general problems of the 2003 Toyota RAV4 - part 1

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 mph, or at any speed, the vehicle would slip out of what ever gear it was in. The contact stated he would depress the accelerator and the vehicle would only rev and then it would jolt into gear. The contact stated that the check engine warning illuminated. The contact had driven the vehicle to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the electronic control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

The vehicle is very delayed shifting and will slow down without pushing the breaks.

I drive and the sleep while I'm driving and the can not change correctly the gear.

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Rav4. On several occasions, while driving, the vehicle failed to shift into gear correctly. The contact stated that the vehicle occasionally failed to shift into third gear. The rpms would rev; however, the vehicle would lose forward momentum. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was not available.

My transmission started raving up and shifting all crazy and taken to scan to show a shift selinoid b took to tranny shop who says it's computer and see several post about this happening to others. I am a grandma and I can't even drive him around don't feel safe. It was driving during this time in the city streets.

I just bought a one owner used 2003 rava4 with only 58,000 miles on it right before christmas. I have driven it for almost 4months now and about 6 weeks ago it started shifting hard going into 2nd gear, sometimes it jumps/bounces. I looked it up and am seeing that alot of people have had the some problem and they are saying it's the emc. Wondering if anyone was able to get any help at all out Toyota. I do not know if the previous owner's where ever made aware of the situation & have no way to contact them. Think it's pretty crazy to have to pay a bunch of money when there is such low milage would think Toyota would fix it.

Long story short, bought the car "as is" from a Toyota dealership in October 2017, did not know of the transmission/ecm problem until November 2017 (yes that fast). Got a diagnostic test, the code said the transmission needed to be replaced. We are now in January 2018, I got the transmission replaced for 2,714 right? okay, today January 16th 2018, I picked up my car, drove it around, brought it right back within 45 minutes. My car was still doing a hard shift. I got in the car with the mechanic to drive up the highway, he felt the shift immediately and informed me he was the one that put the part in. Okay, at this point we had to leave because all the managers were in a meeting. I get a call around 3:30pm saying that the ecm is not a problem and they quoted me a price! I just spent 5,000 so far buying the car and 2,700 dollars to fix the car. She told me that an ecm would cost from 1,500 dollars to 2,000 to replace, are you serious right now? of course the warranty that Toyota "extended" is no longer in affect, so all of this money has to come out of pocket. To say I haven't had my car or driven my car for long at all I have experienced a nightmare. I am a senior in college now, I only bought this car because my other vehicle was totaled by a driver who ran a stop sign and state farm awarded me only 2,800 for my previous car. This is a nightmare, no one but god will help you in the end this is sad and ridiculous. It's not right to get over on people in this way.

March the vehicle started jerking and was no pulling out correctly at stop sign and red lights. The transmission wouldn't down shift so you were trying to pull out in 3rd or 4th gear. It felt like you were pulling a house. I was pulling out onto a highway and the vehicle would hardly go. . . It caused three vehicles to bow up and stop in the middle of the highway because my vehicle was out in the roadway moving at less than 1 mile per hour. I never pulled out on to the highway after that. I always pull out onto the should of the road in case the vehicle done that again. So the transmission was rebuilt March 2017. After about 36 miles was driven on it started acting up again. I puled out fine on the shoulder of the highway as eased over into the south bound lane when the vehicle changed to first it felt like someone hit me in the rear-end of the vehicle. I looked to make surer. Then it switched to 2nd gear and jerked me do hard that I pulled over turning the vehicle off and having it towed to the transmission shop. So, back to get the transmission looked at I have a one year warranty on the transmission. They took it apart and looked at it again. They said there wasn't anything wrong with the transmission it was the ec module. So it stayed parked until I could save some money to get that fixed. Took it to Toyota June 7th 2017 they replaced the ec module and I took it home the following Wednesday. It drove fine all the way home. The next day it started doing the exact same thing again. So I took it back to the Toyota dealership that repaired the ec module. No they tell me that the transmission is bad and I need a new one. $2958. 00 plus tax. Toyota corporation will not help you out on the fix. Due to the recall being 10 years or 150,000 mile. My vehicle was a low mileage vehicle with 105,894 on it and I miss the recall because of the mileage.

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.

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Rav4. While driving 40 mph, the vehicle hard shifted and would not accelerate. The vehicle was diagnosed as needing a new transmission. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 119,000.

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).

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving at 50 mph, the vehicle began to experience a harsh shift while the vehicle began to reduce in speed. The contact stated that a burning odor was present. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the automatic transaxle failed and the transmission would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 158,000.

The transmission acted up. It would work well, then it was like if it was in the wrong gear.

Had this car for only 10 months (my daughter worked 2 jobs to buy it) and it started clunking when it was put into reverse and then not shifting properly while driving. Took it in and it was the computer, and it would be minimum of $1000 to fix it. It has 170,000 miles which for a Toyota is not a lot. Can't believe this was never a recall and it is now past the warrenty. I love my Toyotas but this is not ok that they won't own up and pay to fix it!!!!.

Ecm failed causing harsh shift transmission problem while driving in lower gears.

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.

My Toyota 2003 rav 4 began having transmiision shifting problems. At times when in motion this vehicle would not continue driving for a few seconds. It also happened on the highway and put us in a very scary and dangerous situation. I took it to my mechanic. He researched and diagnosed the situation. After running a diagnostic, he found error code po750. He had to replace the engine control module which controlled the transmission. . He also found bulletins sent out by Toyota that this was an issue, but no recalls were found. I had to pay $2091. 63 to fix this problem. I have the receipt.

Tl- the contact owns a 2003 Toyota rav 4. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the vehicle would hesitate to accelerate and the check engine light had illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission/transaxle had experianced a harsh shift failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 95,225. Jft.

My vehicle began to "buck" and then shortly thereafter the check engine light came on. I initially took it to the closest mechanic and was told I needed a new transmission and that they couldn't replace it. Told them to take it to krause Toyota. Was then told by krause it needed a new ecm but they were too busy and couldn't look at the vehicle for 2 weeks since I wasn't a "regular" customer. I then took the car to bennett Toyota - class outfit. They replaced the ecm immediately - which wasn't cheap. Cost me $1200. I have since heard that there was a recall on the ecm on my year Rav4 which I wasn't ever notified of. I feel Toyota should pick up this tab. I have low mileage for a 2003 car, and have always maintained it properly.

The transmission started shifting erratically at times. After doing some checking online, I discovered that Toyota had put faulty ecm's in some rav 4s. The ecm controls the shifting of the transmission. You have to replace the ecm & the transmission if its damaged at a cost of $4,000. 00 or more. Toyota knew about this & extended the warranties on these vehicles 10 years. Unfortunatley we didn't buy the vehicle until after the warranty time period had passed & this vehicle was never repaired. I called Toyota to see if they would still stand behind it but they would not. Now I have to pay for their faulty junk. Don't think I'll be buying another Toyota again.

Bought car used and didn't notice the shift problem til later. Shifts hard from 2 to 3rd gear. Many people have issue with this mostly being the ecm going bad then destroying the transmission. Both are expensive fixes and both are dangerous leading to accidents.

The car was shifting very harshly and with a very strong shaking like a shimmy. I called the Toyota dealers repair shop and it was decided to have the car towed in for repairs rather than continue driving. The technician said I needed a new transmission ecu and possible a new transmission. Ecu cost $1300. 00 and transmission, if needed, is $4,000. 00. No one told me that Toyota paid to have these fixed by extending the warranty several years ago in California. That warranty has now elapsed yet my car has less than 60,000 miles on it.

Experiencing abnormal behavior when shifting gears (auto trans). Transmission was shifting oddly - harsh shift condition . It was not a frequent problem and no engine light and I took it to the local mechanic and he connected to his computer and could not find any error codes. The problem happens every time I move from a stop. Found out that Toyota put out a technical service bulletin in early 2006 after defects started surfacing stating to replace the car's computer ecm/ecu and possibly the transmission. . The company did not inform owners about this defect which is now surfacing and did not recall due to cost of replacing the ecu and transmission it destroys. The defective ecu burns up the clutch and other parts in the transmission.

Last week, on the freeway entrance the car would not accelerate, then "bucked" and "raced". I nearly got rear-ended by the car behind me - a frightening experience. Then, driving city streets - to the mechanic - the same experience - stalled then raced ahead. After replacing the transmission fluid and filter ($400), the problem continues and the mechanic advised replacing the ecm ($928. 46 plus labor). This is a serious financial strain on me. I take my car in for service every 5k miles and it is way below the extended warranty mileage of 150k, however, it is now 11 years old. I never, ever, received any recall notice from Toyota! I strongly believe that Toyota should reimburse me for these repairs since they have been and are well aware of the safety issue the failed ecm causes.

Tl-the contact owns a 2003 Toyota rav 4. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 25 mph the vehicle would not shift from second to third gear and jerked. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and was diagnosed as the vehicle needing a transmission. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 98,000. Rwk.

This letter is in reference to an issue, namely, harsh shift condition, on our 2003 Toyota Rav4, the vehicle presently shows approximately 119, 600 miles. According to Toyota warranty policy bulletin no. Pol 10-03, dated 07/09/10, page 1, ¿Toyota has received reports that certain 2001 through 2003 model year Rav4 vehicles equipped with an automatic transaxle may exhibit a harsh shift condition ¦ if this condition occurs, the check engine light may illuminate and/or the vehicle may begin to shift harshly. This warranty is being offered for 10 years or 150,000 miles ¦ please verify VIN applicability for this csp by performing a VIN inquiry before completing the repair. ¿� on page 2 we checked the applicable VIN ranges and observed that our vehicle was included in this customer support program (csp). Our respectful request is that Toyota honor the warranty enhancement for our Rav4. Based on a telephone call to Toyota motor sales custumer experience center in torrance CA, the company rep. Said Toyota would not honor the extended warranty. I believe that the part (ecm) was defective and should be replaced under extended warranty because the vehicle is under 150,00 miles but just over the ten year limit. Thank you.

I'm the owner of a 2003 Rav4, purchased from a Toyota dealer in 2011. Last week, I experienced a time lapse of my car shifting into first gear, in my opinion, a safety hazard. This morning I took the car to a mechanic and began searching the web for any recalls for a 2003 Rav4, there are none. However, on this site, I discovered that I am one of many who have this complaint, and that we ,the consumer, all share the same results from Toyota. You missed the deadline. It was on this NHTSA. . Read more...

I purchased a 2003 Toyota Rav4 from the Toyota dealership that only had 13 miles on it in August 2003. In August of 2014, I started having trouble with the automatic transmission shifting harsh when changing. The car would strain to change gears, then all of a sudden it would jerk into gear. No lights came on at all. I took it to the Toyota dealership to have the problem inspected and they told me about an extended warranty of 10 years or 150,000 miles. This was the first that I had heard about this warranty. Toyota never contacted me to let me know about the warranty. After inspecting my Rav4, they told me that I needed to replace the ecm and if that didn't solve the problem, I would need a transmission. I feel like Toyota should have informed me of the problem sooner. (before all that time had gone by. ) I was very disappointed with the outcome. I see from this website that I am not the only one with this same problem and feel that Toyota should be held responsible for the repair.

Harsh shifting; automatic shifting erratic; lurching, especially when starting from stop. Local garage says transmission is shot and requires replacement ($3100).

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Rav4. While driving at 30 mph, the vehicle hesitated when depressing the accelerator pedal and the check engine warning light illuminated. The failure occurred multiple times . The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was advised that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the ecm needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,000.

Vehicle driven by elderly widowed mother (josephine beasley, age 70) no more than 6,200 miles per year and began experiencing harsh shift in transmission in March 2014. Aamco informed us that a malfunctioning electronic computer module (ecm) caused the damage to transmission. . Read more...

My 2003 Rav4 developed a very harsh shift taking off between first and 2nd gear. I took it to our local Toyota dealer (berglund oak ridge Toyota> lynchburg, va) and they confirmed a diagnosed stored trouble code p0755-shift "b" malfunction. They quoted about $4700. 00 to replace the ecm and put in a rebuilt transmission. No financial help from the dealer, even though they were aware this has been a major problem for the 2001-2003 Rav4's. Toyota extended the warranty a few years ago to 10 years or 150,000 miles, which ever came first. I purchased the vehicle less than a year ago, not aware that this was a documented and expected problem with this vehicle. The dealer suggested I contact customer experience at 1-800-331-4331 and ask them to consider covering all or part of the cost. The vehicle has a value of $7500. 00 per kbb. I called and got case # 1403130959. I spoke to rashine . It took a few days but they got back to me and said because it exceeded the 10 year window (2003-2013) they would not cover any of the costs. I pleaded that I have well under the 150,000 mile mark and that they readily say 80% of all Toyota's are on the road for 20 years. This has another 10 years to go. They know this is and has been a factory design fault per all the recorded problems. I don't feel I should have to pay $4700. 00 in repairs for their design failure. In their 1. 2 billion $ recent settlement,they said" putting customers first", "want to earn our trust", "serve customers" "take responsibilities seriously". Wow, what a lie and let down. How can they get away with this? it has happened to countless 1000's of people. Toyota should be required to make this a recall and fix for 0$. This car is unsafe to drive as is and will stall in traffic and cause accidents. Thank you for listening. Please help me and hold Toyota responsible for a terrible design flaw.

I was stopped at a red light for several minutes and upon acceleration my vehicle was extremely sluggish. After a few seconds it seemed to "jump" into gear. I also noticed that when I was slowing down it would almost do the same thing, being sluggish. Fortunately there were no accidents involving my vehicle, but I took it to Toyota and they said the computer needed to be replaced. I was not aware of any recall of the vehicle until I looked online and saw several thousand of them had been recalled.

My 2003 Toyota Rav4 had a faulty ecm affecting the transmission and had to be replaced. This was causing the transmission to shift very erratically and could have caused an accident/injury. Toyota knew about this faulty part and there was not a public recall; they replaced parts as they failed and extended that warranty because of a class action lawsuit. Now the warranty is 10 yrs/150,000. So I am outside of the warranty by maybe a year and not even close to the mileage. I contacted Toyota to inform them that my ecm had failed hoping they would at least apologize (reimbursement would be welcome too) but the lady I talked to said there was no recall related to my VIN number, which I know to be a lie! Toyota put out a faulty part and must be made to replace any that fail no matter the mileage or length of time! this faulty part has also damaged some transmissions and they must be made to replace/reimburse for those as well. My ecm has been replaced and I am not sure but am afraid I am one of the ones with a damaged transmission. Please help!.

The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to respond when the accelerator pedal was engaged and the vehicle stalled intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the ecm failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.