2001 Toyota RAV4

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS ON AN ICY AND SNOW COVERED ROAD, THE TRANSMISSION SLIPPED GEARS WITHOUT ANY WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS. THE TECHNICIAN INFORMED THAT THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE WAS FAULTY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 95,000.

CAR HAD NO SPARK WHEN CRANKING, MY MECHANIC CHECKED AND TRACED THE PROBLEM TO THE CAR'S MAIN ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION COMPUTER (ECM), I ORDERED A USED ECM FOR THE SAME VEHICLE, CAR STARTED BUT TRANSMISSION WAS SHIFTING WAS VERY ABNORMAL, SHIFTING WAS HARSH MAKING A LOUD THUMP WHEN PUT INTO DRIVE OR REVERSE AND STARTING OFF ON THIRD GEAR. THE DAMAGE ON THE TRANSMISSION WAS ALREADY DONE SO I WENT AND ORDERED A TRANSMISSION AND A NEW ECM SINCE I FOUND OUT THAT ALL ECM'S HAD BEEN UPDATED DUE TO ALL ECM'S BEING DAMAGED FROM FACTORY. A LAWSUIT TOOK PLACE BACK 2012 IN THE CASE THAT WAS ENTITLED MILLIGAN V. TOYOTA MOTOR SALES U.S.A IN WHICH TOYOTA ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE PROBLEM EXISTED TOYOTA HAS EVER SINCE EXTENDED THEIR WARRANTY TO 170,000 MILES, EVEN WHEN THEY KNOW THE PROBLEM IS THERE THEY STILL WON'T RECALL THESE VEHICLES FOR PROPER REPAIRS. *TR

TRAVELING AT 30 MPH OR LESS THE VEHICLE WILL STUMBLE. THIS IS A ROAD HAZARD AS TRAVELING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION THE VEHICLE COULD HAVE AN INCIDENT WHEREBY THE ENSUING TRAFFIC COULD CAUSE A CRASH.THIS IS A MANUFACTURER DEFECT THAT INVOLVES THE ECU(ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE) THAT IS THE COMPUTER WHICH CONTROLS THE TRANSMISSION. THE PROBLEM IS VERIFIED BY TOYOTA AS THEY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY FOR THIS VEHICLE FOR THIS PROBLEM THAT IS 10 YEARS OR 150,000 MILES. THE VEHICLE AGE IS BEYOND THE 10 YEAR LIMIT. THEREFORE,I WISH TO PURSUE A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM. THANK YOU. *TR

I AM NEWLY EMPLOYED WITH THE POST OFFICE SO I NEED MY CAR. I WAS OUT DRIVING MY ROUTE WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT WAS LAGGING A LITTLE WHEN I WENT TO TAKE OFF. THEN WHEN I WAS ABLE TO GET SOME SPEED BETWEEN BOXES IT WAS LIKE IT SLIPPED INTO NEUTRAL AND THEN JERKED REALLY HARD AND KICKED INTO GEAR, I TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC AND ALSO THE DEALERSHIP. AFTER I TOOK IT TO THE MECHANIC I FOUND OUT THAT THERE WAS A BULLETIN PUT OUT IN 2010 ABOUT THE SAME EXACT ISSUE, SO I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND MADE AN APPOINTMENT. THEY TOLD ME THE SAME THING THE MECHANIC DID AND THAT MY CAR WASN'T COVERED UNDER THE BULLETIN BECAUSE IT WAS OUTSIDE THE 10 YEAR OR 150,000 MILE RANGE. I CANNOT AFFORD TO HAVE TO PAY THIS OUT OF POCKET AND I NEED MY CAR. THE ESTIMATE THAT I GOT WAS $1536 FROM TOYOTA AND THEN THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT I MIGHT HAVE TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION CHANGED TOO. THIS IS CRAZY ESPECIALLY SEEING AS TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT THE ISSUE AND NOTIFIED SOME PEOPLE BUT NOT ALL RAV4 OWNERS. I AM OUT THERE DRIVING MY CAR AND COULD PULL OUT AT THE WRONG TIME AND GET HIT BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO PICK UP AND GO IN THIS CAR ANYMORE. I LOVE MY CAR AND NEED MY CAR. *TR

HARSH VEHICLE JERKING WITH BAD AUTOMATIC SHIFTING/ACCELERATION. USED EMERGENCY LIGHTS AND NARROWLY AVOIDED ACCIDENT WITH BADLY PERFORMING VEHICLE. PROBLEM IS DIAGNOSED AS FAILED ECM. *TR MANUFACTURER IS AWARE OF THIS ISSUE (TOYOTA DOCUMENT T-SB-0156-10) BUT DID NOT INFORM OWNERS. ECM FAILURE IN MY CAR CAUSED A VERY DANGEROUS DRIVING SITUATION. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN EASILY AVOIDED BY PRO-ACTIVELY REPLACING THE FACTORY INSTALLED ECM IF I HAD BEEN GIVEN THE T-SB-0156-10 INFORMATION. I WAS DRIVING WITH MY 2 AND 4 YEAR OLD DAUGHTERS AT THE TIME. THIS PART FAILURE IS A RECURRING PROBLEM FOR THIS CAR. PLEASE HAVE TOYOTA NOTIFY OWNERS BEFORE THIS HAPPENS TO THEM. THANKS.

ON 10/13/2012 WE PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE. WE HEADED SOUTH ON A BUSY FREEWAY AND HAD THE DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW DOWN AS WE PROCEEDED UP THE ENTRANCE RAMP GAINING SPEED TO SAFELY MOVE ON THE FREEWAY WE ATTEMPTED TO CLOSE THE POWER WINDOW BY PULLING UP ON THE DESIGNATED SWITCH AND EXPERIENCED THIS WINDOW AS SOON AS IT CLOSED WOULD INSTANTLY GO BACK DOWN. REPEATED ATTEMPTS SAME OUTCOME. CARS WERE ON ALL SIDES, THE GUST OF RAIN HITTING MY FACE MADE IT HARD TO SEE WHILE MY ATTENTION WAS FOCUSED ON GETTING THIS WINDOW TO STAY CLOSED AND AT THE SAME TIME AVOID COLLISIONS DUE TO THE DISTRACTION OF A WINDOW THAT WOULD NOT STAY SHUT. *TR

OCTOBER 11, 2012. ON OR ABOUT OCTOBER 8 2012 I BEGAN HAVING HESITATION AND JUMPING INTO GEAR AS I AM DRIVING MY 2001 RAV4. THIS HAPPENS MAINLY WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP SIGN/LIGHT. I AM AWARE THERE HAS BEEN A RECALL ON MANY 2001 RAV4 VEHICLES. I BOUGHT MY RAV4 FROM CARMAX IN NORTH ATTLEBORO MASS ON APRIL 19 2012. SO, I HAVE NOT EVEN HAD MY VEHICLE FOR 5 MONTHS YET. ON THURSDAY OCTOBER 11 2012 I TOOK MY RAV4 BACK TO CARMAX IN ATTLEBORO WITH MY COMPLAINT--I WILL BE LEAVING THE VEHICLE WITH THEM ON FRIDAY OCTOBER 12 2012 SO THEY CAN DIAGNOSE THE TRANSMISSION AND THE TCM (THE TRANSMISSION MODULE WHICH HAS HAD THE RECALL). IF IT IS FOUND THAT MY RAV4 IS ONE OF MANY UNDER THIS RECALL, I WILL HOPE THAT TOYOTA WILL HONOR ITS' COMMITMENT AND FIX MY RAV. I DO HOPE THAT LODGING THIS COMPLAINT WITH YOU WILL HELP ME IN THIS PLIGHT, AS I DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO FIX THIS PROBLEM AND NOR SHOULD I HAVE TO AS TO THE ABOVE, AND DUE TO THE FACT THAT IS WAS A RECALL WITH TOYOTA. THANK YOU. *TR

THE TRANSMISSION SUDDENLY BEGAN SLIPPING AND JERKING WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP OR WHILE IN LOW GEAR AND SHIFTING FROM A LOW SPEED. I BECAME AWARE OF THE ECM PROBLEM KNOWN TO OCCUR IN MY MAKE AND MODEL OF TOYOTA UPON CALLING THE DEALERSHIP; HOWEVER, I AM BEING TOLD THAT THE WARRANTY ONLY COVERS TEN YEARS FROM THE DATE OF PURCHASE (I PURCHASED MY CAR 11 YEARS AGO) DESPITE THE FACT IT IS KNOWN THAT THE ECM, THE COMPUTER THAT CONTROLS THE TRANSMISSION, IS DEFECTIVE AND CAUSES TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. THIS IS A DANGEROUS PROBLEM AS THE CAR WILL NOT ACCELERATE AND THE TRANSMISSION SLIPS. IT IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND HOW TOYOTA CANNOT ETHICALLY COVER THIS KNOWING IT IS DEFECTIVE AND IS PROBABLE TO CAUSE OWNERS PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE, REGARDLESS IF IT'S 8, 10, OR 12 YEARS DOWN THE LINE. *TR

MY VEHICLE WAS EXPERIENCING HARSH SHIFTING AND HARD ENGAGEMENT. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER TODAY AND WAS TOLD THE ECM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I DID SOME INTERNET RESEARCH AND DISCOVERED TOYOTA RECEIVED THOUSANDS OF COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS ISSUE AS FAR BACK AS 2006 IN THE 2001-2003 MODELS. THEY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO 10 YEARS AND 150, 000 MILES. HOWEVER, MY VEHICLE IS 6 MONTHS BEYOND THE DATE (ONLY 103,000 MILES). I CONTACTED TOYOTA AND THEY WILL NOT PAY FOR ANY REPAIRS. IN ADDITION, I DISCOVERED THAT OWNERS HAD ISSUES WITH THE REPLACED EMC UNIT WITHIN 2 YEARS-CAUSING TRANSMISSION FAILURE OR REPEATED ECM FAILURE. I QUESTIONED TOYOTA AS TO WHY THIS WAS NOT A RECALL ISSUE. THEY COULDN'T TELL ME. IF IT HAD BEEN A RECALL ISSUE, TOYOTA WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR AND NOT ME. IN ADDITION, HOW DO I KNOW THAT ONCE I HAVE MY CAR REPAIRED TODAY, THAT I WON'T HAVE THE SAME ISSUE OR WORSE IN 2 YEARS--LIKE MANY OTHER CUSTOMERS? TOYOTA SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO MAKE THIS A RECALL ISSUE--ESPECIALLY SINCE THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WITH THIS ISSUE. *TR

WE RECEIVED A LETTER LAST YEAR FROM TOYOTA NOTIFYING US ABOUT AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ON A PART THAT THEY EXPECTED TO MALFUNCTION, THE ECM - SOMETHING TO DO WITH TRANSAXLE AND A HARSH SHIFT CONDITION. WE WERE NOT CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING THE PROBLEM, SO WE DID AS THE DOCUMENT RECOMMENDED AND FILED IT. LAST WEEK OUT OF NO WHERE, WE STARTED EXPERIENCING THIS HARSH SHIFT CONDITION. THE CAR STALLED OUT WHEN WE ATTEMPT TO ACCELERATE AND THEN JERKS INTO GEAR QUICKLY AND ON TRAFFIC FILLED ROADS, DANGEROUSLY. WE PROMPTLY TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY DIAGNOSED THE CAR AS NEEDING THAT PART REPLACED. THEN THEY TOLD US SORRY, THE EXTENDED WARRANTY EXPIRED DECEMBER 2010. TWO MONTHS AFTER WE'D RECEIVED THE NOTIFICATION. I AM UNEMPLOYED, WE ARE A ONE CAR FAMILY AND NOW WE HAVE A VEHICLE WE CAN'T DRIVE AND CAN'T AFFORD TO FIX THROUGH NO FAULT OF OUR OWN AND BECAUSE OF THIS EXTENDED WARRANTY INSTEAD OF A PROPER RECALL TOYOTA REFUSES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MALFUNCTION OF THEIR PRODUCT WHICH COULD CAUSE HAZARDOUS ROAD CONDITIONS AND JEOPARDIZE THE SAFETY OF MY FAMILY, SO NOW DUE TO TRANSPORTATION ISSUES, MY HUSBAND'S JOB AND OUR ONE SOURCE OF INCOME IS AT STAKE. TOYOTA HAS PUT MY FAMILY IN A BAD SITUATION AND REFUSES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. I WANT THE ECM RECALLED AND FOR THEM TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR PRODUCT. *TR