Transmission Gear Slipping problems of the 2002 Toyota RAV4

Transmission slips between gear 3 and 4.

The dreaded 2001-2003 Toyota well known ecm safety defect began causing the transmission to shift harshly, and start in high gear instead of first gear, especially dangerous when pulling out in traffic. Sometimes it would cause the transmission to slip, causing high rpms. If not fixed the ecm failure will eventually destroy the transmission. Toyota increased the warranty as a result of a class action suit to 10 yrs or 150,000 miles instead of having a recall. I was over the years and under the mileage, so Toyota did not cover the costs for repair of this known defect. .

The 2002 Toyota rav 4 transmission is now slipping & missing gears had some service on the transmission in 2011 October,but to do a full rebuild starts at $1700. Then goes $$$up.

I was going north on molly lane and going to turn right on us hwy 92 going east. I pulled into oncoming traffic when my car stalled and it acted like the transmission slipped. I was almost rear ended. I drove and picked up a pizza on townlake parkway and the same thing happened when I pulled out of papa johns. I knew there was a bad problem at that point. I was going to drive it home and have it towed to Toyota. Upon turning onto the entrance ramp it stalled again and had no power. The cars behind me were blowing their horns. At the top of the ramp it revved and then surged. I drove it home and had it towed. Toyota says that the ecm is bad and needs to be replaced and then they can check the transmission. I looked on the internet and found there have been numerous problems with the 2001 - 2003 Rav4's. This is a definite safety risk and Toyota should be made to do a recall to fix the ecm boards.

Several months ago my transmission began to slip and the check engine light came on. Subsequently as I drove the car, it began to lurch and I lost control of it several times. I took the car to Toyota dealer then and they could not identify the problem but suggested replacing the ecm unit as a "possible fix. " they suggested that perhaps the whole transmission needed to be replaced. I wanted a second opinion and took the car to a specialist. He could not find a problem either. After a search on the internet, I found that not only was this imminent problem well-documented, but Toyota dealers had been made aware of it in 2006! t when I took the car back to Toyota last week, they admitted that they had been informed, but could not repair the car free of charge as I have 180+k miles on it. Had Toyota notified me about the issue in 2006, I would have replaced the module then. Now the car is completely undrivable and cannot even be sold.

Either the ecu or the transmission is not working right. The automatic transmission can usually change between 1st and 2nd gear but it usually cannot change between 2nd and 3rd. The engine usually revs as the transmission slips. If we ease up on the accelerator or sometimes we to pump it a little, then the transmission changes gears. There have been a few occasions where the engine revs and the transmission catches on its own but this is causes the car to accelerate when we do not expect it to. This just started happening recently. We had noticed for the past few months that the transmission would change a little harder than normal, but not the car is not drivable due to safety reason.

2002 Toyota Rav4. The transmission slips from 1st to 2nd gear uncontrollably and causes a sudden surge in the vehicle that makes driving it not only dangerous but a liability to me. Toyota should be concerned with this, considering their recent problems with sudden acceleration and braking. The car was bought through a Toyota dealership, which makes it all the worse because of the fact that they knowingly passed this car through their inspection process and did not do a damn thing. Tell Toyota to fix this problem for the safety of millions of people on the road.

I have a 2002 Rav4 I purchased used in may 2010 for $9,000. A few days after purchasing it, the transmission started slipping. Almost had numerous accidents when needing to accelerate when pulling out into a busy road and the transmission failed to get out of 2nd gear into 3rd gear. Had the transmission replaced/rebuilt for $3,500, the ecm flashed for $265, 3 new oxygen sensors put in for $900. Now the car is still doing what it did even after all that money spent. Looking up on the web, found many owners had the same problem and almost all had to replace the ecm. I am now trying to get an appointment with a Toyota dealer to get this done. Very disappointed in Toyota.

2002 Toyota rav 4 transmission slips and jerks at odd times. Especially though, when trying to merge or pass in traffic.

When pulling into traffic transmission slipped and car stopped in middle of intersection.

I own a 2002 Toyota Rav4 which was bought new. It has 103k miles. In the first week of April, 2010, as I pulled out of my driveway to visit a friend, I noticed an abrupt occurrence of transmission slippage from 1st -2nd gears. There was a feeling of downshifting that evened off at 3rd gear. This happened every time the car was accelerated after a stop, going up a hill. There was a clunk sound when the care was put in reverse. I did not know what was happening since this came about overnight. No warning lights have ever come on, even now. My boyfriend said it sounded like the transmission. I took the car to Toyota dealership for diagnostics and was told that the transmission was failing and needed to be replaced for $5100. I am unemployed and there was no way I could come up with that amount of money. I am afraid to drive more than a few blocks, to my boyfriend's, as the car continues to have slippage. I can not accelerate fast enough after a stop, and other cars come bounding down on me, honking and switching lanes at the last minute. I took the car home, researched the internet, and found out about the numbers of complaints people have on this issue. Then I find out about tc002-06, in which consumers were not made privy to. This is deliberate consumer fraud, costing trusting consumers to pay for defects the manufacturer was aware of, but refusing to acknowledge or correct their defect. This seems to me, just as illegal as insider trading, knowing something, making a profit, and not telling how they know.

My vehicle began to have trouble the night before the incident. Traveling on the freeway I noticed rough shifting, a chug between 2nd and 3rd gear. I dismissed it until the next morning driving to work. That morning, loud clunk when I shifted to reverse, then in 1st gear there was slipping before it finally engaged. On the way to work the car would lurch ahead then stall in 1st 2nd and 3rd gear. Barely made it to parking at work. After work, on the day of the incident I ventured on the roads again trying to make my way to Toyota repair. I nearly stalled in the middle of at least 3 intersections and cars backed up behind me. I was leery about getting into the left hand turn lane. Finally off the road, the car crept into the repair shop. The dealer service center replaced the trans ecu (description below): 89661-42812 computer, engine con they returned the old part to me with this part number: 89661-42810 this old part was identified as being defective and a service bulletin was sent out to service centers, but not to consumers. I believe the old part is a safety hazard and could lead to more serious incidents than mine. Why aren't these defective parts being recalled?.

2002 Toyota Rav4 shifting erratically and slipping while driving. Began last month with only 39k miles on car. Brought to dealer and they replaced ecm under warranty but refused to also replace transmission which had been damaged due to faulty ecm. (see TSB number:00206 NHTSA number:10019667). Dealer returned vehicle. But transmission began to slip worse and worse each day right after. It was now extremely unsafe to drive. Within 1 week the car would not accelerate over 20mph. Multiple times we almost had accidents while pulling into traffic. Car returned to dealer for $300k+ repair of transmission. This is a known problem since at least 2006 and Toyota has failed to notify any customers. Hundreds have complained of the problem but many unsafe cars remain on the road today as a result. . Read more...

The transmission started slipping and there was a lack of acceleration after coming to a complete stop. Once the car would finally accelerate, it would bang into gear. The transmission issue is a know problem with the 2002 Toyota Rav4's and Toyota is refusing to do anything about it if the car has over 80,000 miles on it.

Yesterday, 2002 Toyota Rav4 transmission began to slip and hesitate jeopardizing passenger safety. I understand Toyota issued TSB 00206 but chose not to recall or otherwise inform customers. Further I understand replacement ecm is over $1,000 and a transmission rebuild may cost nearly $4,500. Toyota evidently is unwilling to correct or otherwise offer financial assistance to correct this dangerous defect.

In 2006 my transmission just disintergrated with 103000 miles, had it rebuilt the transmission shop said that the computer was not doing it's job than come to find out that Toyota had a TSB on it and never notified anyone. Now about in March of 2009 at about 145000 miles 2nd to 3rd gear started to slip again. Now so this is my second time I'm having this problem it seems I can't get more than 100,000. Sad these should last longer, at this rate $3500. 00 each four years, someone is making $$$$$. Thanks.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. While driving between 45-50 mph the transmission exhibited gear shifting failure. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. The technician concluded that the transmission had slipped gears,therefore the vehicle was repaired. After the repair the failure resurfaced. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and repaired. However none of the repairs have remedied the failures. The failure mileage was 82,000. The current mileage was 83,000.

I have a 2002 Rav4 and the transmission is slipping gears. The car stalls upon takeoff and it is very dangerous. I pulled out into traffic with my son in the car and the car wouldn't take off. We were almost hit in the side.

An investigation should be conducted into the transmission slippage problem of the Toyota Rav4 2002 and later models. Mine Rav4 had a problem with this issue and I reported to Toyota company about the issue, but no recall has taken. I had done some research and found out that many owners of this type of vehicles have had the same problem. As I have experienced, the slippage can create a very dangerous situation while traveling on the road. I strongly recommend the NHTSA to look into this problem as well.

About a month after having my 90,000 tune up at my local Toyota dealer, I noticed my transmission was slipping; from first to second and second to third. It started intermittently and then became more frequent to the point that I needed it to be inspected. On my way to the dealer my car stalled in the middle of an intersection; cars were honking and I was thankful no one rear-ended me since I was exiting off a ramp. At the dealer they said they could not duplicate my problem (don't know how they couldn't ;everyone driving in my car noticed!) and I drove it away without any problems for almost 2 weeks; the slipping started again. This time my check engine light came on. After taking it back for a second inspection they determined that my ecm needed to be replaced at a cost of $1,200. It has been almost 2 weeks and my car is working great after they replaced the ecm. What upsets me is the fact that Toyota knew there was an issue with the ecms. Back in 2006 I was notified by my dealership that my ecm needed to be reprogrammed. I had mine reprogrammed but it didn't help. I just hope that no one is injured as a result of these defective ecms.

The transmission started slipping so we decided to add some atf. That seemed to work for a day but the shifts became harder after that. At times the car would not accelerate properly and would bog down. We took the car to the dealership and they started giving us the runaround. They said the tranny needs fixing (the car was something like 500 miles out of the warranty), then they said that they will replace the computer to see if that fixes the problem. It didn't, since as we all know the original computer has already caused the transmission to break and the new one would not help. At this point I started researching the problem and found many more people with the same issue on the internet. I called Toyota to complain and they did not want to do anything even though: a) the car was just out of the warranty, b) they provided a TSB to the dealership which ignored it and did not do the update to the computer before the problem showed up, c) all maintenance work was done at the dealership. In the end we paid to get the transmission fixed out of pocket which was not cheap.

Transmission began slipping while accelerating from stop. There were hard shifts when changing from 1st to 2nd and to 3rd gears. The next morning, there seemed to be no problem. This is unsafe since one can not depend upon the transmission / engine control module when pulling out into traffic.

I purchased my used 2002 Toyota Rav4 on 12/10/05 from south coast Toyota of costa mesa. Shortly after purchasing it, I received some kind of "adjustment notice" asking me to bring the car in, which I did. I asked what they needed to do to the car, they would not directly answer my question and said it "was nothing, just a minor adjustment. " in September of 2008, shortly after my warranty had expired and my car was just over 83,000 miles, the transmission began slipping completely out of gear while I was driving it, and then it wouldn't shift into gear, and I would suddenly have no control over the car so I had to stop, and then try to get it in gear, or drive home in 1st. I had to drive from 1st gear or 4th. I was unable to drive it on the freeway to get to work, and had to stop driving it all together on the street. The dealer would not replace the transmission. The price he quoted me to "replace the transmission and ecu" was around $4,500. I was furious, as the reason I purchased Toyotas was because they drove 200,000 miles as long as you properly maintained them, which I always did. I went and had to pay $2,593. 00 at irvine transmission center in irvine, CA on 9/24/08. After replacing the transmission and test driving it, it was ready for pickup. When they got in the car to drive it up to me, suddenly the new transmission wouldn't shift. So, they researched the problem and told me the computer (ecu) apparently had to be replaced also, and they had discovered through online sites that Toyota was having problems with this vehicle. The dealer charged me $500 to replace the ecu. The dealer sold me a Rav4 they knew was having transmission and ecu failure. I wrote Toyota a complaint. I believe I should be reimbursed the money I am out, and this car should be recalled with the hundreds of complaints, if not thousands, that have been reported. I request you take action!.

I brought my rav brand new in 2002. Have had no problem with it up until a few a year ago when the engine light came on intermittent. Every time I was going to take the vehicle into get checked it would go out. When I arrived at my present duty station I was deployed almost immediately. Within two months of my deployment my wife told me that car was having a hard time moving and could hear the transmission slipping. She then took the vehicle to the mechanic and they told her that the transmission was broke and needed to be repaired. Only 52000 miles on the vehicle. The mechanic also told my wife that there could be a TSB out on the vehicle pertaining to the electronic control module, part that tells the transmission to shift gears, "ecm"and there was several that pertained the problem and what needed to be replaced. Being in italy she contacted the states rep for Toyota and was told that they couldn't locate our car because we bought it from a licensed dealer "american spec vehicle" from germany. She then contact the agency that is authorized to sell "american spec cars" and was informed that the vehicle fell under the warranty and that they "american Toyota" should pay for it based on an american TSB. Called Toyota again and nothing. When I came home, we took the vehicle to local dealership and because it was an american TSB they would consider the replacement. In the mean time they assured us that the vehicle was safe to drive and being our only vehicle my wife was forced to drive it. Toyota "rome" oked the replacement of the ecm, the actual fault of the vehicle but has refused to replace the transmission the result of the faulty part. Now the transmission is completely shot and looking on line thousands of american consumers are paying thousands of dollars out to replace a product that is the result of Toyota's engineering flaws. I personally feel that they are responsible the transmission and the replacement. Further investigation is requested.

Automatic transmission started thumping/jerking when shifting from park to drive or reverse, despite having foot on the brake. Within a month, the transmission started slipping and would not shift from first gear. Engine races at 4,000+ rmp and does not shift to other gears.

As I pulled out into traffic the transmission started slipping and my 2002 Toyota Rav4 hesitated and would shift into gear. I took it to Toyota on dixie highway, louisville, ky where I had purchased the vehicle and took it for every service. They put some type of fluid said that this may fix the problem. I went to get it and once again would not run. They then told me that it was probably the transmission and that I probably would not be back to see them. They quoted me a price of $4,000 to have the transmission fixed.

I was driving on the freeway when my transmission started slipping. I was in heavy traffic and was scared that I was going to lose my automatic transmission completely and be stuck on the road or rear-ended due to it hesitating badly between gears. It happened so quickly I was thrown off by what I should do but I did manage to make it home then I parked it until I could get it to a local repair shop.

Same transmission problem as everyone else. Transmission started to slip, stopped driving immediately and told the computer needed to be replace. Furious at the fact that this is not a recall. There is no maintenance which as the owner I failed to do. This is a safety issue and I have sold my Toyota with complete dissatisfaction at Toyota's lack of response to this. If I did not stop driving immediately I'm told I would have ruined the transmission and it would have cost $4,00 instead of the $1,600. Slipping gears while driving is a safety hazard. Does someone need to get hurt before Toyota does something?.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. When driving she experiences gear slippage in the transmission. This causes the vehicle to bounce and stall. The computer chip was replaced, but the failure has not been remedied. The failure mileage 75,000. The vehicle identification number was unavailable.

Toyota Rav4 my transmission slips and jerks. I was just at a light, and it didn't work properly. I almost got hit. I am now scared to drive it.