general problems of the 2002 Toyota RAV4 - part 1

My car engine light goes on and off due to transmission fault. It continuously has a hard time shifting gears in between 2500-3000 rpm and gives a jerky stop before continuing to speed up/accelerate despite when I have not let go of my foot from the pedal. After taking it to the auto shop, I was told this is the same problem other Toyota rav 4 between 2001-2003 experiences and the mechanics told me that there was a lot of recall for the same code my car is giving (2 codes that the computer diagnosed were p0775 and p0161). While Toyota extended the warranty to 10years/150,000k and my car is 1-2 years past the warranty, it's only been barely 80,000mi and it should not be causing this problem. This transmission/ecm problem puts me and the passengers to risks because both the speed and rpm don't go past certain numbers which is low at most times, limiting myself as the driver to go even within the speed limits. All the more, with this happening more frequently these days than it had in the past, I am highly concerned for my safety and not feel safe to have someone in my car. I have been to 4 different mechanics and they have told me the same problem and that it's the same case as they saw from different Rav4's recall problem. This car was handled very carefully and this is the only occurring problem. With engine light being on and off, it is my concern that I need to have this car inspected, related to Toyota Rav4 recalls.

2002 Toyota Rav4 awd transmission problems and will be available upon request. Transmission caused vehicle to disengaged , jerks, stalls with severed engine braking while driving creating a safety performance and hazard on the roads to myself and other unexpected drivers. Upon reading similar complaints of other owners reported similar transmission problems. This was believed to be a reproduced problem and should be investigated for safety-related defects. The vehicle was inspected by manufacture according to previous owner. Manufacturer recently replaced transmission and updated ecm per previous owner. The vehicle appeared in working order for 3-4 months then the transmission problems occurred again as mentioned above. There was no warning lights while I experienced this transmission problem.

The contact owned a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 mph, an abnormal noise was heard. The brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle spun 360 degrees and stopped on the opposite side of the road. No warning light illuminated. The contact called the independent mechanic who advised her to turn off the vehicle. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle and drove the vehicle approximately 3-feet before the rear wheels locked up. The vehicle was towed to the independent mechanic and diagnosed with rear differential failure. The contact was informed that the rear differential needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired because the contact took the vehicle back to the used car dealer. The contact stated that the used car dealer stated that the mechanic did not diagnose the correct failure. The dealer's independent mechanic diagnosed the failure as a transmission transfer case failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 123,000.

2002 Toyota rav. Consumer writes in regards to transmission problems.

Vehicle stalls and jerks constantly while driving; unable to accelerate after stoplight. Very unpredictable. This is due to defective ecm which Toyota has been aware of but refuses to list as a recall. I purchased the used car 1 month ago --- had no idea it had this serious, dangerous problem. Took it to Toyota dealer which is saying it will cost $5k to fix !! car only has 77k miles.

2002 Rav4 ecu shifting problem (dtc code p0755). The car jitters when switching from gear 1 to 2 as well on reverse. It also jitters when it drives on low gear. There is an well known problem with Rav4 2001-2003 but Toyota has failed to recall it, despite being a safety hazard as it has caused accidents and bodily injury. It has the high likelihood to destroy the transmission.

Tl the contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. After starting the engine, the vehicle would not properly accelerate when depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to fred anderson Toyota (9101 glenwood avenue, raleigh, nc) where it was diagnosed that the electronic control module and transmission were faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 91,000.

I never received a notice or letter from Toyota about extending the warranty to the transmission for the Rav4 sent to owners. I even went to the Toyota dealer in rapid city for car maintenance and they never told me about this issue. I donated the car to my daughter who lives in seattle and she is having problem with the car transmission. The Toyota dealer in seattle wants to charge $4500 for fixing it. What do I or my daughter do? I was never informed about this extended warranty. Please let me know. Thank you.

TSB = tc002-06. Known ecm issues caused transmission to shift incorrectly and ruined transmission. Ecm has to be replace and transmission rebuilt. Searching online, this appears to be a very common problem for my generation Rav4. If a faulty product causes so many people to risk driving safely and be out several thousand dollars, there should be a recall placed to fix the issue. Thousands of people affected. Https://mbeach1b. Files. Wordpress. Com/2010/10/tc002-061. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. While driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle independently shifted into second gear and lunged forward. The vehicle came to a complete stop on the side of the road. The vehicle was driven home. The following day, the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the electronic control module failed; however, the class action settlement ended in 2012. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 53,612.

Car went into neutral while negotiating an intersection on several occations. Has bucked stalled pulling into traffic, and failed to shift while passing, im told its a know problem with ecu, but Toyota cut a deal and did not have to notify owners! bought this car new now there telling me 6000 to 9000$.

My 2002 Toyota rav 4 is an automatic transmission and it doesn't shift easily. I always thought it was because it was a 4 cylinder, but recently it has gotten a lot worse. What it's doing now is a magnification of what it has been doing for a long time, struggling to shift from the lower gear to a higher gear. I called my dealership where I bought the car new in 2002 and they said that my car has a 'warranty enhancement' notice on it, and that it needs a new ecu, but that I was supposed to have done this within 10 years from my purchase date. A new york times article from July 13, 2010 addresses this issue and Toyota's warranty extension, and pointed out that Toyota notified dealerships. However, it appears that you have to be a customer of your dealership to have to have found out about the ecu, and I am not because I don't live near the dealership. The service department told me that I fall outside the 10 year warranty and would have to pay $1200-1600 to replace the ecu. Toyota motor corp told me the same thing when I called. It seems patently unfair that Toyota would only inform me that my car has a problem that needs to be fixed by them if I'm a customer of their service station at my dealership! I'm just guessing that if they call it a 'warranty enhancement' instead of a recall, they're not obligated to notify people who don't frequent their service stations. Because of the shifting problem my car seems very unsafe. I have had to park it. When I save enough money for another car, you can bet it won't be a Toyota!.

The car recently starts hesitate and suddenly slow down sometimes when I push the gas gear from stop (not always). The mechanic said the transmission may need to be checked. From the internet, I learned that this particular car is known to have the transmission defect (rav4 2001-2003 with automatic transmission).

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact indicated that the vehicle failed to shift to reverse. The contact had to make several attempts and was able to change gears. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who diagnosed that the ecm and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 216,000.

We bought this car off my mom (who was the original owner and has taken immaculate care of it!) just two months ago! out of nowhere the car started to experience "hard shifting". Because it couldn't shift like it should, it was a road hazard/safety issue! we took it into the Toyota dealership that very day. They told us it was the ecm and maybe even the transmission! the approx. Cost would be $1,100 to replace the ecm, and thousands more if it was the transmission. They said they would have it done by Tuesday (christmas eve. ) I started researching the problem because it didn't make sense that this car that had such low miles would have this problem. Well, I found out this is a widespread problem with the Rav4. Toyota knows about it and has not recalled this part! there was even a lawsuit against them, but that only led to an extension of the warranty to 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first! our car only has 88,900 miles but because it is 11 years old, it won't be covered by a warranty! we are out $1,180 right at christmas time! and they did not get the car fixed until Dec. 27th! (kind of puts a damper on christmas plans when you don't have your car!):( I called Toyota in hopes that they would help us because they know this part is faulty, but I was met with an unsympathetic response! basically, "its out of warranty so it won't be covered!" Toyota needs to recall this part, and reimburse those who have already had to fix it, not only because it is their moral obligation to do so, but also because someone could be killed if they don't! please recall this part, be decent human beings, instead of being worried about your bottom line! there are more important things than money, Toyota! as mad as I am about being out the money to fix this problem (that Toyota knew about) I am glad that I am only out the money, rather than mourning the loss of a loved one.

Attempting to enter highway, car lost power, eventually kicked in, immediately brought car to dealer. They serviced fuel injection, fuel system, spark plugs. Found no problem with transmission. 4 weeks following repair, hesitation happened again, this time check engine light came on, returned to dealer and was told the transmission and ecm unit needed replacement. Going through all my previous service records, came across a service ticket dated 05/18/2012, showing a service performed on a faulty ecm unit. Toyota was aware of this problem, but never informed consumers that the faulty units could affect the transmission, and driving ability of the vehicle. I am stuck with a $5,000. Repair bill, but I also could have been involved in an accident, had I been merging onto a busier highway. There have been many complaints filed, but yet no action taken by the national highway traffic administration. . . Will it take a loss of life, or serious injury before action is taken?.

This is a well-known problem with the engine control module (ecm) malfunctioning, causing hard shift conditions, transmission damage, possible accidents and injury. This problem is affecting up to 235,500 Toyota rav 4 models between 2001-2003. . Read more...

Going from a very slow speed or from stop it has a hard time getting out of first and or second. I will jerk or shift very harshly. Sometimes it feels like I've been rearended. As it's picking up speed in the 15-25 mph range it will start to slow on it's own when I'm still giving it gas. It feels like there's a rubberband in the trransmission stretching and as it gets tight it's slowing down then it will just release and then comes the harsh or violent shift. If I can catch it at the right time and let off the gas, that will most of the time negate the harshness. It is probably not safe to be driving it but I do not have a choice at this point. Toyota told me it may need a new chip at about $900 and if that doesn't work, it wil need a new transmission!! I'll just be as careful as I can and not pull out in front of traffic.

Today my Toyota Rav4 2002 began to have automatic transmission shifting issues. It has an excessive jerk when shifted from park to reverse, it is slow to shift from 1 to 2, and it jerks like I was rear ended when shifting to the next gear. I contacted my local Toyota dealer and was told there are no outstanding recalls on my car, the ecm software was updated before I purchased it used. I asked if they had any issues with the transmission on this model and year and I was told "no". They recommended I bring it in for a diagnostic check for $104 just to check it out. Afterwards I thought I would check the net. I found numerous threads regarding the 2001-3 ecm/transmission issue. It appears a number of owners have submitted complaints to NHTSA. Please add me. They are ignoring this issue and pretending they do not know anything about it.

I just got a Toyota rav 4 2002 auto and when driving with family the vehicke started tyo run slugish, jerks when predsing gas, starts slow real slow after coming tyoi a stop and this situation almost got us into an accident in us 81 near front royal virginia. Additionally the check engine light came on. After taking vehicle to a mecanic it shows a code p0755 and reading about the problem is not a selenoid but it is ecm or ecu malfunction that the Toyotas rav 2001-2003 are presenting which makes the car show a ghost code not a tramsmission code but rather a defective computer malfunction that cannot be repaired but replaced. Toyota knows about this problem and I do not see Toyota asummed responsability and had passed the costr to vehicles owners and not a general recal to be fixed at manufacture expenses. Please research and make this issue a immediate recal because it had caused acciudents due to the malfunctioin,.

On September 9, 2013 while driving my rav 4 to work , I experienced a strange behavior , the car suddenly stopped moving and I had to press on gas several times and it would move as if like it is choked , in a minute everything went normal as it has always been, I was a little worried but then after driving about 2 miles and stopping at a stop light , this thing happens again and when I try to push on gas it started moving a little and then there is this "thud" sound as if something was holding wheels of my rav 4 from moving and then suddenly it let the wheels run. I took the car to Toyota service center (Toyota scion of concord) and been told that my car needs a ecm to begin with and that Toyota has a TSB out there as well "extended warranty" which in my case is expired since my car is 2002 and the warranty is 10y/150 k miles , whichever is earlier. I am concerned as to why this discrepency , Toyota knews or had known over a period of time that their vehicle had an issue and they cant be putting life's of buyers at risk by not doing a recall of that . Please I am requesting that some action needs to be taken on this and such continued acts of concealing information with owners / sub-owners of vehicles and that this condition leaves at lot of lives at risk besides financial loss.

We were just informed from our local Toyota dealership (gateway Toyota in toms river, NJ) that there is a known problem with the 2002 Toyota rav 4 automatic transmissions (high failure rate) and we were just informed that our transmission needs to be replaced. I believe nhsta needs to investigate Toyota to see if a recall is in order.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that when shifting gears, there was a delay before the vehicle would engage, causing the vehicle to hesitate and lunge forward abnormally. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the ecm was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 80,600.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated and jerked while accelerating. The vehicle was taken to a transmission specialist where a diagnostic was performed that indicated that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer advised the contact that the transmission replacement warranty was expired. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 67,950. Updated 10/29/lj.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving approximately 15 mph, the accelerator failed to respond to acceleration attempts. The contact also mentioned that the vehicle erroneously decelerated while the accelerator pedal was being depressed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician stated that the transmission was causing the problem and the computer would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 82,000.

My wife drive a 2002 Rav4 to work. On April 15 2013 while on her way to work like always she stopped at a red light . As the light turn green she pressed the gas the car started moving and suddenly lost acceleration, the driver behind her did not have time to reacted and rear ended them. My 2 year son and my wife shocked my son cried for a little bit and my wife had a sore back . An the beginning when she told me these I didn't think much of it . One week after the incident she told me the check engine light came on I told her maybe you didn't close the gas cap good when you put the gas if it still on I will get it check. Shure enough the engine light went off on its on . Shorty after she told me the car is not driving normal if we could swap cars. I drove her car for couple days and occasionally I start experiencing a low acceleration and sometimes a hard shift. Took the car to the Toyota dealership and was told that Toyota has an open bulletin for the ecm witch control the gear of the transition but the bad news the said even do I had only 80100 miles they said the warranty is out by time. Once I read about this problem on several forum I realize that was exactly what my wife try to explain me. I contacted Toyota about what happen and told them about the accident they give me a case number and told me some one will contacted you with in 24 hours.

About a week ago my car began having issues shifting gears. If I pulled into a turn lane I would slow and start creating a danger for both me and other drivers. I took my car to a transmission specialist, with over 30 years of experience. He let me know that 2002 Rav4's have a recall on the computer that controls the transmission. He also said that in certain cases he knew Toyota had replaced the transmission as well. I took it to the dealership where the computer was replaced and I was told that the transmission had an extended warranty of 10 years or 150,000 miles. My car was 19 months and 10,000 miles over the extended warranty. The transmission specialist let me know that the transmission was directly damaged by the computer. When I called the manufacturer they let me know that they didn't agree with the program, thought that it should have been a recall instead of extended warranty but there was nothing they could do for me. The manufacturer representative also let me know that there are others in my same situation.

This past summer the 2002 rav 4 started giving indications that something might not be right. The car had always gotten its required mileage maintenance which was also due at the time. So those things were done. However, over the last three weeks the following started: --the engine light came on, then off; --there was hesitation when accelerating/ a harsh jerk and shift when changing gears --the vehicle would sometimes slip back into neutral and stall while driving three independent Toyota-certified technicians diagnosed that there is a problem with the transmission, so we took it to darcars Toyota where the car was purchased. The technician there confirmed the diagnosis but said we needed to contact the warranty enhancement department. After placing me on hold for about 5 minutes, she told me that the car had exceeded the time for the warranty by about 3 months and therefore nothing could be done. Is Toyota willing to jeopardize the long-term customer loyalty and more importantly, the safety of their customers, just because the car chose to display its problems 3 months later?.

My car started to shift gears erratically and uncontrollably. I found out that Toyota has a technical service bulletin on this problem for 2001 - 2003 Rav4 cars and have extended the warranty to 150,000 miles. When I contacted Toyota they said my VIN# is not included even though my date of manufacture and symptoms are the same. My mechanic says this is the same problem as other Rav4s. Toyota refuses to explain why they exclude certain VIN#s and I think they simply trying to reduce their financial exposure. Need your help to deal with Toyota. I have always followed up with factory commended serviced, mainly through Toyota. The VIN# for my car is [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Tl-the contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle jerk while driving and lose acceleration the vehicle was taken to the dealer performed a diagnostic which located the failure at the electronic control module. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and they advised that the ecm recall had expired and denied assistance with the repair. The vehicle was not repaired the failure and current mileage was 100,600. Li.

We had just left a parking lot in our 2002 rav 4 and as we came up to speed the transmission began to jerk and try to shift into different gears. I all of a sudden had no power and a truck coming down the road almost hit us. As I depressed the accelerator the car revved up and all of a sudden engaged and spun out. Very scary and we were lucky!.

My 2002 Toyota Rav4 has been sluggish since day 1, about 2004. This past weekend it was more sluggish than usual, after take-off. I drove it a few more times and after every drive, the transmission wouldn't shift easily, and when it did shift it was very hard. Almost a whiplash hard. It is getting worse, and this is only the 3rd day. I called the national Toyota number, because I found the extended warranty policy bulletin on-line, but I am 9 months over the 10 year limit, and even though it does not say 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first, I was told that the whichever comes first is an automatic. . . Hmm should be in writing that way. And I called my local dealership, they told me the same thing. I called the local Toyota customer line, but was put through to voice mail. Really 9 months. . . My car has 130,000 miles. I need help!.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced harsh shifting. The contact also stated that when attempting to accelerate, there would be an increase in the engine rpms but the vehicle would not accelerate. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the ecm would need to be replaced. The contact was also informed that the transmission fluid needed to be drained and replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The failure and current mileages were 122,000.

The contact owns 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle, the vehicle hesitated to shift gears. The contact attempted to accelerate, but the vehicle failed to respond or shift gears. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the electronic control module was found defective. In order to repair, the electronic control module would have to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware; however no assistance was provided. The failure and current mileages were 35,000.

Very unsafe transmision Toyota 2002 rav 4 shakes doesnt go into gear. Called Toyota will pay only if one of three codes come up on dealer only test charged 140 rip off. Dealer says transmission bad but no code. Toyota will not cover . Dealer and Toyota act like they never heard of this until you let them know you read about it. Problem shifting out of the blue.