Other powertrain problem on the 1998 Toyota Rav4
Only 5 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other powertrain problem gets reported
There are 6 reports of other powertrain problem on the 1998 Toyota Rav4, 5 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 120,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $400–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 29 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2021, at a median of 2,500 miles, and latest on the 2023 at 180,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 157; the 1998 has 6. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
On numerous occasions over a two week period, the manual transmission pops out of 5th gear without warning. This leads to a very dangerous situation when in traffic as it causes the vehicle to reduce momentum rapidly and could be easily rear-ended. The last event occurred on 6/7/2007, the day before vehicle was repaired by a private garage. I have asked toyota for assistance on this problem, but was declined. They have a service bulletin out on the problem, but the coverage is not adequate. This problem can occur at anytime after their coverage expires. *tr
Not sure what category this falls into, but equipment seems like the most fitting: I have a 1998 toyota rav4. The vehicle has slightly high miles (approx. 121,000), it has always been maintained accordingly and has worked great until recently. While driving to work, via highway, fifth gear mysteriously would not stay engaged. Once placed into fifth, the gear would pop back out. In order to keep the transmission in fifth gear, it was necessary to physically hold the stick into position, otherwise it would pop out. Upon research into the problem, it was discovered that toyota has not recalled fifth gear, although it has been an issue with the majority of their manual transmissions. The only acknowledgement of the anomaly by toyota found was that of a "re-issue", not a recall. This could potentially be hazardous to the automobiles' driver, as well as others on the road due to an unexpected jerk caused by the gear not engaging. Another concern that arises is the fact that attention is diverted away from driving. I have heard that toyota is notorious for issuing what I've heard called "silent recalls". If this problem falls into such a…
I purchased a used 1998 toyota rav4 in october 2009. The vehicle has 42,000 miles. When driving home on the interstate the truck began to jerk and loose power. We got off on the nearest exit and made it home safely. The truck continues to do the same. I took it to the toyota dealership and was told there was nothing they could do because there was no check engine light on. The truck has done this and 4 occasions. It puts my daughter at risk for being rear ended. *tr
Also reported on the 1998 Toyota Rav4
Other speed control problem
Other brake problem
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
ABS module or sensor failure
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 6 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 6 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other powertrain problem happen on the 1998 Toyota Rav4?
Across 5 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 120,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 1998 Toyota Rav4?
6 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed