Toyota RAV4 transmission problems

THIS "CERTIFIED, PRE-OWNED" VEHICLE SUDDENLY STARTED HESITATING AND HAS DIFFICULTY SHIFTING FROM 1ST TO 2ND GEAR IN AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. THE FIRST REPAIR, TRANSMISSION FLUSHING, DID NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM. IT IS NOW IN THE SHOP WITH A TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST FOR A "CHECK ENGINE" CODE FOR SOLENOID/TRANSMISSION PROBLEM, CODE 1760 AND/OR 770 - NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THE FIRST MECHANIC STATED THE TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS "BURNT." THERE ARE AN UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNT OF DOCUMENTED COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS SAME PROBLEM, THERE NEEDS TO BE A RECALL. I HAVE ONLY OWNED THIS CAR FOR 20,000 MILES AND OWE ALOT OF MONEY ON IT. ACCORDING TO THE COMPLAINTS I HAVE READ, PEOPLE ARE LOSING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, OUT-OF-POCKET TRYING TO FIX THEIR VEHICLES. I AM NEXT. IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO ATTEMPT TO ACCELERATE ONTO THE HIGHWAY WHEN THE TRANSMISSION WON'T KICK IN. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL CLOSE CALL ACCIDENTS. *TR

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFTS ERRATICALLY AND COMPLETELY LOSES POWER AT ANY GIVEN TIME. I WAS COMING OFF OF THE FREEWAY AND SLOWED DOWN FOR MY EXIT WHEN IT LOST ALL POWER . WHEN I GOT POWER AGAIN IT BEGAN JERKING AND SHIFTING ON IT'S OWN. IT WAS REALLY A DANGEROUS SITUATION AS THERE WERE MANY VEHICLES BEHIND ME THAT HAD TO BASICALLY STOP ON THE EXIT OF THE FREEWAY. PLEASE HELP US RAV4 DRIVERS GET A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM FROM TOYOTA. *TR

I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY WHEN MY TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING. I WAS IN HEAVY TRAFFIC AND WAS SCARED THAT I WAS GOING TO LOSE MY AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION COMPLETELY AND BE STUCK ON THE ROAD OR REAR-ENDED DUE TO IT HESITATING BADLY BETWEEN GEARS. IT HAPPENED SO QUICKLY I WAS THROWN OFF BY WHAT I SHOULD DO BUT I DID MANAGE TO MAKE IT HOME THEN I PARKED IT UNTIL I COULD GET IT TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED AND LOST POWER WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A LEFT TURN. THE CONTACT APPLIED PRESSURE TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL NUMEROUS TIMES BEFORE THE VEHICLE GAINED POWER. IN ADDITION, THE GEARS SHIFTED ROUGHLY AND THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WAS JERKING AND VIBRATING. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS RELATED TO THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE. THE VEHICLE REPAIR WAS COVERED BY THE MANUFACTURER WARRANTY. THE CONTACT WAS CONCERNED OF THE SAFETY RISK INVOLVED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 78,846. UPDATED 09/24/08. *LJ UPDATED 09/26/08. *JB

IN OCTOBER 2004, I PURCHASED A 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 FROM MODERN TOYOTA IN WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA ON A SIX-YEAR PAYMENT PLAN. I ALSO PURCHASED OUT WHAT WAS LEFT OF THE THREE-YEAR WARRANTY, AND A ONE-YEAR MAINTENANCE PLAN. I HAVE CONTINUED TO GET OIL CHANGES AND TUNE-UPS AT REGULAR INTERVALS. THE CAR IS AT ABOUT 93,000 MILES. ON FRIDAY, JULY 18, I WAS DRIVING TO A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT, AND QUITE SUDDENLY, IT BEGAN SHIFTING IMPROPERLY. IN THE LOWER GEARS, IT LURCHED AND BUCKED AS IF IT WAS HAVING TROUBLE CATCHING. IMMEDIATELY, I DROVE TO EMPORIA MOTORS, THE LOCAL TOYOTA SERVICE CENTER. IT WAS ABOUT 11 AM. EMPORIA MOTORS WAS TOO BUSY TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM BY THE END OF THE BUSINESS DAY. THE CAR WAS NOT DRIVABLE AND THEY DID NOT PROVIDE ME WITH A LOANER, SO I HAD TO DO WITHOUT A VEHICLE OVER THE WEEKEND. ON MONDAY, JULY 21AT AT 8:30 AM, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE TRANSAXLE/TRANSMISSION WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE PART NEEDED WAS ESTIMATED AT $3,450.00. AFTER RUNNING AN INTERNET SEARCH AT WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM, I FOUND THAT THERE WERE 103 COMPLAINTS ABOUT TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS ON THE 2002 RAV4, MOST OF WHICH WERE FOCUSED ON PROBLEMS WITH SHIFTING, OFTEN OCCURRING WHEN THE VEHICLE'S MILEAGE REACHED THE 90,000 MARK. THIS IS CLEARLY NOT A RANDOM PROBLEM, THE COSTS OF THOSE REPAIRS TO OTHER CONSUMERS ARE COMPARABLE TO MINE, AND YET, TOYOTA HAS NOT TAKEN ANY RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER FOR THIS PROBLEM. THE VEHICLE IS ONLY SIX YEARS OLD AND I HAVE NOT EVEN FINISHED PAYING IT OFF, AND NOW I'LL HAVE TO MAKE ADDITIONAL MONTHLY PAYMENTS FOR THE TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT. THE HIGH COST OF THIS UNEXPECTED REPAIR IS A SERIOUS BURDEN IN THESE DIFFICULT ECONOMIC TIMES. I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE QUALITY OF THIS CAR. I LIVE IN A RURAL STATE AND I NEED TO KNOW THAT MY CAR IS RELIABLE AND THAT ITS QUALITY IS BACKED BY THE MANUFACTURER. *TR

I AM ALSO EXPERIENCING A CONSISTENT PROBLEM WITH MY 2007 TOYOTA RAV4 WITH A LAG IN ACCELERATION. I NOTICE IT THE MOST WHEN SLOWING DOWN TO ABOUT 10 MPH TO MAKE A TURN. AS I COME OUT OF THE TURN AND PRESS THE ACCELERATOR, THE CAR DOES NOTHING FOR A COUPLE OF SECONDS. THEN THE ENGINE REVS UP AND FINALLY LURCHES FORWARD. I STARTED NOTICING THIS PROBLEM JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS AFTER PURCHASING MY VEHICLE. IT IS VERY ANNOYING AND TOTALLY SCREWS WITH THE GAS MILEAGE. IT'S ALSO ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I HATE AUTOMATIC ENGINES AND WISHED THAT TOYOTA OFFERED THESE VEHICLES WITH MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS. THE "AUTOMATIC" TRANSMISSION ISN'T ALL THAT AUTOMATIC AND SEEMS TO TAKE SOME TIME TO CATCH UP WITH HOW YOU'RE DRIVING AND WHAT YOU NEED THE CAR TO DO. *TR

I HAVE A TOYOTA RAV4 2001 CAR. ITS AN AUTO TRANSMISSION WITH 117,000 MILES ON IT. SUDDENLY ABOUT 10 DAYS AGO I STARTED FEELING THE HARSH SHIFTING / BUCKING / JERKING WHILE TAKING THE CAR. I THEN WENT TO A NEAR BY TOYOTA DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND WHAT THEY HAVE FOUND WAS A FAULT CODE P0755 (HARSH SHIFT AND/OR M.I.L. ?ON? DTC P0750/P0753/P0755/P0758/P1760) WHICH IS BASICALLY RECOMMENDING TO REPLACE THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE. I THEN SEARCHED ABOUT THIS FAULT CODE ON THE INTERNET I ENDED UP ON A WEBSITE (HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/TOYOTA/RAV4/2002/TRANSMISSION/PROBLEMS_SHIFTING.SHTML) WHERE I COULD SEE NUMEROUS SIMILAR COMPLAINTS. IT LOOKS LIKE TOYOTA HAS MADE A FAULT ECM AND HAVE INSTALLED IN SO MANY RAV4 (B/W 2001 - 2003 MODEL YEAR), WHICH MADE SO MANY CUSTOMERS LIKE US TO GO THROUGH A LOT OF SERVICE EXPENSES. PLEASE DO THE NEEDFUL SO THAT TOYOTA MAKES A REIMBURSE THE EXPENSES FOR ALL THE CUSTOMERS WHO HAS GONE THROUGH SOME FINANCIAL BURDEN DUE TO THIS. *TR

OUR 2001 TOYOTA RAV4 RECENTLY STARTED SHIFTING VERY HARD AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND STARTED TO DO SOME RESEARCH. THE CAR WAS VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE AS THERE WERE LARGE HESITATIONS BEFORE THE NEXT GEAR WOULD CATCH. I FOUND OUT THAT TOYOTA PUT OUT TSB TC002-06 IN REGARDS TO A DEFECTIVE ECM COMPUTER THAT CONTROLS THE TRANSMISSION. OUR ECM DID NEED TO BE REPLACED, BUT TOYOTA NEEDS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. THEY SHOULD BE REPLACING THIS PART FOR FREE. TOYOTA HAS ADMITTED THE PART IS DEFECTIVE, YET WILL NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT. THE DAMAGES TO OUR CAR DUE TO THIS COMPUTER COULD HAVE COST IN EXCESS OF $5,000 TO REPAIR. *TR