NHTSA Complaint #10638793 — 2002 TOYOTA RAV4

MY WIFE WAS DRIVING TO A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT AND, WHILE ON THE "ON RAMP" TO THE INTERSTATE, THE CAR WOULD NOT SHIFT FROM 2ND TO THIRD GEAR (IT'S AN AUTOMATIC TRANS). WITH THE ENGINE REVVING SHE LOOKED DOWN TO CHECK TO ASSURE IT WAS IN DRIVE ABOUT THE TIME IT LURCHED INTO 3RD, THEN SOON LURCHED INTO 4TH. COMING HOME SHE SHIFTED BETWEEN DRIVE AND NEUTRAL TO TRY TO MAINTAIN A SAFE SPEED, SAVE THE TRANSMISSION AND ENGINE, WHILE ALLOWING HER TO GET HOME. THE DEALERSHIP QUOTED $989 TO REPLACE THE ECM (COMPUTER), BUT COULDN'T ASSURE THE TRANSMISSION WOULDN'T LATER NEED TO BE REPLACED. TOYOTA CORPORATE WAS NOT HELPFUL. I HAD RECORDS FROM THE PREVIOUS CAR OWNER THAT TOYOTA ISSUED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY TO REPLACE THE ECM FOR 10 YEARS OR 150,000 MILES AS A RESULT OF A CLASS ACTION SUIT, "IF THEY FELT IT WAS WARRANTED." I ALSO HAD DOCUMENTATION THAT THE ECM WAS "REPROGRAMMED" AT 72K MILES. MY CONTENTION WAS THE ECM SHOULD'VE BEEN REPLACED, NOT REPROGRAMMED, BUT WAS TOLD THAT THE REPROGRAMMING WAS DONE TO CORRECT A DIFFERENT PROBLEM. I ASKED IF I COULD SPEAK TO SOMEONE ELSE AT CORPORATE AND WAS TOLD EVERYONE WOULD GIVE ME THE SAME RESPONSE SINCE IT IS THEIR COMPANY POSITION. THE INTERNET IS FULL OF OWNERS WHO REPLACED THE TRANSMISSION FIRST, ONLY TO FIND THE ECM CAUSED THE NEWER TRANSMISSION TO FAIL ALSO, OR OWNERS WHO REPLACED THE ECM ONLY TO FIND THAT THE TRANSMISSION ALSO NEEDED REPLACEMENT. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT TOYOTA IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. I BELIEVE THEY HAVE FAILED TO ADEQUATELY PROTECT OWNERS BY CREATING A RECALL TO ALLOW OWNERS TO GET THIS FIXED PRIOR TO SCARY AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SHIFTING PROBLEMS. THE INTERNET IS ALSO FULL OF PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO WANT TO ENTER ANOTHER CLASS ACTION SUIT, BUT I AM HOPING TOYOTA APPRECIATES THEIR CUSTOMERS ENOUGH THAT LAW SUITS WOULDN'T BE REQUIRED TO GET THEM TO DO THE RIGHT THING. BUT, I'M LOSING HOPE. *TR