Rear liftgate on 2004 toyota sienna failed. it was in up position and suddenly came down and i was unable to get it up while i was under it loading groceries. the weight of the door hit my shoulder first and knocked me into the back of the van. i was then able to push it back up after i dropped the grocery bags. the door came down very fast and forceful,ly. i was sore but very thankful that my 4 year old wasn't under the lift gate with me.*ak
Driver's side passenger door internal mechanism is broken. auto body shop states they have seen this failure on multiple toyota sienna vans of this model era 2004 and later. will cost $1,500 to repair including welding of failed metal part in internal door mechanism. updated 11/1/07 *tr
Door check failure on the drivers side door. this causes loud popping noises when opening and closing the door. *jb
Broken welds in door on door stop on 2004 toyota sienna. this is a know defect that needs to be covered under a recall. i know of 35 other vans with the same problem. it is hit or miss if they will fix this under warranty. this will become a safety issue when the brakes ar einvolved. toyota customer care has refused to take complaints on the problem. ak
The lift gate has fallen unexpectedly on several occassions. my wife, my mother-in-law and my child have all been "hit" on separate occassions by the gate during this malfunction. the dealer has advised that the struts need to be replaced. *tr
Relating to current investigation of 2004 toyota sienna rear liftgate strut failure nhtsa recall campaign number: ea06020). my wife has a 2004 sienna xle with the power liftgate and the struts just failed, causing the liftgate to close and requiring help from a friend standing nearby to help her hold it up to remove our children's stroller. i looked at it this evening and noticed grease around one of the cylinders where the seal had obviously failed. while i was looking at the struts i took my hand off of the hatch for a second mistakenly thinking that the power assembly would hold it up and it immediately came down and hit me in the head, causing luckily only a headache. after researching the problem and finding the ongoing investigation i wanted to add my name to the list of complaintants and suggestions that toyota be required to fix the defect and replace the struts. note: i entered 2 in the number of failures box since both struts failed and i entered 1 in the persons injured because it did hit me in the head hard enough to give me a headache ,and i am a 200 lbs man. my fear was that if it would have closed on one of my children that it could have caused serious injury. i will be shopping tomorrow for replacement struts from an aftermarket dealer because in my research i have found people on their 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th sets of struts replaced under warranty. unfortunately, my sienna was conveniently at 39,000 miles, 3,000 miles out of warranty. *ak
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact opened the vehicle's rear hatch and it immediately shut. when the hatch attempts to close automatically, the electric motor kicks in for fifteen seconds before it can be lifted up again. the hatch must be held open by someone or propped open by a stick. this failure occurs in both wet and dry weather. the engine size and # of cylinders were unknown. the current and failure mileages were 80,000.
a month or so prior to this incident, i took the 2004 toyota sienna to the local toyota dealer and asked them to check the door latch on the driver's door - it was making a popping sound. i was told it would not hurting anything ,and some time in the future bring it in and they will order the part and take the door panel off to replace the latch. well, on tuesday, may 8, 2007 i opened the door and the latch broke in half, and the part connected to the door broken the metal around the latch, and it fell into the door. when i lowered the window several hours later the window fell of the track and down inside the door. - it would not raise back up, so i took it back to the toyota dealer, and after waiting for 3 hours ,i was told the clips were broken, and they would have to order a new window with clips attached. the window was put back in place, and i was told not to roll the window down or it would fall off the track again. - the service department at the toyota dealer was going to charge me $106 for putting the window back up. i was told this labor charge and the charge to replace the window/clips, or the door latch , actually the door would have to be replaced, would not be covered under my extended warranty. - i was not informed that it was not covered under my extended warranty until they were charging me for the labor of putting my window back on the clips. so, they did not charge me anything - after i argued with them about this. - the next day, i had someone else look at the clips, window and the track holding the window. - the clips are not broken, just unglued from the window - because the track bent when the broken door latch part fell into the door. *ak
Liftgate hazard -- i own a 2004 toyota sienna, with manual liftgate. the liftgate struts/supports have failed. i was hit on the head and shoulder, but was not seriously hurt. jb
Driver side passenger door on a 2004 toyota sienna mini van will not close. normal use of the door. it is electronic opening and closing. however the door goes to shut and then continuously opens back up as if a sensor won't let it close. however when switching to manual, the door does not close either. nothing in the door runner would cause it not to close, cleaned out all door runways and openings. something with the door clasp not closing around the hatch of the door prevents the door from remaining closed. the safety issue is the door does on some occasions start opening while driving. toyota dealer says its our fault and that it would cost close to $2,000 dollars to fix. money is not the object here, it is a known issue with many sienna owners and this is just another example of their poor quality workmanship. *tr
Rear passenger sliding door will not open. *tr
2004 toyota sienna passenger side power sliding door stopped working. it wouldn't close the final 18 inches. i had to bungy strap it and drive to the dealership. they said the brackets were bent and motor was no good. it would cost $1400 to fix it. i told them to cut the cable or just figure a way to close it. when i returned to the dealership they were able to shut the door. i asked if i could use the door manually. she said since i didn't authorize them to fix it ($1400) they would not say it was ok to use. i would be using it at my own risk. this still cost me $130. *tr
The rear door on the 2004 toyota sienna van camer down by itself. the motorized hatch went up and then almost immediately came down. i was getting items out of the back when it hit the top of my head. it kept closing until i hit the remote button , but as soon as it reached the top,it started to close again. i contacted toyota, and they told me the warranty expired, and it would cost $470.92 to fix it. this was a safety issue and could cause major injury, especially to a small child. i think they should be responsible. *ak
The power liftgate on my 2004 sienna closes on its own after i open it. the liftgate has struck me on the head and shoulders on several occasions. about a year ago toyota replaced the gas pistons but the situation has reoccured, especially in cold weather. today, it closed on its own three times.
Hatch on my 2004 toyota sienna van comes down by itself. it is the limited edition version with motorized hatch raising and lowering. it goes up and then comes down by itself. i was standing underneath and it struck the top of my head and gave me a stiff/sore neck. it does this intermittenly, not all of the time. i contacted toyota and told me my warranty is out of date and would not repair it. this is a safety issue and could cause major injury especially to a small child and i think they should be responsible. this is not like a fan belt or alternator where the failure cannot actually injury someone. i understand this has been corrected on the newer siennas that still have the same body style, so they obviously know it was a problem.
Right side passenger door will not open. it is an automatic sliding door, but the door failed to open 6 months ago and will not open manually. this is an extreme danger and have been told it will cost 1800 dollars to fix. it should at least open manually, but will not. now i would have to spend 1,800 dollars i do not have. *tr
Struts on rear liftgate failed, injuring my back. *tr
tl*- the contact stated that when he opened the rear liftgate of the 2004 toyota sienna using the remote control access the gate will rise to the top and immediately come down without warning. the contact stated there was an updated door stay replaced on the vehicle in januar 2006 under warranty. the rear liftgate will only lower without warning when opening using the remote. the gate did not lower without warning when it was opened manually. the contact spoke with the dealership, and was informed they would not replace or fix until they received something from toyota. the failure mileage was 28200, and the current mileage was 28400.*ak the consumer stated the rear lift gate somtimes lowers without warning during the opening cycle. updated 03/19/07. *jb
In december, 2006, my tailgate closed on its own, injuring my wife. toyota replaced the rear stays (struts) under warranty, including the addition of some brackets. at first everything was fine. but when the weather turned colder (below 20f), the rear hatch would not open on its own unless opening under power. and then a couple of days ago (still very cold), the hatch closed on its own under power again. this time, my daughter and i were both in its path, but fortunately, so was a shopping cart. there were fortunately no injuries this time. i am frustrated that just 45 days after the problem was "repaired" it is already happening again.
The sliding doors on my 2004 toyota sienna freeze up in the winter. this concerns me because i can not open the doors. therefore my children need to climb into the front of the van to get out or climb in the back and exit the vehicle through the hatchback. they must also enter the van through the front driver's door or the front passenger door. in the event of an emergency, my children will be at risk because they are not able to exit the vehicle properly. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the rear lift gate closes unexpectedly and on its own. she stated that it closes with such force, that it makes it very difficult to re-open. the dealer and the manufacturer have not been notified. the failure has caused the contact's husband to sustain a strained back. the vin and engine size were unknown. the current mileage was 20,000 and failure mileage was 15,000.
The rear lift gate lost its full up position and rapidly came down. the power close function kicked in was near impossible to push back to keep it from crushing me. the pressure sensor did not seem to function. the rear lift gate is currently useless but poses a major safety concern with kids in our family. the dealer has not shown the expected sense of urgency in getting this problem fixed. this is our first new toyota and i am terribly disappointed with this situation, this will certainly affect my decision to buy another toyota brand if the problem is not addressed to my satisfaction. *jb
1. nothing 2. hatch would not stay up/ fell down on person trying to put stuff in hatch 3. dealership is ordering part. *jb
The two sliding doors on my 2004 toyota sienna keep freezing shut in cold weather. dealer cleaned and lubricated the doors but that didn't help. dealers next suggestion is to replace the cables in the door for $700/door but can't guarantee that will fix the problem. my two children have to enter the van through the back hatch. if an accident occurred, the kids would have to crawl over the front seats to exit the van since the side doors are frozen shut and the back hatch doesn't open from inside the van. *jb
Failure of the rear hatch support mechanism ,making the hatch extremely difficult to raise, and when released causes it to crash down with great force on top of a person that may be under it.*ak
The automatic sliding door on my 2004 sienna has been a problem since we purchased the vehicle. at times, we can't open the door from the outside and other times, we can. also, we recently closed the door with the automatic button and for no apparent reason, the cable broke so that we now have to open and close the door manually. also, we have had issues with the acceleration of the vehicle if we are going from a stop position or a slow moving (less than 10 km/h) position. the van seems to slow down before shifting into gear. this is a serious problem when driving especially with children in the vehicle. my warranty has expired and i'm looking at having to pay for this on my own. i am dissatisfied with toyota, i have had this vehicle for only 2 years and i have had three recalls already. this is my 2nd toyota product and my last. *nm
The lift gate of the back of my toyota sienna 2004 fell prematurely while i was loading in the rear trunk. *nm
Driver door hinge is defective. this is a know defect in the first model year 2004 toyota sienna. our dealer said this is a common problem and the only repair is to replace the door at our expense (~$1,000). we are very concerned that this defect will continue to get worse and cause the door to either not open or to separate from the vehicle in an accident. we feel that this know defect could be repaired at toyota's expense and not the customer's expense. we are talking about a 2 year old vehicle and it is unreasonable to expect such a costly repair as a "owner maintenance". we would like to know what information is available about this defect and how we can encourage toyota to take responsibility for this defect. *nm
Dt*: the passenger side power sliding door locked and would not open. there were six ways to open and close the sliding doors and none of them worked. a couple of days later the door would open. this problem occurred intermittently. the door closed on its own while attempting to get the children into their child safety seats. the only way to keep the door from closing was to push on it manually. the dealership could not duplicate the problem. *ak
Liftgate doesn't open fully. *nm
Passenger sliding door mechanism sometimes closes but most of the time it starts to close and then opens on its own. the driver's side sliding door began doing the same thing recently. i usually have to throw my body weight into the door to actually close it. it's supposed to be automatic. *jb
1. power sliding door worked. 2. went to operate power door, loud sound of plastic breaking, door would not open or close completely. 3. at home saw that cable to operate power sliding door had snapped. called dealer said they wouldn't do anything, out of warranty. called toyota said isolated case sorry can't do anything. cut cable so i was able operate door manually. approx. 1 year later cable on other door snapped. same process, same response. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. when closing the rear drivers side sliding door it failed and would not close. the contact had to drive with the door tied together by a rope to keep it in place while driving. the dealer inspected the vehicle and made the necessary repairs to correct the failure at no cost. two years later, the drivers side rear sliding door would not close, however, after several attempts, the contact was able to close the door and currently is unable to open it. the passenger rear sliding door is currently failing and it will not close properly and opened while driving without warning. the contact was advised that the motor in the door failed he would be responsible for paying for the repairs. the contact is in the process of taking the vehicle to the dealer for further inspection per the manufacturer instructions. the failure mileage was 28,000 and the current mileage was 109,000.
2004 toyota sienna liftgate closing automatically and striking the owner's head; problem occurred intermittently. at times the open door was activated, the door began to close, didn't close completely, would re-open and close again until forced physically into an upright position with some force. *nm
Power slicing door cable assemblies...... work and then not working on and off... did not file complaint before because children complain not working but when i tried... it works about 4 times in the past. first instance in 2008. //// now not working completely/stuck. the power is working, but lock appear stuck to where the lock button wont unlock so door can not be open by button or manually. ***** the warranty is 120,000 mile for power slicing door cable assemblies .... my car door is completely stuck / wont open now at 142,000. *tr
(1) we have a 2004-2005 toyota sienna xle with the back hatch that opens and closes automatically. we used our back hatch regularly and it hasn't been misused. we have opened it using the keyless remote, the ceiling mounted keypad, and manually. however, our hatch has not been working properly since february 2006. (2) when we use the button on our keyless remote or on the ceiling mounted keypad, the hatch opens but as soon as it reaches the maximum height, it automatically closes. when it encounters an obstacle, it does not open again as it should, but rather continues to close unless extreme force is applied. i have been trapped by the door on several occasions and my daughter (age 3) was almost pinned by the door as well. when we try to open the door manually, the automatic hatch does not work at all so we have to prop the door open with a large wooden stake or try to hold it open with one hand while attempting to place items in the trunk with the other hand. at times the stake has fallen causing the door to slam shut quickly. also, at a certain height, the door will just begin to close automatically even though i am attempting to hold it open. i find this situation to be extremely dangerous and have avoided using our back hatch whenever possible. in addition, the automatic side doors are also supposed to reopen if they encounter an obstacle, but i have found that this is not the case. they require a great amount of force to reopen. the doors have almost shut on our children several times. had i not been standing right there to force the door open, they would have been pinned. i am very concerned about the danger of this situation as well. (3) we attempted to fix the back hatch earlier this spring, but the service department did not have the part and said it would take 30 days b/f it would come in. we have not taken it back, particularly b/c the cost of replacing the part was $300+ which is too expensive for us at this point. *nm
Power sliding doors fail to open, primarily in cold weather. the vehicle was taken to the dealership about 10 times. fist they "could not duplicate the problem", then when i was able to show it to them, they could not fix it. eventually the manufacturer sent a factory engineer to check the vehicle. he had the door seal replaced. that helped for a few weeks, now it's doing it again. i took it back today they said that they did all that they can, although there is nothing more that they can do for me. *tr
The doors on my 2004 toyota minivan have been freezing every winter season since 2006. canada toyota has made this a recall item, but the united states will not? i find this to be absurd - especially when children have to climb up through the front seats to get out of vehicles. this could be fatal in an accident if the doors can not be opened. i have contacted toyota dealer and they claim to use wrench grease to lube the doors to help and prevent from sticking. i live in new england and the doors have already starting freezing shut this year (oct 2009). this is extremely frustrating, this isn't a cheap vehicle and it was purchased for family use. toyota has really failed the american public with their minivans. i would have used this avenue to complain years ago - i have been wasting my time trying to work with the toyota company. please help *tr
Dt: contact was concerned about the automatic locks on new vehicles. when starting the vehicle and it started to move, and the doors automatically locked. contact was afraid he will not be able to unlock the door if the occupant was unconscious or if vehicle was in water or a fire broke out. *ak *nm
Dt: automatic hatchback on the mini van came down and didn't stop with the consumer in the way. the vehicle is being taken to the dealership tonight. the hatchback hit the consumer in the head, it didn't stop the hatchback pushed the consumer into the van and her mother had to grab it to stop it. *ak
Power sliding doors are dangerous. several times, when parked on slight incline, door will close by itself and has closed on myself and family. the door is supposed to be designed to pop back open when it feels resistance but has squeezed me several times. once my five-year-old was getting out of the car, closed the door with the button and then got his hand stuck in the door. it did not open back up, i had to open it, resulting in a dislocated elbow and a broken wrist (both bones). i contacted toyota, they sent me to the dealer, the head mechanic checked it about 100 times and put his own arm and head into the door, which of course did not lead to anything. not two weeks later the door closed on my body, and squeezed me very hard before bouncing back open. i have called toyota, they are very nice and apologetic. i feel that because he wasn't injured worse or killed they won't do anything. *jb
The sliding door on my 2004 toyota sienna was not opening properly, only opened about 3 inches. i took it to the dealership for oil change and to check the door on march 14th. wheni called 90 minutes later to check the staus of the work, marco, the service rep informed me that the door was not fixed because it need a recall part, and the car need 2 other recall parts that need to be fixed. he advised that i make an appointment to bring the car back to have all the work done at the same time. the appoinment was made for march 21st. march 20th, one of my children went to open the door, forgetting that it was not work, the door flew open. i went to close the door, and it was off the back hinge, the only thing holding it to the car was the top wheel/runner apparatus at the top of the door. the door had to be tied to the inside to get the car to the dealership for repair the next day.*ak
(1) 2 year old daughter pushed the button to close the automatic sliding door on our 2004 toyota sienna. it closed on her hand. (2) the door failed to reopen automatically, compressing it for approximately 30-60 seconds until it could be opened manually. her hand was so swollen it was unusable for a week. nothing was broken. (3) corrective measure was to disable the automatic door.
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. *tr
We have a 2004 toyota sienna ce. since purchasing this vehicle, any time the temperature is 32 degrees or lower, the sliding doors do not open. this is a dangerous situation. i have to get my kids in and out of the car via the back tailgate. if there were an emergency and we needed to extricate our children or passengers quickly, we would not be able to do so. *ln
My toyota sienna 2004 minivan automatic sliding doors have failed to open on eight separate occasions since november of 2004. the doors are frozen shut and cannot even be opened manually. i have three small children and have been forced to have two crawl in through the rear tailgate over the seats or have them climb in the driver or passenger door and then over the seats. i have to lift a infant in an infant seat into the car in the same manner. once you try to open the doors they fail to reclose completely so while i am driving the door open alarm is beeping because the doors are not fully closed, even while they still cannot be opened. i feel it is a safety issue to drive with the children in the rear this way, they could not get out quickly in the event of a crash or emergency and i am unsure if the door is "open" while we are driving while it is beeping and unable to open/close. i called the dealership and was told there was nothing they could do to fix this problem. the service department told me that they had a handful of siennas in during the last freeze because people had manually ripped the door handles off trying to open the doors. *ak
Tl*- the contact stated that he owns a 2004 toyota sienna with failure mileage of 38,000 and a current mileage of 69,000 miles. two years ago the driver's side sliding door would not completely shut, it would be half latched and half unlatched. he took the vehicle to the dealership, and they informed him that the vehicle was out of warranty, but they agreed to pay for half of the repairs. as of today that door was working fine, they replaced the door latch assembly. presently, the passenger side sliding door would not close completely with the remote or by hand. while driving the door was continually ajar. he contacted the dealership, and has a scheduled a repair appointment for 04/16/07. he took the vehicle to a repair shop, and they informed the contact that the door needed an electric door lock assembly. he called the manufacturer, his case number was 200704130436. they informed him that this was a safety problem, but that he would be responsible for the cost of repair.*ak
Automatic sliding door struck the consumer when closing. door will not stop even with total pressure. dealer duplicated the problem, and could not stop the door. *ak the vehicle door will only stop sliding when pressure is put on it from the outside part of the door. the bulk of the door ( inside thick part) has no safety mechanism. *tc
Dt: both manual sliding doors made squeaking noises since vehicle was purchased. the noise distracted consumer while driving. contacted the dealer and they tried greased it, shaved pieces of the parts, and ordered new parts. but problem recurred. . the first time consumer took vehicle to the dealer was august 11,2005, and it has been 6 times since then. *ak
Manual sliding door does not stay open when window rolled down. on my 2004 sienna le, the manual sliding door on the driver's side does not latch open if the window in that door is rolled down. this allows the door to slide forward on even a slight incline and run into occupants exiting the vehicle. the power sliding door on the passenger side does not have this problem, and there is also no problem if you first open the door and then roll down the window. *la