2001,-02,-03 Rav 4 owners, read up to save big bucks

[Braggi]

If you or someone you know owns a 2001 - 2003 Rav 4 please read this. It could save you thousands of dollars and months of headache and frayed nerves.

The computer that controls the transmission in these cars is doomed to fail. They are guaranteed to 80,000 miles by federal law, though the Toyota dealer in Santa Rosa told me 70,000. In any case, at somewhere between 60 and 90,000 miles they are very likely to fail which can result in rough shifting, "slippage" or failure of the overdrive mechanism to work properly. If a "check engine" light does go on it will lead the mechanic on an expensive goose chase looking for failing parts in the transmission. That cost us $500 at Big O in Healdsburg (they should have known better so I'm not happy about that).

Ours failed at 90,000 miles which puts it outside the computer guarantee required by law, but within the 100,000 mile guarantee we purchased when we bought the car. Toyota would not stand behind their guarantee telling us the computer wasn't part of the drive train (although the transmission can't shift without it).

If you put off doing something about this it will destroy your transmission which will cost $3,500 to $5,000 to fix, and then you'll still have the problem.

There are parts in the computer that fail. Toyota has known about the problem for years but has not notified consumers because it would cost too much to replace all the computers. There is no recall though thousands of Toyota owners are petitioning the FTC to force one.

If you do wind up with the proper diagnosis your helpful Toyota dealer will offer to fix it for you at a cost of around $1,500, not including transmission work if necessary.

I was able to locate a repair service through ebay that fixes them and overnights the repaired unit back to you for $420 including shipping. I fixed ours and it works well so far, but hasn't yet had a good lengthy road test. I'll update with another post here in a few days.

It takes only about 20 minutes to remove the computer. Then you have to ship it off to Brooklyn, NY. They'll have it back to you in three days, which is actually less than estimated shipping time, so I don't know how they do it.

The instructions they provide aren't the best, but I'm happy to give advice at no charge if you choose to follow this method.

Signed, a pretty pissed off Toyota owner,

-Jeff

[Bryan]

Hey Jeff - good info - I don't have a toyota but I always worry about transmission problems as they are so expensive to fix. A computer problem though may be a lot cheaper.

Here's a link to something that sounds like this problem but with a cheap fix. A software upgrade to the main computer:

RAV4 ECU Software Update: Recommended - Toyota Forums :: Toyota Nation

Here's a link to a toyota recall notice;

Toyota Announces "Check Engine" Light Special Service Campaign(Recall)On 220,000 Toyota Highlander and RAV4's

You may be able to do the software upgrade and not have to buy a whole new computer.