Toyota RAV4 won't shift problems

Filed Sep 26, 2020 · Engine, Fuel system · 42,000 miles · AZ

Driving my 2013 toyota rav4ev when the vehicle shifted into neutral and would not shift back to drive and lost power while driving on the freeway at 70 MPH. Lucky to be able to pull over to the side of the freeway. There was a message in the display of "check EV system. Have your vehicle checked by dealership immediately"

Filed Feb 15, 2020 · Engine · 84,100 miles · CA

This car has been maintained and preserved and only 84000 miles on it. And the car wont shift. It jolts me or revs extremely high and also almost caused me an accident as it almost shut down on power while making a left turn in intersection. The check engine light comes on and off. It's only while going from 2nd to 3rd or shifting down from 2 to 1st. I had my mechanic look at it and he said it's a common issue with the ecu to take it to dealership to replace for free and they want to charge me 150 just to examine it.

Filed Feb 1, 2019 · Electrical, Transmission · OH

The transmission, is not shifting properly in even mildly cold weather. Had the car for two years, and now the tranmission, is not shifting properly when you first start it up. The engine rpms are at 3,500, when doing 30 MPH down the road,and pushing all the way down on the accelerator, the car will not go, there are no error lights, there is an tranmission shift issue with acceleration issue. This is dangerous because when going down a 35 MPH road, there are cars that can accelerate and this car goes nowhere. Start the car after being parked outside in cold weather, waited 5 minutes before driving the car, and it is still not responding properly. There have been electrical issues with this car, and now the transmission will not shift and go into gear properly, not sure if its the computer program, or gear issue. Never had this problem until the second year of ownership. Owned the car since it was brand new. This is a safety issue, with the car not being able to go the proper speed limit, and the dealer is trying to say oh, it takes a while for the car to warm up, did not have that problem last winter being left out all day and night. There is an electronic control module for the transmission, and the gears this is a safety issue that toyota needs to address, the car will not even accelerate properly because of this transmission issue and if you do accelerate you can end up ruinning the engine.

Filed Feb 1, 2019 · Electrical, Transmission · 12,978 miles · OH

Power transmission, safety issue, the power transmission will not shift in a timely manner to proper gears,in cold weather, this is a safety issue, when entering the freeway after leaving work, the car will only go 30 MPH at 3,500 RPM. Until the car warms up, this has never happened before, and now it is. Toyota dealer confirmed that the shift points are higher than normal, when first started in the morning, and per the dealer well it takes awhile for the car to warm up before it will go to normal shift points, and allow the transmission to function normally. Well 30 MPH at 3500 RPM, this is not normal, and this is a safety issue, so when you leave work your car will only go 30 MPH on a 60 MPH freeway. The dealers response is after it has been running and warmed up it will work normally. There is nothing normal about this issue, never had this issue last winter now all of a sudden having this issue this winter.

Filed Dec 20, 2017 · Transmission · 103,034 miles · IL

The rav4 would not shift. The transmission needed to be replaced

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 Feb 8, 2017 · Transmission · 12,000 miles · WA

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

Filed Sep 9, 2016 · Transmission · CA · crash

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).

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 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.