Noises During Shifting problems of the 2002 Toyota RAV4

Original owner of 2002 Toyota Rav4 awd. Was driving home from a friend's house and stopped off near my home for an errand. Left the store, (car was running, family inside) and proceed to drive towards my house. The engine was running but the car was barely moving. The tach was at 4,000 and I was barely going 5 mph. Suddenly and without warning the car raced forward at a high rate of speed. I slammed on the brakes to avoid a rear-end collision. After it was safe to move, I stepped on the gas again and the car sluggishly moved at about 5mph again. The whole ride home (less than 5 minutes) the car was either slow or fast without much pressure on the accelerator. Upon arriving at home and trying to parallel park the car, I noticed that the transmission was sluggish and made loud noise when shifted into reverse. This wasn't normal and it troubled me. I looked up online the symptoms and saw the TSB and the class action lawsuit against Toyota. I never received any information on this. This is my first time hearing about this. Ok 10 years/150,000 miles from 1st drive. Here's my problem - I bought the car in 11/2001 - I am over the years and under the mileage, so I don't qualify? the class action lawsuit was settled in Jan/Feb 2012. Tell me what happens to the people who purchased their car before Jan/fen 2002 - are the out of luck? I am no longer driving this car till this is fixed and safe. Please NHTSA - make it a mandatory recall - over 250,000 SUV's are affected. Make it right - make it safe!!.

Transmission slipping, engine racing, hard shift with a loud noise.

My 2002 Toyota rav 4 started having problems for about 2 weeks now. It only has about 50,000 miles and I am truly disappointed. It was running smoothly and all of a sudden it started making noise while I am driving. It feels like it is having difficulty and is experiencing harsh shifting to second gear.

Have a 2002 Toyota Rav4 with a transmission problem related to the ecm. The vehicles transmission hesitates, makes noises, does not shift correctly. There is a Toyota tech. Service bull. (tc-002-06) issued in 2006. Toyota never notified owners of this problem and therefore owners have driven past warranty time frames. (which is my case by 1 month) as there is only 73000 miles on the vehicle. Toyota should of contacted owners once they knew there was a problem.

No warning whatsoever before failure as we tried to pull onto a 4 lane highway and car would not accelerate, made loud noises, jerked and seemed like it would just stop dead in its tracks. Happened every time it had to shift from 1st to 2nd gear - at stop lights, driving thru town, etc. Toyota is now at dealer trying to see what problem could be.

In the beginning of June I noticed my Rav4 would slightly pause when I pres the gas pedal and would jerk when it's suppose to automatically shift gears, my registration is due & of course I need a smog certificate. The "transmission would slip" only sometimes. I'm just guessing it's the transmission. Not sure yet. . . Of course my "extra care" expired 05/30/08 mileage 100,000 but my mileage is only 91,000. I figure this is going to cost me a load of money that I don't have and this car helps me get to work. With the economy being so bad this doesn't help out much at all it's always one thing after another especially when I thought I was buying a car that is actually worth it and I thought since I was buying it brand new I was making a good choice. My fiance and I were driving home and I was on the hwy 880 sb going about 65 mph my rpm seem a little high but I was on cruise control so I thought it was normal. When all of a sudden my engine light came on, than my car starting making a noise, than my oil light came on, battery light came on and something from underneath my car flew off and as I look in my rear mirror I saw pieces of an object went flying and I notice cars swerving to move from the flying objects that were burning and I was sooo scared as my fiance said to pull over slowly. I cut cars off and I couldn't press the gas pedal no longer the engine shut off and I stopped in the middle of the slow lane I called aaa and towed my car to my house and unfortunately I can't take it to the dealer/mechanic yet b/c I don't have that kind of money. I find it very strange that I had no warning lights before hand or no sensor. For example the oil light comes on when I need oil/change, etc. What type of paperwork do I need to send b/c I haven't took it to the shop yet and may I add that the lighter doesn't work. Once I find out what the actually problem is than I will mail copies. I I truly believe it's a manufacturer problem.

2002 rav 4 automatic transmission ecm/transmission issue!!: the problems started with the check engine light turning on and off about 4 months ago. We got a recall notice from Toyota to have the ecm reprogrammed and went to fulfill the recall. The light then came on again about a month later. We were told that it could be a gas cap issue, so we made sure we tightened the gas cap and that turned the light off for about a month but then it came back on again. It wasn't until recently that we had the first signs of a shifting problem. All in the same day, the transmission began to make noises and shift rough between 1st and 2nd gears (its an auto trans). . Once we got the car going forward, we worked our way back home, and that was it for the car. . Read more...

My Toyota rav iv was recalled to have the ecm reprogrammed. I took it to Toyota to have it reprogrammed, the problems where fixed for a couple of days but then they came back. The car does not respond for a while when shifting from first to second gear, then it jumps making a loud noise and restarts running in 2nd gear. The engine light came on. This is very dangerous, specially when there are cars behind, I almost was hit by cars going behind me at least twice. I took it to aamco, and they said the transmission is ok, it is just a computer problem. Toyota should fix the entire problem with the ecm. A lot of people have replaced their transmission just for the problem to reoccur, others have had to replace the computer at their own cost. . Read more...

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.

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 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.