My 2001 rav 4 rear ended a car in front of me, and it was due to a major unintended acceleration of the engine. I am an experienced driver with no prior accidents and my foot was not on the wrong pedal when I was slowing down - applying my brake pedal when I was approaching a bumper to bumper congested intersection (around 5pm). All of a sudden as I applied more pressure on my brake pedal de-accelerating from 20 mph down to 10 then to 5 mph to 2 mph, my 2001 rav 4 engine suddenly accelerated (the engine started to race and the RPM was going crazy making a loud engine sound) I was only 10-15 feet from the car in front, and the immediate acceleration of the engine (it sounded like it was rev ving around 80 mph in less then 2-3 seconds) suddenly shot my car forward (like a rocket)! the engine had full possession of my acceleration. I immediately applied more pressure to the brake pedal but the force of the intense unexplained acceleration wouldn't allow me to completely stop my car! my rav 4 rear ended the back of the car in front of me, and the engine was still racing, pushing the car in front of me, when it finally stopped it's own acceleration and I had time to turn off the motor. The engine had full acceleration possession of my rav 4! I signed and sent back a Toyota consent form they sent me to examine the edr and other recording devices to further investigate, explain what the hell went wrong with the ECU or whatever computer system is in the rav 4. I trust Toyota will pay for the damage that my rav 4 did to the other car as well as mine. This could have been worse and could have caused a death and/or massive injury to others and myself as well as major property damage. I want full reimbursement of my original full purchase price I had paid for this 2001 rav 4 I had bought back in 2001-2002 for this defective rav 4.

- Desert Hot Springs, CA, USA

My wife was driving car and it started doing strange changes with the transmission, such as slipping between gear changes and jerking movements. At one point, she told me getting on freway on ramp was a hazard, because of irratic behavior of transmission!!

- El Monte, CA, USA

My 2001 Toyota Rav4 had the same problem that was covered in Toyota's extended warranty and recall for this make and model. According to a July 10, 2010 article online at thecarconnection.com it is an issue with the automatic transmission and electronic control module. The issue, which affects around 235,500 vehicles, can lead to a damaged, rough-shifting transmission. While the Rav4 for those model years was originally covered for five years or 60,000 miles on power train components, Toyota is extending coverage to ten years or 150,000 miles. The auto maker is also offering to reimburse current or former owners for repairs already made. For me, the problem did not appear until near the very end of the coverage date. It was mis-diagnosed and when problem was finally identified, I was told it was outside the warranty window and Toyota would not cover the repair. This issue is well known to Toyota and widely documented. The consumer stated the vehicle was not picking up speed as quickly. Updated 11/10/14

- Austin, TX, USA

I was driving along and came to a stop. When I started to go, my rav had no power, then it lurched and almost stopped. I had to nurse it-slowly accelerate-in order for it to move. Every time I stopped and started it did this. Once it made a noise like a hard shift from the rear of the car. I had to put my emergency flashers on to drive it safely, and drove to a transmission shop. In speaking with them, they said that Toyota has a known recall on this situation! the computer locks up the transmission. They called Toyota and gave them my VIN, it has not been replaced. Its going to cost anywhere from $1500 to $5000 to fix, depending on if the transmission is actually messed up or if it is the computer causing the problem. He has to pull the transmission to check it first. If it is the computer they said about $1000. Who do I contact to get reimbursed for this recall? when I put my VIN number in your site, it says there are no known recalls. The internet says differently. I need help!

- Broomfield, CO, USA

The transmission suddenly began slipping and jerking when accelerating from a stop or while in low gear and shifting from a low speed. I became aware of the ECM problem known to occur in my make and model of Toyota upon calling the dealership; however, I am being told that the warranty only covers ten years from the date of purchase (I purchased my car 11 years ago) despite the fact it is known that the ECM, the computer that controls the transmission, is defective and causes transmission problems. This is a dangerous problem as the car will not accelerate and the transmission slips. It is difficult to understand how Toyota cannot ethically cover this knowing it is defective and is probable to cause owners problems in the future, regardless if it's 8, 10, or 12 years down the line.

- Bakersfield , CA, USA

Toyota Rav4 2001 sudden acceleration, and throttle surge... no way to stop car with brake pedal.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

Toyota Rav4 2001 - computer problems & total transmission problem my Rav4, 2001 model initially started giving "check engine light" and having hard time accelerating from stop signal. The BBB approved service center checked it and found out the error code as P0750 and advised the replacement/rebuilding the transmission to fix the problem. They charged me approx $3000 for this transmission rebuild work/fixing the error code issue. Two days after, I got the same problem again and when I took it to the same service center, I was told that the computer system is the culprit for causing the problem. Now, based on the details available on the internet (www.carcomplaints.com/Toyota/Rav4/2002/transmission/main_computer_and_transmission_failure.shtml), I understood that this is the common problem of Toyota Rav4 cars. When I spoke to Toyota customer service on 800-331-4331 (case # 1006150572), they said they are helpless. I am interested to file a complaint with carsafety to take this up with Toyota as to why this common problem of Rav4 is not being addressed/recalled, though there are customers facing serious safety problems with the car. The problem can even lead to accidents resulting in the loss of the lives. As an example, on freeway, while going at 60mph, the speed suddenly falls down to 30 or even 20mph and continues like that for few minutes before it goes automatically to higher speed. This failure occurs every 10-15 minutes if not earlier.. the whole transmission was rebuild (including the solenoids, geartrain components, torque converter etc), the computer was replaced with a total of approx $4500, though there were no deaths/injuries yet. This problem needs to be taken up seriously with Toyota and needs a quicker resolution. Thanks in advance.

- Irving, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Toyota rav 4. while the contact was driving 30 mph she noticed that the vehicle started to pull back and fourth and then the engine shut off. A local mechanic stated that the ECM needed to be replaced. There were no prior warnings and the current and failure mileages were 95000.

- Kennewick, WA, USA