Toyota RAV4 is still on top

[Dave]

To all of you out there having problems with your RAV 4 transmissions; good luck getting help from Toyota. I am an ASE Master Certified tech. I overhauled this trans 2 months ago, and i've been researching ever since. I got het trans as a basket case in Feb.. After overhaul (nothing wrong with it except for a scorched direct clutch) we tried to get the dealer 1st to reset the ecm in an attempt to "relearn" the trans. They were happy to do it, at a cost of $90, and it only took 15 mins.(Toyota recommends this procedure anytime you even look sideways at the trans.) Lo and behold, no change!(Another big surprise) Back to diagnosis mode. Found some problems in Toyos pinout page. SL-1 & 2 are only showing 7 volts when it should be 10-12 volts. As Toyota does not provide the best testing info out there, we went to another dealer, armed with tsb# TC002R-06 and argued the point that if it is indeed a problem with a logic circuit (as was suggested to us) then a simple re-flash should restore function, not ECM replacement. Well we sure can try that, but that will cost you another $90. Gee, imagine that. This time it took several hours.(Try 2 days.) Still no joy. After researching more, we started to find more, and more, and more, people (victims) out there being held up by TOA. Can you say Class action? I don't even own this vehicle, and I want to sue them. Well, all I wanted to say is that you are not alone out there. If anyone is just now starting to enjoy this nightmare, I can only sugest that you have your mechanic,(we prefer technician by the way) look at the direct clutch, and replace the computer. I myself am sending the unit out for remanufacture and reflash (a lot less than dealer) and the direct clutch does not require trans removal.

[karen]

I have the same problem as all of you. I have a 2002 Rav4. Two weeks ago I started having problems getting it to go from a start. I took it to a mechanic and they said it was a transmission problem. I took to a transmission shop and they couldn't find anything wrong. A week later it suddenly was only drivable to a garage, the check engine light came on. The transmission is falling apart. The clutches are burnt, the gears are broken. Now I find out the check engine light came on because of the ECU. Now it goes to the dealer for that. Of course, I'm 3000 miles over the warranty. The computer burnt up the transmission without any warning, it's Toyota's fault and I have to pay $4000 to have it fixed. The mechanic and the transmission mechanic were stunned when I took it in. They never seen a Toyota needing a transmission unless it was the owners error, like getting stuck. Toyota is supposed to make the best transmission. I bought a Toyota to keep for 200,000 miles. Never again.

[Nebraska]

I am having the same problem with my 2003 Rav 4. I bought my car, used, in Dec 2005. I am still making payments on my Toyota and will have to pay out 5,000.00 for the ECU and transmission. I bought the Rav because I had heard so many good things about Toyota cars. I honestly feel that a class action should be pursuit. I wounder how many more people cannot aford to get their car fixed.

[jess]

Just an update....the ECU replacement fixed my problem. I did not have to replace my transmission....caught the problem early enough.
It's only been a week, but so far so good.

[camry junk]

Just GOOGLE 07 camry transmission problems
You will see what toyota is up to now!!
Same as oil sludge problem will not do anything unless made to.

[Princess]

David wrote:

Addendum to my previous comments of a few minutes ago regarding 2002 Rav4 with 40,000 miles --- I just spoke with my friend, the owner, and she asked me to add this info --- the fact that the Toyota dealer implied to her that if she had come to the dealership for regular service (instead of her favorite garage) then they would be more likely to help her under a "goodwill warranty". This is also very ridiculous and implies some less than forthright business practice --- it appears spending over $22,000 for the car is not sufficient loyalty - unbelievable.

I also have an '02 Rav4, with only 63K miles on it. It has had regular maintenance (oil chngs ever 4000-5000 miles, brakes changed 2x, air filters changed, etc.) Car just started having 'lag' problems, which I thought was bad gas. Added dry gas and seemed to remedy the problem, but a few days later, same issue. From a dead stop, car would not accelerate right away, felt like the gear wasn't shifting. Almost like it wanted to stall, but if I kept on the gas, it would eventually buck and shudder, then the gear would catch and it would drive normally until the next stop.

[Princess]

Had my truck towed to Dealership where I was told
that I had both a ECM (Engine Control Module) problem $1,600 and a Transmission problem $4,000. They said that Toyota would be responsible for the computer fix, but I had to pay for the transmission because I had not maintained my transmission properly.

Following a coworker's suggestion, I called the "Zone" office/Regional office and spoke with a young lady there who was sorry to hear of my problem and would get my concerns to someone in the Zone office. She said I should hear back from Toyota within 3 days. Today is the 3rd day and I have not heard from a live person; although I did receive a vm on my cell phone, letting me know that Toyota was offering some kind of substantial discount if their customers wanted to trade in their current vehicles to purchase a new vehicle.

I'm still waiting to hear from them.

[Somewhat lucky guy]

I have the same problem as all of you. Cost me a tranny rebuild, however we were able to convince the dealer to cover the cost of the ECU module, even though we were over the warranty by 4k. Seems in some dealer circles, you might be able to get your vehicle repaired under the the extended policy as long as you haven't exceeded it by more than 10%.

One other thing. Saw this on another website (can't recall which one). Seems woman is starting a class action suit against Toyota regarding our problem. She provided her email address as with all class action suits, the more the merrier. Right now about 30 people or so have joined the fignt. She responded right away and said she's approached the law firm that was involved in engine sludge lawsuit, and the if you are interested, please email her at: [e-mail]

Good luck all.

[Lorri]

I have a 2001 RAV4 2wd automatic. I've had intermittent misbehavior of my transmission since January 08. The dealer had just done the 120K service in October. They wanted to replace the transmission for $3300+. I took it to another mechanic who didn't know either, but wanted to also replace the transmission for $3300+. I took it to a transmission specialist who after driving it was convinced it was a computer malfunction, so we replaced the computer this week ($1400) and now it appears to run just fine. I'm glad I didn't replace the transmission only to discover it wasn't the real problem. If there is some kind of class action suit, I would love to get on board. I'm at 135K miles.

[Melinda]

Pissed Off Customer wrote:

I have an 02 Rav 4, that has been well maintained over the years and the engine just blew a rod at only 85,000 miles. Toyota is wanting to charge me $6900 to repair their engine because it is outside of the 60,000 mile warranty. It looks like Toyota only stands behind their products for the first 5 years. They told me it takes thousands of complaints for it to be worth their time to investigate, is it supposed to make me feel better that my case has been documented? I learned my lesson, don't buy a Toyota unless you plan on replacing it every few years.

I have a 2001 Rav 4, 79,000 miles and I need a new engine installed. It was driving perfectly until "one day" it started jerking. Did not drive it for 2 days, until I was able to get it into the shop. Turns out, the Engine Control Sensor went out, and caused it to over heat (gauge never moved past the middle line), and caused the engine to "vapor lock" the pistons...Quite irritated I am.

[camry junk]

toyota = engine sludge, hesitating,jerking, cannot use cruise, paint falling off,cd eating,poor radio recpt,rusting POS!!!

[Ken from Az]

I bought my Toyota Rav Brand new, Babied it like no other. I planned on keeping it for well over 200k miles. At 106k it began the slipping, hesitating, jerking thing with the tranny. At that time I got on the net and did some investigations and found out literally 100s of complaints about this very problem with the ECM and Tranny. I took it in to the dealer with the thought of trying to have it fixed because I caught it early and was hit in the face with a 5800 dollar fix if I wanted to keep it. At that point I drove it home, took it in and traded it on a brand new unlimited warranty American vehicle. I felt lucky to get 5500 for it.

As far as Im concerned I will never buy another "New" Toyota again. Unfortunately Japan is not as Honorable as we think they are, it's all about the money.

[Alica from PA]

I have the same problem with my 2003 Rav4. Took my car to the dealer and told them about the hesitation. The first time they looked at it they told me they could not duplicate the problem. I told them to take a look at the transmission and they came back still with a negative don't see an issue and the transmission looks fine. I asked them to change the fluid in it just in case and they did so. When I got the car back it still had the same problem. I thought to myself they are a lying sack of crap for saying they couldn't duplicate the problem. I drove my car instead to a toyota dealer shop who has done good service for me in the past. I was armed this time with the research about the ECM etc and sure enough they came back and told me that an error did appear and the error that appeared calls for a replacement of the ECM. On top of that if the ECM replacement does not fix the problem then the transmission would need to be rebuilt etc. as everyone has already stated. so your talking 1300 plus 3000, roughly 4300 dollars. This is a disgrace. I bought a toyota so I would not go through this crap.

so my car has 86000 miles on and is now outside the fed warranty 96 month 80000 mile blah blah. BTW, Toyota has been very underhanded bout this whole thing. I called Toyota national service and told them I think there was a recall notice on my vehicle from December 2006 called the "Check Engine" Light Special Service Campaign(Recall)On 220,000 Toyota Highlander and RAV4's. They must have been pulling names out of a hat on who would get the notice. Apparently my name wasn't picked b/c when you provide them with your vin number they can trace whether a notice was sent to you or not. I am spittin mad about this. I have thought about starting a youtube video or something there are hundreds complaints out there about the problem that Toyota is trying to cover up. It is fraudulent. I'm thinking of going back to dealer and seeing if I can strike a deal by arguing that they didn't diagnose the problem when i brought it to them initially when it was within the warranty. We'll see. I am also going to contact a woman who said she wants to start
a class action at [e-mail]. Not sure how far she is getting but I will repost with I find out.

[Carl]

kevin m earley wrote:

we have a 02 rav4 with 80,000 miles on it and the transmission is slipping. toyota said they will not cover it.a parts manager at a local toyota dealer told me that there was an inherant problem with a spacer in these transmissions.

Had and 03 RAV4 that thing was great when I first had it. But I had to get a new transmission. I called Toyota it felt like I was pushed back down to the dealer who didn't care about me because I just moved to the area and didn't buy it or service it with them. Thanks to my selling dealer they sent me some reimbursement to get it done but even more thanks to Toyota for making me get rid of my first purchased vehicle after 50,000 miles.

[Jose]

I just found out that my 2002 Rav4 is doing the same thing. The check engine light stated to come on in Dec 2006. The light went out and the car was driving fine with 69000 miles. Now at 97000 miles the transmission is not working properly.
Today I called the Toyota 1-800-331-4331. The representative told me that the car had a call in to fix the check light fo free, just bring the car in to the dealer.
I will go on Monday to see. I will never buy another Toyota if they do not solve this expensive fault.

[Marie]

Guess what!! I'm having the same problem as everybody else. I've taken care of my 2001 TOYOTA RAV4 and was looking for recall problems. Found none!, but I've found all of you. Engine light goes on, the transmission is now gone!! How long does Toyota plan on doing this. On a disability check, I'm so limited as to what I'm going to do. The Rav 4 only has 68,000 miles. TRANSMISSION IS GONE!!!

[claudy Assalit]

i have a 2001 rav 4 and i am experiencing problem shifting . I was not aware that there were a defect but after reading all the complaints i believe we should think about an class action suit , can somebody give me an idea how to go about it . there is enough of us to make an impact , Toyota wanted to charge me $ 1600.00 for a new computer and may be a transmission for $ 4300.00 . i believe we need to fight back , who is willing to take a chance , let me know

[claudy Assalit]

I bought a Rav 4 in 2001 and i am experiencing problem with hard shifting , Toyota wants to change the computer for 1600.00 dollars and may be the transmission fo 4300.00 dollars . I just became aware there is a defect in RAV 4 2001 to 2005 so i believe we need to talk about a class action suit , let me know what you think , thanks claudy

[Joint]

Marie wrote:

Guess what!! I'm having the same problem as everybody else. I've taken care of my 2001 TOYOTA RAV4 and was looking for recall problems. Found none!, but I've found all of you. Engine light goes on, the transmission is now gone!! How long does Toyota plan on doing this. On a disability check, I'm so limited as to what I'm going to do. The Rav 4 only has 68,000 miles. TRANSMISSION IS GONE!!!

It is not necessary that transmission is gone. In most cases it is the only computer at fault. I have heard this problem can be repaired even without replacement of the computer. I saw once a post somewhere on another forum but could not found a link.

[Gordon]

We're having exactly the same problem with our RAV4 (2001). After our mechanic rebuilt the tranny, the same problems emerged (slipping,erratic shifting, etc.). Then he learned about Toyo's technical service bulletin about the ECM. We've contacted the dealership. Since we're under the 7 yr. period, but over the 80k miles (87k), they refuse to help in any way. They said my mechanic was lying and that all of these posts are lies. NO MORE TOYOTAS FOR US!!!