To fix or not fix the transmission on my 99 rav 4

I have a paid off 1999 rav4 which has 89,000 miles. Its a manual and the 5 gear has gone. My husband has a 2005 honda civic 2 door which still has 2,000 left of a car payment - and has 60,000 miles. He just started working from home - and we just had a baby.

We are going to go down to one car - The question is should we get the transmission fixed on mine (should cost no more than 2 grand) or get a new (used) car to fit our needs. We are living on a tight budget so the idea of no car payment sounds good to me.



How long do you think my car will last with a new tranny? I’ve gotten regular oil changes and new brakes but that’s been about it for maintenance. we need a car that can go the distance on the highway - we are taking a short road trip this summer.

It’s very unusual for 5th gear to fail in a RAV-4. Are you sure it’s the transmission and not a linkage problem?

A Civic 2-dr will make life with a baby miserable. Try putting the child safety seat in the back seat of the Civic once or twice and you’ll see what I mean.

I’d sell the Civic, fix the RAV4, and drive it another 89K miles.

How would I know the difference with out going through the motions like it is the transmission - the labor would be the same, right?

And we do have a carseat basse in the civic, and it is a paaain!

IIRC the Rav4 manual 5 speed has fifth gear available under the side cover of the transmission. This does not require removal of the transmission and only requires minor disassembly of box itself. With the side cover off fifth gear shift fork, clutch sleeve, synchromesh cone, and both gears can be replaced. You might ‘search’ under rav4 AND transmission on this web site because I have seen this posted before, along with a response that pictorially outlined the steps for replacement.

Run the Rav4 by a reputable transmission shop; see if they can tell you more; and give you a price. Let us know how this comes out. Good luck.

Thanks - wow, I hope my shop is willing to go this route - I guess I’ll just print those pages out and bring them in with the car - That site said the charge would be $150 - I’m imagining it will be more than that - what do you think I should expect for this work?

This has been super helpful, thanks again!

This can be done in car and will not be $2000 and is a common problem on 96-2000 rav4
You also need to do timing belt,water pump and pulley if it has not been done.
Think before you sell, you have the best little suv ever made and they get 250,000-300,000 mi with regular upkeep.
Check out this site and step by step to fix 5th gear.

http://rav4world.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8866

There you go renee…ANY independent tranny shop should be able to do this repair for way under $1000. Be sure to copy the link (after it’s opened) to the site posted above to show the mechanic who will be doing the repair. You may find he has done it before…