked it until I could get it to a local repair shop.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 toyota rav4. While driving approximately 10 MPH, the vehicle stalled and lost power while attempting to make a left turn. The contact applied pressure to the accelerator pedal numerous times before the vehicle gained power. In addition, the gears shifted roughly and the automatic transmission was jerking and vibrating. There were no warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the failure was related to the engine control module. The vehicle repair was covered by the manufacturer warranty. The contact was concerned of the safety risk involved. The failure and current mileages were 78,846. Updated 09/24/08. *lj updated 09/26/08.
2002 rav 4 automatic transmission ECM/transmission issue!!: the problems started with the check engine light turning on and off about 4 months ago. We got a recall notice from toyota to have the ECM reprogrammed and went to fulfill the recall. The light then came on again about a month later. We were told that it could be a gas cap issue, so we made sure we tightened the gas cap and that turned the light off for about a month but then it came back on again. It wasn't until recently that we had the first signs of a shifting problem. All in the same day, the transmission began to make noises and shift rough between 1st and 2nd gears (its an auto trans). .once we got the car going forward, we worked our way back home, and that was it for the car. I found the website of www.carcomplaints.com and have found several other customers with the same issue. The 2002 toyota rav4 recall for the ECM (electronic control module ----the brain---)is leading to the problem of the transmission shifting issue that the toyota dealership is not addressing. We hope that by filing the complaint, and bringing this website to you, you can bring this to corporate toyota's attention to have them fix the problem. Please look into this and other customers complaints on the website referenced regarding this issue. My 2002 rav 4 was bought new and only has 46k miles in it to have such a grand problem. I believe toyota is aware of this issue but does not want to completely fix the ECM issue. (they only re-flash it when possibly the car needs a "new" one). Please help!
I started having issues with my car on 6-20-2008. I was driving my car & noticed that when I would accelerate it wasn't accelerating properly. Then I noticed that as the car was shifting into 2nd gear it would stall & then suddenly shift really hard into 3rd gear. Sometimes as I would accelerate the car would start shaking & then shift hard into 1st gear. This made me very nervous because I was unable to keep up with the flow of traffic & feared that the problem would create an accident. The problem seemed to happen intermittently, but it was happening more often than not. We looked at the transmission fluid thinking it might be something wrong with the transmission due to the way it was shifting. We checked the fluid & filled the fluid. My husband drove it a little & it didn't act up for him. So I thought the problem was fixed. Well then I started driving it again & it continued to shift hard & not accelerate properly. I had my uncle look at it & he thought it sounded like the transmission was not engaging. So I finally took it to a toyota dealership to have them look at it. Of course ($84 later) they couldn't get the problem to occur. I went to pick the car up the next day & they said they found a bulletin on 2001-2003 toyota rav4's that if there was a hard shifting that the ECM needed replacing. $1500 later the car is fixed. Of course toyota does not cover the cost of the problem because it was only a bulletin & supposedly did not cause a safety issue & come to find out my manufacturers warranty is past & my extended warranty doesn't cover it either even though it's a major part that keeps the car running & functioning properly. I am extremely dissatisfied with the toyota service & their ways of handling problems that are not the consumers fault but toyota's manufacturing fault.
1. Driving the car, as normal, I came to a red light. When I began accelerating and the car went to shift gears it had trouble from 1st to 2nd gear. It quickly got progressively worse from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd. When I finally made it home I decided to try and find a mechanic right away. When driving it I felt the car had shut off 1st gear and started right into 2nd gear shifting to 3rd ok but then wouldn't shift into 4th gear. Then after not finding a mechanic open on july 4th I was driving home and 1st gear was back but having a real hard time changing into 2nd and 3rd but smooth in 4th gear. I've researched this problem and found a website http://www.carcomplaints.com/toyota/rav4/2002/transmission/problems_shifting.shtml. This website shows many others with the same problem and for many on this site the faulty computer has destroyed their transmissions and forced them to not only get a new transmission but a new ECM as well. This faulty ECM is a manufacturers defect and should be replaced with no cost to the consumer. As for the people that also have a bad transmission due to the ECM, like myself, I believe toyota should replace that at no cost as well. Again, this is a manufacturer defect with the ECM that causes transmission damage and should not be a consumer issue. Toyota even did a recall on the 2001-2003 rav4 because of the ECM and they would reprogram the ECM to try and solve the issue. Unfortunately for myself and many others this did not solve the problem and still have to get a new ECM.
Car not shifting into gear (slipping) and then banging and jerking into gear at first told by the dealer that I needed a new transmission. Later after I saw the technical service bulletin and with many calls to toyota corporate they performed further test and determined that it was the ECM they are replacing it but only paying for half of the cost current mileage 89,000 they are saying it is out of warranty by 9,000 miles even though it was reprogrammed last year (april 07) at 72,000 miles I have noticed many complaints on the 2002 rav 4 and truly believe they should be forced to do a recall and pay the total amount.
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