We bought our first minivan - a Toyota Sienna XLE 2011- barely two weeks ago. We live in central NJ and drove about 4 hours to Toyota/Carmax of Laurel MD to buy the car because they do not haggle at Carmax . We had bought our previous two Toyotas, both Camrys, there, and had positive experience with the dealership as well as the cars. Within two days, the Sienna's steering started to creak when turning. It was very slight at first, we thought it was "new car settling in pains"... since we had driven it straight home 3 hours from the Laurel dealership, and it had barely 11 miles on it when we started driving, we thought it was "settling in". There had never been this kind of problem with the two Camrys, both new, one a 2006 and the other a 2009. We had driven them home with no complaints, and they worked (and still work) beautifully. The 2009 Camry did show some acceleration problems in the first months - after four months I started to notice it, but no one believed me, including our local NJ dealership DCH Toyota on Route 1. Since it was not a regular problem - just maybe once a few months - I didn't think too much of it until the Toyota recall for the pedals happened. I could have been one of those who had been in a bad accident, but thankfully I was not, and while my 2009 Camry was part of the recall, and we did go to the local NJ DCH TOYOTA dealership on Route 1 to get it checked put, that was all there was to that car, and it works just fine.
So, overall our experience with Toyota had been just fine and we were very excited to get out first minivan, the Toyota Sienna, of course from the same Laurel, MD Carmax/Toyota dealership, and from the same dealer who we trusted. We got the car we wanted, in the color we wanted, with the things we wanted, at the price that was just right, with no need to haggle or bargain like at other dealerships, one set price take it or leave it, and we got the extended warranty plus free two years of maintenance from Toyota because it was being offered, and we were beginning to be very happy about our purchase.
Now, two days later the creaking in the steering wheel started, and it got a tiny bit more and more every day, so after a week we decided to get the minivan checked out the following weekend (maybe it was just us, new minivan owners with their "silly scares" which maybe turn out to be nothing)at the DCH Toyota in NJ. My husband didn't hear the creaks frankly, but I did, and with the whole pedals situation that had happened with my 2009 Camry (with no one listening to me), my husband decided he would go show it to the local dealership just for a quick once-over just in case, to satisfy me. However, just before we could do that, the Sunday before (remember - we were planning to take the car in on the next weekend, call DCH and get an appointment and go on the next Saturday when time allowed) suddenly- lo and behold - our trunk door stopped working. This is how it happened. We went to the park with our kids. We took stuff out of the truck – kiddie bike, scooters, etc. Light kiddie stuff for little kids. We never needed to sit in or close the last passenger seats to fit stuff in, it’s an eight seater, remember, and we never even had a chance to sit in the back seats yet, they were still up and just the way they were when we left the dealership. So, the trunk space as it is was just enough for us so far. Anyway, we got what we needed and then closed the trunk as usual with the remote key fob (that remote thingy that had the buttons and ignition key with it on the tacky Carmax keychain). Anyway, we went in and were enjoying the park. A little while later, I came to the car to get something to drink, opened my driver-side door, took a drink out, closed my driver door, opened the left passenger door (with the remote fob again) to something else out from that side, closed that door, and then went to the park again. This happened a few times, as is usual with families, then my husband and I both needed to get something out of the trunk, so we did - I opened the remotely, we got the things we needed out, and put other stuff back in, and then I pressed the remote to close the trunk. Weird clicking sound. Hmm, guess that’s something new. Anyway… trunk door starts to close, we move away to go into the park again, stop to notice door gets to the closing point and opens up again. Automatically. So we figure, oh well, guess I didn’t press the close door button hard enough. So… press remote key fob again to close trunk, trunk goes all the way till the closing point, then opens up again. What the hell. This happens a few more times. We then put the key in the ignition to start the car up and see if it's something messed up with the "timing" or "starting" or whatever. Nope, trunk just won't close, no matter how many keys are pressed from the inside, outside or trunk of the minivan. And this thing is fully automatic. It DOES NOT close easily by pressing it shut - which eventually we are forced to do just so we can go home. People were watching. They probably thought "idiots can't even get their brand new car's trunk to close." It felt just stupid.
Next day, we take it to DCH Toyota on Route 1 to figure out what's wrong. We think it's just something we're doing wrong - incorrect button or whatever. We leave it at the body shop at 8am. The service person does not bother to return our calls until 4:30pm, and within 20 minutes he calls back again to say the door is bent, take it back to wherever you bought it from and ask them to fix it. Drive 3.4 hours to MD again??!! Hell, no!! Why doesn't DCH Toyota fix it?? It's supposed to be covered under warranty after all, and it's brand new isn't it?? Then the realization sinks in... The trunk door is bent. THE TRUNK DOOR IS BENT!!! It's a TEN DAY OLD BRAND NEW LEATHER-TRIMMED XLE and IT'S GOT A BENT DOOR!!! How the heck did that happen??? If someone banged into it, where's the dent?? This thing was fine the day we bought it. The second day, it starts to creak. Now it's shuddering and bent!! And the best part is - DCH TOYOTA REFUSES TO FIX IT!!! OUR LAUREL TOYOTA DEALER CAR WON'T FIX IT (not to mention - it's 3.5 hours drive away!!)!! NO ONE IN TOYOTA WILL FIX IT!!! They say WE bent it!! Excuse me?? And how did WE do that exactly??? By pressing a REMOTE KEY CHAIN BUTTON??? SHOW US HOW WE DENTED IT IF THAT'S WHAT TOYOTA THINKS HAPPENED!! They don't even have an answer for that!! WHAT IS GOING ON??!!
I have KIDS. I drive KIDS and their KIDDIE friends all over the world to their activities and things. I CANNOT DRIVE A CAR THAT IS BRAND NEW AND BROKEN DOWN THROUGH NO FAULT OF MY OWN!! There is only one thing I can think of that makes any sense - this Sienna was built shoddily. That's all I can think of. If the thing is creaking on Day 2, and bending out of shape on Day 10, what next? The passenger side doors will start opening in the middle of traffic? The seatbelts will start popping out?? ZERO QUALITY. TOTALLY UNSAFE. AND TOYOTA REFUSES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. How can a BRAND NEW Minivan Just Go and BREAK DOWN (electronics stop working, whatever) without ever being in so much as a bubble-blowing-accident??? WHAT IS GOING ON??? HOW MANY PEOPLE NEED TO BUY THIS UNSAFE CAR AND DISCOVER ITS PROBLEMS BEFORE TOYOTA FINALLY OWNS UP TO ITS MISTAKES???
I have been a customer with DCH Toyota for FIVE years - and they are refusing to fix the trunk door!! This, after the car has a paid-for-in-cash seven year extended warranty IN ADDITION to its regular 36,000 mile/3 yr warranty. DCH Toyota says we need to talk to our insurance company to pay for the "damages"... excuse me??? WHAT DAMAGES??? The trunk door is IMMACULATE. It's a beautiful Predawn Mica with grey leather interior and it's... beautiful. But beauty only goes skin deep.
There's nothing the heck wrong with it except ELECTRONICS or MISALIGNMENT OF THE DOOR (? I guess that's why the door doesn't close - just a guess, I donno WHAT those body shop people did to it after we left it there - who knows, maybe THEY bent it or dinged it or something and waited the whole day to cover up for it and called us right at the end of the day to come pick it up... who knows WHAT goes on inside a body shop...and now, especially a TOYOTA body shop...!!) IT'S SIMPLY BAD MANUFACTURING. I am not an electrical engineer. I am a housewife. I did NOT make this machine. I have no idea what to do with it except DRIVE it. TOYOTA ENGINEERS made this mess. TOYOTA COST-CUTTING and TOYOTA MANAGEMENT is making DCH Toyota and the Laurel Toyota MAKE US - the CONSUMER - PAY FOR TOYOTA'S MISTAKES... after paying 35K of my husband's hard-earned money for the car, apparently that wasn't enough for Toyota. And my husband and I or our INSURANCE company is supposed to pay for fixing the door?? WHATEVER FOR???? In all likelihood, the minivan was damaged goods even BEFORE it got to the Laurel MD dealership lot, even BEFORE we bought it - IT WAS BAD QUALITY, THOROUGHLY UNCHECKED, COMPLETELY UNTESTED - SLOPPILY BUILT - JUST MADE AND SOLD. And we got suckered into buying it… out of brand loyalty. WHAT LOYALTY does TOYOTA have for its customers??? If anything happens to my kids or anyone else's kids in that UNSAFE TOYOTA SIENNA XLE 2011 - who will be responsible???
Toyota Engineers, Toyota Management, the Laurel Toyota dealership, the New Jersey DCH Toyota dealership, Mr. Toyoda the Head of Toyota Motor Corp., or us, the "con"sumers who have unwittingly paid hard-earned money for something DANGEROUS ON THE ROAD? Who will be responsible? I PAID 35 THOUSAND US DOLLARS FOR A PIECE OF JUNK.
Others may find that amount a pittance and may think a Toyota Sienna is worth it or whatever. Our experience says otherwise. It was a LOT of money for us. We do NOT go out buying a new car everyday. Some people do and may. We need a RELIABLE and SAFE transportation method, besides public. Is it FAIR to CHEAT an ordinary human being out of his/her sweat and toil? How does Toyota show face to its employees – isn’t it cheating its own workers by having them cheaply manufacture shoddy minivans in which families are unsafe, and then refuse to fix or replace those minivans when they are found to be defective through no fault of the consumer? Why is Toyota BENT on cheating everyone so very much? FIX (OR REPLACE) MY MINIVAN???
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
We bought our first minivan - a Toyota Sienna XLE 2011- barely two weeks ago. We live in central NJ and drove about 4 hours to Toyota/Carmax of Laurel MD to buy the car because they do not haggle at Carmax . We had bought our previous two Toyotas, both Camrys, there, and had positive experience with the dealership as well as the cars. Within two days, the Sienna's steering started to creak when turning. It was very slight at first, we thought it was "new car settling in pains"... since we had driven it straight home 3 hours from the Laurel dealership, and it had barely 11 miles on it when we started driving, we thought it was "settling in". There had never been this kind of problem with the two Camrys, both new, one a 2006 and the other a 2009. We had driven them home with no complaints, and they worked (and still work) beautifully. The 2009 Camry did show some acceleration problems in the first months - after four months I started to notice it, but no one believed me, including our local NJ dealership DCH Toyota on Route 1. Since it was not a regular problem - just maybe once a few months - I didn't think too much of it until the Toyota recall for the pedals happened. I could have been one of those who had been in a bad accident, but thankfully I was not, and while my 2009 Camry was part of the recall, and we did go to the local NJ DCH TOYOTA dealership on Route 1 to get it checked put, that was all there was to that car, and it works just fine.
So, overall our experience with Toyota had been just fine and we were very excited to get out first minivan, the Toyota Sienna, of course from the same Laurel, MD Carmax/Toyota dealership, and from the same dealer who we trusted. We got the car we wanted, in the color we wanted, with the things we wanted, at the price that was just right, with no need to haggle or bargain like at other dealerships, one set price take it or leave it, and we got the extended warranty plus free two years of maintenance from Toyota because it was being offered, and we were beginning to be very happy about our purchase.
Now, two days later the creaking in the steering wheel started, and it got a tiny bit more and more every day, so after a week we decided to get the minivan checked out the following weekend (maybe it was just us, new minivan owners with their "silly scares" which maybe turn out to be nothing)at the DCH Toyota in NJ. My husband didn't hear the creaks frankly, but I did, and with the whole pedals situation that had happened with my 2009 Camry (with no one listening to me), my husband decided he would go show it to the local dealership just for a quick once-over just in case, to satisfy me. However, just before we could do that, the Sunday before (remember - we were planning to take the car in on the next weekend, call DCH and get an appointment and go on the next Saturday when time allowed) suddenly- lo and behold - our trunk door stopped working. This is how it happened. We went to the park with our kids. We took stuff out of the truck – kiddie bike, scooters, etc. Light kiddie stuff for little kids. We never needed to sit in or close the last passenger seats to fit stuff in, it’s an eight seater, remember, and we never even had a chance to sit in the back seats yet, they were still up and just the way they were when we left the dealership. So, the trunk space as it is was just enough for us so far. Anyway, we got what we needed and then closed the trunk as usual with the remote key fob (that remote thingy that had the buttons and ignition key with it on the tacky Carmax keychain). Anyway, we went in and were enjoying the park. A little while later, I came to the car to get something to drink, opened my driver-side door, took a drink out, closed my driver door, opened the left passenger door (with the remote fob again) to something else out from that side, closed that door, and then went to the park again. This happened a few times, as is usual with families, then my husband and I both needed to get something out of the trunk, so we did - I opened the remotely, we got the things we needed out, and put other stuff back in, and then I pressed the remote to close the trunk. Weird clicking sound. Hmm, guess that’s something new. Anyway… trunk door starts to close, we move away to go into the park again, stop to notice door gets to the closing point and opens up again. Automatically. So we figure, oh well, guess I didn’t press the close door button hard enough. So… press remote key fob again to close trunk, trunk goes all the way till the closing point, then opens up again. What the hell. This happens a few more times. We then put the key in the ignition to start the car up and see if it's something messed up with the "timing" or "starting" or whatever. Nope, trunk just won't close, no matter how many keys are pressed from the inside, outside or trunk of the minivan. And this thing is fully automatic. It DOES NOT close easily by pressing it shut - which eventually we are forced to do just so we can go home. People were watching. They probably thought "idiots can't even get their brand new car's trunk to close." It felt just stupid.
Next day, we take it to DCH Toyota on Route 1 to figure out what's wrong. We think it's just something we're doing wrong - incorrect button or whatever. We leave it at the body shop at 8am. The service person does not bother to return our calls until 4:30pm, and within 20 minutes he calls back again to say the door is bent, take it back to wherever you bought it from and ask them to fix it. Drive 3.4 hours to MD again??!! Hell, no!! Why doesn't DCH Toyota fix it?? It's supposed to be covered under warranty after all, and it's brand new isn't it?? Then the realization sinks in... The trunk door is bent. THE TRUNK DOOR IS BENT!!! It's a TEN DAY OLD BRAND NEW LEATHER-TRIMMED XLE and IT'S GOT A BENT DOOR!!! How the heck did that happen??? If someone banged into it, where's the dent?? This thing was fine the day we bought it. The second day, it starts to creak. Now it's shuddering and bent!! And the best part is - DCH TOYOTA REFUSES TO FIX IT!!! OUR LAUREL TOYOTA DEALER CAR WON'T FIX IT (not to mention - it's 3.5 hours drive away!!)!! NO ONE IN TOYOTA WILL FIX IT!!! They say WE bent it!! Excuse me?? And how did WE do that exactly??? By pressing a REMOTE KEY CHAIN BUTTON??? SHOW US HOW WE DENTED IT IF THAT'S WHAT TOYOTA THINKS HAPPENED!! They don't even have an answer for that!! WHAT IS GOING ON??!!
I have KIDS. I drive KIDS and their KIDDIE friends all over the world to their activities and things. I CANNOT DRIVE A CAR THAT IS BRAND NEW AND BROKEN DOWN THROUGH NO FAULT OF MY OWN!! There is only one thing I can think of that makes any sense - this Sienna was built shoddily. That's all I can think of. If the thing is creaking on Day 2, and bending out of shape on Day 10, what next? The passenger side doors will start opening in the middle of traffic? The seatbelts will start popping out?? ZERO QUALITY. TOTALLY UNSAFE. AND TOYOTA REFUSES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. How can a BRAND NEW Minivan Just Go and BREAK DOWN (electronics stop working, whatever) without ever being in so much as a bubble-blowing-accident??? WHAT IS GOING ON??? HOW MANY PEOPLE NEED TO BUY THIS UNSAFE CAR AND DISCOVER ITS PROBLEMS BEFORE TOYOTA FINALLY OWNS UP TO ITS MISTAKES???
I have been a customer with DCH Toyota for FIVE years - and they are refusing to fix the trunk door!! This, after the car has a paid-for-in-cash seven year extended warranty IN ADDITION to its regular 36,000 mile/3 yr warranty. DCH Toyota says we need to talk to our insurance company to pay for the "damages"... excuse me??? WHAT DAMAGES??? The trunk door is IMMACULATE. It's a beautiful Predawn Mica with grey leather interior and it's... beautiful. But beauty only goes skin deep. There's nothing the heck wrong with it except ELECTRONICS or MISALIGNMENT OF THE DOOR (? I guess that's why the door doesn't close - just a guess, I donno WHAT those body shop people did to it after we left it there - who knows, maybe THEY bent it or dinged it or something and waited the whole day to cover up for it and called us right at the end of the day to come pick it up... who knows WHAT goes on inside a body shop...and now, especially a TOYOTA body shop...!!) IT'S SIMPLY BAD MANUFACTURING. I am not an electrical engineer. I am a housewife. I did NOT make this machine. I have no idea what to do with it except DRIVE it. TOYOTA ENGINEERS made this mess. TOYOTA COST-CUTTING and TOYOTA MANAGEMENT is making DCH Toyota and the Laurel Toyota MAKE US - the CONSUMER - PAY FOR TOYOTA'S MISTAKES... after paying 35K of my husband's hard-earned money for the car, apparently that wasn't enough for Toyota. And my husband and I or our INSURANCE company is supposed to pay for fixing the door?? WHATEVER FOR???? In all likelihood, the minivan was damaged goods even BEFORE it got to the Laurel MD dealership lot, even BEFORE we bought it - IT WAS BAD QUALITY, THOROUGHLY UNCHECKED, COMPLETELY UNTESTED - SLOPPILY BUILT - JUST MADE AND SOLD. And we got suckered into buying it… out of brand loyalty. WHAT LOYALTY does TOYOTA have for its customers??? If anything happens to my kids or anyone else's kids in that UNSAFE TOYOTA SIENNA XLE 2011 - who will be responsible??? Toyota Engineers, Toyota Management, the Laurel Toyota dealership, the New Jersey DCH Toyota dealership, Mr. Toyoda the Head of Toyota Motor Corp., or us, the "con"sumers who have unwittingly paid hard-earned money for something DANGEROUS ON THE ROAD? Who will be responsible? I PAID 35 THOUSAND US DOLLARS FOR A PIECE OF JUNK.
Others may find that amount a pittance and may think a Toyota Sienna is worth it or whatever. Our experience says otherwise. It was a LOT of money for us. We do NOT go out buying a new car everyday. Some people do and may. We need a RELIABLE and SAFE transportation method, besides public. Is it FAIR to CHEAT an ordinary human being out of his/her sweat and toil? How does Toyota show face to its employees – isn’t it cheating its own workers by having them cheaply manufacture shoddy minivans in which families are unsafe, and then refuse to fix or replace those minivans when they are found to be defective through no fault of the consumer? Why is Toyota BENT on cheating everyone so very much? FIX (OR REPLACE) MY MINIVAN???
- faultysienna, Beverly Hills, CA, US