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.
2003 Toyota RAV4 transmission complaints
Page 2 of 8: complaints 11 to 40 of 209, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My rave4 starting having problem with shifting about 5 years ago but we park it because my mom passed away and I received her car, but I want to get it fix and have been driving it again with only shift problems in first gear!
What I have a 2003 rav4 that doesn't shift properly as a slow acceleration and between first and second it'll slip and rev high on the RPM then talk into gear and same between 2nd and 3rd and 3rd to drive
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. While driving 40 MPH, the vehicle hard shifted and would not accelerate. The vehicle was diagnosed as needing a new transmission. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 119,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle suddenly decelerated when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The check engine warning indicator illuminated. The contact attempted to accelerate again and the vehicle responded very slowly to approximately 15 MPH. The vehicle was driven to the contact's residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine control unit failed or there was possible transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 74,650.
We were on a family vacation on labor day weekend, when we merged on the freeway and my toyota rav 4 would not shift over. We almost were hit by oncoming cars from the freeway. I swerved to avoid a crash and crashed into the ditch. I checked on line to get toyota phone number when I noticed there was a recall and extended warranty on this part on toyota rav 4 2001 2002 and 2003. I purchased the car in oct 2010 from dealership carmax, they told me they were not aware of the problem. If I was aware I would have taken it to get it fixed. This is a safety issue with this problem. I might have lost my family and myself. I contacted toyota, they stated to me they had contacted you guys and it's not under a safety issue on these cars, it was a problematic issues. My question to you is somebody has to die first to be considered safety? Toyota will not honor any repairs because it's passed the 10 year and 150 thousand mile mark. Are you kidding me? ! My car acted up at 163 miles, so my family and any other rav4 are not safe do to a expired extension? ! That is not good. I'm very upset about this situation. My priority is my family like every ones else's family. The gov should make it a lifetime extended warranty so if we didn't hear about it after the fact, it should be honored and have toyota and gov fixed this issue. Thank you [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. The contact stated that while driving 5 MPH, the transmission failed. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed and the technician informed that the ECM needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 92,000.
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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the vehicle began to experience a harsh shift while the vehicle began to reduce in speed. The contact stated that a burning odor was present. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the automatic transaxle failed and the transmission would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 158,000.
The transmission acted up. It would work well, then it was like if it was in the wrong gear.
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.
Ecm failed causing harsh shift transmission problem while driving in lower gears
Had this car for only 10 months (my daughter worked 2 jobs to buy it) and it started clunking when it was put into reverse and then not shifting properly while driving. Took it in and it was the computer, and it would be minimum of $1000 to fix it. It has 170,000 miles which for a toyota is not a lot. Can't believe this was never a recall and it is now past the warrenty. I love my toyotas but this is not ok that they won't own up and pay to fix it!!!!
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.
Transmission slipping when shifting from first to second gear
My toyota 2003 rav 4 began having transmiision shifting problems. At times when in motion this vehicle would not continue driving for a few seconds. It also happened on the highway and put us in a very scary and dangerous situation. I took it to my mechanic. He researched and diagnosed the situation. After running a diagnostic, he found error code po750. He had to replace the engine control module which controlled the transmission.. He also found bulletins sent out by toyota that this was an issue, but no recalls were found. I had to pay $2091.63 to fix this problem. I have the receipt.
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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. While driving various speeds, the vehicle would hesitate to accelerate and the check engine light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission/transaxles experienced a harsh shift failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 95,225.
The transmission started shifting erratically at times. After doing some checking online, I discovered that toyota had put faulty ECM's in some rav 4s. The ECM controls the shifting of the transmission. You have to replace the ECM & the transmission if its damaged at a cost of $4,000.00 or more. Toyota knew about this & extended the warranties on these vehicles 10 years. Unfortunatley we didn't buy the vehicle until after the warranty time period had passed & this vehicle was never repaired. I called toyota to see if they would still stand behind it but they would not. Now I have to pay for their faulty junk. Don't think I'll be buying another toyota again.
My vehicle began to "buck" and then shortly thereafter the check engine light came on. I initially took it to the closest mechanic and was told I needed a new transmission and that they couldn't replace it. Told them to take it to krause toyota. Was then told by krause it needed a new ECM but they were too busy and couldn't look at the vehicle for 2 weeks since I wasn't a "regular" customer. I then took the car to bennett toyota - class outfit. They replaced the ECM immediately - which wasn't cheap. Cost me $1200. I have since heard that there was a recall on the ECM on my year rav4 which I wasn't ever notified of. I feel toyota should pick up this tab. I have low mileage for a 2003 car, and have always maintained it properly.
The ECM is making a transmission failure.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota rav4. While driving at 30 MPH, the vehicle hesitated when depressing the accelerator pedal and the check engine warning light illuminated. The failure occurred multiple times .the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was advised that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the ECM needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,000.
Bought car used and didn't notice the shift problem til later.shifts hard from 2 to 3rd gear. Many people have issue with this mostly being the ECM going bad then destroying the transmission. Both are expensive fixes and both are dangerous leading to accidents.
I pulled onto the highway, and pushed the accelerator down to get into traffic, and the vehicle failed to accelerate instantly as it always had done. The transmission slipped, slowly getting into gear, and then only gradually caught, causing me to almost get hit in the interim by at least one car and a tractor trailer. Told by my mechanic that this was unusual for toyota transmissions, he said I should go online and see if there were any recalls for this type of problem. Sure enough, toyota had, under duress of a law suit, acknowledged the problem, and had issued an expansion of the warranty on this exact problem to 10 years or 150,000 miles. On the online description of the transmission/emc problem, it was stated that the problem usually started around 80,000 miles, which is what my 2003 rav 4 has on it. After first calling toyota headquarters (torrance, ca) to get them to include my car under that extension, they said that it was too late and there was nothing they could do. I then sent them a registered letter begging them to help me, as the car was essentially a death trap with the slippage into the first two gears, and they responded with a letter telling me to call them back. This was fruitless, as the reiterated exactly what the first customer service rep told me. I asked them to put it in writing that they would not stand behind their product failure, which the rep said he would do. I have heard nothing from them since that call last week. I told him I did not get anything from their company telling me, the owner, that this problem in the power train existed, and that it was unfair that because I babied the car over the years I have owned it, the 80,000 miles just occurred recently, past the 2013 date that was in the new warranty extension. In other words, a problem that was known by toyota to manifest itself around 80,000 miles penalized me in this case.
The car was shifting very harshly and with a very strong shaking like a shimmy. I called the toyota dealers repair shop and it was decided to have the car towed in for repairs rather than continue driving. The technician said I needed a new transmission ecu and possible a new transmission. Ecu cost $1300.00 and transmission, if needed, is $4,000.00.no one told me that toyota paid to have these fixed by extending the warranty several years ago in california. That warranty has now elapsed yet my car has less than 60,000 miles on it.
Experiencing abnormal behavior when shifting gears (auto trans). Transmission was shifting oddly - harsh shift condition . It was not a frequent problem and no engine light and I took it to the local mechanic and he connected to his computer and could not find any error codes. The problem happens every time I move from a stop. Found out that toyota put out a technical service bulletin in early 2006 after defects started surfacing stating to replace the car's computer ECM/ecu and possibly the transmission.. The company did not inform owners about this defect which is now surfacing and did not recall due to cost of replacing the ecu and transmission it destroys. The defective ecu burns up the clutch and other parts in the transmission
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.
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.
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.
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.
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