2003 Toyota RAV4: engine stalls while driving

Filed Aug 25, 2016 · Electrical, Transmission · 82,000 miles · CA

I was driving my 2003 toyota rav4 and attempted to merge into another lane when I experienced a very hard shift from the transmission causing the vehicle to stall with a reving engine noise and avoided being rear ended by a truck. I purchased my rav4 brand new in 2003 to accomodate my disability needs and only have 82,000 miles.I checked with my mechanic today and he looked up the toyota recall on these rav4 transmission failures and not once did toyota inform me about the recall. How is disabled individual on fixed income to afford $3000.00 for a transmission on a well maintained toyota with only 82,000 miles. I wish toyota would show some empathy to accommodate an individual whose sole purpose of a brand new rav4 would fulfill his daily physical challenges in life and now left with a toyota with 82,000 miles in need of a transmission. This rav4 is no longer safe to be driven given its nature of safety concerns.

Filed Jun 21, 2016 · Transmission · 95,500 miles · NC

My 2003 rav 4 starting shifting gears erratically, starting in 3rd intead of 1st gear, very sluggish to get moving after stopping. Toyota issued a warning regarding a faulty ECM in this model and extended the warranty to 10 years/150000miles. Unfortuantetly my car is 13 years old and 95,000 miles and toyota would not fix. On the way to the dealership to have this fixed my car was turning left into 2 lanes of traffic and stalled and would not go into gear, a car nearly t-boned me but he was able to swerve into another lane. I could have been killed because of this problem. Toyota needs to take responsibility for this issue and correct all cars on the road today.

Filed Aug 20, 2015 · 165,000 miles · MN

While driving the highway in my rav4, it randomly bogs down or stalls out completely. You have to steer over to the side of the highway because it loses power and the gauges go whacky on you. Sometimes it shuts off and sometimes it just loses power and when you put it in park and shut it off, it will eventually "go again". You can be driving 55 one second and it stalls out to 3 MPH the next second without any indication that it is going to happen. Toyota said they could replace the ECM if it was before 150,000 miles, which it was not. They told me they won't do anything after 150,000 miles, not even meet me half way to pay to replace it. Its an obvious problem if they sent a letter out. I've had it to three repair (including a toyota dealer) shops and none of their 'computer checks' show anything is wrong with the car. How do you fix something if you don't know what is wrong with it? They have done tune ups, replaced the oxygen sensor and minor adjustments to no help. I've spent over $1,000 in repairs for "nothing" -or maybe this is it. I drive 2-lane highways and it is going to strand me someplace, if I don't get rear-ended by a semi-truck before that happens. I am afraid to drive it and I am afraid to let my teenagers drive it. The car is still in beautiful shape, has been garaged most of its life, has had regular oil changes, etc. And basically its worthless to me. I can't sell it outright with this problem that no one can find because I couldn't handle if someone got hurt, and I can't afford to replace it. I bought a toyota because of their long life (everyone told me they will last 300,00 miles) but they have very much disappointed me in their customer service. What is it going to take, someone to get killed for them to realize that they have a known problem? Why won't they fix it after 150,000 miles? It doesn't make any sense.

Filed Jun 4, 2015 · 115,400 miles · SC

I was driving to work on monday morning, june 1, 2014, when the engine shut off in the middle of an intersection. There was no warning, no hesitation, no noise. I had pressed down on the gas pedal to cross the intersection and midway through the engine died. I was able to coast across and pull over to the side of the road. I waited a few minutes, restarted the car, and was able to finish my route to work. I took the car to a certified mechanic who inspected it thoroughly but found no problems and was unable to replicate the problem. He cleaned the throttle which he said was dirty. It's been 2 days and while the engine hasn't stalled again, there's some occasional hesitation - which I've never encountered before. It was running perfectly before it stalled in the intersection. I'm now afraid to drive it but it's my only transportation. The car has been serviced according to schedule, oil changes every 3k miles, toyota replaced ECM in june 2013; water pump, alternator,and 02 sensors have been replaced. I've read a lot of complaints on the internet about this problem and unsuccessful and expensive attempts to try to correct it.

Filed Nov 10, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 99,300 miles · CA

Last week, on the freeway entrance the car would not accelerate, then "bucked" and "raced". I nearly got rear-ended by the car behind me - a frightening experience. Then, driving city streets - to the mechanic - the same experience - stalled then raced ahead. After replacing the transmission fluid and filter ($400), the problem continues and the mechanic advised replacing the ECM ($928.46 plus labor). This is a serious financial strain on me. I take my car in for service every 5k miles and it is way below the extended warranty mileage of 150k, however, it is now 11 years old. I never, ever, received any recall notice from toyota! I strongly believe that toyota should reimburse me for these repairs since they have been and are well aware of the safety issue the failed ECM causes.

Filed Apr 9, 2014 · Engine · 71,395 miles · FL

The vehicle with 71,000 miles and perfect service record had a engine failure, without warning, while driving on the highway. The oil pressure light came on and before I had time to pull over to the shoulder to inspect the engine started knocking badly. I barely made it to the shoulder before the vehicle stalled. After having it towed to the dealership, they came out with the diagnose that the "engine threw a rod" for no apparent reason. There was sufficient engine oil and last oil change was done 4500 miles before. Basically, engine at this point is beyond repair and has to be replaced. Beside the financial lose, now I extremely concern about the safety and reliability of the vehicle and more importantly the engine or any other part that caused the engine to fail. The fact that I had 10 years old boy in the car with me who thought that we were going to die that day and crying hysterically make it all the more bothersome. When I called toyota headquarter to report the problem, they basically dismissed me as routine problem and not toyota's problem. They seem disinterested to find out why engine with so few miles got busted for no reason and perfect maintenance record. I am concerned about the reliability and safety of the engine in the vehicle (1az-fe). I hope govt investigate this case and I am willing to participate in whichever way I can to make it safe for my fellow riders.

Filed Mar 24, 2014 · Transmission · 113,638 miles · VA

My 2003 rav4 developed a very harsh shift taking off between first and 2nd gear. I took it to our local toyota dealer (berglund oak ridge toyota> lynchburg, va) and they confirmed a diagnosed stored trouble code p0755-shift "b" malfunction. They quoted about $4700.00 to replace the ECM and put in a rebuilt transmission. No financial help from the dealer, even though they were aware this has been a major problem for the 2001-2003 rav4's. Toyota extended the warranty a few years ago to 10 years or 150,000 miles, which ever came first. I purchased the vehicle less than a year ago, not aware that this was a documented and expected problem with this vehicle. The dealer suggested I contact customer experience at 1‑800‑331‑4331 and ask them to consider covering all or part of the cost. The vehicle has a value of $7500.00 per kbb. I called and got case # 1403130959. I spoke to rashine . It took a few days but they got back to me and said because it exceeded the 10 year window (2003-2013) they would not cover any of the costs. I pleaded that I have well under the 150,000 mile mark and that they readily say 80% of all toyota's are on the road for 20 years. This has another 10 years to go. They know this is and has been a factory design fault per all the recorded problems. I don't feel I should have to pay $4700.00 in repairs for their design failure. In their 1.2 billion $ recent settlement,they said" putting customers first", "want to earn our trust", "serve customers" "take responsibilities seriously". Wow, what a lie and let down. How can they get away with this? It has happened to countless 1000's of people. Toyota should be required to make this a recall and fix for 0$. This car is unsafe to drive as is and will stall in traffic and cause accidents. Thank you for listening. Please help me and hold toyota responsible for a terrible design flaw.

Filed Feb 6, 2014 · Transmission · 100,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to respond when the accelerator pedal was engaged and the vehicle stalled intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the ECM failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

Filed Dec 10, 2013 · Transmission · 96,000 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. In addition, the vehicle would sporadically accelerate without warning. The contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic, who stated the transmission needed to be replaced. The contact called the manufacturer and filed a complaint. The failure mileage was 96,000.

Filed Sep 26, 2012 · Transmission · 157,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle started to shake and stalled without any warning. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 157,000 and the current mileage was 167,000.

Filed Aug 5, 2011 · Electrical, Transmission · 212,000 miles · CA

Hi about my 2003 toyota rav4, its seems to stall and shutting off the engine while driving. For exaple it happen more then 5 time on me this month7/1/2011, and almost getting bump in rear end. I took it to toyota dealer, and paying $100 for what they could find anything wrong. This model should be recall or accident will happen.

Filed Mar 7, 2011 · 124,000 miles · NV

The check engine light turned on. The car began hesitating upon acceleration. I took the car to auto zone so they could give me a quick diagnosis. They said one of the codes that came up had to do with the catalytic converter and that would be causing the stalling. I took my vehicle to one of the dmv's g2 repair stations and had the catalytic replaced and was informed that I had to take my car to toyota to have the ECM reflashed. The car worked fine for a few days and now the check engine light has turned back on and the car began to stall again. I was nearly in an accident due to the stalling. I have an appointment to have the ECM reflashed but the very rude service advisor at toyota let me know that might not fix the problem. He let me know that my previous repair station sent me there to cover themselves when in fact they sent me there due to toyota's service bulletin. I don't understand why I have to pay to have a faulty ECM reflashed. Toyota should provide that services for free. I have since found out that a faulty ECM can ruin the transmission so I may have some costly repairs in the future due to a faulty part by toyota. Toyota should replace the ecms on all 2001-2003 toyota rav4s since they know they are faulty and cover the cost of the transmission repair caused by their faulty ECM. Toyota is being very underhanded by sending out the services bulletin to certain repair shops and not to actual toyota owners. They should be held liable. Are they going to wait until someone dies? The unexpected stalling can cause a serious accident and toyota owners should be informed. If I had known this I would not have purchased a toyota for my teenager. The stalling almost caused an accident while I was driving but it would have definitely caused one for someone with less driving experience. It's a shame that toyota will not do anything until someone gets hurt.