Problems with 2001 Toyota RAV4 POWER TRAIN

During a trip to the los angeles area from our home in fremont, ca. our 2001 toyota rav4 refused to enter 1st gear, then would slam into gear suddenly, causing a bucking effect. after about 2 hours and some attempts at adding trans fluid it started running ok. two days later on the freeway home it suddenly started in again, leaving us with no power to drive on the road to get out of the way of traffic until it slammed into gear again. we made it back home by remaining on the freeway and not stopping as much as possible. i took the car to my mechanic who informed me that the transmission was ruined and needed replacing. he showed me the chipped-up gears on the unit. after repairing the transmission i drove it for a day and a half and the slipping and bucking started in again. i immediately returned it to the shop and they spent a lot of time checking it because it was working just fine for them. computer diagnostic came out normal. i told them to keep it and drive it for a day. sure enough it went bad after about 5 hours. after having the actuators replaced they returned the car to me. it lasted 1 day. at that time i checked online and discovered the problems with the ecm. i printed it and gave it to my mechanic. they replaced the ecm with a new one ($1200) since no rebuilder would re-program the old one because of the recurring problems with it. the car now runs fine but only after about $4000 because of a faulty ecm that no one seems to want to admit is the real problem.

Transmission started jerking and slipping in second gear then jumping to third gear, then taking off in third gear, flush tranny and reprogram ecm, din"t 'help also check engine light is on for code p0758, i was told i need a new ecm and a new transmission. toyota knew of this ecm problem and fail to notified its customers

1 & 2. recently i had to have the transmission rebuilt on my 2001 toyota rav4. the engine control module (e.c.m.), which tells the transmission what to do, apparently is faulty (a problem that toyota has acknowledged but failed to do anything about) which causes the transmission to essentially self destruct. i was driving through an intersection when my engine started revving and my car dramatically slowed down. after pulling over and putting it into park, i shifted to drive and my car lurched forward, almost crashing into another car. i feared for my life in both situations and feel that this product is extremely faulty. 3. my transmission will need to be rebuilt for approximately $3,500, but if toyota had notified customers about this problem earlier then we would have been able to rectify the ecm before it caused a transmission problem and endangered my life. *tr

I have a 2001 toyota rav4 and have a problem with the transmission. the car lost its ability to drive because the ecm for the transmission broke. it cost about 1,000 dollars to fix and the car still doesn't sound or drive like it used to. i am afraid the transmission will fail in bad weather or on a hill and i will hurt people. the mechanic told me that other cars with this ecm problem later do have transmission problems and calls to toyota are not fruitful. there is approximately 69,000 miles on this car and i am the original owner of this car. the power train should not be a problem to a relatively young car like this it should be under warranty to 100,000 miles not 60,000 miles. this car and the other toyotas i am reading about should be recalled they are dangerous. *tr

Going at below 40mph car on the expressway in rush hour traffic to take my son to school my 2001 toyota rav4 began to jerk repeatedly under acceleration. this was extremely frightening as i felt the car would lunge forward out of my control and hit the cars in front of me! it would stop if over 40 could be maintained. a few days prior i experienced this 2 single jerks while driving through a parking lot. the car was taken in to a nearby dealer for diagnosis. i am being told that i need to replace the car's computer and may possibly need to replace the transmission. toyota has issued a service bulletin on this some years ago but i was never notified. the jerking represents a very serious safety and consumer liability and there should be some recourse for prevention. *tr

As i tried to accelerate through an intersection where the cross traffic did not stop, my car would not accelerate beyond 25mph and my family and i came dangerously close to a pretty serious accident. unfortunately, i cannot afford to replace the transmission right now, which is what is needed, so i do have to continue to drive the vehicle. i have to utilize little used roads and hope that i can get a little more life out of my current transmission! *tr

2001 rav4 transmission just failed today. read anytimes article about ecm problem. when i called toyota, i was told that nothing could be done even though they knew that ecm problem would cause transmission to fail. this should have been recalled or at the very least notify owners so that we could have the problem fixed before truly expensive repairs need to be made. this is not the first issue i have had with my car that toyota failed to notify me of in time to correct. *tr

2001 toyota rav4 2wd 4 cylinder. the transmission is stalls at take off, i was told i have to replace the ecm and transmission. my car stalled in the middle of an intersection almost causing an accident, leaving our car in the middle of the intersection while there was on going traffic. *tr

My 2001 toyota rav4 shifts gears erratically and stalls while being driven. it started while i was driving on the interstate by suddenly surging while i was driving 70mph. now it occurs daily while trying to take off from a stopped position or even while driving speeds of 25 to 40 mph. i had the transmission flushed but this did not alleviate the problem and i've been getting estimates in regards to the transmission. *tr

I own a 2001 toyota rav4 and the transmission started acting funny this morning. in reverse it started jerking. i also noticed some hesitation in 1st and 2nd gears. i decided to leave the car at home and took a ride to work. my wife took the car to school to pick up the kids and it was driving fine. when she picked up the kids from school and she got on the freeway all of the sudden the transmission started jerking my wife almost got hit by a suv. she managed to pull over and turn the car off. when she turned it back on after 2 minutes and started driving it was fine. i searched online and come to find out this is been a known problem with this truck. i just like to know how come some one never took any action including toyota. when i called the local toyota dealer they advise me to have the car checked and the ecu needs to be replaced because apparently there has been 14 cars in their service department which had the same issue. *tr

My 2001 toyota rav 4 would not shift when i pulled into traffic and almost caused accidents as i pulled onto the interstate, it seems that service bulletin was issued for transmission problems and i never got it and now toyota wont fix it, i have small children in the car daily. *tr

I was driving to work when i stopped at the red light when it turned green i tried toaccelarate but my was stuck and there was a heavy traffic i took this car to the toyota dealer they told me it was the transmission i took it to a transmission place i changed it but two day after it gave me the same problem only this time on the highway i started looking for answer and found out that most of the 2001 rav 4 ecu came out with a problem but never got a recall now the toyota company are not taking any responsibility for this is there anyone that can help me with this pro thank you there is a website where you can see all the people complaining bout the same problem i had it seems that toyota has known about this problem but never did anything about ithttp://www.carcomplaints.com/toyota/rav4/2001/transmission/problems_shifting.shtml. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 toyota rav4. the vehicle would not shift from first to second gear. also when the engine warning light illuminated on the instrument control panel, the vehicle would lurch forward. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, but they could not duplicate the failure. however a mechanic discovered that the electronic control module was sending the wrong message to the transmission. the computer monitor was repaired .however because of collateral damage the transmission needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 60,500 and the current mileage was 60,700.

2001 toyota rav4 stalls at stop lights, does not want to shift into first or second gear, very dangerous for our driver at college in st. louis. in research, have found numerous similar complaints re 2002 rav4s and it appears it is faulty engineering. diagnostics indicated internal transmission problems. *tr

The ecm computer on my 2001 rav4 is failing, causing the transmission to stall during automatic shift change. this occurs each time you start in 1st, moving to second gear and is very dangerous. this lasts several seconds and can repeat in second gear. traffic behind you can easily run into you and if you are entering a freeway, you can be seriously injured by transmission failing or stalling as a result. toyota issued a tsb in 2006 to dealers yet did not notify owners. this is a serious safety issue and an immediate recall should be issued to repair this problem. my mechanic and one dealer i talked to indicate that the ecm computer and transmission need to be replaced at an estimated cost of $5000. my mechanic indicated he has seen over 100 vehicles on this at his business alone. this is not an isolated problem. since my vehicle is over 8 yrs old and 115k mileage, there is no extended warranty. why did toyota notify its dealers in march 2006 of the problem and not notify the customers. why have you not addressed this issue by asking toyota to issue a recall to correct this very serious issue. if the computer fails completely, the car will more than likely stop in traffic. my mechanic indicates that a new computer must be put in and the transmission must be re built. this started on friday, sept 18th, about 4pm as i was driving home on the freeway. i had the vehicle immediately checked and this was the determination. i have parked the car since and cannot drive it until repaired. please advise on this before someone is seriously injured or killed. thank you. *tr

Complaint regarding ecm on 2001 toyota rav4. ecm causes shifting issues with automatic transmission resulting in unsafe operation of vehicle. requires replacement of ecm at a minimum. *tr

2001 toyota rav4 suddenly started shifting hard/jerking...took to mechanic, who could not find problem...no check engine light...drove vehicle few days and the problem returned...had vehicle towed to toyota dealership, told transmission would have to be replaced, ecu failure. *tr

2001 toyota rav4 - manufacturer-programmed ecm failure leading to hard shifting, problems accelerating, and misfiring. unfortunately, toyota is only covering the repair cost if under 80,000 miles. appears this is happening to many people no matter what the mileage is and since this is a safety issue, a recall should be made to repair this free of charge to the owner. i had to pay over $1300 to get this fixed. *tr

While driving at typical city speeds, the transmission made a loud clanking sound and the car stated stuttering intermittently. often when starting from a stop, the car had trouble finding a gear and did not move forward. while driving, sometimes there was little or no acceleration. this caused a problem for drivers behind me. the fix was a new engine control module (ecm). fortunately, the mechanic knew about toyota's technical bulletin on this matter. *tr

After not having problems for nearly 4 years, the cil came on and the transmission began hard-shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. the ecm code was for an o2 sensor heater. changed the sensor, light came back on calling out a gear and the shifting was worse. took it to the dealership. they flushed the oil and flashed the ecm per tsb. ran fine for one day. cil came back on and hard shifted horribly while on the freeway on the way home. pulled over and checked fluids. all fluids looked clean and were at appropriate levels. headed for dealership again. got on the freeway and low gear hard-shift went away, but suddenly lost all power and narrowly avoided an accident at 60 mph! car regained power and shifted fine in low gears but would not shift above 3rd. drove rest of the way to dealer at 35 mph and dropped it off for diagnostics. i have spent almost $2k in diagnoses, parts, and labor and the problem is not fixed. now, we nearly were killed on a major freeway! this is dangerous! this problem manifested in september and peaked yesterday (11/17/09). we cannot afford to keep paying to repair this obviously unsafe defect. *tr

I was sent a letter about the class action suit on the 2001-2003 toyota rav4. i asked to have my vehicle fixed, but was denied, because i did not request until after the extended warranty and the 150,000 had passed. i appealed their decision and i was denied again. i did have the module replaced with a new toyota one, which was installed by a mechanic that does not work at a toyota dealership. this module worked for a short period of time, but my rav is back to the same hard shifting safety issues it had before. i can't afford a new transmission or the new module to completely fix the safety issue. even if they replaced the module again, i believe it has done too much damage to the transmission that will not be repaired by the replacement of this part. you pay for an extended warranty and maintain it like you are supposed to and toyota does not take care of their customer. they made their money and that's that. *tr

Car had check engine light coming on; mechanic ran diagnostics on system- check engine light went off. radiator needed replacement. after car pickup, car gradually started shifting abnormally between 2nd and 3rd gear- 2001 toyota rav4. *tr

2001 toyota rav4 began shifting very jerky while on way home from store. very scary. would lunge and jerk to start out but after 2nd or 3rd gear was okay. was told by toyota i needed a new transmission. took it to my mechanic and his transmission servicer had a much better price. the transmission co reported back to me that i needed a new computer as well as a rebuilt transmission ($2700) and that this (faulty computer) was a condition toyota was fully aware of. apparently the computer for this year/model was known to be faulty and in this case was telling the transmission to access 2 gears at the same time (according to them). reported this to toyota national headquarters and the woman said i was out of luck because the car is out of warranty. i was never made aware that there was a problem with the computer, even though i had called toyota several times because of an engine light that kept coming on. *tr

2001 toyota rav4 4wd car has not had any problems until recently when the transmission started acting up. it is very intermittent. when starting from a stopped position or getting onto a freeway the car will loose its power. the transmission slips, jerks, and engine speeds up without car properly accelerating. very dangerous situation because you cannot merge with traffic, can?t get out of the way of other vehicles once the car enters an intersection, or could get rear ended by other vehicles. i can drive the car for a couple of days without the problem showing up. had it in to my mechanic twice and they can?t reproduce it to fix it. no problems show up on the computer check. when it does happen it might only happen once when starting out from a stop and then be fine for many days or miles. i cannot make it do it. after researching this problem on the internet i have learned it is a defective design problem with the ecm module that controls the transmission. toyota has issued a technical service bulletin dated march 6, 2006. they have not notified owners of the problem. *tr

2001 toyota rav4 has a defective transmission control module which causes the car to slow down rapidly in traffic causing serious health risks to all persons nearby. toyota issued a bulletin to all service instructing them to replace the tcm to prevent this problem from taking place. toyota does not warn their customers about this problem and simply waits for the problem to happen and by then the tcm causes damage to the transmission and the vehicle is out of warranty. there are hundreds of consumers experiencing this problems and toyota will not repair the vehicles under warranty. i cannot believe that a company like toyota would operate this way after building a reputation of being a quality auto maker. i have been quoted a discounted rate of $ 3500.00 to repair my car by the dealership. this is robbery. *tr

My transmission started slipping and bucking in aug. 2009. the car would loose power and almost stall out. while driving on the highway i came close to being rear ended due to loss of power. i had taken my car in to have it looked at and was told that i didn't have codes so they could not tell me what the problem was and would have to wait for it to happen again or bring it back what the check engine light came on. before i left the lot the light came on and the code p0755 was the code used to repair the car. this however did not fix the problem, and i began to do some research and it seems that this has been an issue for many others with a 2001-2003 rav4. i called the toyota company and was told that this is a known issue, but because my car was out of warranty they would not help fix the issue. due to the fact that this is the only car i have and needed to go to work i had no choice but to pay to get the car repaired. i feel that this is an issue that toyota needs to address along with the current issues they are having with the recall models now. just because no one has died from this issue does not mean no one will, if the owner does not know about the problem and are driving on the highway with their families in the car with them. *tr

2001 toyota rav4 at 86,000 miles having transmission trouble due to electronic control module. *tr

2001 toyota rav4 has transmission slippage/harsh shifting. manufacturer defect in ecu is well known but toyota will not replace defective item. anyone driving this model is in a "ticking time bomb" for transmission failure. if it happens at speed, there will be death/injury incurred. information was in n.y. times on 8/26/2009 article. i am the owner of this vehicle and want to be added to the nhtsa list of complaints/concerns about this well known defect. request agency pressure toyota to recall/replace ecu/ecm/transmission as needed on every operational rav4 in the 2001-2003 range. toyota issued a technical service bulletin tc002-06 on march 3, 2006 advising service managers to replace ecm/transmissions.. "only if customer complains" this is a devious way of avoiding an outright notification/recall and i request your good agency help owners like me who are endangering their families/them selves & the general public on our roads. i am a licensed driving instructor in the state of connecticut and will make everyone i know aware of this dangerous situation with a toyota product. your assistance is appreciated. *tr

Had to replace transmission on 2001 rav4 (aug 09) and then it was repaired once again after the transmission started doing the same thing (nov 09). i was told it was due to a faulty ecm. which i have never been notified that there was even a problem from the manufacture. have paid for rebuilt transmission & ecm unit. *tr

Rav4 2001 transmission problem, the transmission went at only 100,000 miles, dealer replace the transmission but they charged me $3,600 this include the new ecm they installed required by warranty in the transmission. please make note if there is more vehicles(rav4 2001) with this issue. *tr

I bought my 2001 toyota rav 4 in 2004. in july 2009, my transmission started slipping and bucking. i have done some research and it seems that this has been an issue for many others with a 2001-2003 rav4. it is terrifying to drive this vehicle but it's all i have. it would cost me more to replace the transmission than it would to just pay it off. i am concerned that i will have an accident, as i do a lot of commuting. i am so disappointed that i have invested so much money in the maintenance of this unreliable vehicle. i heard about toyota's recall on the news yesterday and i am disgusted that toyota has not addressed this issue. this should be as pertinent as a faulty accelerator. i bought my toyota because i had heard that they had a reputation for safe, well-made vehicles. my life is put on the line everytime i have to drive that contraption, and i expect that if nothing is done about this issue to ensure a compensation or extended warranty of some kind, toyota will lose my business( among many, many others, i'm sure.). more importantly, everytime anyone who is having this issue with a toyota rav 4 gets in the car, they are increasing the risk of injury or death caused by an accident from this cheap, faulty, unreliable transmission. please consider this issue when reviewing toyota's lack of concern for their driver's safety. i am sure that some bigwig is sitting in an office somewhere, profiting from the money that toyota saved by using defective parts. *tr

Faulty computer. i am the original owner. the computer caused the transmission to engage into wrong gears,resulting in transmission failure. cost to me of $4,847.00. i was never notified by toyota of this problem. technical bulletin #1046. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 toyota rav4. when attempting to accelerate, he experienced gear failure. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the transmission module was replaced. the failure mileage was 85000 and the current mileage was 97335.

Our toyota rav 4 is having electronic control module is a bust. it controls among other things our transmission, and the shifting of gears. the ecm has pretty much ruined our transmission. there has been many rav 4 owners with this same problem. and toyota is (was) a reputable company. one would think they would make this right. our warranty was up last year. and there was recalls on different computer things from them but, they will not help us. and we do not have the money to fix this. and this is our only family car. one we need to help us get to work. any suggestions? *tr

Entering highway and the vehicle would not shift. the vehicle would not go over 30 mph and had to pull over to avoid being hit. *tr

Somewhere around the later part of june, 2009 my car began hesitating. i took it to the dealer and they could not find what was wrong with it. i took it back and then was informed the it was my ecm. i contacted toyota to have this problem fixed since it was a manufacturing problem during production. they informed me that it was my responsibility to get it fixed. my vehicle has around 97,000 miles on it. this is happening on a regular basis. several times my family and i were endangered because someone almost hit my vehicle from the back because of the hesitation. as of today, i have not been successful at getting toyota to offer any assistance in getting this repairs. the consumer stated the vehicle would loose acceleration and the rpm spiked. whenever the consumer stopped at a light, the vehicle failed to move immediately. the technician informed the consumer the transmission was slipping, due to a problem stemming from the ecm, which was not reading properly which was affecting the transmission. updated ivoq. 08/07/09.*jb

Faulty ecu in 2001 rav4 automatic causes internal transmission failure. slipping & double-shifting between 2nd & 3rd gear, longer ecu is used the worse the slipping occurs. resetting ecu fixes problem for several hours and tranny will work perfect, then it starts acting up again. *tr

All of a sudden out of the blue my transmission started slipping and hard shifting. we drove it home to park it until we could figure out the problem. $1000 later and no thanks to toyota it is fixed. it was the computer that needed reprogrammed. thankfully the transmission wasn't shot b/c we didn't drive it after it started to hard shift and slip. took it to toyota and they were going to charge us $5000 for a new transmission. but we found someone to help us with the computer problem. *tr

I also had to shell out $3000 to replace a faulty ecm for the toyota rav4 2001. the car had low mileage and just past the 7 year warranty. the car's transmission is not shifting and the car almost died on the way to the dealership. i found thousands of reported cases of people sharing the same grief and apparently this problem with the ecm extends to 2002-2003 rav4 and corollas as well. toyota knows about this problem because they had a recall the patch the ecm at 2006. but the patch does not work and perhaps a small bandage to mask the real problem. and toyota banked on the fact that car will exceed the warranty so they blow all of us off and make us pay for the part or dump the car. i brought this up with the dealership and also with toyota headquarter and they vehemently denied this is a wide spread problem and refused to fix the problem for free or to do a recall. but just doing a casual search this problem is the highest reported problem with any toyotas and this problem spans to eu and australia as well. the only reason why this is not publicize is because luckily no one died, or we don't know about it. but the rav4 can easily stalled on the freeway and causing another car to slam into the rav4. toyota has a history of lying to the public. for the last 10 years, their cars all had some type of electrical problems. it's not just the accelerator or brake issue, it's electrical. they have a poor design that kills. i hope this letter can prompt another investigation into other models of toyota that had suffered with other issues in the last decade. *tr

2001 toyota rav4 ecm and transmission replaced in may of 2009. paid out of pocket. replacement was a rebuilt transmission installed by dealer (victory toyota in canton, mi) second transmission failed after 17,000 miles. paid out of pocket again. no help from dealer or toyota corporate. found out that dealer just swapped trans, did not actually rebuild trans. took it to an independent trans shop. independent discovered a washer missing that caused third gear to strip (defect in second trans). trans repaired, but then got a hard downshift into first gear when stopping, check engine light and p0420 p0430 codes. independent trans shop cleared codes, and told me that if it happened again to have dealer re-flash ecm. worked ok for about five days, then got the hard downshift into 1st gear again. took it to dealer. now they say the charcoal cannister needs to be replaced. i will submit for re-imbursement under extended warranty, but am seeking reimbursement for second transmission which was a direct result of the first ecm and trans failing. *tr

My car is toyota rav4 2001 2wd automatic. recently, the car on acceleration started doing hard shift. many people have complained about it. http://www.carcomplaints.com/toyota/rav4/2001/transmission/problems_shifting.shtml. when i purchased the car from private party, i had asked toyota of kirkland (wa) to check for ecu module. i was told it is the right module and not the recalled one. so, i purchased this car from the private party. after 9 months of using this car, i get the same problem which so many people have experienced. the car jerks when accelerating. sometimes it refuses to accelerate. toyota extended the warranty on the car but when i purchased it was not under warranty. i think it is a faulty part in the car. if replacing ecu does not fixes the problem then we have to fix the transmission which will cost me additional $4000. to replace new ecu or ecm, it costs $1100+. please ask toyota to recall the rav4s. this is a big blow to us in this economy. *tr

My toyota rav 4 (2001) suddenly started sliding, jerking, motor racing in may of 2009. it had just passed the 80,000 mi mark, and the shifting of the transmission nearly stopped. i had bought it used, and when we checked with the local dealership, found that the 2006 bulletin on the problems with the ecu which controls the transmission had resulted in the ecu being 'flashed'. so it had the work done which would supposedly fix the problem. it is lucky that it happened on a street and not on a freeway, which would most likely have resulted in a terrible accident. toyota was phoned, a complaint was made. nothing has happened. at my own expense, i had the ecu rebuilt; the damage to the transmission was there, but the rebuilding of the ecu enabled me to drive the car. i don't know how long it will last. *tr

Engine control module and auto transmission failure. bought rav used july 2007 with 109,230 mi. check engine light was on (has remained on) but was diagnosed as o2 sensor & rav operated perfectly (live where emissions check not required). may 2009 tranny started alternating between working good, shifting rough, slipping between gears, and not downshifting at slow down or stop. had mechanic with over 15 yrs experience at toyota dealership check it (after hours). he was unaware of connection to faulty ecm so we thought trany was bad & he flushed tranny. that reduced frequency of symptoms but did not stop them. we still thought problem was mechanical & tranny rebuild/replace was inevitable & i drove it longer to save up money for repairs. i live on a semi-rural ohio state route with 55mph posted limit & 65mph average speed. i had numerous near misses when the vehicle would not accelerate properly or began to accelerate normally then slipped, hesitated, or refused to shift. my 18yr old son drove the rav in dec & pulled out of our driveway in front of a semi tractor trailer rig with what would have been safe distance except that the rav decided not to accelerate. the truck was able to pass, but had there been oncoming traffic, it would not have been able to slow enough in time. intermittent symptoms continued until 12/14/09 when 2nd & 3rd gear burned out & i drove home 20 miles in 1st. just parts thru toyota will cost $2000 for rebuilt tranny plus $1000 for ecm. independent repairmen can fix the ecm for $65. had i at least known root cause of the symptoms was ecm not tranny (toyota's known since 2006 or before) i could have saved $4-5k & avoided 7 months of risky driving. i challenge anyone who thinks this is not a safety issue to drive one of these and rely on it when it fails in 65mph traffic. or we can wait until someone is killed where there is enough evidence to show this problem was the cause of the accident and not poor driver judgment. *tr

The computer in my rav4 failed. it was giving my transmission intermittent commands to drive in the wrong gear. for example, my mechanic said there were times the car was essentially in 2 gears at the same time. i was nearly in an accident because the car bucked and almost stalled as i tried to move forward from a stop. once it started happening i drove to the nearest mechanic i could find and only made right turns because i was afraid and didn't know what the car would do. it burned up the transmission and i had to have it replaced. when the computer was reset (as when the battery is disconnected) the car would drive normally for a few miles and then the ecm would begin giving the wrong commands again. the mechanic had to drive the car to the nearby toyota dealer to get the ecm repaired and he got to experience the problem. he said it was a scary ride, which it was. when i spoke with toyota's customer service the rep denied that the rav4 has a history of this problem. when i told him that i had researched on the internet and had found many people with my problem he stated that anyone could create fake internet postings, including myself. please, please research this. toyota takes no responsibility and i worry what will happen. my car has been fixed but i don't want other people to go through what i did. i don't want someone to be injured or killed because their car has the same issue mine did. it comes on very suddenly, it is not the case of a small problem gradually becoming worse. if i had known that i could make a report like this i would have done so sooner. *tr

Toyota rav4 transmission problem, hard to shift the transmission when acceleration. this problem puts myself and my family on risk of being hit by other cars. *tr

Fault ecm causes transmission shifting problems. no service bulletin issued to owners. *tr

Transmission slipping, unable to accelerate. severe jerking, bone rattling and very jarring, loss of power and vehicle stalling. occurred several times, had repaired immediately and a high cost to me. transmission hasn't felt right since. stopped driving vehicle to replacement of ecm was replaced. i'm not confident that the transmission didn't suffer damage during this limited time it was driven and until the repair could be made. i haven't felt completely safe because the failure was so severe and quick to surface. *tr

2001 toyota rav4. while driving on the interstate vehicle suddenly lurched and jerked, coasted then lurched again, suddenly losing speed, then stalled. engine revved and transmission kept jerking, would not engage fully. traffic was heavy and was nearly run over by truck. extremely dangerous! managed to pull over to shoulder. eventually, managed to drive home at reduced speed on back roads. dealer replaced computer chip, $1,000 bill. toyota notified dealers in 2006 of faulty chip, not me. now, 12-11-09, transmission will not go into gear at all. began hesitating in traffic, as if cutting out. *tr

March 2009 vehicle check engine light came on and i took vehicle to autozone for a diagnostic check. check indicated that the shift solenoid was bad. i took vehicle to toyota of bedford and was told i had to get another diagnostic because they don't take diagnostic from other places, so that cost me $100. after their diagnostic check was performed, they claimed it was just the gas cap and turned the light off. within a couple of weeks the light can back on while i was driving on the freeway. in june 2009, the car started having shifting difficulty, getting stuck in a gear then jerking out of it. i took it to a foreign car specialist shop and they changed the transmission fluid, i drove it for a few weeks again, then it shifted hard while driving and the check engine light came on again. i have to get off the freeway sometimes when the car gets stuck in a gear and won't accelerate!!! i read complaints exactly like mine with the 2001 toyota rav 4 and can't believe nothing is being done. this is dangerous and not a driver error, this is clearly a manufacturer error. why do you have to wait until someone gets killed before a recall can be ordered. this a part that should never be defective and if it is it should be fixed without question. *tr

Toyota 2001 rav4 transmission shift problem since march 2009. approx miles to date 95,750. when i first took it in, i checked with autozone for diagnostic check which was free because the check engine light came on. i then took the readings to toyota who told me they wouldn't accept autozone's diagnostic and i had to get another one from them which cost $100. then they told me it was just the gas cap and turned the check engine light off. within 2 days, after my e-check, the light came back on has been on ever since. i have taken it back several times for oil changes and they never said that there was a problem. the diagnostic from autozone stated the shift solenoid was bad but toyota said it was the gas cap. i have done some research and i am now aware that i am not the only one with this type of problem. this is shameful that they choose to ignore this serious malfunction to get major money from the consumers. i am more upset with the fact that i bought the car in may of 2006 and they knew then that there was a problem. the warranty is a joke, that's a major part that they won't honor and they are purposely ignoring it so that it's not covered or their problem. why wait until someone gets hurt or killed because they don't want to own up to their defective parts. my car will get stuck in first gear and jump to second very hard. i have taken the car to a foreign car repair shop last spring and they did a quick fix by trying to see if replacing the transmission fluid to see if that worked but it lasted for only a week. during my last maintenance check at toyota, i was told i probably had six months, still never acknowledging that it was a defect in their part or that it was covered. it's not fair to the consumer to be ignored and taken advantage of by this company. please don't ignore our complaints they are real and serious. *tr