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2002 Toyota Sequoia Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 666 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 Toyota Sequoia, most often about the stability control (31% of complaints, typically around 125,500 miles). It is the most complained-about Sequoia model year since 2000 and has 6 recalls.
Most common 2002 Toyota Sequoia problems
Stability control
204 complaints · 31%Half of these problems showed up before 125,500 miles. Parts named most often: automatic (asc).
I have taken my truck to multiple Toyota dealerships to identify why the vsc trac,trac lights, brake and ABS lights are on. They continue to give me the run around. The latest dealership wants to add and remove parts at will with no certain what the problem is. Originally they told me that it would be $1921 and now…
2002 Toyota Sequoia vsc/ traction control system started to malfunction in june 2011 vehicle has 128,000 miles. Took it to the dealership and they said that it needs a new yaw rate sensor @800.00dollars. Also that there is a chance that this doesn't fix the problem the SUV may need an ecu at a cost of an additional…
Brakes
184 complaints · 28%Half of these problems showed up before 110,000 miles. Parts named most often: foundation components, antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip, disc, pedals and linkages.
(1) the dashboard lights for ABS, vsc, & traction control flickered, and then remained on permanently. (2) the ABS and vsc have malfunctioned which seriously affects the braking & stability control of the vehicle in emergency handling situations, endangering person(s) in vehicle. (3) technician at marin Toyota in san…
On 12/24/08 went to Toyota dealer. When applying brakes vehicle vibrates. Rotors replaced, vibration stopped. 1/2/09 back to dealer, check engine light on, vsc trac, and trac off lights on. Back to dealer on 1/12/09. As of 1/21/09 lights mentioned, back on. Brakes lights came on this morning also.
Speed control
135 complaints · 20%Half of these problems showed up before 125,500 miles. Parts named most often: cruise control.
I have a 2002 Toyota Sequoia and recently my vsc has been was feels like a lock up, I hear something grinding and the car begins to shake and swerve, it happened as I was entering the interstate. I have had issues with the vsc light going on and off and did mention to the service dept. At the dealership when it was…
Vsc/trac lights are on, engine light is on. Toyota dealer tells me this is a common problem with 2002 Toyota Sequoia but there's no recall. The internet is filled with Toyota Sequoia owners, 2003 model, dealing with repeated fixes for the vsc/trac lights and engine lights that come on after 111,000 miles.
Body and structure
95 complaints · 14%Half of these problems showed up before 118,500 miles. Parts named most often: body, frame and members.
I received a recall notice from Toyota claiming there was a problem with the frame rusting on my 2002 Toyota Sequoia limited. I took the vehicle in for their required inspection and they said it needs a new frame. They are in the process of placing a new frame on the vehicle. I stated to the service department that I…
Over a year and a half ago my husband noticed rust developing on the frame of his vehicle. He repeatedly mentioned this to the dealership, whose response was there are no recalls so you should be ok. In december during the vehicle's maintenance the dealership informed my husband that the frame was rusting out. There…
Steering
78 complaints · 12%Half of these problems showed up before 136,000 miles. Parts named most often: gear box, linkages, hydraulic power assist, column.
Driving on dry, straight highway when vsc light and trac light come on and beeping started. Vehicle starting trying to engage 4WD I think...lots of grinding in the front end and steering shaking. Went on for about 2 minutes then stopped. Vehicle not easy to control when this happened. Has happened multiple times…
This has occurred several times: grinding noise, car pulls to the right and vsc and trac lights come on indicating vsc and trac are disengaged. Can drive ok after this occurs. However, when car is turned off and started again the warning lights go out and it's impossible to predict when it will occur again. There was…
Traction Control System
69 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 117,500 miles.
I was driving down the highway and out of no where I started skidding and my steering wheel started shaking. There was nothing on the road, the weather was hot and dry, and I wasn't switching lanes. Simultaneously the "vsc trac" and "trac off" lights came on. My first instinct was to apply the brake, and upon doing so…
Same problem like everyone else, traction control, vsc, brake light,and ABS light on. Dealership says no recall but they recalled all 2003 models for the same issue. Abs computer module. Part# 89541-0c050. Vehicle lights are off when vehicle is started, after 2-3 miles all the lights come on then the car is hard to…
Transmission
56 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 103,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, driveline, axle assembly, transfer case (4-wheel drive).
My 2002 Toyota Sequoia died at a red light. It started fine but when put in gear the car dies. The dealer states to replace the transmission. My personal mechanic tells me to replace only a couple of sensors. Tried to contact Toyota corp. But just got the run-around.
I own a 2002 Sequoia. Saturday may 4, 2008 my transmission completely failed. Now the dealership wants $5,000 to repair. I have searched online and found numerous Toyota Sequoia owners with the same problem. Those who were lucky enough to have the problem correctly diagnosed have found that other sloppily manufactured…
Suspension
50 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 130,000 miles. Parts named most often: front.
In the fast lane I-10 east mm 110 driver tire and spindle fell off and went under car skid across 4 lanes with my 3 kids 8-4- 7 weeks and wife.recall already been done happened on pass side 10k ago also supposedly replaced could have killed all of US went to Toyota the first time and was told "we'll it has over 100k…
As my wife was driving on a city street, the right lower ball joint separated. This is a sealed unit with no fitting for adding lubricant. The joint looked dry.
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2002 Toyota Sequoia recalls
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Toyota will notify owners. Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will replace the front driver inflator, front passenger airbag inflator, the airbag assembly, or the front passenger airbag sub-assembly and inflator. The recall began november 20, 2019. Owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's numbers for this recall are j0a, j0b, and j0c. Lexus' numbers for this recall are jli, jlj, and jlk.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2010-2016 4runner, 2003-2006 tundra, 2003-2013 corolla, 2009-2010 corolla matrix, 2004-2005 rav4, 2002-2007 sequoia, 2011-2013 sienna, 2008-2012 scion xb, 2008-2009 lexus is-f, 2007-2012 yaris and lexus es350, 2010-2017 lexus gx460, 2002-2010 lexus sc430, 2006-2012 lexus is250 and is350 and 2010-2015 lexus is250c and is350c vehicles. These vehicles had their driver or passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Toyota will notify the toyota and lexus owners. General motors will notify the pontiac vibe owners. Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, or replace the air bag assembly that includes an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began january 23, 2019. Owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371, lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987 or pontiac customer service at 1-800-762-2737. Toyota's numbers for these recalls are j0a (zone a toyota), j0b (zone b toyota), j0c (zone c toyota), jli (zone
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2002-2005 lexus sc and toyota sequoia, 2003-2005 toyota corolla and tundra, and 2003-2007 pontiac vibe vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation.
Air bags
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 2003-2004 corolla and corolla matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15v-043 and 15v-285 are under a do not drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac vibe owners will be notified by gm. Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag. The recall began on july 13, 2015. Toyota owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Pontiac owners may call 1-800-762-2737. Note: this recall supersedes recall 14v-312 in its entirety.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) notified the agency on may 13, 2015 that they are recalling certain model year 2004 sequoia vehicles manufactured august 18, 2003, to august 19, 2004, and 2003-2004 tundra vehicles manufactured march 18, 2003, to august 25, 2004. On june 16, 2015, toyota expanded the recall to include an additional 1,270,468 vehicles, including model year 2002-2003 and 2005-2007 sequoia, 2005-2006 tundra, 2003-2007 corolla, 2003-2007 corolla matrix, 2003-2007 pontiac vibe and 2002-2007 lexus sc vehicles. This is to address a safety defect in the passenger side frontal air bag inflator which may produce excessive internal pressure causing the inflator to rupture upon deployment of the air bag. This recall addresses both the passenger side frontal air bags that were originally installed in the vehicles, as well as replacement air bags that may have been ins
Air bags
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 2003-2004 corolla and corolla matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15v-043 and 15v-286 are under a do not drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac vibe owners will be notified by gm. Dealers will replace the passenger side front air bag, free of charge. Owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota began the recall on july 13, 2015. Pontiac vibe owners may contact gm at 1-800-762-2737. Gm began the recall on june 29, 2015. Note: this recacl
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) notified the agency on may 13, 2015, that they are recalling 2005-2007 lexus sc, toyota corolla, corolla matrix, sequoia, and pontiac vibe, and 2005-2006 toyota tundra vehicles that were originally sold, or ever registered, in florida, along the gulf coast, puerto rico, hawaii, the u.s. Virgin islands, guam, saipan and american samoa. On june 16, 2015 toyota expanded the recall to cover an additional 769,055 vehicles, including certain model year 2002-2004 lexus sc, toyota sequoia, 2003-2004 toyota corolla matrix, toyota corolla, pontiac vibe, and toyota tundra vehicles, as well the vehicles covered by the may 13, 2015 notification in the portions of georgia, alabama, louisiana, mississippi and texas that were not previously included. The inflators in the front passenger air bags are susceptible to rupture in the event of a crash necessit
Suspension: lower ball joint
Risk: The lower ball joint may separate from the knuckle causing loss of steering control and a crash could occur.
Fix: Dealers will replace the front suspension lower ball joints free of charge. The recall began on july 5, 2005. Owners may contact toyota at 1-800-331-4331.
Full defect summary
On certain sport utility vehicles, due to a manufacturing issue in the front suspension lower ball joint, there is a possibility that the surface of the ball of the joint may have been scratched. The ball joint may eventually experience excessive wear and looseness, resulting in increased steering effort.
Wheels and tires: wheels
Risk: Different operating characteristics can be experienced when the spare tire is installed on the vehicle.
Fix: Owners will be provided with a caution label and an insert for their owner's manual. Owner notification began july 15, 2002. Owners who do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact southeast toyota at 1-800-301-6859.
Full defect summary
On certain 4x2 vehicles equipped with an alloy wheel tire upgrade (options wm4, wm8, zl1-zl4, dh4, or dh5) installed by the processing centers in jacksonville, florida or commerce, georgia, a label identifying the spare tire as a temporary use spare tire was not installed. The upgrade includes 4 larger size tires with alloy wheels. The original spare tire/steel wheel is not part of the upgrade and was not changed.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture
Summary
From 2000 through 2017, takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("psan") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004l. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 blomquist report at www.NHTSA.gov/sites/NHTSA.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substa
Yaw rate sensor malfunction
Summary
On june 14, 2016, the office of defects investigation (odi) opened preliminary evaluation pe16-006 to investigate 135 complaints alleging incidents of yaw rate sensor malfunctions resulting in unexpected vehicle stability control (vsc) activations and steering pull while driving in model year (my) 2001-2002 toyota sequoia vehicles.odi identified a total of 958 incidents in complaints provided by toyota or submitted to odi by consumers.odi conducted the following work to assess the alleged defect in the subject vehicles: 1) evaluated the design of the subject yaw rate sensor; 2) initiated vehicle testing and instrumentation; 3) performed failure analysis on subject components collected from t
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Questions about the 2002 Toyota Sequoia
- What are the most common problems with the 2002 Toyota Sequoia?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: stability control (204 complaints, typically around 125,500 miles); brakes (184 complaints, typically around 110,000 miles); speed control (135 complaints, typically around 125,500 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2002 Toyota Sequoia have?
- 6 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from October 17, 2019 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2002 a bad year for the Toyota Sequoia?
- It is the most complained-about Sequoia model year since 2000, with 666 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.