Problems · by component
2003 Toyota RAV4 vehicle speed control problems
32 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2003 Toyota RAV4 cite vehicle speed control, 10% of all 327 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
32
10% of all complaints
Crashes
4
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
2
Reported by owners
What owners say about the vehicle speed control
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“TAKATA RECALL" I WAS DRIVING ON A CITY STREET ON MY WAY HOME LATE AFTERNOON...AUTO STARTED TO JERK AND FELT LIKE SOMETHING WAS PULLING AT IT...IT SLOWED UP THEN JERKED AGAIN...IT CONTINUED ON...I WAS DRIVING AT 45 SPEED LIMIT...AS I WAS TURNING THE SHIFTING WAS SOUNDING LIKE IT WAS STICKING...I PARKED IT AT HOME AND NEXT MORNING I HAD IT CHECKED AND DIAGNOSED AS SOLENOID PROBLEM CAUSING TRANSMISSION BURNOUT...ALSO TOYOTA REVEALED PROBLEMS WITH THE ECM AND TRANSMISSION FAILURE”
“HARSH SHIFTING, JUMPING FROM GEAR-TO-GEAR, SLUGGISH ACCELERATION AND TRANSMISSION/ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE FAILURE. CALLED TOYOTA REGARDING THE EXTENDED WARRENTY. THEY REFUSED TO HONOR THE EXTENDED WARRANTY DESPITE NOT PROVIDING NOTICE TO THE CORRECT ADDRESS.”
“LAST WEEK, ON THE FREEWAY ENTRANCE THE CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE, THEN "BUCKED" AND "RACED". I NEARLY GOT REAR-ENDED BY THE CAR BEHIND ME - A FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE. THEN, DRIVING CITY STREETS - TO THE MECHANIC - THE SAME EXPERIENCE - STALLED THEN RACED AHEAD. AFTER REPLACING THE TRANSMISSION FLUID AND FILTER ($400), THE PROBLEM CONTINUES AND THE MECHANIC ADVISED REPLACING THE ECM ($928.46 PLUS LABOR). THIS IS A SERIOUS FINANCIAL STRAIN ON ME. I TAKE MY CAR IN FOR SERVICE EVERY 5K MILES AND IT IS WAY BELOW THE EXTENDED WARRANTY MILEAGE OF 150K, HOWEVER, IT IS NOW 11 YEARS OLD. I NEVER, EVER, RECEIVED ANY RECALL NOTICE FROM TOYOTA! I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT TOYOTA SHOULD REIMBURSE ME FOR THESE REPAIRS SINCE THEY HAVE BEEN AND ARE WELL AWARE OF THE SAFETY ISSUE THE FAILED ECM CAUSES. *TR”
“ON 9/30/2014 WAS TRYING TO PULL OUT OF A PARKING LOT TO TURN LEFT AND MY CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. I ALMOST GOT HIT BY APPROACHING CARS THAT I WOULD HAVE ORDINARILY HAD PLENTY OF TIME TO CLEAR. I WAS ABLE TO STEER INTO THE LEFT TURN LANE AND STOP TO AVOID COLLISION BUT HAD TROUBLE AFTER THAT PICKING UP ENOUGH SPEED TO GET TO THE RIGHT LANE. I TOOK MY CAR IN IMMEDIATELY FOR INSPECTION AND IT WAS NOTED THAT THE TRANSMISSION AND ECM NEEDED REPLACED. I HAVE SINCE FOUND INFORMATION ON A RECALL I NEVER RECEIVED FOR DEFECTIVE ECM'S THAT CAUSE TRANSMISSION FAILURE. APPARENTLY A 10 YEAR OR 150,000 EXTENDED WARRANTY WAS ISSUED IN 2010, BUT I WAS ALSO NEVER INFORMED OF THAT. MY MILEAGE QUALIFIES BUT I BOUGHT MY CAR IN DEC 2002 SO I AM PAST THE TIME LIMIT. SINCE REPAIRS EXCEED THE BLUE BOOK VALUE OF MY CAR, IT HAS NO TRADE IN VALUE. THIS WAS AN UNSAFE SITUATION (THAT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE ON THE FREEWAY)' AND AN UNFAIR OUTCOME FOR ME FINANCIALLY. *TR”
“HI I OWN A TOYOTA RAV4 2003 SINCE 2009 THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. I AM ASKING THE NHTSA TO ORDER A RECALL TO HAVE TOYOTA FIX THIS PROBLEM BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED OR SERIOUSLY INJURED. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE CAR OFTEN DOES NOT ACCELERATE AS IT SHOULD. WHEN HEADED UP AND ACCELERATING FROM A STOP, THE CAR SPUTTERS BEFORE JERKING INTO GEAR AND ACCELERATING. AND THEN ABOUT 5-8 SECONDS LATER THE CAR WOULD JOLT INTO GEAR. ALSO, WHEN ALREADY MOVING AND GOING UP EVEN A SLIGHT HILL, WHEN I PRESS THE ACCELERATOR TO MAINTAIN SPEED, THE CAR SPUTTERS AS IT SHIFTS FROM SECOND TO THIRD GEAR BEFORE JERKING INTO THIRD GEAR. THROUGH THE INTERNET,I ALMOST GOT HIT A FEW TIMES. I LEARNED THAT THE ECM IS A COMPUTER (ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE) THAT CONTROLS THE TRANSMISSION AND OTHER COMPONENTS, THAT TOYOTA HAS KNOWN ABOUT THIS ECM MANUFACTURING DEFECT ON 2001 TO 2003 RAV4S NOW I HAVE TO SPEND LOTS OF MONEY THAT IT WASN'T IN MY BUDGET,..THE TOYOTA KNEW ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, WHY THEY NEVER HAD A RECALL? CAN SOMEONE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? *TR”
“EXPERIENCE A HARD SHIFT JERKING MOTION WHEN DRIVING MY CAR AND ALMOST GOT HIT TWICE DUE TO THE CAR JERKING AND IMMEDIATELY SLOWING DOWN. I TOOK IT IN TO KENDALL TOYOTA OF ANCHORAGE RIGHT AWAY AND THEN READ ONLINE THAT THERE WAS A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AND ENHANCED WARRANTY OF 2001-2003 TOYOTAS BECAUSE OF THE MALFUNCTION OF THE ECM AND TRANSMISSION. THIS CAR IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE! TOYOTA KENDALL SAID IT WOULD BE $6,000 TO REPLACE BOTH THE ECM AND TRANSMISSION AND THAT TOYOTA WOULD ONLY PAY HALF BECAUSE THE CAR WAS 10 YEARS OLD. THIS CAR ONLY HAS 60,000 MILES ON IT AND THE ENHANCED WARRANTY HAS BEEN EXTENDED TWICE DUE TO COMPLAINTS WITH THE COURT. I DID NOT GET MY CAR FIXED BECAUSE I COULD NOT AFFORD IT AND I THINK TOYOTA SHOULD PAY THE FULL 6K TO FIX IT. I'M AMAZED AT HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HAD THIS ISSUE AND TOYOTA FIRST ISSUED A RECALL AND WAS SUED IN COURT BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE SERIOUS MALFUNCTION OF THEIR VEHICLES. *TR”
Showing 6 of 32 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 27, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.