NHTSA Complaint #10764210 — 2002 TOYOTA RAV4

MY 2002 TOYOTA RAV 4 IS AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AND IT DOESN'T SHIFT EASILY. I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS BECAUSE IT WAS A 4 CYLINDER, BUT RECENTLY IT HAS GOTTEN A LOT WORSE. WHAT IT'S DOING NOW IS A MAGNIFICATION OF WHAT IT HAS BEEN DOING FOR A LONG TIME, STRUGGLING TO SHIFT FROM THE LOWER GEAR TO A HIGHER GEAR. I CALLED MY DEALERSHIP WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAR NEW IN 2002 AND THEY SAID THAT MY CAR HAS A 'WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT' NOTICE ON IT, AND THAT IT NEEDS A NEW ECU, BUT THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE DONE THIS WITHIN 10 YEARS FROM MY PURCHASE DATE. A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE FROM JULY 13, 2010 ADDRESSES THIS ISSUE AND TOYOTA'S WARRANTY EXTENSION, AND POINTED OUT THAT TOYOTA NOTIFIED DEALERSHIPS. HOWEVER, IT APPEARS THAT YOU HAVE TO BE A CUSTOMER OF YOUR DEALERSHIP TO HAVE TO HAVE FOUND OUT ABOUT THE ECU, AND I AM NOT BECAUSE I DON'T LIVE NEAR THE DEALERSHIP. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT TOLD ME THAT I FALL OUTSIDE THE 10 YEAR WARRANTY AND WOULD HAVE TO PAY $1200-1600 TO REPLACE THE ECU. TOYOTA MOTOR CORP TOLD ME THE SAME THING WHEN I CALLED. IT SEEMS PATENTLY UNFAIR THAT TOYOTA WOULD ONLY INFORM ME THAT MY CAR HAS A PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED BY THEM IF I'M A CUSTOMER OF THEIR SERVICE STATION AT MY DEALERSHIP! I'M JUST GUESSING THAT IF THEY CALL IT A 'WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT' INSTEAD OF A RECALL, THEY'RE NOT OBLIGATED TO NOTIFY PEOPLE WHO DON'T FREQUENT THEIR SERVICE STATIONS. BECAUSE OF THE SHIFTING PROBLEM MY CAR SEEMS VERY UNSAFE. I HAVE HAD TO PARK IT. WHEN I SAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR ANOTHER CAR, YOU CAN BET IT WON'T BE A TOYOTA!