Cruise Control problems of the 2008 Toyota RAV4

The onboard computer (ecm) program is defective in the 2008 Rav4, and probably other years and models, causing owners to unnecessarily bring cars in and pay for unneeded service. When I started the car to begin an interstate drive, 3 fault indicators (check engine,vehicle stability control, 4 wheel drive) illuminated. Following owners manual, my wife called the nearest Toyota dealer who told her to bring the vehicle to a Toyota dealer immediately, and to drive cautiously, to allow additional room when following other vehicles, and not to attempt sudden stops. Another fault indicator (cruise control would not engage) presented itself enroute. The service technician said the reason for all 4 fault indications was the #6 cylinder misfired 1 time a few seconds after I started the vehicle. He said the ecm is programmed to give these 4 fault indications for a cylinder misfire, but he did not know why. He said that he could find no reason for the single misfire, but that he found and tightened a slightly loose air intake hose that could not possibly have caused the misfire. He told me that it would have been fine for me to make my interstate drive without coming to the dealership. I believe that the onboard computer programming that provided these 4 fault indications is defective for the following reasons. 1. A single cylinder misfire is unrelated to and has no effect upon the three systems pointed to by the fault indications (vehicle stability control, 4 wheel drive, cruise control) 2. A single cylinder misfire at startup is not an emergency situation requiring immediate service at a Toyota dealership with extraordinarily cautious driving enroute. 3. During the 1 hour drive to the dealership the cylinders of the vehicle fired successfully around 360,000 times, and the programming did not recognize this faultless operation and automatically clear the fault indicators.

I was crossing a parking lot and pulling out into a street. I stopped then pulled forward, so I could see if any cars were approaching. A car was approaching so I pressed the brakes, then the car surged forward. It felt like when the cruise control accelerates. Because a crash was imminent, I decided my best chance was to move my foot to the gas petal and speed up. I drove the car straight and then to the left. The other driver laid on his horn, slowed down and drove on. I purchased this car in early November 2011 from fred anderson Toyota. It appears to never have been wrecked. It had around 23,300 miles on it at time of purchase. That night of 02/21, I checked consumer reports online and found that there had been a recall on 2008 Toyota Rav4. The next morning, I removed the floor mat from the driver's side floor. It did not appear to have been moved before. There are 2 holes at the back of the mat and one of the holes had a black rubber hook device holding it to the floor. The other hole (back right side) did not have a hook. When I entered the VIN on the Toyota website, it showed a repair order for a car with 30,599 miles on 11/08/2012. My car still does not have that many miles. I don't think a repair has been done on my car. My notes show that I bought the car on 11/05/2011.

My 2008 Toyota Rav4 cruise control fails to hold speed during up hill climb and causes engine surges.

I am the owner of a 2008 Rav4. I was traveling with cruise control at 50 mph as I approached a down grade toward a traffic light I manually took the car out of cruise control expecting to slow some. I realized that I needed to slow more and applied the brake pedal. However, I could feel the car fighting the brakes. I put the car into neutral and was able to stop for the lights. When I did this the engine was racing while stopped. When the light changed I put the racing engine into drive. I jerked forward and has been ok since. I reported this to the dealer. I was told that another owner of the same year and model reported a similar event that day. This is different than the runaway cars reported in the news, as the car did not accelerate to max speed. Toyota seems not to be responding to cars made before 2009. I think this is a computer problem where the cruise control did not turn off and the stepping on the brakes did not take it out of cruise control either. On Feb 19 I reported this to the Toyota dealer and was told that another person had reported this same type of thing that same day. They look for error codes but found none.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota rav 4. Occasionally after brake application, the cruise control switch will not disengage. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealership. The current and failure mileages were 38000.

Date is approximate, but this has happened numerous times, not always under the same conditions. It has happened after being driven in light rain & heavy rain & after vehicle being parked & restarted all of the lights would be illuminated. Initially while driving in moderate rain multiple vehicle warning lights illuminated, cruise control failed on freeway @ set speed of approx 60mph due to rainfall. While continuing to function the vehicle started to feel like it was rolling on marbles & the feel is a little unnerving, but you are able to maintain control of the vehicle. Diagnostics reveal multiple codes, but once reset all lights are out & the vehicle drives normally again until driven in rainy conditions. Independent garage said to take it to Toyota when the rain induced the warning lights again & I'm headed to a Toyota dealer this morning after a light rain on Saturday morning all lights illuminated again & the cruise will no longer engage. Don't know if this has been reported by any other rav 4 owners, but independent garage so far has said "we can't find a failure just a lot of codes & once we clear the codes it is okay. " if I understand the premise of the warning lights they are there to indicate something requires attention - so my faith in "there's nothing wrong or we can't find anything" is a little shaken. I spoke with Toyota & they deny that this has ever been reported by any rav 4 owners & I would have to bring it to them when the failure & warning lights come on - they will see them this morning. Thank you for your time.

Hello, on Jun 26, 2009 my wife and I purchase a certified Toyota Rav4. We have had nothing but problems. Electrical problems: abs light, brake, and egf light remain lite. Repairs are: brake switch replacement, igy relay replacment. In addition the cruise control would not function and sometimes the transmission would be stuck in reverse. Unable to shift out of this gear position. A local mechanic found the problem in that the connections in the wiring harness are filled with water. He was unable to determine how the water got there. A few days later, the same problem returned. . I am writing to share with you my concern of the electronic problems with the 2008 Rav4 from Toyota. Town Toyota service manager, wenatchee, wa told us not to worry aboutit as it is still safe to drivewith abs, brake, and egf lights illuminated. I did contact Toyota (via emai) but no response. I question the validity of that statement in light of recent recall news and thought you should know.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Rav4. While driving 5 mph in reverse up a hill the vehicle began to idle excessively and the rpms increased between 1,500 to 2,000. When the cruise control was activated, the over drive engaged without warning or assistance. She took the vehicle to the dealer for the failures several times. The dealer was able to recreate the failure. The dealer told her not to use the cruise control and that whenever she drove in reverse, the normal rpm should be between 700 and 900. The dealer also stated that since there was no software created to correct the failure they were unable to repair the vehicle. The failure mileage was 943 and the current mileage was 24,000.