2002 Toyota RAV4: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Jun 23, 2017 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 74,000 miles · IL

Faulty ecu computers causeing variations in speed and problems with hard shifting, damageing transmissons, causeing vehicles to fail while driving while in motion vehicle will not shift correctly. My vehicle stopped in an intersection and I was nearly hit by another vehicle while attempting to accelerate the vehicle would not shift into gear while turning left. I felt I could have been killed by on comming traffic with no ability to control my vehicle. Toyota dealer and mechanic told me this is a well know defect and problem know to toyota with rav 4 2001-2003. Also, 02 sessors go bad early leading to hazardous emissions to public and this burns out catalitic converters which can also cause harmful emissions. Rav 4 2001 to 2003 have been identified as having faulty ecu's, auto transmissions and 02 sensor deficits and should be recalled by toyota to protect the public from accidents related to poor shifting, unsafe speed control and harmful emissions to the public. I notified toyota and they said they would do nothing because they offered an extended warnety but that expired after 10 years and they never notified me of any problems to look out for with the transmission. I feel these vehicles may be a danger to the public due to built in engineering defects that affect speed control and emissions. They also lead to very costly repairs for the customers.

Filed Sep 16, 2015 · Transmission · 125,000 miles · MA

My 2002 toyota rav 4 is an automatic transmission and it doesn't shift easily. I always thought it was because it was a 4 cylinder, but recently it has gotten a lot worse. What it's doing now is a magnification of what it has been doing for a long time, struggling to shift from the lower gear to a higher gear. I called my dealership where I bought the car new in 2002 and they said that my car has a 'warranty enhancement' notice on it, and that it needs a new ecu, but that I was supposed to have done this within 10 years from my purchase date. A new york times article from july 13, 2010 addresses this issue and toyota's warranty extension, and pointed out that toyota notified dealerships. However, it appears that you have to be a customer of your dealership to have to have found out about the ecu, and I am not because I don't live near the dealership. The service department told me that I fall outside the 10 year warranty and would have to pay $1200-1600 to replace the ecu. Toyota motor corp told me the same thing when I called. It seems patently unfair that toyota would only inform me that my car has a problem that needs to be fixed by them if I'm a customer of their service station at my dealership! I'm just guessing that if they call it a 'warranty enhancement' instead of a recall, they're not obligated to notify people who don't frequent their service stations. Because of the shifting problem my car seems very unsafe. I have had to park it. When I save enough money for another car, you can bet it won't be a toyota!

Filed Sep 9, 2015 · 159,945 miles · NJ

This vehicle does not shift its gear. It runs only in first gear. There are no reverse either. It is hard to control in road.

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 Nov 22, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · PA

My daughter purchased a used 2002 rav4 as her first car in 2010. It had engine and transmission problems within months of purchasing. She also had transmission issues where it would not go into gear or it would act sluggish while driving on the california freeways. It was very dangerous, especially for a young driver. We learned of the class action suit for this issue and got on board with it. Unfortunately we lost, as we knew we would, since toyota does not want to stand behind its warranties or technical service bulletins. We paid for a transmission replacement so she could safely drive this vehicle and the tsb clearly states that any prior out-of-pocket repairs related to this issue would be reimbursed. Even though we eventually had the ECM and transmission replaced at their expense, she was to be reimbursed for the prior work done but was not. We will never purchase another toyota product. Too many recalls and issues. And they do. Not. Honor. Their. Agreements. I know we aren't the only ones....there are legions of dissatisfied consumers. Something this dangerous should be addressed. Never had these problems with ford or pontiac vehicles.

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 Sep 24, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 167,200 miles · NC

My wife was driving to a doctor's appointment and, while on the "on ramp" to the interstate, the car would not shift from 2nd to third gear (it's an automatic trans). With the engine revving she looked down to check to assure it was in drive about the time it lurched into 3rd, then soon lurched into 4th. Coming home she shifted between drive and neutral to try to maintain a safe speed, save the transmission and engine, while allowing her to get home. The dealership quoted $989 to replace the ECM (computer), but couldn't assure the transmission wouldn't later need to be replaced. Toyota corporate was not helpful. I had records from the previous car owner that toyota issued an extended warranty to replace the ECM for 10 years or 150,000 miles as a result of a class action suit, "if they felt it was warranted." I also had documentation that the ECM was "reprogrammed" at 72k miles. My contention was the ECM should've been replaced, not reprogrammed, but was told that the reprogramming was done to correct a different problem. I asked if I could speak to someone else at corporate and was told everyone would give me the same response since it is their company position. The internet is full of owners who replaced the transmission first, only to find the ECM caused the newer transmission to fail also, or owners who replaced the ECM only to find that the transmission also needed replacement. It is obvious that toyota is aware of the problem. I believe they have failed to adequately protect owners by creating a recall to allow owners to get this fixed prior to scary and potentially dangerous shifting problems. The internet is also full of people who claim to want to enter another class action suit, but I am hoping toyota appreciates their customers enough that law suits wouldn't be required to get them to do the right thing. But, I'm losing hope.

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 18, 2014 · Steering, Transmission · 3,000 miles · WV

I purchased my toyota rav4 in august, 2002. Eleven months later while driving by the state capital I was going to make a left hand turn and when I did, I almost hit three parked cars because the main drive belt had broken. This drive belt controls about everything to do with steering, air conditioning and etc. I had to have my car towed back to the dealership where I had purchased the vehicle. I had to pay for the labor and new belt because I was told by the dealership that my warranty did not cover this. Then I started having problems with the rav4 transmission. It started to make a growling sounds and would not shift gears correctly. Some times I had to completely stop, because the transmission was not working. This almost caused other cars to hit me or me to hit other cars. I made several attempts to get the dealership to fix my transmission and they would not.I called toyota motors corp. Usa and tried to explain my problems with the toyota people. They totally blew me off and they have done nothing to fix my transmission problems. I quit driving the rav4 for three years because it was untrustworthy and toyota would not fix the transmission. My brother-in-law said that he could probably find a used transmission from a vehicle parts place and that he would install it for me at no charge. I ended up paying $1200.00 for a used transmission that was from a wrecked 2005 toyota rav4. After the transmission was put in I have had no problem with the used transmission. I understand that there is a lawsuit against toyota over transmission problems in their 2001, 2002 and 2003 rav4 SUV's. I feel that toyota should reimburse me for the out of pocket expenses that I have incurred.

Filed Oct 26, 2012 · Electrical, Transmission · 125,000 miles · TX

I was driving my 2002 toyota rav4 down the interstate when the check engine light came on at the same time that the RPM's of the vehicle began escalating far beyond where they normally would. After testing the vehicle at different speeds, I determined that the car would not shift from fourth to fifth gear. Took it to my local mechanic, who determined that there is nothing wrong with my transmission. What's wrong is that the electronic control module (ECM) that controls the transmission had failed. He contacted a local toyota dealer to see if he could source the part and discovered that it was a known failure and we needed to take the car to the dealership. We did so, where we were told because we purchased the car new in may of 2002 (ten years, five months ago) that they were refusing to repair the car's ECM as it fell outside of their 'adjusted' warranty period. I contacted toyota's corporate customer assistance, where I was told that yes, toyota knows that the part is going to fail. They extended the warranty to cover more of the cars that would be affected. However, since I purchased my car five months longer than their arbitrary ten year coverage period regardless of the fact that the mileage of the car falls far below the listed coverage that they are not going to do anything to repair my vehicle. Not only that, but the dealership quoted $1400 for the ECM repair and another $4800 for the transmission - saying that the transmission had to be replaced, even though they hadn't inspected it (I asked!!) and I had already had an independent mechanic check it out and said that it was fine. I do not understand how it is okay for toyota to sell millions of people cars with known safety defects and say that they are not responsible for the repair - knowing that if the repair isn't made, that people will be killed driving these cars.

Filed Jul 30, 2012 · Transmission · 125,000 miles · MD

My 2002 toyota rav4 has been sluggish since day 1, about 2004. This past weekend it was more sluggish than usual, after take-off. I drove it a few more times and after every drive, the transmission wouldn't shift easily, and when it did shift it was very hard. Almost a whiplash hard. It is getting worse, and this is only the 3rd day. I called the national toyota number, because I found the extended warranty policy bulletin on-line, but I am 9 months over the 10 year limit, and even though it does not say 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first, I was told that the whichever comes first is an automatic...hmm should be in writing that way. And I called my local dealership, they told me the same thing. I called the local toyota customer line, but was put through to voice mail. Really 9 months...my car has 130,000 miles. I need help!

Filed Apr 15, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · WV

I have a 2002 toyota rav4. About a month ago it started intermittently skipping/jerking and being stuck in gear. I took it to two toyota dealerships, the first one informed me of a factory warranty extension for the ecu for my vehicle, but because the check engine light is not on they cannot get any codes, the second dealership told me the same thing as well as the toyota company. The warranty is for 10yrs or 100,000 miles whichever comes first. I have 70,000 miles and it will be 10yrs the 25th of this month. I have researched this problem online and have found that hundreds of people have the same problem with this vehicle. Do I have any options to have this taken care of, asap because of the 10yr warranty that will no longer cover me for this?