10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
76,599 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2004 Toyota Sienna electrical problems

electrical problem

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2004 Toyota Sienna Owner Comments (Page 1 of 6)

problem #115

Jun 132022

Sienna

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The failing component is the VSC/ABS system. It puts the occupants of the van and other motorists at risk of either causing a collision or causing the driver of vehicle in question to be unable to control the vehicle. The failure appears when going in a curve in the road at low speed causing the abs to engage lock the brakes and steering wheel rapidly decelerating the car and causing the car to jerk to one side or the other and go into a skid where the driver is unable to control the wheel due to steering wheel locking up when it happens the VSC and TRAC lights come on and there is a loud and rapid beeping that can be heard inside the vehicle. The issue usually appear when going between 25-40mph in banking curves

- Chesterfield, VA, USA

problem #114

Oct 202021

Sienna

  • miles
While driving on dry freeway or other stable road conditions, the Electronic Stability Control kicks in, braked hard, causing the van to swerve, and the lights on the dash started flashing, accompanied by a loud beeping. This has happened multiple times now. There is no reason for this to be occurring. It is involuntary, sudden, and random. If someone were close behind me, they could rear-end the vehicle. It also sometimes pulls the steering so hard that it swerves into the other lane. This is a serious safety issue that Toyota needs to deal with.

- Pullman, WA, USA

problem #113

Nov 082020

Sienna

  • 300,000 miles
The vsc system is enabling while driving and making a turn on an otherwise normal road. When it enables, it applies the brake and sounds a repeating alarm. The system applies the brake while I am attempting to make a turn, and this makes me feel unsafe, as if I have temporarily lost control of the vehicle while making an otherwise benign maneuver. The repeating alarm does not turn off until I have turned the wheel to the opposite direction from the initial turn angle. This means if the turn is slow, the alarm will sound for the entire distance of the turn.

- Stillwater, OK, USA

problem #112

Jun 262019

Sienna

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Started having problem with the doors on the van the front door was the first problem with a failed door cheek causing the door not to be able to be opened had to force it open and remove the door cheek due to a weld that had broken away from the door is why it failed and the second was the power sliding door on the passenger side the door quite working and then when switched into the manual mode I was unable to get the door to close or it would close them come back open it took almost a hour to get it to close and stay closed. This being the car I Transport my kids in that's a big safety issue to me knowing the door may not work or may not say closed while driving please help.

- Lawrenceburg, KY, USA

problem #111

Sep 132018

Sienna

  • 209,000 miles
The side doors have a button you can push for them to open. I went to open and shut my daughter door and it would not shut after looking it over the wire that comes in and out for the doors to shut got stuck in the O part that the cord retracts to.because of this my door would not close manually or automatic pushing the button. I am also having problems with the control panel where the fuses are under the hood. One fuse gets fixed another one breaks. I have confirmed this with a auto shop the problem is within the control panel.

- Emmitsburg, MD, USA

problem #110

Jul 012018

Sienna

  • 179,339 miles
Electrical fire inside parked van occurred overnight and burned driver and passenger front seats, dash, and all air vents and all plastic component located near all vents. Van was parked on street in front of my house.

- River Ridge, La, LA, USA

problem #109

Jun 092012

Sienna

  • 225,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On freeway interchanges, entrances and exits vsc and ABS suddenly engagess. Van is not aggressively driven and when turning on mountain roads and switch backs vsc and ABS engages despite the slow and controled steering.

- San Lorenzo, CA, USA

problem #108

Jul 272017

Sienna

  • 110,000 miles
I am having a massive problem with my vsc. Randomly, regardless of speeds (it's happened going 70 as well as 25, and 40 mph), my vsc will kick on, kill my speed, and cause me to swerve. As you can imagine, going 70 on an interstate with other vehicles around and having this happen is life threatening not only to me and my family but other vehicles around me. Reading on several auto forums, this problem has been drawn to the attention of Toyota corporate to no avail. It is absolutely beyond me that they see no reason to file a recall.

- Cumberland, MD, USA

problem #107

Jun 042007

Sienna

  • 115,000 miles
Very common problem: Power sliding door cable broke stranding the owner with a half opened door. The internet is filled full of people with the same problem.

- Helens, AL, USA

problem #106

Nov 172016

Sienna

  • miles
Right side sliding door operates sporadically, not opening all the way to lock in place.

- Boonville, MO, USA

problem #105

Nov 012016

Sienna

  • 36,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The right side electric side door will not slide all the way back. In a stationary position.

- Boonville, MO, USA

problem #104

Aug 292016

Sienna

  • miles
On August 29, 2016 we were awoken by the fire department at 3:30am letting us know our 2004 Toyota Sienna was on fire in the driveway. They were able to break into the van and contain the fire but the vehicle was completely burnt up on the front right side and a total loss for our family. It appeared to be an electrical fire under the dashboard. We filed a complaint/claim with Toyota the following week and as of December 2, 2016, still have not gotten a resolution and have not been cleared by Toyota to even tow the vehicle. We have placed numerous calls to their customer service division. Initially, we were told claims department has up to 30 business days to respond to the claim. Once we exceeded the 30 business days ' we contacted again and were then told they 'typically' take 30 days but it could be longer. Previously - Toyota sent out a fire investigator in October. In a follow up call to that investigator by us ' he confirmed he turned over his findings to Toyota and let us know that the cause was unable to be determined.

- Madison, MS, USA

problem #103

Jul 012015

Sienna

  • 42,000 miles
Power sliding side doors, both passenger and drive sides, do not work. I had the dealer repair the driver's side a few years ago for about $1,600. Last year, the passenger side door stopped working. I don't want to pay another $1,600 to have this door replaced given all the complaints that I see on the web regarding this issue as I am concerned this will break again. Basically, we don't use the passenger side door anymore, because we are afraid it will get stuck and we won't be able to close it; which is what happened with the driver side door. This seems to be a serious safety issue. Many people are clamoring for a safety recall; 1) https://www.facebook.com/Toyota-Sienna-faulty-power-sliding-doors-233250320033754/; 2) repairpal.com/problem-with-door-mechanism-in-electric-sliding-doors-992

- Saratoga, CA, USA

problem #102

Mar 022014

Sienna

  • 146,800 miles
In grocery store parking lot, put groceries in driver side back power sliding door. Went to shut and door would not shut all the way. It was stuck.finely got it shut after, about 30 minutes.got home power cable had broken rusted and frayed.recall was found, but Toyota will not fix !!! this happen 2yrs. Ago 2014 & still trying to get this recall fixed..they said I had to many miles on the van, that I got in 2011.. it had 146,892 miles when the door cable broke & was inspected. This is very dangerous.I will not let any children sit next to that broken powered back driver sliding door !! this should be a mandatory recall !! miles should not be a concern ! life of a person should be. I'm still fighting to get this fixed & it's 2016.. broken, rusted & frayed power cable not functional & inoperative & can be very dangerous ! because it's powered with or without the automatic door feature.Toyota needs to up date this recall to a safety mandatory recall with no limits !!!!

- Bethel, OH, USA

problem #101

Jul 042016

Sienna

  • 79,000 miles
The vsc sensor is activating during normal driving conditions without warning. This is causing the van to aggressively apply the brakes and lose acceleration. This issue mainly occurs when turning down while going down hill, however it happens randomly in other instances as well. I have been in several life threatening instances where the brakes are being applied while traveling through mountains with large semi trucks behind me.. nearly causing several accidents. My research points to a few things that could possibly be the culprit: The yaw sensor stearing wheel rotational position sensor vsc computer module this video captures exactly what is happening to my vehicle. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=tgmjafpifko I cannot find any instances where this issue was fixed online

- Rock Hill, SC, USA

problem #100

Apr 302016

Sienna

  • miles
My rear door is not working, I have visited two Toyota dealership and they told my the rear lift gate and rear hatch latch both of them needs to be replace. We did that relapacemt. The problem has not being solved, we tried to make the door working manually instead of automatically also this way is not helpful. It looks like we reaching to closed way.

- Auburn, AL, USA

problem #99

Jan 112016

Sienna

  • 152,000 miles
The driver's side sliding door no longer opens/closes when the buttons are pushed (from the ceiling in the front, from a remote key, and from the button right next to the door.)

- Frederick, MD, USA

problem #98

Apr 182016

Sienna

  • miles
Takata recall I have a Toyota Sienna 2004. Last year, the sliding door cable was broken and it was just past the warranty. I had to pay $1,200 to have it fixed as the door could be open. And then after a few month, the door can't open automatically and the dealer said a motor failure which would cost another $1,000. I heard a lot of complaints about Toyota Sienna sliding door and unfortunate I am one of the victims. I urge Toyota to take the responsibility and pay customers back.

- Madison, WI, USA

problem #97

Feb 052016

Sienna

  • 125,000 miles
Rear passenger electric sliding door does not open or close and failed one day. The door latch assembly is electrically operated and there is no manual override. The door can only be operated electrically and cannot be opened manually at all with out making a $1500 - $3500 repair to replace the faulty electrical system (door latch assembly and door motor) of the vehicle. This is a potentially life threatening situation for small children since if there is an accident how are you going to get the children out of the vehicle since the door cannot be operated manually? this issue needs to be investigated and a total recall of all electrical door assemblies need to be made for all years affected and a manual override needs to be engineered such that children's lives are not at risk due to faulty engineering.

- Ijamsville, MD, USA

problem #96

Aug 312015

Sienna

  • 264,888 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. While driving at 35 mph, the vsc and the ABS warning lights illuminated intermittently. The contact also stated that when the failure occurred, the front of the vehicle began to swerve into other lanes while the rear of the vehicle went in the opposite direction. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the steering sensor was replaced, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 264,888.

- Chalfant Valley, CA, USA

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