NHTSA Complaint #10322568 — 2001 TOYOTA RAV4

TOYOTA 2001 RAV4: CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAS BEEN ON SINCE AT LEAST AUGUST, 2004 (DOCUMENTED). TOYOTA CLAIMED TO FIX PER A RECALL NOTICE. FROM FEBRUARY 2002 TO DATE, THERE HAS BEEN INTERMITTENT GROANING BENEATH CAR, WHINING IN FIRST GEAR, AND WHAT FELT LIKE CLUNKING. COULD NOT PASS SMOG TESTS BECAUSE OF CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CODE. IN OCTOBER, 2009, CAR DIED. COULD NOT RESTART, HAD TO WAIT FOR TOW (MIDNIGHT ON A DARK ROAD). HAD WORK DONE IN OCT, 2009, AND I REQUESTED THE PARTS. THEY REPLACED MY COILS, PLUGS AND AIR FILTER FOR $1,330. I HAVE HAD BRAKES REPLACED , FLUIDS CHANGED, O2 SENSORS REPLACED ( SINCE THEN, THE CAR IS MIS-SHIFTING, CLUNKING OR GROANING, ROUGH ENGINE. ON 3/25/2010, I TOOK IT IN AND TOYOTA SERVICE RECOMMENDED THAT I "LET IT GO" AND BUY ANOTHER CAR. THEY TOLD ME TO JUST COME AND GET THE CAR WITHOUT ANY WORK DONE, BECAUSE IT WOULD COST ME BETWEEN $6,000-$7,000 FOR REPAIRS. I WAS NEVER TOLD THAT I HAD ECM AND TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT ALL OF THESE VISITS TO TOYOTA SERVICE. I BELIEVE THAT TOYOTA "WAITED ME OUT" SO THAT THEY COULD JUST SELL ME ANOTHER CAR INSTEAD OF REVEALING THE TRUE CAUSE OF MY PROBLEMS. THE ECM AND TRANSMISSION FOR THIS CAR IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AS A NEW ITEM, SO I WOULD HAVE TO GET A REBUILT TRANSMISSION, WHICH THE DEFECTIVE ECM WOULD END UP DESTROYING. I AM AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE OF THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE TRANSMISSION WILL FAIL. *CN