CarComplaints.com Notes: If you're looking for a vehicle with one of the most complained about transmission on the road, look no further than the 2001-2003 Toyota RAV4.
In 2001 Toyota completely redesigned the popular SUV. While some enjoyed the new look, they did not enjoy the harsh shifting, jumping from gear-to-gear and eventual transmission failure that cost owners well over $3,000 to fix. The problem stems from a malfunctioning Electronic Control Module (ECM).
Consumer outrage coupled with pressure from different agencies led Toyota to extend the warranty nationwide back in 2010. The previous power train warranty only covered 5 years/60,000 miles, while the extended warranty now covers the transmission and ECM for 10 years/150,000 miles. Toyota also pledged to reimburse any owners who had previously paid for repairs, if they had "proper proof". Good luck collecting on that one.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
102,505 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My car is Toyota Rav4 2001 2wd automatic. Recently, the car on acceleration started doing hard shift. Many people have complained about it. 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.
My 2001 Toyota Rav4 is a victim of the ECM failure that causes transmission issues. This is a well known issue with 2001 and 2002 Rav4's that Toyota refuses to acknowledge. The ECM unit fails, and destroys the transmission in the process.
2001 Toyota rav 4 started with check engine light coming on and off then Toyota sent ssc-601 in March of 08 that I needed to have ECM reprogrammed which I did{took tech 2 times to get it right} now my transmission started slipping so I took it in to Toyota and they did a diagnostic and sure as pie they said ECM has failed and they want $940 to replace it. This is a widespread problem that has been seen by Toyota and is a manufactures defect that they expect us the consumer to eat I've had nothing but runaround from both local dealer and their corporate office. No one seems to care and is unwilling to do anything about this.
- Mckean, PA, USA
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- Bellevue, WA, USA