This car would violently downshift to 1st gear at 60 mph. It was very unsafe so I stopped my wife from driving it and googled potential problems. It was suggested the computer was at fault so I sent it to Circuit Board Medics in South Carolina and they fixed us right up for about $100.00. I FedEx it and paid for a rush repair so the total cost was $275.00. Toyota wanted to charge $1000.00 for a new ECM. Evidently we were outside the class action law suite which added 10 years to the warranty so too bad for us. They did give us a $750.00 coupon on a new Toyota. I wanted to share this in hopes it helps another Rav4 owner.

The vehicle has worked fine since the ECM repair.

I am so mad because Toyota won't pay for this they extended the warranty to 10yrs/150,000 miles but of course my car is 15 years old even though it has only 119,276 miles on it!!! I'm logging this complaint in hopes that more people will do the same and they will have no choice but to do the right thing and extend the warranty and pay to have this fixed! There have been thousands of complaints online and there is a class action lawsuit filed at this time but this is something I can't afford to pay to fix and this is my family's only vehicle!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MAKE TOYOTA ACCOUNTABLE TO DO THE RIGHT THING!!! THIS SHOULD NOT HAVE A TIME LIMIT ON IT! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL ON FAULTY ECM'S!!!

Long story short, Bought the car "as is" from a Toyota dealership in October 2017, did not know of the transmission/ecm problem until November 2017 (yes that fast). Got a diagnostic test, the code said the transmission needed to be replaced. We are now in January 2018, I got the transmission replaced for 2,714 right? Okay, today January 16th 2018, I picked up my car, drove it around, brought it right back within 45 minutes. My car was still doing a hard shift. I got in the car with the mechanic to drive up the highway, he felt the shift immediately and informed me he was the one that put the part in. Okay, at this point we had to leave because all the managers were in a meeting. I get a call around 3:30pm saying that the ECM is not a problem and they quoted me a price! I Just spent 5,000 so far buying the car and 2,700 dollars to fix the car. She told me that an ECM would cost from 1,500 dollars to 2,000 to replace, are you serious right now? Of course the warranty that Toyota "extended" is no longer in affect, so all of this money has to come out of pocket. To say I haven't had my car or driven my car for long at all I have experienced a nightmare. I am a senior in college now, I only bought this car because my other vehicle was totaled by a driver who ran a stop sign and State Farm awarded me only 2,800 for my previous car. This is a nightmare, no one but God will help you in the end this is sad and ridiculous. It's not right to get over on people in this way.

I received this RAV as an inheritance from my mother (which was in her 80's) in 2014 so that tells you it wasn't driven much. It only had 40,000 to 50,000 miles on it so we thought it was like brand new. We drove it from California to Arkansas and once things emotionally settled some I started driving it to work daily. I noticed that every morning it seemed like it struggled to shift out of 2nd gear so I took it to the local dealership. They recommended a transmission service so I did that. The dealership said it seemed fine to them. This vehicle was always serviced by a Toyota dealership. Well here I am 2017 and the transmission seems to be slipping and when it does shift it makes a clunk noise and a rough shake to the vehicle. Of course I Google it and found out that these vehicles had an ECM problem that Toyota knew about so then I contact Toyota and the local dealership. Toyota explained to me they enhanced the warranty to cover this to 10 years or 150,000 miles. Guess what the 10 years past so no warranty. It has 86,000 miles on it now. So after $700.00 dollars later and a refurbished board (new at Toyota dealership $1200 to $1600.), 1 week later it is fine.

My 2003 Rav4's transmission starting shifting erratically, starting in 3rd gear instead of 1st, sluggish to get moving after stopping, etc. When I took it to the dealership they said that a warning had been issued in 2006 on this model for a faulty ECM and that they extended the warranty to 10 years and 150K miles. Well my RAV 4 is now 13 years old but only has 95,000 miles on it. Toyota refused to fix my car because the warranty ran out and are charging me $1700+ to replace the faulty ECM. THIS IS WRONG ON ALL LEVELS - THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL AND BEEN FIXED!!!!!

Before I arrived at the dealership with my faulty RAV4 I was crossing 4 lanes of traffic and my car hesitated in the middle of the turn and would not go into gear, a car was headed straight into my side and was able to swerve into another lane and not hit me. I COULD BE DEAD OR IN THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW DUE TO THIS FAULTY ECM.

I had promised by grand daughter that I would give her this car for college and I would get a new one. There is no way that I would ever let her drive this car. If something happened to her I would NEVER forgive myself.

Toyota please stand up to the plate and fix these vehicles that are still on the road.

When stopping at a stop sign or stop light and then start to pull out in the intersection, the car almost had no power to get going. The car would jerk while in low gear but after getting into a regular gear, the Rav4 drives good. It only happens when stopping and starting over again. I was told that there is no extended warranty one day and then another day I was told there was an extended warranty put out by Toyota but I never got a notice of it of any kind. Now they say I have to put out big bucks if I want to get it fixed. This is not fair if Toyota knew there was a problem to begin with. All this has left a sour taste in my mouth for Toyota.

Just heard from the dealership and they think it is the ECM and transmission fluid needs to be changed at this time they don't think transmission is hurt. My trust with Toyota has declined. I am looking at $2000 to repair, they don't have a loan car because of all the recalls, my job depends on having dependable transportation. I am a disabled senior citizen and really thought this would be last car since I brought it brand new. I brought a 2003 Rav4 - automatic and I love it. I did the required maintenance on it. Why isn't there a class action on these Rav4 from 2001-2003?

Update from Apr 25, 2010: Well after talking with the Asst. Manager at my local Toyota dealership they are going to help with the cost. He talked with the factory distributor and even though its not half it is better than nothing and at least they are willing to help. For all of you out there, fight fight fight ..... but remember you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. Jo

Had the same problem that others have already listed here. Replaced the ECM after transmission was jerking. Less than 2 months later, engine light is back on and now the code coming up says it's the catalytic converter. Anyone else having the same problem? I've owned many domestic cars in the past and for many years but have never had to replace the computer in a vehicle or the catalytic converter. I thought I had a great vehicle when I purchased the Rav4 brand new. Over $2000 in less than 2 months on a vehicle that isn't even 7 years old yet? By the way, not that it may matter in this situation, but the vehicle is in a garage every night and completely highway driven. What gives??

Day before Christmas, finishing my shopping, I went out to do one more errand. I had just gotten back from the mall 20 minutes before and had no problems. I started the car and put it in drive and it felt like the emergency brake was on. I stopped and checked it, then checked that it was in Drive and not D2 or D3. Pulled back out and it wouldn't shift, then lurched into gear. Went to the end of the street and it did the same thing. I pulled out into traffic( cause I was in the middle of the intersection, and it finally shifted at about 25 MPH. It then drove fine until I stopped again. I went around the block and back home. My regular mechanic said it sounds like the transmission and recommended a shop. They also told me that there have been a lot of problems with the ECM (engine computer module) failing, which causes the transmission to fail, in the 2002 and early 2003 RAV4s and that the computer may be covered by a "silent recall" . The transmission shop told me they wouldn't know if it was just the computer or if the transmission was damaged until the got in it. I brought it in ( it drove fine until I was about 1 mile away) and they called me the next day and said that the transmission definitely needed to be rebuilt and that when they do the RAV 4's they always replace the computer as well. (I am wondering if the transmission really needed to be replaced after reading all the complaints on this site as I have been having issues with the check engine light coming on and off sporadically all year.) The bill was $3590.00. $1123.00 for the ECM- Model # 89661-42890. The transmission guy said I should call the dealer and try to get reimbursed for the computer. Needless to say I got no where with the dealer. That is when I found this site. I filed a complaint with the transportation safety board TSB, (On line- search TSB ) What if I were pulling onto the highway when the car pulled into traffic and wouldn't move? And I called Toyota customer service 1-800-331-4431, where I was told that it is not covered by any recalls, and It wasn't a recall it was a computer re-flash for the 2002 RAV's. They also said that I don't have any recourse to be reimbursed for the computer because the work wasn't done at the dealership. I wish I had looked at the site first, from what I've read I may have been able to replace just the ECM. I bought the Toyota because I put a lot of miles on my car and Toyota's are supposed to run forever. I loved my RAV until this spring when I started having problems. Hope this rant helps save someone some serious $.

I've been a strong advocate of Toyota for 22 years. I've defended Toyota to my father in law who is retired from Ford, shame on me!! Ford NEVER would have put saving a buck before their customers safety. Toyota may make a reliable car if your lucky enough to find one that doesn't have a factory defect. If you are one of those unlucky consumers Toyota WILL NOT have your back. Toyota seems to weigh the cost of recalls more than the safety of their customers. I will be out $4400 repairing their mistake. As for their dealerships, I was cursed at by the owner and told to get a lawyer because I asked why I was not informed of this defect. The defect was know about 1 year before I purchased my car. When I purchased my car the sun visor was falling down and they didn't even want to spend the couple of hunderd dollars to fix that the suggested I velcro the visors to the roof of my car. TOYOTA IS A JOKE!!!

My well maintained 2003 RAV4 began doing all the things others are complaining about here, starting about 134,000 miles. I noticed some gear slipping gradually over the past week, and suddenly, wham! The car was hesitating to where it almost stalled when I accelerated at a light, then instead of losing power altogether slammed forward and bucked violenty. It does the same thing on a turn. This car is a serious safety hazard. I took it to the dealer where I have been having it serviced for the 7 years I have owned it. I am the original owner. The found nothing, of course. Hah! I asked them to check the ECM and drive it around until they felt the problem. Finally I was able to speak to the mechanic who had heard of ECM problems and said he thought maybe he could reprogram.

In the meantime I reported the problem to Toyota by email, I logged a compaint with the National Transportation at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ and urge you to do the same as with enough of these complaints it can FORCE TOYOTA to recall. Then I looked up the class action lawsuit. This is not to be confused with another recent lawsuit that has to do with fast acceleration and floor mats. The right place for the ECM related class action suit is below. I am contacting them to see how I can be a part of this. Here are the contacts - Beth Terrell, Terrell, Marshall and Daudt - bterrell@tmdlegal.com, 206-816-6603. Jeffrey Cereghino, jcereghino@merrillnomura.com - Merrill, Nomura and Molineux. 925-833-1000.

A technical service bulletin was issued in 2006 stating that there is a known problem with the ECM which could result in a complete failure of the transmission. Toyota failed to inform owners of this issue meaning that the owners would have to pay for the damage when the warranty ran out. The cost to overhaul the transmission came to $2900.00, taxes in. Had I been informed of this issue in 2006 the ECM could have (should have) been replaced under warranty thus saving the transmission problem later on.

Ok, here goes...why in God's green Earth if Toyota KNOWS that the ECM/PCM problems exist with 2001 to 2003 Rav4's why haven't they issued a recall??? When the service bulletins state that "there may be a problem with the ECM, and the codes may or may not be present...." --there was no warning for this problem so that I, as an owner would have been alerted to a potential problem before my transmission F^&*cked up completely?? It's just recently (yesterday) cost me $3400 Canadian and the ECM problem will cost me more yet again by end of June 2009....would somebody please explain to me why they deny there's a problem, yet my transmission shop has had 2 Rav4's in with the SAME Problem, and the computer part, (according to Toyota....) is on back order for 3 weeks? BACK ORDER?? THERE'S A PROBLEM here!! Let's all get together and start a class action suit for Rav4 owners and make Toyota admit the problem and offer some compensation for a problem they just hoped would go away!!

If anyone is interested in that feel free to contact me via email. I might be mad enough to do it.......