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Transmission and drivetrainPart report

2002 Toyota Sequoia Transmission and drivetrain Problems

Complaints
56about this part
Share
8%of 666 total for the year
Median mileage
103,014miles
Trend
FallingComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are at least 25% lower than in the 3 years before.

NHTSA recorded 56 complaints about the transmission and drivetrain of the 2002 Toyota Sequoia, 8% of the 666 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 103,014 miles. 2 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“I was a stop light with the brakes firmly pressed down when the vehicle lurched forward. It felt as if someone had rear-ended me, however, there was no one behind me. Now the vsc lights are lit up on the dashboard display and it is lurching and power surging at random.”

NHTSA complaint #10480040, filed 2012-10, 149,000 miles

“While traveling any where I would lose power and my vsc trac warning lights and skid trac lights will come on and I will have to wait for the lights to go off in order to get my power back. And also I had to replace two of my door handles. And before my SUV was 3yrs I had to replace the transmission.”

NHTSA complaint #10320696, filed 2010-03, 80,000 miles

“Vsc/trac warning lights come on and stay on, and car tries to go back/forward at the same time. I bought this car used with 66,000 miles on it, and problem is chronic. Dealer says they can't recreate the problem. I looked online and there are lots of problems with this in Toyota sequoias. Date of most recent incident is recorded below.”

NHTSA complaint #10177386, filed 2006-12, 66,800 miles

“2002 Toyota Sequoia transmission problem. The car stopped at a red light and died. There was no warning of any sort from the car. Everything was fine until this event. I was able to restart the car but once the gear is shift to drive or reverse, the transmission stalled and died. This problem kept on going so I called for a tow truck. Dealer said that it will cost at least $4400 to fix transmission and they have seen this problem more than once in Sequoia.”

NHTSA complaint #10352420, filed 2010-08, 138,678 miles

“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.”

NHTSA complaint #10240689, filed 2008-09, 100,027 miles

Related service bulletins

Transmission and drivetrain: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2015111%
201318%
201215%
201026%
2008710%
200754%
2006136%
2005144%
2004174%
2003132%
2002568%
2001357%

Other parts of the 2002 Toyota Sequoia

Electronic stability control
204 complaintsBrakes
192 complaintsVehicle speed control
135 complaintsOther or unknown
103 complaintsBody and structure
95 complaintsSteering
78 complaintsSuspension
50 complaintsElectrical system
42 complaintsAir bags
34 complaintsLatches, locks and linkages
30 complaintsEquipment
19 complaintsWheels
15 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2002 Toyota Sequoia

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 29, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology