I bought a 2007 Toyota Sienna. At 50,000 miles, the charcoal canister (catalytic converter) went out. No help now at 89,000 miles. The transmission went out. Again, I called Toyota. No help. It is unfortunate that I have a '99 Toyota Sienna with the same charcoal canister issue, but with 114,000 miles, the transmission still works. How can Toyota say they do not have a defective transmission or a defective part? My '99 Plymouth Voyager still runs with 249,000 miles with no transmission or catalytic converter issue.
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
Our story is that we bought a 2006 Toyota Sienna from a dealer in '06. In February 2010, the passenger side sliding door stopped opening automatically but could still be opened manually. The dealer said a "switch" failed and repair would be around $600. Later that year, the driver's side sliding door failed, and does not open at all.
In December 2011, the passenger side door failed entirely, now both doors do not open at all. Our five children have to enter through the rear hatch or crawl over the front seat into the back. Buckling the baby in her car seat in the second row is an everyday ordeal. Also, we are terrified of what would happen if we were in an accident and could not get the children out of the car due to the door failure.
The Toyota dealer said the repair of the faulty cables inside the door would be $2200, or $1100 per door. Corporate said they would not assist with the repair as the warranty on the doors was 2 years or 36,000 miles, and our vehicle was 4 and 5 years old when the doors failed. We cannot afford that repair.
We got a 2008 Toyota Sienna. We have the extended 100,000-mile warranty at 95,000 miles, then the car smokes. We took it to a dealer who said it has to happen for them. I got it to smoke, and then I was told that the engine was bad and that any sludge and any missing oil changes not accounted for negates warranty. Also, they said that city driving is considered "extreme" conditions, and that it can negate warranty. At this point, we have no resolution and a limping car. Oil levels are to be checked by us after someone changes it because they require 6.5 quarts and not the five quarts that many shops consider standard. This is ridiculous!
We've been going back and forth with the dealer, and Toyota has our car with 103,000 miles on it. My wife is not comfortable and I have an injury that keeps me from doing more that phone calls. My mechanic (I am mechanically inclined also) found an engine problem due to a Toyota problem which oil line recall is part of. We cannot find one oil change receipt, and this is stopping Toyota from fixing ours? We have also met and been in contact with at least five to eight people with the same problems with same vehicle from 2007 to 2011.
My 2004 Toyota Sienna has a defective driver's side door (the check strap inside the door broke off the wield). Toyota knew of hundreds of such complaints, but did not do a recall. Instead, they allegedly extended the warranty to 50,000 miles. I never received any information from Toyota regarding the potential problem and it doesn't appear that Toyota sent any owners such info. Regardless, the problem didn't surface in my vehicle until about 55,000 to 60,000 miles. Toyota shops claim they have to replace the door at a cost of $2,500, and Toyota will not cover the repair/replacement.
Toyota Sienna 2004 door module flaw. Toyota will not resolve nor help resolve.
On 6/13/2011, I brought my 2004 Toyota Sienna to the Cedar Rapids Toyota to check the electrical right sliding door as it was hard to open using the electrical system and manually. Toyota applied white grease and the door was less hard to open. No electrical check was performed. On 7/9/2011, that same door would not open electrically and while opening it manually, the door made a strange noise. Then, the rear quarter glass of the wing window shattered. The electrical sliding door stayed stuck in a semi-open position. Being late Saturday, it could not be repaired and I had to drive home with that door open, shattered glass all over the floor and seats, and the deafening beeping automatic sound/signal that indicated a door was open.
On 7/11/2011, the car was taken to Toyota of Fort Worth. A supervisor was called in and despite no investigation whatsoever, the conclusion was that nothing could be done and that I should bring the car to a body shop because it didn't look like a mechanical/electrical failure. I took the car to the body shop (Sterling Fort Worth). Once the door was stripped of its components, the body shop found that the door's power slide control motor was noticeably chafed with cables linking the motor to the door all twisted. The motor was replaced but the issue reoccurred and also, the second motor showed chafing and twisting, not allowing the door to work.
The body shop concluded that the cause of the problem was the sliding door control module which controls the motor. For safety reasons, I agreed with the body shop to disconnect the motor to allow the manual use of the door. Both the body shop and Toyota concluded that the issue cannot be resolved because of a design flaw which does not allow for the installation holes of the module to line-up with the door. Toyota specified it does not have a manual or a design to share with anyone to fix the issue.
We have a 2006 Toyota Sienna (I think that we are the only owners of this type) and we bought the extended warranty for six years especially to cover the repairs while we were getting the vehicle paid for. The caliper release pin is faulty and has ruined both the brakes and the brake pads. Also, the glove compartment lock mechanism needs to be replaced. Everything costs about $600. They say that none is covered by the warranty. Is this fraud? What good is the warranty? We don't have a lot of money. We bought a new van in hopes that we would not be bombarded with repairs. We are careful with the van and nobody but my husband drives it. We hope that nothing else goes wrong with it. If I were to rate my overall experience, I will give it 1 star. I assume that means not very good?
I was driving my 2003 Toyota Sienna last Sunday, 8/14/11. I realized that the car was moving faster than usual. I didn't pay much attention at first, but when I came to a red traffic light, I found that it's very difficult to stop the car. I stepped my brake very hard and managed to stop. There was a very loud engine noise. I shifted the transmission gear to parking. The engine noise became much louder. I didn't know what happened, so I drove to a parking place, and turned the car off. I waited about three minutes and restarted the car. This time, there wasn't engine noise, so I thought the problem is gone.
I went on I-495 highway, but soon found the same problem. The car is accelerating even my foot was on brake. I felt terrified. I had to step on the brake all the time to control my speed. Finally after about five minutes, I got off the highway. I came to the first traffic light at RT. 355. Although I stepped the brake very hard, the car didn't seem to be able to stop so I shifted the transmission gear to parking. There was a big noise. But thank God, the car stopped.
After that, the car runs normally so far. My brother-in-law told me that Toyota has recalls on "sticky accelerator pedal" issue. I know this is exactly what happened to me. However, I was surprised to see that the Sienna is not covered in the recall. I called my auto dealer, 355 Toyota, and a customer service person told me that my call is not covered by the recall, and I need to pay $125 to have my car checked.
I don't understand why 2003 Toyota was not in the recall. This is exactly what happened to me.
I purchased a used 2006 Toyota Sienna in May 2010. When I test drove the car, the airbag light was flashing. I told the salesman and he said it was just a sensor and they would fix it. They ordered the part and I took it back the next week to have it fixed.
About four to six weeks later, the light came back on again. I called and took the car back in. I was told they had to order more parts and it would take several hours to fix. I had to take it back the next week. While I was there, I asked the tech if the airbags were okay with the light on. He said yes, they would still work.
A couple of months later, it came back on again but then after a few days went off. It did this continually for several months but I wasn't concerned thinking it was a faulty light or something since the guy told me the airbags would still work.
In February 2011, the light came on and stayed on. In March, I had some maintenance done by my local mechanic and asked him about the airbag light. He checked the code and said there was a recall and he also informed me the airbag didn't work when the light was on. I was working overtime at work and didn't want to mess with the light so I waited until August before I actually called and reported it. They made me an appointment.
On 8/11/11, I took the van to the Toyota dealer and they informed me it would cost $4,200 to fix it. I informed them that this was an ongoing problem and I thought they should honor their original commitment when I bought the car to correct the problem. It's not my fault they couldn't figure out in the first 90 days what the problem was.
They refused to fix the problem. In my opinion, they sold me an unsafe vehicle. They should have known the day I drove that car off the lot that the airbags wouldn't work and yet they let me buy the car anyway. I don't understand why I don't have any recourse on this. Something like the airbags not working isn't the consumer's fault. Toyota manufactured a faulty vehicle and won't take responsibility. I am extremely disappointed in Toyota. I specifically bought a Toyota because I thought they were good cars that would last for a long time. Imagine my disappointment.
I was in a car accident in my 2002 Toyota Sienna. The car was going about 35-40 miles per hour and hit a car crossing through traffic. Its airbag did not deploy. My quality of life is now pretty bad. My shoulder is so messed up I cannot lift a grocery bag, or do any of the activities I could do before the crash. The impact damaged muscles from the waste up. My voice is chronically hoarse due to muscle damage in my throat.
I have a new Sienna van and the front end is too low to the ground causing all kinds of problems. Why is it so low --styling? Maybe someone should drive it in and out of a parking lot and see all the problems it has!
