2001 Toyota RAV4

WHILE DRIVING MY 2001 TOYOTA RAV 4 ( 31000 TOTAL MILEAGE ), WITH THE HEATER MOTOR ON HIGH, I HEARD ALOUD WHIRLING NOISE. AFTER A SHORT TIME ( 5 OR 10 MINUTES ) THE HEATER FAN STOPPED WORKING AND THE SMELL OF BURNING WIRING FILLED THE VEHICLE. I IMMEDIATELY SHUT THE FAN SWITCH OFF. A WISP OF SMOKE CAME OUT OF THE DASH VENT. EXAMINATION OF THE FUSE BOX SHOWED THAT THE FUSE FOR THE FAN HAD NOT BLOWN. I BELIEVE THAT IF I HAD NOT TURNED THE FAN OFF THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A VEHICLE FIRE. AFTER FURTHER INSPECTION I DISCOVERED THE DASHBOARD WAS COVERED WITH FINE PARTICLES OF AN UNDETERMINED ORIGIN WHICH I ASSUMED CAME OUT OF THE WINDSHIELD DEFROSTER VENT. REPAIRS HAVE NOT BEEN MADE.*AK

TOYOTA RAV 4 2001, HEADLIGHTS FOG UP AFTER ONE YEAR. THEY ARE A SEALED UNIT. I HAVE HAD THEM REPLACED 3 TIME NOW BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM. THEY ARE NOT CRACKED OR DAMAGED IN ANY WAY. THE HEADLIGHTS JUST FOGG UP AFTER ABOUT 1 1/2 YEARS. THE COST OF THE HEADLIGHTS ARE $500 AND TO INSTALL THEM IT'S $180. AFTER THEY FOGG UP, THE LIGHT IS DIMMER ON THE NIGHT HEADLIGHTS AND CAN'T SEE VERY GOOD WHEN THE LIGHT IS SO DIM. I WAS TOLD BY THE TOYOTA REPAIR SHOP THAT THIS HAPPENS TO THE HEADLIGHTS ALL THE TIME. ALSO ON THE LEXUS MODEL THAT THEY ALSO MAKE. HE TOLD ME IT WAS A PROBLEM THAT TOYOTA HAS NOT ADDRESSED. HE JUST KNOW THAT WOULD HAPPEN AGAIN, BECAUSE HE REPLACES THEM ALL THE TIME. THAT IS UNEXCEPTIBLE, THE HEAD SHOULD NOT BE FOGGING UP LIKE THAT. WHY HASN'T TOYOTA MFG. DONE SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM???? PLEASE HELP ME FIND OUT. PLEASEEEEEE. THANK YOU. *AK

I BOUGHT A BRAND NEW 2001 TOYOTA RAV4 FROM COX TOYOTA IN BURLINGTON, NC IN NOVEMBER OF 2000. THE VEHICLE HAD 28 MILES ON IT WHEN I BOUGHT IT. IN MAY OF 2001 I HAD MY 15,000 MILE SERVICE DONE AT COX TOYOTA AND EVERYTHING WAS FINE. IN JULY OF 2001, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND THAT DAY,7/16/01, I WENT TO COX TOYOTA TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT. THEY TOLD ME IT WAS JUST THE O2 SENSORS AND I DIDN'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IT. BEING THAT I HAVE A DEGREE IN ENGLISH AND NOT AUTO MECHANICS, AND I WAS DEALING WITH THE DEALERSHIP, I TOOK THEIR WORD AND LEFT IT ALONE. THEY WERE ABLE TO TURN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT OFF, EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN'T FIX ANYTHING. LATER IN 2001, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME BACK ON AND I WENT TO TOYOTA OF DURHAM TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT. I WENT TO THEM TWICE ABOUT IT AND THEY TOLD ME THAT NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE AND IT WAS JUST THE LIGHT ITSELF. SO THE LIGHT JUST STAYED ON, AND SINCE I WAS TOLD TO BASICALLY IGNORE THE LIGHT BY TWO TOYOTA DEALERSHIPS, THAT'S WHAT I DID. NOW I AM HAVING A PROBLEM PASSING THE NC VEHICLE INSPECTION, BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM. FRED ANDERSON TOYOTA IN RALEIGH, NC TOLD ME IN MAY OF 2004 THAT IT'LL COST 1,945.00 TO FIX MY CAR IN ORDER TO PASS INSPECTION, AND THE O2 SENSORS ARE THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM. MY CAR ISN'T PERFORMING AS IT SHOULD AND IT MAY HAVE PERMANENT ENGINE DAMAGE. I AM WORKING WITH A MECHANIC IN ELON, NC TO GET THE PROBLEM FIXED. HE HAS TAKEN THE TIME TO LEARN WHAT WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM WITH THE SENSORS, SO IT CAN PASS INSPECTION. IF COX TOYOTA HAD FIXED MY CAR WHEN I BROUGHT IT TO THEM IN JULY 2001, I WOULDN'T BE HAVING THESE PROBLEMS NOW. *AK

2001 RAV4 CATALYST SYSTEM FAIL. MANY OWNERS FOR 2001-2002 ARE HAVING PROBLEM GETTING ENGINE ERROR CODE PO420/430 (CATALYST SYSTEM EFFICIENCY BELOW THRESHOLD) I HAD THIS ERROR SINCE NEW. THEY CHANGED CONVERTER AND REBOOTED SOFTWARE, BUT NEVER GOT FIXED. I JUST FOUND OUT THAT THERE IS TSB EG010-02. IT SHOWS SOFTWARE WAS UPDATED 4 TIMES. "MISPROGAMMED FUEL MAP". I WENT TO DEALER WITH COPY OF TSB. I SPENT $80 FOR SOFT UPDATE BECAUSE OVER WARRANTY. IT CAME BACK 2 DAYS LATER. I CHECKED "WWW.RAV4WORLD.COM" EVERYBODY TALKING ABOUT SAME ISSUE AND THEY ARE SAYING CATALYTIC CONVERTER IS ON BACK ORDER ABOUT 2500. DEALER TELL YOU THAT THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN YOU CAN GET. SOME HAVE WAITED 2 MO.THE COST IS MORE THAN $2000. *JB