Problems with 2004 Toyota Sienna STRUCTURE

2004 toyota sienna van tailgate drops, hydraulic not function fell on my head it is permanently malfunctioning. *jb

5 year old son had wrist broken by automatic sliding door in minivan. door closed on his wrist, fracturing both arm bones. door closed on his arm and did not re-open immediately as door is designed to do. *nm

Toyota sienna 2004 lxe limited ,power door problem. the cable broke and doors are shut and cannot be opened from inside or outside. also in the winter doors freeze up and will not open as well. drives side door return arm .. the weld broke and causes the door to not close properly. there are a verity of cosmetic things but i am most concerned about the doors not being able to open. there seems to be alot of talk about this problem, i guess people will have to die in some kind of accident before toyota does anything...lord forbid that should happen. thank for listening. ps *tr

On march 19, 2006 we found the rear cargo area of our 2004 toyota sienna filled with about an inch of rain and mildew beginning to grow. after inspecting our vehicle the dealer found a poor seal under our door and the remedy was caulking. and according to them there was no mold in the carpet. so i have decided to hire a mildew specialist to test my vehicle. since reporting my situation to them (going on 3 weeks) they have still not changed my carpet and they are not permitting us to use a loaner saying it is not covered in the warranty and its still drivable. but i have three children under the age of 10 and i refuse to drive them around in a care that could harm them. i don't know how to prove it but i think the reason my children and i got sick 2 weeks prior to finding the leak was due to the mildew growth that was beginning. i visited the doctor with dry mouth, headaches, dizziness, vomiting and etc. with no diagnosis or answers available from my doctor, i visited the er twice with pneumonia and so on. but since we decided not to use our car until they fix it, my children and i have been temporarily cured. we need to have better ways of getting effective outcomes. this investment has totally turned out for the worst. what a waste of $31,000. *jb

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

The rear deck lid on my 2004 sienna xle limited van has a remote automatic open & close feature. i used the auto open and while placing items in the rear storage area, the deck lid closed (under power) without command, striking me and my son. the auto-stop feature didn't engage until i pushed very hard against the lid. as soon as i let go, it came down again. there were no prior incidents or any unusual behavior to indicate a problem with the operation of the deck lid. the lid hasn't worked since and it won't stay open without someone holding it. a week after the incident i found a toyota technical service bulletin bo0003-04 that states "back door stays for 2004 model year sienna vehicles have been redesigned in order to provide improved resistance to seal damage and prevent leakage." i checked my back door stays (gas or hydraulic filled struts) and they were both leaking. i checked the internet user forum "siennaclub.org" and found several similar complaints from sienna owners in the u.s. and canada. in my opinion, the uncommanded closing of a rear deck lid in a mini-van constitutes a serious safety hazard. just a guess, most mini-van owners have or transport children. there is no way a child could have stopped and reversed the lid that closed on me and my son. this should be a recall issue, not a service bulletin that toyota is not required to disclose and in fact, can charge to repair. *nm

The liftgate "slipped", failed and came down on the owner. because it was set for auto closure, it came down with a mechanical force behind it. i had to disable the auto closure because of this and then it just came crashing down by gravity. it would start to slip slowly so you didn't know it was happening, then past a certain point, just came flying down. *jb

Driver's side door weld has failed. door make loud popping sound and has now affected window operation. *tr

Dt*: the contact stated upon entering the vehicle, the automatic sliding door shut on a passenger's finger resulting in minor injuries. the vehicle has an automatic pinch protection feature that failed to engage. the vehicle was seen by a dealer. the dealer suggested this was a design issue that ultimately failed and no repairs were made.

Dt*: the contact stated the automatic rear hatch comes down without pressing the remote. the hatch hit the contact multiple times, but caused no injury. the dealership determined this is normal when the temperature is between 15-25 degrees, although this occurred at 30 degrees. the manufacturer determined this was within manufacturer specifications and no repair or action could be taken. the dealership suggested the contact try to manually hold the rear hatch open.

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

I own a 2004 toyota sienna, purchased new, from the palmer's airport toyota in mobile, al. in late 05, the back hatch lift struts started failing. first it opened sluggishly, and proceeded to shut spontaneously. these following are the 5 incidents occurring between dec. 05 - jan. 07: hatch came down on husband's head; hatch completely closed on my 9 year old son's hand; hatch struck me in the back of head and neck; came down on my father's head; and struck my brother across brow. my husband has notified the dealership of the problem. husband filed report with toyota us hq. however, we don't feel toyota has taken this seriously. we followed up w/toyota on getting the parts replaced as they have decided this isn't "important" enough to issue a recall. (we researched many similar cases on the internet). we were told these parts were so "new" no one would have them but toyota. the cost will be $400+ for parts. as a family with an autistic child, we are forced to take money designated for his necessary medical bills to pay for this repair to prevent serious injury! the lifts failure has made it difficult for anyone to open. the door is unpredictable, so as a precaution, i have to get my autistic son to stand in the opening while i load my groceries! i have to do it quickly, because the door is so heavy his arms get tired. if he is not with me than i have to use a 5 ft. wooden pole, that i carry with me for this issue, to prop open the door. soon, i will have to load my packages through the passenger doors, forgetting all about the back 3 seats, and cargo area that i paid for. i hope someone will turn up the heat on toyota to issue a necessary recall on these hatch struts. i don't feel that i should pay for a commonly occurring vehicle defect that people nationwide are dealing with! i hope it doesn't take the death of an innocent toddler before someone intervenes with a timely recall! thank you for your attention to this matter! *nm

Passenger side rear automatic door fails to sense a person standing in the frame, entering or exiting, and closes on them. passenger side rear automatic door closes automatically when on a downhill slope, closing on passenger if they are standing in the frame. passenger side rear automatic door is failing to close and pops back open, requiring a force close by hand. driver side rear manual door failed to close and latch. dealer indicated it was due to faulty welds. the entire door was required to be replaced. *tr

2004 sienna power sliding door problems- side power sliding doors not functioning properly at all times. at time the door will shut to half way point and stop and i will have to manually shut it myself. or at time the door will not shut when any buttons are pressed to push and need to be shut manually. took to the dealer and they said they could not duplicate problem, but stated they made a few adjustments. they worked fine for 3 days then problems happened again today! concerned that the door will not function properly and open with the kids in the car while driving! it is difficult to ask the service person to fix a problem that is not happening at the time when i take the car in! but, they should be familiar with this problem and able to fix it !! *jb

Beginning at about 40.000 miles the vinyl cover of the dash-board began to develop fine cracks. these were pointed out to the dealer, but the warrenty had expired, so remedial action was not offered.. *tr the cracks have now developed into a major deteriation of the entire dash board , especially the area over the passenger air-bag.it appears the problem is caused by the loss of platsicizer from the vinyl, resulting in a brittle cover. we are very concerned from a safety viewpoint, that if the airbag deploys, the fragments of brittle vinyl will preceed the the airbag, striking the right front passenger in the face. toyota company has refused to cosider my request for replacement. my case number with them is: 1109200414 we request your opinion on this matter.

Tl* - the contact stated that while the 2004 toyota sienna was parked in the driveway,and the liftgate was opened, the door malfunctioned and closed hitting the contact on the head and the back of the shoulder, causing his knee to hit the back fender. the impact of the liftgate knocked the contact halfway inside the vehicle. there were no warning signals prior to the incident. the vehicle was taken into the service dealer menlobe dodge toyota in bountiful, ut) and they stated that they couldn't do anything to remedy the issue. the contact can provide copy of the invoice from the service dealer. *jb updated 04/16/07 *tr

Handles in second row where passengers hold on when they enter the vehicle are loose which may eventually fall off and cause injury to passenger when they get on the vehicle. *jb

Left and right side doors fails to open. this problem has recurred four times after being fixed at the toyota dealership four times. this is a safety issue since there is no rear passenger egress when these doors are inoperative! *tr

A defect exists with the 2004 toyota sienna mini van, automatic power side door. this power side door has stopped functioning. this failure occurred suddenly, without warning. the power side door became jammed, through no fault of me or my family, and is no longer operable. it was necessary for me to drive to the toyota dealership with the power side door in a partially opened position. there is not a manual override for the automatic power door. i was instructed by the dealer repair technician to not use the power side door. i feel this is a serious safety concern. in the event that it becomes necessary to use the door in an emergency situation, my family may become trapped. i was offered by the dealer to pay half of the approximately $1600.00 repair cost. i feel that the power side door should not have failed in such a short period of time in which i have owned the vehicle and that the repair and/or replacement should be at the expense of toyota. *nm

2004 toyota sienna developed problems with the brake equipment.***no answer required*** *mr on four occasions, the brakes had been inspected by mechanics and in some cases reinstalled. the consumer also experienced a grinding noise on two different trips. the consumer was informed that the grinding noise was coming from the rear brakes and did not constitute serious brake problems. the consumer tried to use the hitch mount/bike rack only to find that the hitch would bottom out while entering gas stations or exiting driveways. also, as an alternative to the hitch not operating properly, the consumer added rear air bags on the suspension system in order to give the vehicle additional clearance and they have failed and or blew out about three times. other problems: battery failure, rear bumper clip not holding the bumper in place, interior trim piece on seat detaching, grab handle trim piece breaking, and the consumer's daughter's hand had gotten stuck in the automatic door that was not supposed to close due to resistance in the path. *sc

Passenger sliding power door stopped working. i manually tried to open the door and it fell off the rear hinge point. i am a mechanical engineer specializing in product testing. i worked in the automotive component industry for 11 years. i can say that this door system is way under engineered. toyota should be forced to fix this. people are reporting this all over the internet. i called toyota when just the auto open/close system was broken. they told me i'm on my own. that system fails in two ways. 1.) if the auto open/close system fails it should break way from the hinging system so the door will just function manually. instead it jams the door in the position it broke in. that is a safety issue. 2.) the hinge system is way under engineered for load. i am a 180lb 46 yr old engineer who is soft around the middle. i'm not very strong. i took the door off the hinge! that should not able to happen with such a low force rate. i see this as a safety issue as well. toyota engineers should be ashamed of them selves. that van cost over 40k brand new. it's only 6 years old and has been well cared for. t's a family/child carrier. it should be designed like a tank in my opinion. *tr

The rear hatch is reversing and coming back down on its own without pressing on the remote. the consumer anticipates that an injury can occur because it comes down with great force. *ak *sc *jb

I had a problem with the hatch door on my 2004 toyota sienna closing without warning and continuing to close when it came in contact with my back. i wrote to my dealer (sloane toyota in glenside, pa) about the problem in march 2005 (i have copied the text of that message at the bottom of this complaint), and they told me to take it in to have it checked out. i took it to a local dealer (peruzzi toyota in hatfield) and they "fixed" it, by replacing a switch, i believe. i asked if this was a known defect and they told me no. i recently saw an article in the philadelphia inquirer that identified this as an issue that has injured some people. i believe that this is a threat to cause serious, potentially, fatal injury. text of message from march 2005: to sloane toyota sent via e-mail on march 22, 2005 i bought a 2004 sienna from michael liss at sloane in may 2004. i recently had a problem occur with the rear hatch door closing without being prompted and without audible warning. it came down on my back and could have seriously injured me. it did not go back up when it came in contact with my body, but rather continued to shut. we have scheduled service with local toyota dealer, but i wanted to notify toyota of this issue. i could not find a way to submit an e-mail note to toyota corp., so i'm sending one to you. is this a known defect with the 2004 sienna? has their been a recall notice issued? this defect could cause permanent injury (or death to a young child). *nm

When the outdoor temperature falls into the single digits or below the gas filled liftgate struts failed to hold the liftgate up. as a result the hatch closes rapidly. the hatch has fallen twice hitting the owner in the head and back. the part was replaced, however the problem recurred. *ak *nm updated 1/27/2006 - *nm

Power sliding door malfunctioned three times. the door malfunctioned, almost closing the consumer in it. took the vehicle to the dealer, and was told it needed a new motor. *ak the power liftgate goor malfunctioned once closing on the consumer's wife. the vehicle wa taken to the dealer who installed a new motor. the power sliding doors failed three times and each time the motor was replaced. *bf *nm

I live on the us-canadian border in north dakota. we have a lot of snow and very cold winters. we have found that as we drive the vehicle any snow that accumulates on the roof that melts drips down into the sliding doors on both sides. the rubber seal catches the water, as it should, and then the water refreezes, sometimes in a matter of seconds due to the extreme cold. this causes the doors to freeze shut. no amount of pulling or pushing will open them. this has happened on several occaisions. we had hoped that once temps. stayed below freezing as they do dec.-feb. it would not be a problem, but apparently just driving for extended periods of time is enough to cause the snow to melt thus causing the freezing door problem. this is a serious problem because: 1) i cannot get my 3 children into the vehicle and 2) if we were in a crash and the doors froze shut i wouldn't be able to get my children out of the vehicle in a timely manner. *ak i have contacted two different toyota dealers. neither dealer had heard of the problem or offered any solution. i contacted the national number for toyota and filed a formal complaint. they too, had not heard of this problem and did not offer any solutions.

The liftgate on my 2004 toyota sienna minivan, which is equipped with a automatic opening and closing feature, will sometimes start to close when it is in the open position. although i reported it as one incident date per your form below, the problem really occurs intermittently throughout the winter season. the problem seems to always occur only when the temperature is below freezing. both my wife and i have hit our head on numerous times when we are unpacking the car from the rear and the liftgate starts to close without any prompting from us. i reported the car to the dealer once and they took a look at it and could find no problems. once again, the problem seems to be triggered by the cold weather. toyota needs to be responsible and fix the problem before someone looses and eye or potentially gets killed by walking full speed into the closing liftgate. *jb

On two separate incidents and in two separate car wash establishments, the sunroof on my 2004 sienna just purchased in july '04 leaked. incident #1 both my husband and i witnessed the back edge of the sunroof open up while going through the drying process and hence the h2o that was on top of the roof and glass traversed around the edges and into the car. incident #2 i was not watching for a similar occurrence but i received a bath of water on top of my head, coat and lap. i examined the sunroof and it was wet on at least 3 sides (2 sides and back side). upon leaving and then braking h2o came down around and through the openings surrounding the map lighting in between the two front seats. when i took the vehicle to the dealer they told me that my sunroof is operating normally and that a car wash is not a normal condition. i disagreed w/them. they subjected the vehicle to high pressure water but did not re-create the problem because they did not take the vehicle through a car wash. they were questioned on this. they're still contending that my car is fine. i say it is not, a sunroof on a 2004 vehicle w/less than 10k miles should not leak or open up. investigating this would be appreciated. *nm

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact was driving approximately 40 mph, the automatic sliding door failed to operate in an open or close position during activation. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on several separate occasions. the replacement of the sliding door service cost was $2,500. in addition, the sliding door handles required replacement. the failure mileage was 10,000. the current mileage was 129,000. the vin was unavailable.

While loading groceries, i opened the liftgate on our 2004 toyota sienna and it slammed shut. apparently the liftgate struts have gone bad. *nm

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

When the manual sliding door window was open the door would not stay in the open locked position. if the consumer was parked on a hill the door would not stay open and closed on the childen exiting the vehicle. *ak *nm

The rear door of my 2004 sienna collapsed on me. the door was not touched and it just collapsed on me. i reported this event to my local toyota dealer. they said that i was out of warranty and had to pay out of pocket for the repairs. i then reported this failure to toyota usa who then referred me back to the local toyota dealer. the local dealer again informed me that i need to pay out of pocket for the repair. my vehicle was out of warranty by 1 month. the local dealer wanted approximately $200-$300 for the repair. through the support of the online sierra owner's club, i found out that the strut on the back right support was broken. i ordered 2 struts from an autoparts dealer and repaired it myself in about 2 minutes for about $50. i installed 2 struts because i don't trust the toyota strut at all. *tr

We own a 2004 toyota sienna limited minivan and several times the back door has started to shut on my wife and son. the back door is automatic, and when my wife or son has leaned in to get something or put something in, it has attempted to shut on them. fortunately it will sense that they are there and not continue to close, although it does take some force before it reverses. *jb

Struts on tailgate failed to keep door open. *jb

2004 toyota sienna. the van currently has only 5,660 miles. odor problems from beginning and eventually, it was discovered that water has been continually flooding into the van from underneath. water problem was supposedly corrected, but the van still has a strong moldy odor and people develop constant headaches when driving in van. van was bought at 2,330 miles and misrepresented as a demo van, when actually it was pre-owned. apparently previous owners were unable to use van because of being sickened by odor and now van is standing for same reason. currently in talks with dealer and manufacturer regarding problem. van needs to be returned to dealer/manufacturer. this is a problem that cannot be corrected since apparently there is mold from the water that was allowed to stand for almost a year, and this is a health issue.*ak

The pressurized gas struts on the toyota sienna 2004 rear liftgate failed right after our warranty expired and the rear lift gate almost crashed on my wife head. *tr

Rear driver's side door came off the track. as a result, door did not shut properly. *ak

Complaining in regards to the liftgate strut on my 2004 toyota sienna le. the liftgate came down on my head after anticipating the struts would hold and continue to raise the liftgate. this incident is a complete hazard to consumers that toyota should do something about. this happened two months after my warranty had expired, but still 10,600 + miles below the 36,000 mile warranty. a toyota dealer had told me that these struts are often changed. that tells me these struts are already known to be defective and at $175 - 181.00 each strut, they're not cheap. this is a serious safety hazard to buyers and especially for kids who help take out groceries from the trunk. a similar concern has been addressed by another person to consumer reports.org. defective parts are available and will be addressed to toyota. thanks for the help. *jb

Rear manual passenger door in toyota sienna le (8 passager) does not latch under certain conditions ( we have narrowed it down to when windows are left opened). in texas due to heat conditions, windows are left open during spring and fall seasons. my dogs have been struck numerous times by "non-locking" doors and it has also caught my hand once (when parked at an incline). this is very dangerous and we have instructed our kids to only use the right side power door due to this safety issue. dealer has indicated they cannot fix the problem. for a vehicle designed for family use (including kids), this issue needs to be resolved before kids get hurt.*ak

While driving driver's side sliding door locked and unlocked for no reason. vehicle was taken to the dealership, were they replaced the motor latch and a hinge. *ak

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the doors were too heavy for the vehicle and began to fall off the hinges. the doors would also freeze and could not be opened when it was snowing or there was freezing rain. the sliding door could not be opened electronically or manually. the vehicle was taken to a dealer and the contact was informed that the sliding door sub-control assembly would need to be replaced. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised that they would return her call at a later date. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 30 and the current mileage was 119,350.

Driver's side door makes a popping noise when opened & closed. dealer inspected it and indicated it was a driver strap weld that is bad. district service manager offered to cover 50% of repair which i refused as this is a common defect with siennas ('04 to '07). toyota previously issued a "warranty enhancement" for this defect but has not been accountable for their poor design and materials. a call to toyota consumer affairs was not successful in resolving the payment issue. *tr

When our vehicle was just purchased, we had brought it home and was showing it to family when our 2-year old son pulled on the sliding door handle, and the door began to open (we thought the child locks were on, but this was not the case). he was surprised and was afraid of falling out of the van, so he just held onto the handle. as the door was opening, his head then was dragged between the sliding door and the side of the van. but the van door did not stop opening. it just continued opening, exerting even more force on our son's head. fortunately we were able to grab the door and forcefully pull it back closed before our son was horribly injured. we were under the assumption that the safety feature of the sliding doors would have stopped the door from opening when it felt resistance, but that was obviously not the case. *ak

Clunking noise noted on steering the 2004 toyota sienna just a few months after it was bought. it had gone through 3 recalls already when first the fuel tank, then the door sills, then the middle row seatbelt bezel, and finally recently, the rear hatch struts were all replaced. vehicle was test driven, but no mention of "clunking" documented. however, all this time, the clunking had become more noticeable, and vehicle had gone through 2 alignments already, with only about 42,000 miles on it. last serviced for alignment, dealer did note clunking and recommended replacement of intermediate steering shaft. it is now becoming more difficult to steer the vehicle, especially at low speeds, and "k-turns" now require more maneuvers, and the steering radius has increased potentially causing collisions with objects or pedestrians if compensatory action is not initiated. (steering output has sometimes been unpredictable). second component is lack of tpms sensors when tires were changed at a facility, and i had the facility document the lack of sensors. *tr

2004 toyota sienna sliding door cable snapped. the cable on our sliding door snapped and left the door unable to be opened or closed. *tr

I am also an unfortunate owner of a 2004 toyota sienna with a failed front door check. isn't an organization like nhtsa supposed to make a manufacturer with such an obvious, extensive and common issue like this provide a suitable repair?? an extension to the warranty is not....not an answer. this is just a piss poor design and the piece of fire hose i screwed to the door and the body is a better design than the piece of junk the factory put out. this is unbelievable and unaccepatable.

Driver side outside door handle would get jammed in the open position. the interior lights would be on, which was noticeable if it was dark outside. but if it was bright and sunny it was easy to miss. the door appears to be closed, but it was not. a few times i started driving with this condition, and the driver side door flew open when i turned! you would have to stop the car, and get out and push the outside handle back to its normal position for the door to stay shut. i took it to the dealer, and they just squirted some lubrication into the handle. this seems like a short term fix, and it could start happening again. *ak

We own a 2004 toyota sienna limited awd. the vehicle was parked on a 10 % grade, the button to open the passenger side auto sliding door was pushed to open the door. rather than opening slow and controlled as normal, the door shut back at such speed and strength that it ripped the door off the tracks and up into the rear window. this did several thousand dollars of damage to the car...this is how hard the door slammed off the tracks, my son was standing by the door to get in and was knocked backwards onto the ground. a smaller child would have been seriously injured! toyota actually kept our car for 3 week so they could fly in engineers from headquarters to investigate... when pressed for information, we were told this is not the first time it has happened, the manager at our dealership was aware of 5 other cases. *la