2003 Toyota RAV4

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 TOYOTA RAV4. THE DRIVER WAS TRAVELING IN A PARKING LOT AT ABOUT 8 MPH. THE DRIVER STATED THAT SHE ENGAGED THE BRAKES AND HER VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY ACCELERATED UP TO 35 MPH. THE DRIVER STATED THAT SHE CRASHED INTO A GUARD RAIL, INTO AN EMBANKMENT, AND INTO AN OFFICE BUILDING. SHE HAS MAILED A LETTER TO THE DEALER AND SHE HAS ALSO CALLED THEM. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 37,000.

I HAVE A TOYOTA RAV4 2003. MY CAR IS RUNNING SO WEIRD AND I AM AFRAID THAT IT WILL CAUSE AN ACCIDENT AND PUT MY LIFE AT RISK. I AM DRIVING ON A FREEWAY (65-70 MPH ' 36MILES EVERYDAY) A DANGEROUS FAILURE TO SPEED UP AND SUDDENLY SLOWING DOWN AND CHOKING. WE TOOK MY CAR AT THE DEALER TWICE AND TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENED. AT FIRST THEY TOLD US THE PROBLEM, THAT WE NEED TO REPLACE/CHANGE/REPAIR THE AIR FILTER/AIR PILOMETER, WE REPLACED IT. BUT THEN SAME THING HAPPENED THE NEXT DAY (EVERYDAY), FAILURE SPEED UP AND SUDDENLY SLOWING DOWN AND CHOCKING WHILE I AM DRIVING'. WE BROUGHT IT AGAIN AT THE DEALER AND THEY JUST TOLD US THAT THEY ALREADY DIAGNOSED IT (TWICE) BUT THEIR COMPUTER CANNOT LOCATE THE 'CODE' THING FROM THE COMPUTER, WHICH TELLS THEM IF THE CAR HAS A PROBLEM OR NOT. I ASKED THEM THAT IF THEY DIAGNOSED IT HOW COME THEY CANNOT LOCATE THE PROBLEM? THE ONLY ANSWER THEY TOLD ME WAS 'THEIR COMPUTER IS NOT GIVING THEM A CODE' AND I TOLD THEM IF THEY ARE TELLING ME THAT THERE IS NO PROBLEM IN MY CAR, THE ANSWER WAS 'THEY ARE NOT SURE'. THIS IS A REALLY 'SERIOUS AND DANGEROUS MATTER'. 'TOYOTA IS PUTTING OUR LIVES AT RISK'. ARE THEY GOING TO FIND OUT WHAT IS THE REAL PROBLEM OF THE CAR IF THEY SEE US DEAD OR IF WE GOT IN ACCIDENT??? TOYOTA SHOULD HAVE A FULL ATTENTION OF THIS MATTER AND GIVE US A FULL WARRANTY OF FIXING THE PROBLEM FOR TOYOTA RAV4 2001-2003. WE NEVER WANT THIS HAPPENING TO OUR CAR AND WE DON'T WANT TO LOOSE OUR LIVES BECAUSE OF THESE PROBLEMS! *TR

DRIVING ON HIGHWAY AND HAD A RUNAWAY GAS PEDAL ACCELERATION OF TOYOTA RAV4. THE FAILURE HAPPENED ONCE AND AFTER BRAKING AND WORKING WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL LEVER, I WAS ABLE TO GET IT SLOWED DOWN. I WENT FROM 70 MPH TO 87 MPH IN A SPLIT SECOND AS A RESULT OF THE ACCELERATION PROBLEM. I HAVE CALLED THE LOCAL DEALER AND THE DEALER THAT WE BOUGHT THE TOYOTA FROM AND THEY ARE NOT OFFERING CONCERN OR A SOLUTION. ONE DEALER SUGGESTED WE CALL THE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF TOYOTA, BUT AFTER DOING SO, I HAD NO WAY TO LEAVE A MESSAGE. IT WAS ALL PREPROGRAMMED TO DEAL ONLY WITH TOYOTA'S THAT WERE ON THE RECALL LIST. WE DON'T FEEL REAL SAFE WITH OUR FAMILY CAR AND FELT THE NEED TO LET SOMEONE KNOW. WE ALSO WANT TO LET OTHERS BEWARE OF THE PROBLEM WITH THE 2003 MODEL OF TOYOTA RAV4. WE NOW HAVE A CAR THAT WE DO NOT TRUST IS SAFE AND NOBODY WILL DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. *TR

HELLO, I JUST RECENTLY SUBMITTED A COMPLAINT ON THE TOYOTA RAV4 THAT IS HAVING WIDE SPREAD TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS DUE TO A FAULTY ECM. I JUST SPOKE TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY ARE AWARE OF IT, BUT THE CONSUMERS ARE NOT. IT IS ONLY TAKEN CARE OF AFTER THE PROBLEM STARTS AND IF YOU TAKE IT TO A TOYOTA DEALER WHO RUNS A SERVICE BULLETIN CHECK. THIS IS JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR ALL THESE PEOPLE THAT ARE SUFFERING THE HUGE EXPENSE OF THIS, AND WAS NOT EVEN AWARE OF A PROBLEM WITH THIS CARS MAIN COMPUTER (ECM). I JUST HOPE I CAN HELP TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR ALL OF US. NOT A SAFETY ISSUE....BS! MY TEENAGE DAUGHTERS ARE DRIVING THIS CAR AND I'M AFRAID OF WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THIS PROBLEM CONTINUES AND THE CAR STOPS WORKING ON THE FREEWAY OR WHERE EVER IT MAY HAPPEN. WHO IS TO SAY THE NEW ECM IS EVEN GOOD. PLEASE GO TO ABOUTAUTOMOBILE.COM ON TC002-06 AND SEE COMPLAINTS. ALSO JUST SEARCH TC002-06 RAV4 TO SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE HAVING PROBLEMS. THANK YOU! *TR

WE HAVE A 2003 TOYOTA RAV4 THAT OBVIOUSLY HAS A DEFECTIVE PART AND SAFETY ISSUES. WE BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE FOR OUR TEENAGE DAUGHTER APPROXIMATELY 1 1/2 YRS AGO FROM A DEALER AND IT HAD 74,000 MILES. THANKFULLY WE DID GET A EXTENDED WARRANTY, BUT NOT ONE THAT WILL COVER THIS PROBLEM. THIS LAST NOVEMBER OUR DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING THE CAR AND WAS STUCK GOING UP A HILL AS THE CAR WOULD NOT SHIFT INTO THE RIGHT GEAR. SHE WAS STRANDED ON THE MOUNTAIN HIGHWAY UNTIL WE COULD COME GET HER. THANKFULLY SHE DID GET OFF THE ROAD, BUT IT SCARED US TO THINK THAT THIS CAR COULD OF DONE THIS IF SHE WAS AT A HIGH SPEED OR COULDN'T HAVE GOT OFF THE ROAD IN THE DARK MOUNTAIN TERRAIN. WE HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO A LOCAL SHOP AND THEY CONCLUDED THAT IT NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION. WE HAD ONLY PUT MAYBE 10,000 MILES ON IT SINCE PURCHASE. THE WARRANTY COVERED THE $4000 REPLACEMENT COST OF A NEW TRANSMISSION. AFTER PICKING UP THE VEHICLE IT SEEMED TO RUN OK BUT STILL HAD SHIFTING PROBLEMS AT THE SPEED OF 20-30. A HARSH JERKING. OUR DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING THE CAR AND AGAIN IT STOPPED WORKING IN A BUSINESS DISTRICT. SO BACK TO THE SHOP. WELL NOW WE ARE STUMPED ON WHAT COULD BE WRONG. EVEN HAD 2 SENSORS REPLACED AND STILL THE SAME PROBLEM. SO WE HAVE A TOYOTA, WHICH WE BOUGHT FOR OUR TEENAGE DAUGHTERS BECAUSE OF THEIR REPUTATION OF BEING A GREAT VEHICLE, BUT NOW WORRIED WHAT IT WILL DO AS THEY ARE DRIVING IT. SO THE LATEST IS I DID SOME OF MY OWN RESEARCH ON THIS YEAR VEHICLE. CAME ACROSS A WEBSITE CALLED RAV4WORLD. THERE ARE PAGES OFF COMPLAINTS ON TRANSMISSION FAILURES FOR RAV4 2001-2003. I GUESS TOYOTA DIDN'T DO A RECALL FOR A SUPPOSEDLY DEFECTIVE ECM THAT IS THE MAIN COMPUTER IN CAR AND IT IS LEADING TO TRANSMISSION FAILURE. TOYOTA DID PUT OUT AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ON REPLACEMENT WHICH IS 96MONTHS OR 80,000 MILES. OUR CAR IS AT 84K. THE PROBLEM WITH THIS IS HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE DRIVING THIS CAR AND HAVE NO IDEA THAT THIS DEFECTIVE ECM IS DESTROYING THE TRANSMISSION??? ALSO IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE! *TR

CAR WOULDN'T SHIFT PROPERLY. TOYOTA DEALER SAID I NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION DUE TO A PROBLEM WITH THE SOLENOID. AFTER INTERNET SEARCHING THE PROBLEM, I ASKED THAT THE LOCAL REPAIR SHOP REPLACE THE COMPUTER (MUCH LESS COSTLY) AND THE CAR STARTED WORKING AGAIN. AN INTERNAL MEMO TO DEALERS STATED THAT THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM ON THE MAKE/MODEL BUT THE LOCAL DEALER DID NOT MENTION SUCH A MEMO. I ONLY FOUND IT AFTER SEARCHING ONLINE. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 TOYOTA RAV4. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 5 MPH OUT OF A PARKING SPACE. THE RPMS RAPIDLY BEGAN TO INCREASE. WHENEVER SHIFTING FROM SECOND GEAR TO THIRD GEAR RANGE THERE WAS A JERKING SENSATION. THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE IN OPERATION. THE FAILURE OCCURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR INSPECTION. THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THE FAILURE COULD BE POSSIBLY RELATED TO THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE (ECU). THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED FOR THE MALFUNCTION AT THIS TIME. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 103,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 TOYOTA RAV4. SHE NOTICED THAT WHEN SHE STOPPED THE GEAR WILL FAIL IT WILL STAY IN DRIVE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, AND THE DIAGNOSIS INDICATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT. THE DEALER REPLACED THE ECU AND THE FAILURE WAS CORRECTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 102,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 104,236. UPDATED 03/30/10. *LJ THE CONSUMER STATED WHEN SHE MADE A STOP, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT GO INTO GEAR AND THE ENGINE REVVED, THEN SLIPPED INTO GEAR AND LURCHED FORWARD. THE CONSUMER WAS TOLD IT WAS A COMPUTER PROBLEM AND SENDING FAULTY SIGNALS TO THE TRANSMISSION. THE CONSUMER STATED THERE HAVE BEEN NO OTHER PROBLEMS SINCE. UPDATED 07/15/10*JB