This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
No accident prior to problem. Last month, power sliding door on driver's side would occasionally not close when temp below 20 degrees. Took power off slider and closed manually. Happened about 3 to 4 times. Tonight - temp 60 degrees outside - door will not close with power or manually. Had to drive home with one of my children seated beside that door - and the door flew open while driving. Cannot get it to close! I have slammed it - closed it gently - tried locking the door as soon as it appears closed to no avail. I have no choice but to drive this vehicle and fear for the safety of my children!
I bought a 2004 Toyota Sienna ce in ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from a dealer, new, off the lot in August 2004. By the first winter, both back sliding doors would freeze shut, especially the passenger side, and would not open until the vehicle got really hot inside. The dealer had no solution, offered no solution. In addition, by the second year we had three radiators installed, and had both front doors repaired for rusting under a general recall. Also, the rear fan has been going on and off, even with the switch in the "off" position. We have taken this issue to the dealer many times, but they do not have an answer, nor a strategy to figure out why it does this. Finally, this vehicle has rattled inside from day one and is unpleasant to drive. I find the Toyota dealers not interested in you once you buy the car, but after three years to the day the called me wanting to know if I'd buy a new one. I will not buy another Toyota.
Both sliding doors on 2004 Toyota Sienna le frequently freeze shut in winter. One door is power, one is manual, and both frequently freeze. Only solution so far is to wait for van to warm up. Major safety issue as it prevents easy exit for children in rear of van - they must crawl between the front seats to exit.
I own a 2004 Toyota Sienna xle. Starting about a month ago (right when it turned 100K miles) the rear driver's side power door started getting stuck closed and would not open. It made a clicking sound like it was trying to open but it was like it wouldn't unlock (even though the orange part of the level still moved inside to indicate it was unlocked). At first locking and unlocking the door a few times would solve the problem and then it would open fine. The problem has become increasingly frequent and now the door won't open at all. I took it to the dealer and they couldn't get it to open and the technician said that just about everyone with this model has this problem and quoted me $1600+ dollars to fix it - and that's if the door will open again. They also showed me how the replacement motor is a re-engineered part which is further indicative of the defectiveness of the original. There are hundreds if not thousands of instances of this very same failure happening to other Sienna owners of this vintage yet Toyota won't issue a recall. I called Toyota customer service and they just kept saying it has a hundred thousand miles and tough luck. Never mind it's a 4 year old car. They said I'd have to meet with the district manager who'd made this decision and that there was no possible way to ever escalate this matter above that individual. I don't buy that. They also refused to give me this individual's contact information. This is wholly unacceptable.. I have many more cars to purchase in my lifetime and they won't be Toyota's if this is how they're going to treat their customers. It seems as though they have no incentive to address this issue as the $3,000 it sounds like everyone is having to spend on their defective doors is a mighty lucrative income source for them. Help.
Driver side passenger door on the Toyota Sienna 2004 vehicle with less than 51,000 miles must now be replaced at a cost of $1,800. This is certainly not normal for a car this new with only normal daily use in a non-weathered environment.
- Newport Beach, CA, USA
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We have a 2004 Toyota Sienna van with power sliding doors. The cable on one side has snapped and needs to be manually closed, but the door does not totally close. It sometimes opens while driving. The repair for this issue requires replacing and entire motor, brackets and hinges. All for just one cable! $1000 for parts, $900 for labor. And 3 months past the warranty. Good planned obsolescence on Toyota's part.
Passenger sliding door will not open or close from any buttons. Tries to open but is locked open or closed. When door handle is pulled from outside it unlocks and will open or close manually.
2004 Toyota Sienna power door is inoperable. There was a tsb EL004-04 issued stating a problem existed, yet we were not contacted while the van was still under warranty.
2004 Sienna power door cable breaking causing door to be inoperative. Creating unsafe conditions with children and baby seats in vehicle. Toyota states $1500 repair. After research problem seems widespread not vehicle specific. Vehicle has 58,000 miles.
The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. She noticed that in cold weather conditions both rear doors freeze even without precipitation. As a consequence she is not able to open the doors or close them once they are ajar. She notified the dealer and the technician stated that she would have to have a roof rail weather strip applied to her vehicle. A representative for the manufacturer stated that since there was not a recall they could not provide any assistance. The failure and current mileages were 57,000. Updated 01/29/09. Updated 01/30/09.
Both sliding doors on my 2004 le van are faulty. Both doors freeze and will not open in the winter. The sliding (non power) driverside door also rattles continuously in the summer. The non power door also does not stay in the locked and open position and will slam shut if the window is open. I have young children and this is extremely dangerous. I took it to the dealer and they lubricated both doors and said there was nothing they could do. The door still rattles in the summer and both doors regularly freeze in the winter.
10/1/2008 cable on the power sliding door of our 2004 Toyota Sienna broke. Car has 50K miles. Door would not close properly. Had to take to deal, repair was $1,635 12/4/2008 both sliding doors could not be opened they were frozen closed, could not open manually or automatically. By mid-day doors were able to be opened but passenger cable snapped. Cannot open the door all the way.
The driver's side rear power door cable snapped (rusted and frayed). This is clearly a potential safety issue, as I had to cut the cable with wire cutters in order to be able to close the door. I contacted both the dealer and Toyota customer service, who say it is not covered under warranty, and will cost $2000 to fix. There have been many other reports of the same problem, and it seems this should be considered a recall issue.
2004 Toyota Sienna le passenger van. Passenger power side sliding door did not stay open and automatically closed and nearly crushed my wife while assisting children to disembark. If it wasn't for the safety sensor that reversed the door motion when it felt resistance my wife would have been crushed.
Rear sliding door cable broke. Very expensive to repair ($1600) no help from dealership. Told me to call manufacturer. Car had 50,000 miles. Seems like this should not fail at all.
Noticed the powered 2nd row passenger side door started falling to close. I noticed deep scratches on the inside rails/tracking mechanism w/C seem to cause by rollers. The door bracket seem to be rubbing against the body causing deep scratches, looking closer seems the whole door bracket & hinge is about to drop off. Being proactive, I had asked my Toyota dealership to consider applying resolution based on tsb EL004-04. This was the time when my van is still within 36K/36mnth period per tsb, however I was advised by my Toyota dealer during that time that unless they see the issue, they are unable to apply this tsb. Since then I have incurred an estimated mileage: 49,950 when my van started having the problem. Having 2 small kids seated on passenger row, this should be treated as a very serious safety issue that must be resolved asap. This issue has been well documented and is a known issue by Toyota since April'04. I've seen items in forums where Sienna owners like me having this same problem. Tsbs are only dealt with after the fact. I my opinion, this issue should be considered & treated as a recall.
Left side sliding door is not closing or opening automatically every time when button is pushed it won't open or close sometimes but only if I pull on the handle and pull it open part of the way and then it goes the rest of the way closed seat heater hasn't worked for at least a year I'm guessing even after having it "repaired"also the door won't lock or unlock with the automatic button anymore.
2004 Toyota Sienna xle AWD van. Power passenger slider will no lock in open position and will close on own as passengers are in door way, if parked on slope.
1. no unusual events to vehicle. Usual school drop off of passenger. Powered sliding door was activated for opening on Nov. 5th 2008. Door is well lubricated and no other symptoms of failure were noticed before failure. 2. powered, rear, sliding, passenger side door (rh) will not open fully. Door cannot be opened in manual over-ride. Door only opens 4 inches, then jams. Difficult to close after jam. 3. root cause of failure is shedding cable jacket jamming door center hinge pulleys. Door will require a new motor, cable assembly, center bracket no 1, and center hinge.
Sliding door fails to close completely and latch shut. Door is loose and hanging lower than it should be causing to grind on the car body and is misaligned at the latch so that it gets propped open. This problem has occurred on both the right and left doors. Toyota says the center bracket and cable system failure is at fault. The grinding has worn a gouge into the body of the car and is working on a hole. At times the door will latch, but other times one must try to lift the back end of the door as it is shutting in order to make alignment and get a latch (all while trying not to get your fingers caught in the back part of the door as closes the last 1-2 inches. I sure it will happen soon and then you'll have bodily injure to add to this complaint--but it's the only way to get the door closed and latched) the door failure has been ongoing for a couple of months now.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Ravenna, OH, USA