NHTSA Complaint #10482331 — 2002 TOYOTA RAV4

I WAS DRIVING MY 2002 TOYOTA RAV4 DOWN THE INTERSTATE WHEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AT THE SAME TIME THAT THE RPM'S OF THE VEHICLE BEGAN ESCALATING FAR BEYOND WHERE THEY NORMALLY WOULD. AFTER TESTING THE VEHICLE AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS, I DETERMINED THAT THE CAR WOULD NOT SHIFT FROM FOURTH TO FIFTH GEAR. TOOK IT TO MY LOCAL MECHANIC, WHO DETERMINED THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY TRANSMISSION. WHAT'S WRONG IS THAT THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE (ECM) THAT CONTROLS THE TRANSMISSION HAD FAILED. HE CONTACTED A LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER TO SEE IF HE COULD SOURCE THE PART AND DISCOVERED THAT IT WAS A KNOWN FAILURE AND WE NEEDED TO TAKE THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP. WE DID SO, WHERE WE WERE TOLD BECAUSE WE PURCHASED THE CAR NEW IN MAY OF 2002 (TEN YEARS, FIVE MONTHS AGO) THAT THEY WERE REFUSING TO REPAIR THE CAR'S ECM AS IT FELL OUTSIDE OF THEIR 'ADJUSTED' WARRANTY PERIOD. I CONTACTED TOYOTA'S CORPORATE CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE, WHERE I WAS TOLD THAT YES, TOYOTA KNOWS THAT THE PART IS GOING TO FAIL. THEY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO COVER MORE OF THE CARS THAT WOULD BE AFFECTED. HOWEVER, SINCE I PURCHASED MY CAR FIVE MONTHS LONGER THAN THEIR ARBITRARY TEN YEAR COVERAGE PERIOD REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT THE MILEAGE OF THE CAR FALLS FAR BELOW THE LISTED COVERAGE THAT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING TO REPAIR MY VEHICLE. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THE DEALERSHIP QUOTED $1400 FOR THE ECM REPAIR AND ANOTHER $4800 FOR THE TRANSMISSION - SAYING THAT THE TRANSMISSION HAD TO BE REPLACED, EVEN THOUGH THEY HADN'T INSPECTED IT (I ASKED!!) AND I HAD ALREADY HAD AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC CHECK IT OUT AND SAID THAT IT WAS FINE. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW IT IS OKAY FOR TOYOTA TO SELL MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CARS WITH KNOWN SAFETY DEFECTS AND SAY THAT THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR - KNOWING THAT IF THE REPAIR ISN'T MADE, THAT PEOPLE WILL BE KILLED DRIVING THESE CARS. *TR