I bought the car used from a dealer in 2006. I didn't purchase the warranty because it didn't seem worth the money per month since I was buying a well made, long lasting Toyota. While I still believe that once upon a time Toyotas were great, they clearly have not been making them like they used. I had the car for a year and half and the transmission failed. It started to shift smoothly in and 'uh oh something is really wrong way' and then it finally just stopped, in the middle of the road. I had to be towed and subsequently had to fork over $2800 for my transmission to be replaced. Am I angry? Yes! I loved my car, was very excited to have it. Now I curse it everyday for being a stupid money pit. I had heard of these things happening to Fords and Chevy's, not toyotas and hondas. And now my husbands 2002 Honda accord seems to have the same issue!!!

my rava 4 transmission went out on me while on vacation I was 500 mile from home,durning my time on the hwy i smelled something thinking it was the 18teenwheelers with the heavy loads, after reentering stop and go traffic i realized that I HAD A PROBLEM. Took it in to transmission shop they said yes there is something wrong with my transmission had it restored but still there was problem so I tolled it back to Virginia the dealer service manager said that the computer had begin causing owner problems. it cost me 1200 for a replacement of a new computer 1600plus for restoration while on vacation transmission doctor would not honor there warranty so I had to spend 2300plus at aamco third and fourth gear failure. plus attorney cost (1000 plus)

I just started having problems with the automatic transmission on my Toyota 2001 Rav4 with regards to the hard shifting from 1st to 2nd gear just a couple of days ago. I have not done anything yet and I am not sure what to do at the moment. Should I call the local dealer, the car is definitely out of warranty? What repairs should be done to fix this problem. It is a very dangerous problem and can cause an accident because of the car stalling briefly while going from 1st to 2nd gear. Please help!!!

This is the 10th or 11th site I've looked at for the RAV4 ECM/transmission problem. Here's what I've deduced after many hours of research:

1. The engine light comes on. 2. The tranny slips and jerks from 1st to 2nd, and sometimes from 2nd to 3rd. 3. If you drive more than about 50 miles in this state, the transmission is ruined. 4. Toyota put a faulty code into the ECM of lots of Rav4s, Camrys, and other models. 5. After years of hundreds of angry complaints, Toyota issued a recall on these models. 6. A large percentage of these people lose their transmissions and pay big. 7. Once the ECM is reflashed (or reprogrammed) the engine light stops coming on. 8. The transmission is only OK if it hasn't already been damaged. 9. Toyota mechanics plead ignorance, non-Toyota mechanics are bewildered. 10. Toyota refuses to admit that they've even ever gotten complaints. 11. People are angry, but Toyota works to keep them in small groups by model. 12. People in small groups are ineffective in calling Toyota to account for mistakes.

My RAV4 fits nicely into this recurring 12-step nightmare for Toyota owners. Even a number of chat sites try to isolate the responses by brand, much of their advertising coming from Toyota or its dealerships. I can just pay for my new transmission if I don't take a vacation this year, but there are lots of drivers who just can't afford to pay for a new transmission.

I used to be a loyal Toyota owner, but after watching the company dodge its responsibility and lie about why, I'm going elsewhere from now on. Go to the site http://www.topix.com/forum/autos/toyota/TEACK3S8TKGJN6IA3 and read on and on ad nauseum. People are looking for a class action lawsuit there. I'll join it if you will,,,

an ordinary morning driving to work, out of nowhere my rav4 would not accelerate when i stepped on gas, and if it did it would jerk significantly to make the car jump. when i would step on the accelerator smoothly it would go easy to 2 RPMs n instantly jump to almost 4 RPMs with barely stepping on the gas n then instantly go back down to about 1-2 RPMs. This is the case every time i come to a stop, red light, trying to get the car moving is problematic. 2 days later the engine light turned on. When we connected it to the computer it gave a trouble code P0750. After speaking to several mechanics n the toyota dealer itself they admitted multiple cases with this problem. The issue is known but the solution not quite. Suggestions ranged from replacing solenoid yo maybe even whole transmission an expense that could go up to $3,000 however, not guaranteeing it will solve the problem. Im debating on the best and wisest way to take care of it. what are the updates with this problem?

our rav4 auto, started hard shifting,not going into low gear,rev. up going into 3rd gear.real piece of crap and when i read the forums here with $$$$.when i read about dealer resetting emc. i disconnected battery cable ,left it off for 11/2 days (wasn't going anywhere anyways) I'm not advertising for them in any way, but i added a bottle of lucas trans treatment.was told it would take about 200 miles to see if it worked. i then went to a trans shop to tell my woes they did a code scan with nothing showing up.(battery was disconnected and cleared all codes)guy at trans shop told me it would take about 30 miles for computer to reset its self and rav4 would work like s--t til it did reset.well my tale is a happy one so far.s rav4 started shifting like it should.my problem went away just about as quick as it came and i sure hope it lasts.i at least have some hope now while i still think of those $$$$ NO REPAIR costs. hope this helps someone.

I am so glad we found this site - at least I know I am not crazy! I am experiencing the same symptoms: not shifting properly between 1st and 2nd AND 2nd and 3rd gears, lurching when moving from Park to Reverse, jerking in traffic, not moving when I let off the brake (from stop, to the chagrin of all drivers behind me) - all makes me scared to drive this car that has been so great! I can't believe Toyota...especially with the large number of complaints about this SAME issue on 2001-2003 models. My husband is looking for a rebuilt transmission and also ECM thanks to the other posts on this site. I had a Honda before and will definitely go back - never buying a Toyota again, and warning everyone I know not to buy either! Please contact me if there is a class-action lawsuit - I will definitely be involved.

I see a common ECM/tranny theme here that I can relate to. The dealer charged me $100 to tell me that the bad shifting and red light meant a $1300 ECM cost. As I was crying the blues at my church group, a guy that owns a garage said, "I could have given you that info for free. The real problem can sometimes be what they don't tell you." I took it to him to read out and he said the code said it was a problem with the #2 shift solenoid in tranny. He said the dealer knows odds are you'll go to an outside tranny dealer cuz they're much cheaper, so they are just trying to extort money from you before they lose you as a customer. Well, all that sounded so harsh to me that I just dismissed it as someone who had a really biased opinion and economic resentment. WELL GUESS WHAT! He was absolutely right! I went back to the dealer and paid the $1300 ECM cost and there is NO IMPROVEMENT in the shifting and NOW THEY'RE TELLING ME it's the tranny. They won't cover the tranny, so has anyone found any way to pressure them into covering these trannys that should be lasting longer?

I have owned this one for almost 8 yrs with no issues. Yesterday noticed sudden jerk while shifting from 1st to second gear. Today it has become worse, car hardly moves in first gear and suddenly slips to 2nd. Then it is normal until I have to stop again.

Fortunately lady driving behind me had lot of patience and didn't honk even once.

Check light has also come on. I thought of checking web and found I am not alone.

Its difficult to believe that only solution is $spend 6000 on ECM + Trans.

I have written to toyota and plan on taking to dealer once I hear something form toyota.

Hello everyone with a toyota RAV4. I always loved my car and always wanted to stay with toyota. After my wonderful adventure today I am not so sure now. I got a recall notice back in march to reprogram the ECM. Not only did it take 2 hours out of my time it still did not fix the check engine light coming on. Well starting today shifting out of first gear scared the sh*t out of me. I have never had the jerking, no power in the gas pedal, clunking noise EVER. Well with doing some research i found that NUMEROUS complaints about the ECM and the transmission. I called the customer care center of toyota and he stated that there are no reports that the two problems are related. He told me I have to convince the dealership that they are one in the same problem. I WILL NOT PAY for this problem considering they are so many complaints about this. How can you tell me there is not a direct relation? Hopefully we can do something about this and make Toyota replace the ECM and fix the transmission at not cost to the consumer. If you have any information regarding this problem PLEASE let me know. Thanks

I have got the same problem (fault code P0755 - Harsh shifting) what everybody else are reporting here. I did not do any repair yet other than spending one hundred dollars for the diagnostic test from the dealership. Dealer is recommending to replace the Engine Control Module and if that does not fix the problem, replace the transmission itself on my own cost. As everybody else reports here this is not acceptable as this inconvenience that we are all are going through was created by Toyota (by installing faulty ECM's at the first place on 2001 - 2003 RAV4's). I have reported to NHTSA and have also called Toyota customer service. They did not want to listen to any of our / customer concern. She is keep saying your car is out of warranty and Toyota cannot do anything about it. Where else we should report about this so that Toyota will recall the ECM's for all RAV 4's, which has this complaint and reimburse the expenses for people who had spent the money from their pocket already? Did anybody filed a law-suit already? If yes i am willing to join.

P.S. Its good that i have landed on this website before working on the transmission which was recommended by an AAMCO transmission tech. As some of you have suggested let me just replace the ECM first and see if that fix the problem.

While I enjoy meeting new people with common interests, this is not exactly the place I'd like to be doing it! A few days ago, the check engine light on my '01 rav4 popped on, but I wasn't experiencing any mechanical difficulties. Was hoping maybe a faulty gas cap or something minor, but then yesterday, started experiencing some "skipping" and hesitation while driving. Checked fluids, topped them off, etc..thought maybe bad gas..

This morning the skipping and hesitation lasted all the way to work. I remembered getting something in the mail that i thought may have been a recall, which lead me to the internet and all of you lovely people with lint in your pockets where money used to be! Forgive me for making light of this, but if i don't i may loose my mind...I DO NOT have $5000 to replace these things, particularly when they are the fault of Toyota. I am alway bragging about how dependable my rav is..yeah..not so much!

I spoke to a guy at one of the dealerships and he told me probably $1200 for ECM replacement and I couldn't bare to hear the rest! He said he had one other woman with the same problem, but said she drove her care for a very long time with Engine light on (guess that made it her fault). He also said that it can just happen naturally...I told him we both know it is a defective part and b/c i am over 80,000 miles, I am SOL!!!

I am bringing to my mechanic tonight..if I make it there..and letting him put it on the computer to see what he thinks. I feel like I am just throwing away $90 to get bad news, but what else can i do??

I will post again with the findings and if I am one of the unluckies, I will be more than happy to jump on the legal bandwagon---This is ridiculous and I am tired of getting screwed by companies/people like this. It's bad enough our government does it and we pay through the nose for gas and anything made from, transported by or serviced through petroleum (which is everything)....

Sorry for the rant..just freaking out!

I bought this 2001 Rav 4 with 123,000 from single female owner in Feb 08. She had it regularly serviced including trans. flush at 90,000 and 120,000. No problems noted on invoices other than replacing cat. converter at 40,000. I brought car into Toyota dealer after a few weeks to have them reset ECU or something according to a recall bulletin that I found when registering the car. Have to admit, I always thought the transmission shift from 1st to 2nd seemed weak, but it always engaged. Having never owned a Rav before, thought is was just a design quirk. As in previous complaints, same symptoms of erratic and underpowered shifting appeared out of blue a few days ago. Managed to limp home. After dropping transmission pan at local trans.repair shop found small bits of metal sticking to magnets in bottom of pan...and cloudy fluid. $3500 quote to install rebuilt transmission....but I am concerned that the problem will reoccur if the malfunction was perhaps electronic in origin. I am not sure how to proceed, before the work begins. What caused the damage internally? ...........totally disappointed.

I recently had my check engine light go on. Unfortunately, it was over 4th of July weekend and a little hard to get the car into the shop. On Monday morning, I was on my way in to work and the car started shifting really hard. Needless to say it was a tense ride. I would stop at every intersection wondering if the car would start rolling again. I drove straight to our neighborhood mechanic. I found this website on-line and decided to take the car to Toyota when the code P0755 came up on the computer. I went to Toyota armed with the Technical Service Bulletin TC002-06 because of the ECM computer issues. Luckily, the transmission had not yet been damaged!!! However, when it came to the warranty Toyota will only cover 1/2 of the replacement of the computer because it was 3,000 miles out of warranty. I find this appalling! We had customer service representatives admit that the part is defective, but Toyota only covers manufactured defects until the warranty period is up. We also had the service manager tell us not to contact customer service because they would pull the offer! I can't imagine a company not standing behind their product knowing that they are putting customers' lives in danger. They have been completely unhelpful in connecting us to anyone at Toyota that could help us. If this happens to you make sure you take the TSB with you to Toyota. I am sure the slime balls would have sold us a new transmission if we hadn't been aware of the ECM issues.