Problems with 2004 Toyota Sienna STRUCTURE

Cable on right power sliding door assembly was rusted. presented problem to toyota dealer 10/27/09. was told that the entire mechanism would need replacing since cable itself is not sold alone. in the process of closing door today, the cable snapped. door is now inoperable both in power and manual mode. safety concern since children ride in that part of vehicle and need to exit on right side at school (curbside). *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. while the contact was attempting to close the passenger side sliding door she noticed that the door was stuck in the open position. she was unable to open or close the door normally. a toyota dealer informed the contact to take the vehicle to a local body shop. there were no prior warnings. no repairs have been made to the vehicle. the current and failure mileages were 140,000. updated 2/22/10 *cn the rear passenger power sldind door became stuck in the open position due to a rusted and frayed cord. the dealer stated they could not fix it, because it was a body shop issue. updated 06/18/10.*jb

No events leading to failure. oct. 2008: passenger side power door cable came off track not allowing for door to be opened. repaired nov. 2008- cable replaced but old part not avail. very expensive to repair (over $1000-$1700 est. from toyota) nov. 2009-driver side power door cable came off track having same problem. have not yet repaired. this is very unsafe. should there be an emergency i am unable to retrieve 4 children in carseats (ages 3-6) from rear of car on driver side. i cannot afford this repair every year. [xxx] we are only owners of this vehicle. purchased new in 2004. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

We own a 2004 toyota sienna and the cable in the automatic door got frayed and caught in the motor. the door was stuck open. my husband had to force it closed so we could drive our four kids home and the door fell off! he had to force it back on and lock it so we could get home. online searches show me many other people have had this same problem with the automatic door for that year's model. *tr

I have a 2004 toyota sienna le. i am unable to open my right rear power sliding door with the key fob, button on the b-pillar, or button on the driver overhead console. this problem occurs at all temperatures. for now, i can open the door manually. i have no confidence the problem will not get worse. the dealer diagnosis is a deforming rear roller door hinge. a door hinge bending during under normal use should not lead to a failure at any time. after some research on the internet, i have discovered many people are having the same problem and other problems. i am fortunate my sliding door power cable has not broken and i have a garage so my doors do not freeze shut in cold weather (have experienced on ski trips). these are separate problems but indicative of quality problems at toyota on the sienna doors. in the event of a crash, i have no confidence i will be able to open the door and get the children out. the sliding doors in the 2004 toyota sienna appear to be poorly designed and the hinge deforming under normal use. the vehicle should be recalled to fix these issues. *tr

The sliding doors will not open when outside temperature is below freezing. if you need to enter and exit the vehicle you must crawl through the front seat. the automatic door will sometimes open without being manually activated. the air in the rear will automatically come on and shut off after a few seconds without being manually activated. *tr

Power doors on 2004 toyota sienna snapped. one door will not open even manually. the dealer tells me the hinge is broken. the van is only 7 years old and never in an accident, also garage kept. toyota will fix the doors for 2,000 a door. if there was an accident it would be impossible to remove the passengers in the back of the van. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the sliding door on the vehicle does not work properly. the door gets jammed and will not close. the dealer stated that the contact would have to get a new motor for the door. the dealer stated the problem is with the cable but the contact would have to get a new motor in order to replace the cable. the failure mileage was 130000 and the current mileage is 160000.

The sliding doors on our toyota sienna are defective. they stick shut freeze if the temperature gets low enough or there is enough moisture. it's hard to predict the circumstance but the fact is, our kids cannot get in or out of the van and we have had to drive it anyway, three different beepers going off all the way. i have read that this is a common problem for the sienna and yet toyota continues to do nothing about it, denying it, in fact. if we were in an accident, and had to escape quickly, only the driver and passenger could escape. when side doors are frozen shut, kids have to exit through the back door which is also dangerous. i know my 2004 is past the warranty, but if this is a common a problem as i have read, shouldn't there be a recall? *tr

I have a 2004 toyota sienna xle minivan. a small wire snapped on the passenger side power door. i am not able to open the door automatically or manually. the only way to fix is to have toyota install new motor for $1800 which is way too expensive for something that is a necessary component in a van. *tr

I have a 2004 toyota sienna minivan. it has two power sliding rear doors that use a cable to open and shut. over the past few months there has been a grinding noise coming from both doors and recently, one of the cables finally snapped, resulting in the door to be unusable. i am being told by toyota this is a $1200 repair as the whole door mechanism needs to be replaced, despite the fact the only problem is the snapped cable. this repair is only for one of the doors. the other cable looks as if it could snap soon, at which point it will be an additional $1200 to repair. my understanding of the issue is that the cable had a plastic coating that deteriorates over time. the coating becomes dry and brittle over time, causing it to crack and fall off the wire, leaving the wires completely vulnerable to getting wet, rust, freeze, etc, also rubbing extensively unprotected against the gears. as the bare cable is exposed to the elements, it weakens and the whole cable snaps, making the door jam altogether. after reading some information on the internet, it seems this is a common problem with many toyota sienna vans and this issue should be the subject of a recall. *tr

Toyota sienna minivan sliding door will not open/close - got stuck in the open position. *tr

During the normal operation of the driver's side automatic sliding door, the cable snapped and got caught so that the door could not fully open or fully close. it was necessary to cut the cable out and operate the door manually to get the door to shut at all. the quote to repair the problem was $1232.12. *tr

Toyota sienna 2004 sliding door motor cable was totally rusted and snapped. sliding door is not operable. sliding door wire is totally rusted during normal use. as s result, door was jammed and neither can be closed nor opened. toyota does not sell cable separately, should purchase whole motor assembly instead. similar cable cost is around 10 dollar (from hardware store) but motor assembly is around 1500 dollar. *tr

Power passenger side sliding door cable snapped door is inoperable from inside and outside. *tr

My 2004 toyota sienna automatic sliding door mechanism stopped working and we were unable to open the door on the passenger side. it is clear from forums on the internet that this is a widespread problem. *tr

We have a 2004 toyota sienna xle that has just suffered a failure of the power sliding door, causing it to become stuck in the open position. my wife was forced to drive with two young children in the back seat and the side door wide open. this is extremely unsafe and demands a recall. apparently the cable was frayed by a failed hinge, and i have read many complaints about this problem. this is a 5-year-old minivan with 84,000 miles. how is toyota allowed to ignore such a blatant safety defect to their cars that occurs within the first 3 to 5 years? it is out of warranty and they will provide no measures for repair, but no reasonable person would ever expect the doors of a car to be the first thing to stop working, and in that short a period of time. this is unacceptable and dangerous and simply shameful from a quality manufacturer on a $38,000 vehicle. i am sure you are hearing lots of complaints about this door hinge and cable motor. the dealer has quoted a repair around $2,000 including work at a body shop welding on the new hinge. meanwhile, i'm wondering about the other door. will it be another $2,000? please issue a recall now!!! *tr

We have a 2004 sienna with auto-sliding door for passenger side. the van has around 57000 miles. it is raining/snowing today and the passenger door couldn't be closed. my wife and my kid is stuck in newtow, 30 min away from home. the passenger side door can't be closed manually. the outside temp is around 35 degree. by reading the internet, it looks like many 2004 sienna owner have the same issue. i consider it as a safety issue since most van owners have young kids in the van. if the door is stuck in the winter time, it is a big problem. *tr

I own a 2004 toyota sienna xle model. the sliding door cables plastic/rubber shield began to peel off and now the door won't close in automatic mode because it always sense resistance. i tried to disable the automatic mode and put the doors on manual mode, but it's nearly impossible to move this door as something seems to be stuck. did a search on the web and it seems like almost everyone is having this problem now that this model is getting to be 4-5 years old. some says to cut the cable in order to get the door to operate smoothly in manual mode. but i don't want to take the chance. toyota really should have a recall on this major design flaw and safety hazard. thank you. *tr

Automatic sliding passenger side door cable broke. door will not open or close. occupants are trapped in vehicle. must climb over front seat or out drivers side sliding door (which also broke) to egress vehicle. *tr

We have a 2004 toyota sienna. we have discovered that the cable on driver side of the sliding door has rusted/rotted and snapped off. we have called toyota about this issue and they informed us that the doors are not covered. we feel that this is a safety issue as the doors only open part way. we have found that there was no recall on this issue. please look into this asap. just picture your children trapped in the van during an accident- these doors are too heavy for them in manual mode. this is happening to many toyota vehicles, to the point where this needs to be aired on national television for toyota to step up and stand behind their vehicles. this is about safety and our children - not just a bonus feature. help us to keep our children safe in these family built vehicles! please!!! *tr

My driver side sliding door fell off my 2004 toyota sienna. when i looked closely i found the cable was snapped, and the door was jammed with the kids inside the car was unable to go no where until a friend was able to help us out, the dealer want over $1500 to fix the problem, no way i can afford that at this time, so they suggested to cut the cable and make the door manual and that is what i'm running on right now, it happened at 78000 miles and the car now has 89000, and of course warranty was over long time ago. *tr

My 2004 toyota sienna van's passenger side power sliding door cable snapped. making it only open 1/4 of the way, i had to cut the rest of the cable on both sides and push the manual override button to use the door manually. i have read in edmunds.com forums there have been many others with the same problems and the cost of fixing it ranges from $1200 - $2000 for they have to replace the whole motor. i think this can be a safety issue if your in a accident and need to open the door, and the cable snaps, then it will not open. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the passenger side door will not open. the dealer will disable the door because the complete repair was too expensive. the toyota manufacturer has not been notified. the failure mileage was 43,000.

We purchased the new 2004 toyota sienna on or about august of 2004. in about late september of 2009 i noticed a popping sound coming from the driver's door when opening and closing it. it became progressively worse in the following weeks. i checked on-line and discovered it to be a common problem with other 2004, 05, 06, 07 and 08 siennas. i had a 5 year extended warranty and called the toyota customer service here in hawaii and was told that the warranty had expired so they were not going to do anything. i asked if toyota factory welds were only good for the life of the warranty and was not given an answer. i later discovered that a technical service bulletin tsbnv003-07 was issued by toyota but not a recall. they claim that a notice about the problem was mailed to the owners but we have never received it and have been living at the same address for 18 years. the broken part is an engineering flaw with the design of the plate welded to the door that causes the door strap welds to break loose if the broken part is not replaced or repaired the door will swing freely open to it's extreme and close suddenly without restriction when opening or closing the door. repairs typically cost around $2,000.00 outside of warranty with the replacement of the drivers side door. re-welding the failure points is not recommended as they are prone to fail again sooner than replacing the door. this failure also occurs on the passenger door. due to the cost of the repair i have made my own modifications by installing 3 nuts and bolts through the door into the broken part, but have noticed that the part has about a one inch cracked due to the original popping of the welds. i have yet to have the crack welded, if possible. also see the following site for a better description and understanding of this and other similar problems: http://sites.google.com/site/toyotasiennadefects/. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the sliding doors would not open at all. he took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that he would be billed if they performed a diagnostic test. the vehicle has not been inspected or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the current mileage was approximately 42,000. the failure mileage was approximately 35,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. she stated that the cable for the sliding doors snapped, which almost caused the door to separate from the vehicle. the dealer was contacted. upon contact a technician advised her that because the warranty had expired, she would have to pay $2000.00 for repairs. no repairs were made. the failure and current mileages were 65000.

I have a 2004 toyota sienna van with the same problem many other sienna owners have, the passenger side rear sliding power door does not open, not by power or manually. this is an expensive repair as noted all over the internet and not considered a safety issue by toyota. having 2 young children riding in the back seat every day, i do consider this a safety issue, not only because of possible entrapment, but because they must now discharge on the traffic side of the vehicle, not the street side. additionally, this van has faulty welds in the driver side front door, another issue frequently documented online and for which there was a tsb. because my van is now out of warranty, the dealer will not cover this repair even though it was purchased after the tsb was issued for this defect. i think a door falling off the car is also a safety issue. please look into this matter further and have it corrected. thank you. *tw

The power function of the automatic rear sliding passenger door has failed. the cable that attaches to the motor for this device snapped and was exposed causing a safety hazard. approximately 1 foot of cable was exposed and hanging from the middle rear of door. additionally other parts of the system failed/broke when the cable broke and became lodged in the system causing the door to remain open. when some of these parts associated with the snapped wire / door motor broke they were ejected into the car hitting the nearest right side car safety seat where one of our children sits. the cost of replacing the door parts is prohibitive. per toyota dealership, cost is approximately $1700 per door to replace the snapped wire. the door will not be repaired and remain non-functional. 2006 reference tsb el004-04 2009 reference tsb-0085-09nhtsa number:10029190 for similar cases. *tr

Both passenger and driver 's side sliding doors cables have snapped and i can not open the passenger side door at all! the driver side door opens manually. *tr

Family loaded in van to leave, pushed button on rear passenger automatic door to close it and made a weird noise then failed to close. some how the automatic door cable caught in track of sliding door preventing door closure past half way. all efforts to close door failed. luckily we were leaving home not returning home. van had to be driven to shop with door wide open! toyota dealer charged $450 to cut cable off and free door to close manually, or over $1600 to replace cable and motor that are apparently all one piece. there was absolutely no warning to this failure. it seems that if an automatic door part is going to fail, it should be designed to at least function in a manual state. children cannot be driven around in a minivan with the door wide open. toyota refused to acknowledge that this could be a problem. *tr

I own a 2004 toyota sienna (79k mileage) and the cable in my passenger side sliding door jammed, leaving the door open. i had to drive the van with the door open (kids in car seats, with rain falling) to a mechanic to help close it. now i notice how common this problem is for sienna owners. toyota will not fix the problem with replacing the entire engine for $1500+ labor. this widespread issue is a health and safety concern, as it would limit someone's ability to get out of the car in case of accident or emergency. very large problem that toyota is choosing to ignore. *tr

2004 toyota sienna. consumer writes in regards to vehicle sliding door malfunction. *smd the consumer stated the left sliding door came off track, after the cable system malfunctioned. when the door fell down to the side step, it shattered the left rear window.

Drivers side sliding door will not open. *tr

Toyota sienna le 2004 passenger side power sliding door does not work as intended. it can only be operated from the outside by pulling the handle and getting the door started. none of the remote buttons will cause the door to open. the door can not be opened from the inside of the car. *tr

We have a toyota sienna whose sliding doors are inoperable. six months ago are driver side sliding door would not close. we were at a store and had to drive to our mechanic with the door stuck open - not very safe at all with children in the car - to disable the motor and unjam the door. it now only operates in a manual mode.now our passenger side door had the same thing happen! once again, the door would not close and we had to force it shut - and cannot use that door until it is fixed. we do not feel safe having children use the doors because now they are difficult to open and close. if they needed to exit quickly - children cannot open the heavy doors on their own. also there is no longer the safety feature of having the door not close if something or someone is in its path. *tr

I have 2004 toyota sienna with 1 powerdoor. the motor and cable assembly is now broken, and toyota will not make it manual. i now have to pay $1,600.00 for a new assembly. *tr

The rear power sliding door on the toyota has a safety defect where the power sliding door closes completely but then pops open slightly at the rear of the door. the result is that the door is not fully closed or latched. however, the "open door" indicator in the vehicle does not light indicating that the door is not in a fully closed position. the "pop open" scenario was occurring over the course of several weeks, before going over a bumpy road the vibrations must have been sufficient enough to warrant the "open door" indicator to light. upon bringing to toyota for repair they informed me the motor was damaged along with the latching mechanism for the door. *tr

Automatic sliding passenger door seized on august 17, 2009. stuck in open position. went to dealer and was informed it was fourth one they had seen in a week. was told warranty had expired prior month. would cost over $1000.00 to fix. *tr

Cable snapped on rear power sliding doors. it appears that the outer plastic coating dried and broke off of the cable. cable is hanging outside of the car as i drive down the road. the door is very heavy and my children are unable to open the door themselves. *tr

Both left and right sliding door cables broke on van. right door will not open at all two months later left broke and opens about 12in.that four kids have to get in and out. will cost$1500 each to fix. *tr

The power sliding door on my sienna stopped working because the cable snapped. the cable has a plastic coating which fell off part of it and allowed the wire underneath to rust since it is exposed to the atmosphere. i managed to force the door closed and it is now inoperable. this is a safety problem - what if there were a wreck? this is poor design and could cause loss of life and should be fixed by toyota. it is an expensive repair - due to the design flaw of having this cable be so difficult to replace, so people - like me - aren't haveing it done because we can't afford it. this isn't "normal wear and tear". *tr

My driver side sliding door is inoperable. the passenger side sliding door motor and cable failed a few years ago now the driver side cable broke. it happened has one of my children was opening the door from the inside and it only opened about a foot wide. now the door only opens about a foot and my 3 children have to get out of the passenger side. *tr

2004 toyota sienna le driver side door got cracked with out any physical accident to the door or vehicle. i think toyota knows about this defect and that's why they have offered extended warranty the called enhancement warranty up to 5yr/100k miles instead of 3/36k which they are suppose to notify all owners of 2004 to 2007 sienna. but somehow i could not find any complain on nhtsa web site about this defect. also i would like to notify nhtsa that toyota did not notify all owners about this defect or the enhancement warranty i'm one of the person who was not notify and when i called toyota they said they've send out the letters to all affected owners and since i did not receive any letter in this matter what so ever so i've asked them if their is any way they can trace that they have send me the notification but they said they have no way of telling that they have sent me the letter but they want me to believe that they sent me. so i called couple of my friend has affected year sienna about any notification from toyota about extended warranty both of them said they have never received any notification from toyota. so basically the point i'm trying to make is toyota mislead people about sending out letters to owners and at the same time i'm raising a question what is this warranty enhancement ? if this is the defect that they already know happen to van this should be a recall how good is this warranty when doors are good for first 5 years and it falls apart after ward. this another way to fool people. i'm sure their are lot of sienna owner who had to pay out of pocket for this cracked door where they know it's a defect to begin with. i hope some thing gets done about this and this should be a recall. *tr

Letter from senator schumer on behalf of constituent re a reimbursement issue with 2004 toyota sienna (dot/i# s 2012 187) *tgw on august 9, 2009, the spare tire cable had to be replaced due to corrosion. in the spring of 2011, toyota issued a safety recall. their notice stated if you have previously paid for the repair, submit the bill and reimbursement consideration would be given. on october 19, 2011, toyota requested four additional documents. on feb 8, 2012, the consumer was denied reimbursement, because he was unable to provide the credit card statement that was used to pay for the repair. *jb updated 08/28/12. *jb updated 10/25/12.*jb

Power sliding door on 2004 toyota sienna xle awd fails to operate. the door is actuated by a cable and the cable has broken. the replacement is extraordinarily expensive at approx $1500 or more. as a result, the door must be opened or closed by hand, which is a difficult proposition, and if the vehicle is parked on an incline, nearly impossible. further, the door doesn't stay open when on an incline posing a danger to exiting passengers. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the passenger side power sliding door failed. the dealer stated that the entire motor assembly for the door needed to be replaced at the cost of $1,000. there were no recalls for this component. the failure mileage was 60,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that there was a crack in the dashboard. the dealer was contacted and advised that that they would replace the dashboard at the contact's expense. the manufacturer was notified of the failure, but denied any assistance with repairs to the vehicle. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 78,000 and the current mileage was 102,000.

Initial note: this is a dangerous defect. toyota should be ordered to recall this vehicle to fix this problem. we have a 2004 sienna le, with about 70,000 miles on it. a few weeks ago, we noticed some difficulty with the passenger side power door. the problems began with the door not opening when we used the remote control or the button in the front of the car. the door seemed to function normally when pulling the handle, so we thought the problem was limited to the remote controls. when we were away at a camping trip from july 24 - 26, i noticed the problem had started to affect the handle as well. the door would hesitate, but would open normally if i pulled it a second time. when we returned home, after my family exited the vehicle, i tried to open the door to unload the car. it did not open, so i pulled the handle a second time. the door began to open. i then heard a "pop" as the rear side window, next to the third row of seats, shattered. there was a plastic strip lying on the driveway along with shattered glass. shattered glass covered the interior as well. the door was hanging down slightly. the internal "wheels" for the door had come off their track; the internal cables were frayed. i could not close the door completely. we found numerous complaints about this door malfunctioning on 2004 siennas. we reported our problem to toyota, referring to the other complaints, but toyota has done nothing. we are thankful that our children were not in the car when this happened, as they could have been severely injured! we are also thankful that this did not happen while we were away on our camping trip, as we were at a remote location with no mechanics for many, many miles! *tr

My 2004 toyota sienna door continues to open while i am driving down the road. i do not feel it is safe to have passengers anymore. it is a power door. *tr