Transmission Slip Out Of Gear problems of the 2002 Toyota RAV4

I was climbing a steep hill when my Toyota Rav4 just seemed to jump out of gear. I had to undertake special measures to turn around without engine power and coast down the hill. It was towed to a Toyota dealer who told me the ecu had damaged the transmission. They advised me it was out of warranty and would cost $4500 to repair. I had it towed back home. I since found that many are experiencing this problem with the Toyota Rav4. Someone needs to make Toyota accountable for this obvious defect. So much for being a loyal Toyota customer. Help! please. Its parked in my driveway.

Transmission has failed on my 2002 Rav4. 2 mechanics and 1 transmission specialist state that it needs to be completely overhauled and ecm is bad also. Car will not shift out of 2nd gear and hesitates.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Rav4. The contact noticed that the transmission would repeatedly slip out of gear without warning. He took the vehicle to the dealer and they stated that the on-board computer needed to be replaced because it was defective. They further stated that the failure was common with his year, make, and model vehicle. Immediately after the repair, the failure resurfaced and the engine warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. He took the vehicle back to the dealer and they stated that they would have to replace the transmission because the on-board computer mechanically failed. As a result, the transmission failed and would cost $4,000 to replace. The vehicle has not been repaired. The manufacturer did not assist. The failure and current mileages were 126,605. Updated 6/8/09 updated 06/11/09.

Our Rav4 began to have problems shifting, and the check engine light was on. Took to local dealer. First visit resulted in tune-up items. Dealership treated it as an engine-related problem. Check engine came back on again the same afternoon. On second visit, dealership kept car overnight to drive it while it was cold. We were told that we had a bad catalytic converter, and that this would have to be replaced before any further diagnosis could occur. The cc was only three years old, already having been replaced under warranty. They had already reprogrammed the ecm. Per a Toyota service campaign. After the cc replacement, car is still not shifting properly, and is getting worse. Dealership advised us that we need an ecm replacement, at a cost of $1300. After the fact, we found Toyota TSB tc002-06, which describes the exact issues our Rav4 is having. Toyota admits in the TSB that the ecm of the '01 through '03 Rav4's can cause the harsh shifting that we are seeing, and that Toyota made changes to the "manufacturing process to reduce the possibility of this condition occurring". The recommendation is the replacement of the ecm. It cannot be reprogrammed to eliminate this problem. The result of this ecm failure is that the car is no longer drivable, as the transmission does not shift properly at all, and it constantly looses tension on its clutch pack, resulting in loss of power to the road. The condition gets worse over a short time. In only two weeks, the car will not stay in any single gear when driving. A search of this issue on the internet found many other people having the same problem. Often, the ecm failure causes physical transmission failure. The dealership will not stand behind their faulty diagnosis, nor will they make Toyota honor the warranty, which is 80,000 miles or 8 years. We are under the years, but over by 8,000 miles. How can this not be treated as a safety issue? is it not serious enough when your car slips out of gear in traffic unexpectedly?.

Car began to slip out of second gear to first gear during acceleration. I took the car to a Toyota dealership and they told me that the engine control module (ecm) was inoperative and that the transmission was damaged as a result. I was told that the extent of the damage to the transmission could not be determined until a new ecm was installed at a cost of $1500 but that the cost of the transmission could be between $3,000 to $5,500. I was informed by the dealer that the parts are out of warranty.