Problems with 2002 Toyota Sequoia POWER TRAIN

When the vehicle is in motion the vsc trac lights come on and the brakes active on their own causing the cracking noise and a rough jerk motion to the car. this has happened several times both on the highway and city streets even when driving 10 miles per hour

Sudden transmission failure while driving on highway, caused an extremely dangerous situation for the driver and occupants of this vehicle.

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota sequoia. while attempting to accelerate from a stop, the stability light flashed on the instrument panel and the vehicle accelerated. the failure recurred several times. the vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the yaw-rate sensor needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the vehicle was not included in a recall. the failure mileage was 191,000.

2002 sequoia purchased used, vsc trac desengages without warning at any time, slowing down the vehicle and making grinding noice in the suspension or breaks, it will reset again after park and shutting the engine off, this problem had happen at least 10 times in about one year that i am driving it, due to the unexpected desengage of the vsc trac at any time slowing down the vehicle with out warning and no break light it is a safety concern, i have look in the internet and this problem is very common with this vehicles equiped with the vsc trac, i have called toyota and there is no recalls for the issue, i believe it it is a malfunction of the system it should be take care unless they are waiting for something drastic to happen, hope i can get some where with this complaint, this is a second toyota at home and i like to keep both cars for as long as i can. this particular problem does happen at any time in the street at 20 miles higway at 50 some times at 60 miles, during straight ride or turning left or right, please advise i should not have to incurre expences on a factory defective issue.

2002 toyota sequoia vsc trac sensor lights turning on and off and hearing grinding noise when it auto-engage and disengage in motion.

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota sequoia. the contact stated unknown fluids were leaking from the rear differential. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. the technician diagnosed that the rear differential needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 135,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota sequoia. the contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift into park. the contact diagnosed that the shift lever bracket and the steering column housing were fractured and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failures. the vin was unavailable. the approximate failure mileage was 150,000.

I had this vehicle serviced at tom scott toyota in nampa, idaho. the standard 120k. prior to this i had them do some basic services, and they seemed to always make mistakes. once their mechanics sent me out on the road without replacing the correct amount of motor oil. in this instance they had serviced my transmission fluids, and all other 120k requirements. i drove away and the engine light came on immediately. i returned they said it was a transmission solenoid. they reset it, it was running fine. then the light came on again. they claimed it needed the solenoid replaced. after a week the light went off and did not return. 2 days ago, the vsc off, vsc trac, and check engine lights all came on. there is a crinkly noise, like foil crinkling when i accelerate. this is intermittent. i took it to a mechanic they said the entire transmission is bad. $4000. there are enough forums and posts worldwide for this transmission that you should require a recall. clearly toyota manufactured a transmission that is not built correctly. *tr

I have a tremendous amount of frame rust on my 2002 sequoia. i have been issued a service campaign from toyota and have been proactively called upon by a local dealer to provide the service. after reading on the nhtsa web site and other forums about structural issues and the way toyota is handling this issue i want to be proactive in my complaint. spraying or frame replacement is the only option i have been provided to date. this issue appears to be widespread and caused by toyota's manufacturing processes. that being the case, it appears that toyota is not stepping up to buy back those vehicles that require this drastic measure. they should buy back the effected sequoias much like they did regarding the exact issue with their tundra trucks a few years ago. the sequoia and the tundra share the same frame, so why wouldn't the buy back effect both vehicles given safety implications. *tr

While driving down the road at approximately 45 mph on a straight away, dry conditions, the trac control light and alarm sounded, a grinding noise started, the vehicle started to lose power and pull to the right. after slowing the car down to appx 25 mph the light, alarm, and grinding noise went away. this same issue has re-occurred on another occasion under the same type of circumstances. this is a serious safety concern. *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota sequoia. while driving 70 mph, the vehicle suddenly came to a complete halt without the contact depressing the brake pedal. the vehicle began moving and shaking violently. the failure occurred multiple times. the vehicle was taken to a dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the issue. the approximate failure mileage was 160,000.

I was a stop light with the brakes firmly pressed down when the vehicle lurched forward. it felt as if someone had rear-ended me, however, there was no one behind me. now the vsc lights are lit up on the dashboard display and it is lurching and power surging at random. *tr

Our 2002 toyota sequoia has a completely rusted out frame, rear differential and other parts such as brake lines etc. while driving on the highway the rear differential exploded and the car would not drive any further. i put the car in park, turned off the car and the car kept rolling despite being in park. i applied the emergency brake to stop the car. the rear differential housing was completely rusted through and leaking fluid. we then discovered that in addition the frame of the car was completely rusted through. the car is no longer safe to drive because of the rusted frame and under carriage. our dealership has been wonderful and rented me a car and will replace the frame but toyota is saying that i am responsible for the differential replacement. *tr

I was accelerating onto the freeway today and it felt as if the left brakes came on along with a screeching sound and it made me swerve left. i was able to avoid swerving into merging traffic but i nearly crashed. over the last week the vsc off lights have started going on and off and and after reviewing some literature on line it seems that hundreds of others have had the same type of problem. the 2003 sequoia was actually recalled for this same thing. very dangerous and now i will have to contact the dealer to see about it getting fixed before someone is killed. i have two young children and this really pisses me off. even if there is not a recall i should have been made aware of the danger i was putting myself in. i have been happy with my truck for 8 years but after this incident and seeing what others have gone through i will never buy another toyota!!! *kb

Driving on ny thruway transmission went. towed to nearest service station where new transmission was installed after which we were told that the chassis was extremely rusty. two days later, the engine light came on - took car to sears to find out trans fluid leak and frame rotted and declined servicing vehicle. followed up at toyota dealer for leak and frame inspection. technician found power steering line leaking power steering fluid and excessive frame perforation / corrosion. they would not work on it. technician installed a new hook lock and cable assembly as hood would not lock.

My 2002 sequoia has been maintained by the book yet the rust of the frame and the differential have left this vehicle as potentially dangerous to drive. i am told that the leak of transmission fluid is because the differential is almost rusted through. i know toyota has had rust issues and my previous toyota landcruiser had rust issues as well. now that it has happened a second time i decided to investigate. please update me. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota sequoia. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for various repairs where they discovered that the rear differential was completely rusted which resulted to oil leakage. the vehicle was not repaired. the contact planned to notify the dealer and the manufacturer regarding the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

Rear differential rusted out. lubricant leakage can lead to loss of control. *tr

We have been experiencing an issue w/ the vehicle skid control light keeps going on and off. at one point, we lost power to car, while trying to accelerate. toyota dealership is unsure what the issue is. this has been going on for over a year. i found a recall related to vsc for 2003 sequoias but toyota says our sequoia is not included in this recall even though the symptoms are very identical!! instead the local dealership wants to try to replace some computer chip (that would cost us thousands of dollars) but they are not guaranteeing that this is even the cause or will resolve the issue!!! they are saying it can be this computer or it can be that computer .. and replacing each is worth a few 1000s but they don't know which is causing the vsc light to go on and off!! *tr

Noticed problem with vehicle traction when driving at low speed in wet or snowy weather. problem with acceleration and traction when accelerating. heard a ratcheting sound and no traction when trying to accelerate from a stopped position on a wet road. after some research it sounds very similar to earlier recall with nhtsa campaign id: 10v17600 for toyota sequoia vehicles manufactured between april 1, 2002 through april 17, 2003. called toyota service line on 11/9/2010 and they informed us that this recall doesn't apply to our vehicle since our vehicle was apparently manufactured on 3/8/2002 (a few weeks earlier than the recall covers). we live in a very dry climate with very little to no precipitation but noticed it again after rainfall. filed a case# [xxx]on 12/10/13 with toyota with no response. please help! information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

2002 toyota sequoia transmission problem. the car stopped at a red light and died. there was no warning of any sort from the car. everything was fine until this event. i was able to restart the car but once the gear is shift to drive or reverse, the transmission stalled and died. this problem kept on going so i called for a tow truck. dealer said that it will cost at least $4400 to fix transmission and they have seen this problem more than once in sequoia. *tr

On 6/21/2010, my 2002 toyota sequoia srs 2-wheel drive model at 74k miles had failure with its automatic transmission while running on highway. the automatic transmission repeatedly failed to properly engage the overdrive gears, resulted in significant dropping of engine rpm, caused sudden drop of vehicle speed, caused vehicle vibration and loud clanking sounds, and resulted in difficult driving condition. this was partially correctable only by taking the vehicle off the overdrive mode. although no vehicle accident nor injury resulted from this mechanical failure, i noted that many discussion boards listed this same problem for 2000-2002 toyota sequoia and tundra. the problem was attributed to od planetary gears and sun gear in the automatic transmission. this pattern of defect should be addressed with the manufacture to prevent any further potential dangerous incidents. in my opinion, toyota should issue a safety recall for these vehicles with this pattern of issues for its automatic transmissions. my vehicle was never used for tow and had mostly highway miles. *tr

The issues with toyota hasn't just started with the 2009/2010 acceleration problems. at least for the last ten years owners have complained about toyota's vehicles and i have 1 complaint to post. we have a 2002 sequoia with 122k miles. our transmission went costing us approx. $4600.00. we maintenance this truck religiously. i have been researching this issue online and found others having the same issue as me(some with only 70k miles, i guess we were luckily). now this truck cost between 42k to 50k or so and 8 years later i am changing the freakin trans. how the heck(used lightly), does toyota or any other auto maker get away with this stuff? i also have been researching to see how we could get toyota held responsible for this piece of [xxx] trans. i had a chevy cavalier in the 90's cost around 9k .never had 1 issue with it engine, engine light, transmission..nothing. i will continue to research and blog here until i am satisfied with an response from the ceo. if everyone who has the same problem complains and scream loud enough this issue would have been recalled. if you want to discuss further please contact me. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

I was driving my 2002 toyota sequoia on the highway in chicago and my vehicle completely died and would not restart. my battery was brand new and i had full power. had the vehicle towed to a toyota dealer and they could not find anything wrong with it. tried to drive it home the next day and it died on the highway at 55 mph. had it towed again to our home town and took it to a transmission shop. mechanic stated that the radiator fluid leaked into the transmission and also that the debris from the mechanical parts of the transmission were laying on the bottom. he stated he has seen this in many toyota sequoias and that this is something that should have been recalled but has not.

Vsc, seat belt and check engine light randomly started coming on about 130,000 mi. tansky toyota service did brake work, the lights were off for several weeks but then would come off and on. we ignored it because we had just had it in to the dealer, it seemed to be a nuisance in an older vehicle but not dangerous. about 165,000 miles the vehicle developed a sudden loss of power in traffic. we speculated it was the lever that shifts from 4wd to 2wd. the dealer replaced that for $400, the lights were off for 3 days, then back on. now, we have had maybe five instances of sudden loss of power. this total loss of power usually occurs after driving 10 minutes locally, and after stopping at a light. turning the ignition off, and restarting fixes the issue. tansky toyota acts like they have never heard of such a thing, but when i look online every toyota blog is full of people just like me. i know it is an old vehicle. i just want to know how much will it cost me to really fix this problem. we have started only using this vehicle for non-critical driving locally. *tr

2002 toyota sequoia transmission fail. *tr

I have just had the transmission on my 2002 sequoia fail. cost was $3200 at aamco, plus $200 for a car rental. every forum i go on i find at least 8-10 owners with this same problem, od planetary gear failure. so one has to wonder why toyota has not had a recall. aamco told me the new part was an improved version. this implies that toyota is aware of the problem. i'm thinking of talking to a lawyer about looking into a class action lawsuit. i'm very disgusted. *tr

2002 toyota sequoia, transmission failure, local repair shop got transmission to work, says it will fail again soon and recommended the toyota dealership replace it. the toyota dealership denied there was any problem with our vehicle. a quick google search shows that there are widespread and documented problems with '00 to '02 toyota sequoia/tundra transmission failures. *tr

My 2002 sequoia needed a new transmission december 13, 2008. i am the original owner , it had only 81,000 miles, had every recommended maintenance done. i went in for a minor service october 30 and they replaced a pulley and belt also (about $500) because of san engine hissing when the car was idle. the car never was the same after i picked it up. when i would be driving i would feel something "slip" occasionally when it was changing gears. the gear shifter would also randomly be very hard to move from park to drive, or from park to reverse, etc. i took the car back to toyota service the day before thanksgiving out of fear of driving the family and breaking down. they had me drive a mechanic with me and of course it did not do the "slipping engine noise and the car shifter went easily into park and drive for the short time he was with me. he reassured me it was nothing. so thanksgiving day i loaded my family into my husbands mercedes because i knew my sequoia , and i knew something was not right. this continued on with me having to alter my plans because i knew something was not right. then dec. 13th i was thankfully by myself, on the 91 fwy just exited the fast track and was in the far left lane on a busy sat afternoon when the accelerator just stopped making the engine go. i was going uphill and luckily i thought quickly to get over 5 lanes of busy traffic to the shoulder with no engine speed except what was left before it !!!. i saw my life pass before me but was lucky!so after a $300.00 tow back to my dealership, they told me that i needed a new transmission. $4000.00 later with only 81,000 miles . that just is wrong. for a company that likes to be associated with quality and good customer service, i find this disgusting! *tr

Vsc skid control lights come on and now the skid control does not work. the truck has twice in the last 6 months failed to go into forward and reverse without turning the it off and letting it s it for 5 minutes. this could be a serious safety issue if it occurs as i was trying to merge into a high speed intersection. *tr

My 2002 toyota sequoia died at a red light. it started fine but when put in gear the car dies. the dealer states to replace the transmission. my personal mechanic tells me to replace only a couple of sensors. tried to contact toyota corp. but just got the run-around. *tr

I own a 2002 sequoia. saturday may 4, 2008 my transmission completely failed. now the dealership wants $5,000 to repair. i have searched online and found numerous toyota sequoia owners with the same problem. those who were lucky enough to have the problem correctly diagnosed have found that other sloppily manufactured parts disintegrated and got into the transmission causing it to fail. i have repeatedly contacted toyota's customer line only to be repeatedly told to return to the dealership and try to work out a deal. i feel that this is a recall issue. i have also had to have coil packs replaced twice on this vehicle. the only thing the dealer keeps saying is this is way out of the norm for a toyota, nevertheless charging ungodly amounts for it to be fixed. had this car broken down on me while driving on the interstate i would not be here to make this complaint. *tr

Vsc/trac warning lights come on and stay on, and car tries to go back/forward at the same time. i bought this car used with 66,000 miles on it, and problem is chronic. dealer says they can't recreate the problem. i looked online and there are lots of problems with this in toyota sequoias. date of most recent incident is recorded below. *nm

In 8/06 i noticed a roaring/grinding noise coming from my end. l. bearing replaced x2. problem remained. then replaced the right front bearing. still to no avail. i then took my car to toyota in tampa who stated the replaced bearing had been pressed in too tight. i took my car back to the mechanic who then took the entire assembly over toyota in clearwater to replace the entire assembly. still no resolution. tire problem? so, i took it back to the tire kingdom who put on new michelin cross terrain suv tires. problem remained. so i took it back to them and they then put on a new set of michelin ltx tires. problem remained. so, i then took it to collisiontec in clearwater, thinking that perhaps tire kingdom might have bent something when they originally rotated the tires. (the certified toyota mechanic had previously inspected everything under my car when he first had it but had been unable to detect any damage). collisiontec drove the car and did an initial inspection, but could not detect anything. they have asked to have me bring the car back so that they can keep it for a week and do a complete inspection. in the meantime, my check engine light came on and the vsc/vtc light came on, so i took it back to the toyota mechanic. the o2 sensor needs to be fixed/replaced. to fix the vsc/vtc toyota doesn't sell the one part needed, only the complete set for $900! this is all on top of the original roar/grinding/vibration problem which still exists!! reapairs now up to 2k & no resolution. also, my car was recalled for the ball joint problem. there is no sticker indicating ball joints replaced. if the ball joints were not replaced as they should have been, could this be the source of the roar/grinding/vibration? this roar/grinding/vibration is coming from the front and occurs only when the car is in motion. *nm

I am a police officer and purchased a new 2002 sequoia with high expectations. shortly after my purchase i noticed that something felt loose in the steering column whenever i shifted the gear handle. the dealer said that there was nothing wrong with it and don't worry about it. the dealer also failed to document my concerns into my vehicle's service record history. since that time, the vehicle has never received any mechanical damage or had any type of work other than routine maintenance done to it. now, here i am with a toyota vehicle with only 40,000 miles and a piece of metal has snapped inside of the steering column. the defective parts failure has caused the vehicle to be completely unsafe to operate and the slightest bump to shift the transmission to and from different gears while operating. i took it to the dealer to be repaired under the 5 year warranty and they said that they had never seen this problem before and it shouldn't have happened, but that they would do absolutely nothing to help me out with the problem. i informed the dealer to save the defective part, because it needed to be examined for manufacturers defect. at no time did the dealer ever mentioned, much less offer to have toyotas engineers examine the defective part. i should be receiving the defective part within the next few days. this problem was strictly due to a manufacturers defective part, yet toyota refuses to do the right thing and stand behind their product. i am very disappointed in toyota's lack of quality and especially in it's lack of service commitment. needless to say, i will never buy another toyota product and will definitely spread the word about toyota's refusal to warranty an obviously defective part. *jb updated *jb0 6/01/06

We pruchased this 2002 toyota sequioa in 8/2001 we had the truck for about 6 mths and then the transmission went out the dealer replace the transmission. in 4/05 the right rear axle seal was leaking cause us to replace the seal. now 12/05 the rear differential has locked up and the truck is no longer under warranty causing us to pay for repair out of pocket. we dealer has refused to cover the cost for any of the repairs. *nm

I have a 2002 toyota camry with 82,000 miles. the transmission went out in october 2005. on august 2005, the cadallic converter went out also. i feel this car is a lemon and the manufacturing of the car is extremely poor. *nm

I put the vehicle in park, then got out and closed the door. the vehicle was fully stopped when i got out. it then started to move forward, the vehicle picked up speed and moved forward approximately 25 feet. i opened the door as it was moving and pushed on the emergency brake with my hand just as it crashed into the staircase in my garage. when i got back into the vehicle after the crash the car was in drive. thus the car automatically shifted from park to drive. it is possible it shifted from neutral to drive but i don't think so. either way this still poses great concern. this incident happened on september 19, 2005. my vehicle is a 2002 toyota sequoia. *jb

1. rear axle leaking - one at 62k miles and one at 72k miles. 2. wobbling in rear end on braking. 3. repaired by dealer at my cost - $1300.

(1) grinding noise on acceleration. engine cutting off when stopping vehicle. (2) stuck in middle or road trying to get truck to stay cranked. (3) replaced transmission at 1/2 dealer cost and 1/2 my cost when complaint started on problem while vehicle was still under warranty.

When attempting to stop the driveshaft produced a kluncking noise. as a result, consumer felt like that vehicle was being hit from behind. *ak

The vsc system engaged and does not take power from the drive train. as a result, a very loud metal shearing noises from undercarriage. toyota is saying this is normal vehicle is operating as designed by the manufacturer. *la

While traveling any where i would lose power and my vsc trac warning lights and skid trac lights will come on and i will have to wait for the lights to go off in order to get my power back. and also i had to replace two of my door handles. and before my suv was 3yrs i had to replace the transmission. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 toyota sequoia sr5. during routine maintenance at 60,000 miles, he was advised that the entire rear left and right axle assembly was corroded. the left and right rear axle assembly, and the oxygen sensor were replaced under the warranty. in 2004 the failure resurfaced. the cost for the repair was $3,000.00. however at 90,000 miles the garage discovered that the under frame carriage was severely corroded. a sand blast might correct the failure, but it was not guaranteed. he contacted the manufacturer. the manufacturer stated they were aware of premature corrosion, but they would not provide assistance. the failure mileage was 60,000. the current mileage was 90,000.

I am the owner of a 2002 toyota sequoia. since december 2002, i have experienced a problem with the 4-wd system on the vehicle. the 4-wd problem was originally noticed by me in late november 2002. i took the sequoia back to the dealer of purchase (burt toyota), however the problem was incorrectly diagnosed. subsequently, seeking a second opinion i brought the sequoia to stevenson toyota east. the service technician was able to verify and document the problem with the 4wd system. the service technician was unable to fix the problem and the issue was forwarded to toyota engineering for a resolution. i was advised and shown that the problem was entered into the toyota service computer system. i was also told that once toyota determines a resolution i will be notified and the problem covered as a warranty issue. to date, i have had no contact from toyota, yet the problem continues to exist. the 4wd problem consistently occurs in cold weather with temperatures below 30 degrees f. i have found during warmer temperatures, above 50 degrees f, the problem has not been noticed. during cold weather, frequently the vsc on, vsc off and brake light indicators remain lit on the dashboard while driving. sometimes the center yellow indicator in the 4wd display also flashes yellow. the resolution to this condition most of the time, is once the car is completely warmed up to stop, shut off the ignition and restart the vehicle. mostly, we watch it all the way on the commute home and to work as there are not many places to stop along the highway! in 2wd mode, there is a noticeable grinding /whining coming from the front transfer case. this is especially noticeable at low speeds. it sounds as if the front transfer case is partially engaged. the resolution to the noise is to place the vehicle in 4wd mode. the sound then seems to go away.*ak

The vehicle was placed into park with the engine running, when all of a sudden it rolled backwards.*ak the engine was left running in the park position when it rolled out of the driveway struck the consumer as he/she was trying to stop it and crashed into a tree *scc *jb

Brakes/seal i brought the truck in for 15,000 mile checkup. this is from the repair report: "oil leak from rear axle seal was leaking. removed both side axle shaft assemblies due to one side was leaking worse than the other. replaced axle seals on axle housing inside. also needed to replace rear pads and turn rear rotors due to grease build up on surfaces from axle seals leaking." this caused lubricant/fluid to coat the break pads providing no friction; no rear breaks. i spoke to dealer at colonial toyota and they mentioned that they had heard of similar incidents but had never worked on one before. also said it was a factory defect that could be fixed. *nlm

The traction control system on my 2002 toyota sequoia is dangerous. it cuts engine power and traction to the rear wheels under acceleration in slippery conditions. i have almost been hit several times as a rusult of my vehical "stalling" under acceleration when pulling out into an inmtersection or busy road. toyota claims it can not disable the sysem

New automobile front axel noise dealer ignores complaint. *nlm

Driveshaft was defective. after coming to a complete stop if felt as if consumer had been rear ended. vehicle was serviced seventeen times, and the dealer stated it was normal.*ak there is also a thumping noise and vehicle lurches forward associated with a hard start condition. brakes grab at times. rear speakers inoperative 3rd row. sunroof rattle. water inside marker light covers when raining. rubbng noise from rear wheels. center wheel cap was tightened. *tt *tc