I am 63 years old and permanently mobility handicapped. I work two part time jobs. I cannot afford to get this fixed, get it diagnosed or purchase a used car. I cannot walk to get to where I need to go. I am totally dependent on this vehicle. I barely pay rent, utilities and have food stamps. Now I am going to be without transportation. I

purchased this vehicle new, 15 years ago and have cared for it as best I could. I am terrified to drive it but have to and pray that I do not get killed in it. This is a horrific position to put customers in at my age. I will never purchase another Toyota as long as I live. I am trying to get a charity vehicle and will donate the RAV4 to a charity because then I can write it off as a loss on my taxes.

Toyota should be ashamed for the numerous complaints online regarding this vehicle and for their total disregard for the lives of their customers. I am going to let everyone know that they would be making a horrendous mistake to ever purchase a Toyota.

I have loved my RAV4 and would purchase another if I wasn't on Social Security Disability, right now it doesn't run at all I have major electrical problems, battery works but I have headlights and that's the only electrical I have. Car started to not shift properly and /or shift hard, lose power, then slow down and shift hard, and the computer scan says solenoid for catalytic converter. I have never had problems before now all of a sudden I get slammed. Is there a recall? This sucks...I have $0 to fix this and I think it is the emc/emu.

I called Toyota and the Customer Service Rep told me it would be covered, even though I told her it was over 10 years old. She told me to drive it to the nearest Toyota Dealer 45 miles away. This time I figured I could have the ECU replaced, but since she said it would be covered and to take it to the dealer. She gave me a case # to give to the dealer. I drove it there. Tranny started really acting up.

Dealer confirmed the ECU and Transmission but not covered under extended warranty. I called Toyota and they said they can see where the customer service gal I talked to said it would be covered. They said she was wrong and she would be "counseled" on this issue. I explained the drive may have caused unneeded excessive damage. They said sorry and offered a 10% discount on the $5000 fix. Kind of like a band-aid for a severed limb. Absolutely horrible service. I should have bout the Honda CRV.......

The vehicle began making sporadic hard shifting between first and second gear; then it moved to more often hard and hesitating shifting between second and drive gears (with of without O/D). I visited several garages which gave the car a road test but the malfunction never happen while testing. Many occasions the problem occurred several times during driving (except of course while the mechanic was observing) Several mechanics suggested replacing the computer and/or the transmission. I felt that I was in for a rip off!!!!!. I tipped the mechanics for their effort but decided to find other types of information. However, after reading some of the complaints and descriptions I opted to disconnect the battery and shorting the cables for few seconds. Also, turning the ignition on and trying to start (while the battery was disconnected) This step assured me that the memory on the computer was wiped out. After reconnection of the battery and insuring they were firmly installed, I proceeded to drive the car for about 60 miles while I was doing some errands. The shifting between second and drive was still present but with lesser sudden jerking. Also, for a day or two it did not happen too often. After the third day, the problems disappeared (the computer learned????) and it has been running very smoothly ever since. One full week has passed and I decided to write this article hoping it can help someone. Byron

AAAAAAhhhhhh....Toyota really blew it with me on this truck. I purchased this 2001 Rav4 Oct 2003 with 28500 mi from Honda dealership where I was an employee. Original owner traded for larger vehicle and had a transferable extra care extended coverage available to transfer for a small fee $25 with a Toyota dealer inspection,and was good for 7years or 100,000 miles. Sept 3 2003 Elgin Toyota serviced vehicle, gave inspection forms to me for transfer. Within 30 days new extra care policy was transferred to me. This vehicle is my wife's and she does 99% of the driving in this truck. The 1% is me going to gas station and car wash.

Before this vehicle my wife had a company car for over 15 years and maintenance requirements were very strict and expensive, also habit forming. She still reminds me she is high maintenance and expensive too. Clean, full of gas, well maintained, with regular servicing. 10 years go by (very quickly) with no problems, complaints or even aggravation from this great little truck.

Now comes Nov 2013 just over 10 years and stuff starts going through the recirculate. The Rav 4 slips in and out of gear, bangs, does not accelerate almost causing 2 different accidents. This great little truck has only 97,500 miles so off to trans shop. 2 independent trans shops say Toyota has known problems with 2001-2003 RAV 4 auto trans and has been making the corrective adjustments. I call Elgin Toyota. Service writer, told me trans repair warranty was extended to 10 years 150,000 miles from in service date which was Jan 2001 on this truck. December 7 2013 I called Toyota customer care and guess what? They don't care, gave me a claim number (for no reason) and said too bad, go fix it yourself and they were very generous to extend the warranty to me and then told me this truck was not in my name anyway and the Vin on this truck wasn't eligible for Toyota's generous free safety adjustment.

My concern now is how an unsafely produced vehicle (Toyota was aware of this problem in 2006) and tells me the owner of this product it is now my responsibility. I was never made aware of these safety problems nor was my wife. This truck is 13 years old. 97500 easy miles well kept not abused and or driven hard. To bad Toyota. Here is my responsibility..... big family..4 kids, 10 grand kids, 2 sisters, two brothers, 4 nephews over 25 cars in immediate family. Son in Army grandsons in ROTC, nephew and grandson in marine corps so guess what Toyota.......We stand for your right to build unsafe cars and sell them in America. NOBODY in this family is going to buy or drive one and for sure recommend not buying Toyota or Lexus. The family prefers Fords and Nissan anyway. They stand behind their products (in front of them too). ONE Supra and one unsafe RAV 4 4 for sale. good by Toyota

In order to avoid the transmission problem that is common in the 2001 Toyota RAV4, I had my ECM recalibrated in August of 2010. On November 9, 2011, I couldn't get my car to shift into gear when I put it in drive. The engine would rev, but the car wouldn't go. I would have to take my foot off the accelerator, then barely give it gas, and it would slowly start going...and eventually shift gears, very roughly. This happened in a couple of very dangerous situations...pulling into traffic and making an unprotected left turn in traffic. Sometimes it just slowed down, and sometimes it didn't work at all, but it was impossible to wait until there was no traffic.

Surprise, surprise, the ECM gave out despite having been recalibrated. I paid the dealer (Charles Maund Toyota in Austin, TX) $1000 to replace it, with the hope that the transmission would not have to be replaced, too. Though the dealer told me that the new computer took care of the problems, it did not. I realized on the drive home that some of the issues (namely, rough shifting) still remained. I had to replace the transmission for another $2600. I did not have it done at the dealer, where I'm sure it would have been more.

Since the dealer recalibrated my ECM in 2010, they're saying this is not the same problem. Toyota Corporate says it's not a safety issue. I can't believe people haven't been killed related to this issue. Obviously, the recalibration doesn't do the trick. I'm told the purpose of the recalibration was to get loyal Toyota owners beyond the mileage warranty, so Toyota would not have to take any responsibility.

Prior to having the work done, I called Toyota Corporate to discuss these issues. I spent about 10 minutes on the phone with a woman, and this is, basically, how the conversation ended: Toyota Rep: "Have you ever owned a Toyota before this one?" Me: "No." Toyota Rep: "Are there other Toyota's in your household?" Me: "No." Toyota Rep: "I'm sorry, there's really nothing we can do for you."

After spending nearly $4000 to remedy the problems, I called Toyota back. Again, I spent about 10 minutes on the phone with the rep. In the end, she told me she could give me a $250 credit, for dealer work only, if I would send her the receipts after the work was done. She said I could take it or leave it.

I had planned to purchase a Toyota FJ Cruiser as my next vehicle, and, up until these incidents, I was a proud and loyal Toyota supporter. Needless to say, now I will NEVER own another Toyota again.

My 2001 Rav4 one morning suddenly started to jump from 1st gear to second gear. It was also sluggish when moving and would not move when put on drive. I found out that Toyota had problems with there main computer EMC and of course my warranty had expired so I decided to take a chance a brought a refurbished one on E-bay for $189 life time warranty and it worked like a charm. Easy to replace located behind the glove box. Must drive car slowly at the beginning to let computer adjust to the sensors. When it first happens do not continue to drive the car because it will ruin the transmission.

My 2001 Toyota RAV4 is a piece of SH%$. And whoever had it before me thanks for selling your problems on someone else. I have the dreaded hard shift from park to reverse or drive, hesitation from a start, high revving shifts, etc. Tried having the ECU fixed. That did nothing. Had the ECU replaced. That did nothing. But wait, let me explain. When you pull the plugs on the ecu for a minute, then plug them back in, the Rav4 runs good the first 3-4 times you use it. The one day when you get in, it starts acting like crap again. It does this with both ECU's. I had my transmission adaption tables reset by a factory scan tool. That didn't do anything either. I can drive with all this going on, pull over and let it iled for 5-10 minutes in park, and sometimes it goes away on its on, and sometimes it doesn't until you pull the plugs on the damn ECU again, then it's good for the next 3-4 times you use the car, then goes back to acting like ass again with all the same symptoms. Now 700.00 dollars later on (2) ECU's and one scan tool reset, I'm out of ideas. Toyota told me I was out of their extended warranty by two months on the ECU/Tranny issue that they extended to 10 years or 100,000 miles already. Plus the techs couldn't find anything wrong because I've never had a check engine light or code ever for this. And it never did it when they had it either. I'm so mad I could explode seeing all these people on here with the same issue.............THANKS TOYOTA!!!!!!!! NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!

My daughter and I bought this car from a Toyota dealership right at 3 years ago. Good condition, no problems. It reached 10 years at the end of 2011. So, at the beginning of February 2012, the transmission goes out. The dealership service department took their time in making sure that was the problem (at no charge - the service guy is not the bad guy here), and then told her it was transmission. He also told her that the transmission going out is a KNOWN PROBLEM for the 2001 Rav4, usually occurring between 90K to 100K miles (she falls in that range).

He told her that her car was a few months past warranty, but because she is a very light driver (lives in L.A., walks the 1 block to work, uses her car for shopping and seeing friends) - anyway, because she is a light user, he said that Toyota should waive that few months and work with her.

Toyota Customer Service (yeah - that's an oxymoron) first told her that there was another problem she must have fixed before they'd consider it. She spent about $300 fixing that problem. Then they told her that something else had to be done. She took care of that. Many hundreds into that, they told her that they weren't going to cover the transmission, because "they don't want to spend the money to fix this car." And yes, that is an exact quote. I asked who "they" was, and he said his regional manager. I asked to have my call routed to the regional manager, and was told that I don't have the right to speak to him.

WOW!

We are a Toyota family - every one of us has a one. My husband has a Corolla for his daily commute, I drive a Camry, and we wanted to put my daughter in a Toyota, so we all agreed on the Rav4 for her. If this problem is not taken care of, and if Toyota does not at least work with me on this, we will no longer buy Toyotas, and the only future dealings I have with them will be via attorney.

What HORRIBLE customer service!

time for Toyota to do a recall on this transmission issue and cover ALL costs- i'm told it's $4,000 or more to fix the issue of non-acceleration and then kicking into gear- nearly been rear-ended numerous times- happens daily- UNSAFE vehicle to drive at all....

Update from Nov 10, 2011: the ECM needed replacing. Toyota HAD a recall on this, but info. was not sent out to owners- they were only told about it IF/WHEN they experienced problems- ha! the warranty was extended, but my vehicle won't be covered- no thanks to your lousy customer "service" TOyota.

It all started just one day, no warning what so ever. It was having trouble shifting, and when it tried to shift sometimes, it shook the whole car body. My car goes to the dealership ever 5000 miles, so when I got the word that my transmission is failing I am in total shock. My Rav4 had the extended warranty up to 100,000, how convenient now that the extend warranty if up my transmission fails prematurely. The dealership is telling me about $5300 to fix it. My Rav4 mostly city driving, so it was never stressed by the open road. I think I am going to look into the Class Action suit in the US District Court for the Northern District of CA!

Super low mileage on my vehicle. But since I'm over the extended 10 year warranty (with this stupid ass defect, which should be recalled & covered no matter what!!!), Toyota wont help me with repairs or parts replacement. Talk about POOR Customer Service... The vehicle is unsafe. I will NEVER buy another Toyota & will NEVER recommend for people to buy TOYOTA... Called Toyota Corporate, USELESS!!! Very unpleasant people to deal with. I was told basically, "TOUGH! You are over the 10 year warranty, they don't care about the Low mileage!!! So disgusted with Toyota !!!

My problems started on a Friday. My RAV4 started to have major shifting problems as soon as I drove out of my garage in the morning. It was even shaking.This seemed to only happen after I was stopped. The engine light went on so I was VERY concerned. Couldn't go to my local place to have it checked out because it was closed on weekends so I went to Tires Plus where I've had oil changes and some repairs done. They quoted me 800.00+ for the computer and 7000.00 for the transmission. I told them that was out of my league. They handed me a bulletin from Toyota which said to replace the computer first and if issues continued, to replace the transmission.

Needless to say this put me in a tailspin of sorts. I did drive it sparingly on the weekend. That Monday I went to my local place who told me 2200.00 to replace the transmission. I even considered buying a new car because I wasn't sure I wasn't to throw good money into a 10+ yr old car.

My brother convinced me to call Toyota and ask if this is possibly covered. Surprisingly they told me the warranty had been extended to 10 years/150000 miles. [of course I had not received anything from Toyota on this. I would have remembered!] I made my appointment, took the car in and had the computer replaced at no cost to me.

Thing is...at no time was I notified by Toyota that there was a problem. Fortunately, I just beat the extended warranty deadline by 4 days!! I have been faxing Toyota a list of my complaints and asking for a response. Seems like all they are willing to give is a phone call and a 'so sorry'.

Here's the fax number......310-468-7814. Please please please inundate them with your complaints and concerns. Ask for copies of the service bulletins and extended warranty information. We as consumers have a right to this information.

2001 RAV4 automatic with 60,000 current original miles, had a slight problem since owning it with shifting hard when cold, but it was occasional and resolved quickly. Last week drove the car and could not get it to shift when entering the freeway. Dragged as cars were piling on my rear and then jumped into gear. Now every time it shifts it shifts hard, like a pop.

Stopped driving it. Called Toyota and it is 3 months out of warranty. We had called them about a year ago about the problem and they suggested we take it to a dealership, but we lived on an island in Alaska and were 100 miles by water to the dealership (no roads). Waited until we moved. Toyota says it will not extend the warranty. Hard to believe a car with 60,000 miles can't run properly! Hard to believe Toyota will not stand behind the reliability of their vehicles and do what is right! We have been a loyal Toyota family our entire lives, but this is probably the last Toyota I will ever own.

I suggest anyone living in rural America that does not have access to a Toyota dealership may want to think hard about owning a Toyota!