2003 Toyota RAV4: jerking or lurching

Filed Aug 10, 2018 · Acceleration, Transmission · 79,279 miles · NV

Takata recall" I was driving on a city street on my way home late afternoon...auto started to jerk and felt like something was pulling at it...it slowed up then jerked again...it continued on...I was driving at 45 speed limit...as I was turning the shifting was sounding like it was sticking...I parked it at home and next morning I had it checked and diagnosed as solenoid problem causing transmission burnout...also toyota revealed problems with the ECM and transmission failure

Filed Jun 14, 2017 · Transmission · 105,895 miles · TN

March the vehicle started jerking and was no pulling out correctly at stop sign and red lights. The transmission wouldn't down shift so you were trying to pull out in 3rd or 4th gear. It felt like you were pulling a house. I was pulling out onto a highway and the vehicle would hardly go... It caused three vehicles to bow up and stop in the middle of the highway because my vehicle was out in the roadway moving at less than 1 mile per hour. I never pulled out on to the highway after that. I always pull out onto the should of the road in case the vehicle done that again. So the transmission was rebuilt march 2017. After about 36 miles was driven on it started acting up again. I puled out fine on the shoulder of the highway as eased over into the south bound lane when the vehicle changed to first it felt like someone hit me in the rear-end of the vehicle. I looked to make surer. Then it switched to 2nd gear and jerked me do hard that I pulled over turning the vehicle off and having it towed to the transmission shop. So, back to get the transmission looked at I have a one year warranty on the transmission. They took it apart and looked at it again. They said there wasn't anything wrong with the transmission it was the ec module. So it stayed parked until I could save some money to get that fixed. Took it to toyota june 7th 2017 they replaced the ec module and I took it home the following wednesday. It drove fine all the way home. The next day it started doing the exact same thing again. So I took it back to the toyota dealership that repaired the ec module. No they tell me that the transmission is bad and I need a new one. $2958.00 plus tax. Toyota corporation will not help you out on the fix. Due to the recall being 10 years or 150,000 mile. My vehicle was a low mileage vehicle with 105,894 on it and I miss the recall because of the mileage.

Filed Apr 19, 2016 · Electrical, Transmission · 103,000 miles · IA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed and the vehicle jerked. As a result, the vehicle became stuck in second and third gear. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the failure was undetermined; however, the technician discovered that the computer damaged the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 103,000.

Filed Dec 25, 2015 · Transmission · 83,559 miles · CA

I was driving on city streets when the car violently jerked and speeded up. I was in fear of being in an accident and feared for my safety. I immediately took action to repair this car that was in mint condition to this point. The 2003 rav 4 module and transmission failed at 83559 miles, which is low mileage for a toyota. Toyota motor corp lost a class action law suit, and agreed to be responsible for replacement of transmission and module replacement of the 2001 to 2003 model year rav's 4 that failed within 150,000 mile usage or 10 year use. My car had only 83,559 miles at the time of failure due to the faulty original module that caused this transmission problem. In november 2006 toyota issued a technical bulletin # 1046 with reference to 2001-2003 toyota rav4 transmission: u14of, u241e. Subject:2-3 blind up/harsh 2-3 po755, burnt (c2, clutch, harsh rev. Engagement, wrong gear starts....saying that the faulty PCM in the toyoa rav4's can cause the transmission problem that my car experienced..........(I have a copy of the document for reference, if necessary) the problem with the transmission in my rav4 with only 83559 miles was a durability issue; toyota sold the car with a faulty module, did not replace it when they admitted to the problem and the company needs to be responsible for any and all costs incurred.

Filed Dec 21, 2015 · MA

The car jerks when I try to accelerate. Toyota reccommends that I replace the ECM and because my car has 101,000 and is more than 10 years old I am not covered under the warranty enhancement program (customer support program). I just bought my car 3 weeks ago. This should be an ongoing warranty offerred to all 2003 rav 4 owners. The out of pocket cost for ECM is $1590.00 and $3750.00 for the transmission. This is a safety issue where the transmission can lock and drive a car off the side of the road. Toyota is aware of the defected ecms and the damaging affects it has on the transmission.

Filed Jul 31, 2015 · 67,088 miles · TX

I have a 2003 toyota rav4! On july 21, 2015 my vehicle started harsh jerking and slow performance when coming from a stop and red light! I accelerated the pedal to the floor and the vehicle still were performing slow! I could have got hit since it wouldn't move any faster! On july 22, 2015 I drove my vehicle to loving lincoln-mercury. They perform a test and told me that the ECM needed to be replaced! The service manager told me that toyota had a customer support program to replace the malfunction ECM! I contacted the toyota customer assistance center and informed them the problems I was experiencing with my vehicle! I was informed that the customer support program that was replacing the ECM and transmission for free had expired on my vehicle! I was informed that the customer support program was for the first 10 years or 150,000.00 miles whichever came first! I was informed that my vehicle expired in 2013! I asked the toyota customer assistance center why I didn't receive a letter stating that the ECM and possible transmission need to be replace in my vehicle and I was told that they would check to see if a letter had been mailed! I have been living at my address for 30 years and I haven't received anything informing me about replacing anything on my vehicle! Now I'm facing $5,551.60 plus tax to replace the ECM and transmission on my vehicle! I'm on a fixed income of social security monthly and I can't have my vehicle repaired because of this expense! They didn't mail me a letter stating I need to replace the ECM and possible transmission under this free program for the customer support program! I'm informing you about this situation with toyota because this is a safety problem! Anyone who has a toyota rav4 and it's doing harsh jerking with slow performance can certainly get hit which can caused a bad accident!!!!!

Filed Dec 4, 2014 · Transmission · AZ

Car sitting in my driveway. Took emergency brake off, stepped on brake, put car in reverse. Car gave a violent jerk backwards. Backed out of driveway, put car in drive and stepped on accelerator. Car jerked forward a little, engine revved up, slow acceleration after pressing on accelerator. Had to put more pressure on accelerator to gain adequate speed to pull forward. Stopped at stop sign, tried to accelerate, car jerked forward a little, engine revved up, but there was little to no acceleration after pressing the accelerator. More pressure on accelerator resulted in an adequate speed to pull forward. Same series of events after stopping and/or slowing down while driving. Same hard jerk when putting car in reverse for any reason followed by forward jerk, engine rev and slow acceleration when putting car in drive. Took vehicle to toyota service on 11-26-14. Problem with ECM (electronic control module). Module had to be replaced. The transmission was not replaced. Cost to me was $1590.63, including tax. Due to my in service date, toyota customer service advised my car was out of the extended warranty. Toyota customer service advised me the very best they could do was to offer me $500 towards a new toyota, but not towards repair.

Filed Nov 24, 2014 · Transmission · 98,000 miles · KY

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav 4. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 25 MPH, the transmission failed to shift from second to third gear and started to jerk violently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 98,000.

Filed Nov 24, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 128,677 miles · NC

I purchased a 2003 toyota rav4 from the toyota dealership that only had 13 miles on it in august 2003. In august of 2014, I started having trouble with the automatic transmission shifting harsh when changing. The car would strain to change gears, then all of a sudden it would jerk into gear. No lights came on at all. I took it to the toyota dealership to have the problem inspected and they told me about an extended warranty of 10 years or 150,000 miles. This was the first that I had heard about this warranty. Toyota never contacted me to let me know about the warranty. After inspecting my rav4, they told me that I needed to replace the ECM and if that didn't solve the problem, I would need a transmission. I feel like toyota should have informed me of the problem sooner. (before all that time had gone by.) I was very disappointed with the outcome. I see from this website that I am not the only one with this same problem and feel that toyota should be held responsible for the repair.

Filed Sep 30, 2014 · Electrical, Transmission · 92,400 miles · NH

Harsh shifting; automatic shifting erratic; lurching, especially when starting from stop. Local garage says transmission is shot and requires replacement ($3100).

Filed Sep 5, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 130,000 miles · GA

I'm the owner of a 2003 rav4, purchased from a toyota dealer in 2011. Last week, I experienced a time lapse of my car shifting into first gear, in my opinion, a safety hazard. This morning I took the car to a mechanic and began searching the web for any recalls for a 2003 rav4, there are none. However, on this site, I discovered that I am one of many who have this complaint, and that we ,the consumer, all share the same results from toyota. You missed the deadline. It was on this website that I learned of a class action lawsuit about the ECM defect with my rav4 (see www.rv4ecmsettlement.com), the letter was supposedly sent to all who own a 2003 rav4. I never received this letter. Nor did I receive any type of notification from toyota re: an extended warranty,or for that matter any type of time sensitive dates to capture any type of recovery from toyota. Toyota claims they work with a company who gathers owners information from the dmv. Toyota calls this issue with the transmission not shifting properly into gear, a "customer malfunction support program"...and the catch is that you only have 10 years from the date of first use to notify them of your "malfunction"...my car missed the deadline by 6 months and again, let me reiterate that I was never notified by anyone about this issue, nor is this issue termed a recall item. My question is why not? Why is this not a recall, when this situation is clearly a safety issue. If you are in a car that will not move into first gear, and then the car unexpectedly jerks into acceleration, is that not a safety concern?? Toyota's term "harsh shift of auto trans axle" " my complaint and opinion is that toyota has been deceptive with their consumers. And these attorneys? Why did I not hear from them?? And furthermore, will I hear back from the federal safety agency ??? How can the consumer make a deadline, if they are not notified???

Filed Jan 19, 2014 · Transmission · 132,015 miles · CA

I was driving my 2003 rav4, entering a highway when the transmission failed to engage immediately when I accelerated. It hesitated for a few seconds then finally lurched forward. I was very nearly struck by a vehicle on the highway because I was unable to accelerate as expected. Now the rav frequently behaves oddly when shifting, sometimes refusing to upshift, suddenly downshifting at inappropriate times. The dealer advises the problem is likely a defect in the electronic control module (ECM) as covered in a tsb. From research recently I have learned that this ECM defect was a known problem beginning in 2006. I am amazed there has been no recall to repair this very serious safety issue. Now it appears I will be on the hook for a very expensive ECM replacement. Even though I have religiously taken this vehicle to a toyota dealer regularly for maintenance, they never once mentioned this known problem. Yet when I discussed this behavior with one of the dealer's service advisors yesterday, he seemed quite familiar with this issue. Please call for a recall on this issue.