Problems with 2004 Toyota Sienna STRUCTURE

Driver's side sliding door cable is frayed and has apparently jammed the mechanism such that the door is stuck half-open (i'm an optimist or i'd have said half-closed). *tr

The automatic sliding side door on my 2004 toyota sienna quit working. the cable broke and the door still works manually. without the cable, the heavy door slides closed with great force. if the van were to be parked on a downward slope, a person could easily be injured by the out of control door. it appears the cable was the safety mechanism for the door. my research shows this is a large problem with these vehicles. *tr

The cable in the power sliding door (passenger side) has caught. the door is stuck partway open. i cannot open it further nor close it. this is a common problem as evidenced by many other claims. of course, to operate with the door partially open would be very dangerous. here are two url's that include similar issues: http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/sienna/103978-2004-sienna-power-sliding-door-cable/ http://www.facebook.com/pages/toyota-sienna-faulty-power-sliding-doors/233250320033754?sk=wall. *tr

The right sliding door became stuck about half open. it took about 30 minutes to get door to move while standing outside in the cold and my three small children inside asking that i close the door. took vehicle to local mechanic and they contacted toyota dealer who advised that the door motor/cable assembly would need to be replaced. after doing some research it appears that this is a known safety problem that is not being addressed either with a recall or voluntary safety "recall" by toyota. *js

Side sliding doors become frozen making it impossible to get open trapping guest in the rear of the vehicle this is a major safety issue and should be taken care of. *tr

The cable on my left power sliding door "popped" out earlier this year (2012), thus rendering the power-sliding function useless. the failure is the same as described by many disgruntled customers on various websites. aside from the obvious inconvenience, there is an intrinsic danger inasmuch as the door can roll forward and cause physical injury, especially to children. surprisingly, i found out through a local auto body paint shop (on 10/20/2012) that a warranty extension notification had supposedly gone out to customers of sienna's from 2004 on. to this day (10/29/12) i haven't received it. when i contacted toyota, they indicated that my unit would not be covered because there is a 9 year/120,000 mile limitation. since i purchased my unit in march of 2003, i'm technically 7 months past the extended warranty coverage. hence, even though the mechanical failure is applicable to and necessary for my 2004 unit, the "benefit" of the extended warranty repair has become academic. i believe toyota's determination is unfair because the 9-yr. coverage doesn't contemplate the 2004 units that were purchased in early 2003. moreover, it seems that toyota purposely run out the calendar to profit from the exclusion of units. in addition to the economic loss that this failure represents, i fear for the safety of my children, who may potentially suffer severe physical harm from this mechanical defect, prevalent in toyota sienna's. *tr

The passenger side power sliding door became stuck in the open position and would not close. the manual override does not work; it simply would not close. using a great deal of force, we finally got it closed after arriving home, but now we cannot open it. *kb

Please note that the door hinges are no longer welded. according to 3 repair centers and toyota dealer stated that this has been a common repair but that my car is no longer under warranty. this is a defect as the auto shop that i am speaking with regarding my car has had about 3 to 4 vans (including mine) with this issue. my repair will cost approximately $315 plus or minus. toyota should have a recall on this instead of just labeling and categorizing it as "service bulletin" instead of a "recall". there are multiple odi cases listed in this website. what are we going to do about this issue? i have taken good care of my car and feel i do not have to be responsible for repairs out of my control. both front doors should be serviced under a recall notification. thank you, *tr

Dashboard is cracked in multiples places, and i am concerned that this would allow the air bags to deploy unintentionally hence creating an accident. the situation with the cracks continues to the extent that there are cracks across the whole dashboard, again in multiple places. *tr

Cable snapped on right hand power sliding door opener. the cable protective coating had shown signs of cracking and allowing the cable to rust and ultimately fail.. the door would not open and close properly until the cable was cut. the cost to repair this through the dealer is approximately $1800! the part alone is $1200! the fact that there is a recall for "rusted tire cable" that presents a hazard, leaves me to believe that toyota did not adequately test their cables that are exposed to road salt conditions. i would have no problem replacing the faulty component if the price was somewhat reasonable.. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the automatic rear lift gate would not stay open when using the automatic system or when opened manually. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the rear door stay kit was defective and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 110,000 and the current mileage was 123,000.

Both of the sliding doors on my 2004 toyota sienna have stopped working. first, the cable snapped on the passenger side, then the driver side got locked in an open position. after much struggle, each time we were able to close the broken door in order to safely drive to the dealership to get it fixed. both times, we were told we needed to replace the door for $2000. the dealer told us that they are seeing alot of people with the same issues. seems like toyota should be providing a manual solution or a recall if it's really as widespread as the dealer indicated - essentially, the van is unsafe to drive with doors stuck in an open position. *tr

Driver side passenger side manual door will open but will not close. internal latch appears to be broken or loose causing the door not close properly. car is undriveable as door will not close. *tr

This has happen multiple times. happen last year and this year. the sliding door does not close in middle of journey which forces you to drive with kids with door open until you can get the door fixed.. last year it was with left sliding door today the right sliding door got stuck in middle of my shopping trip and we had to drive with two kids 3 yrs and 6yrs with right sliding door open to home. this is common problem on internet and highway safety should consider a public recall to this sliding door problem. *tr

Electrical motor and cable that controls sliding door (driver side) has corroded and broken. door inoperable posing safety concern. *tr

The motor in the power sliding door burnt out. the pulley cable got caught and overheated the motor. now the door is stuck in the open position the pulley cable is taught and it will not close. *tr

One day we noticed a scraping noise that our passenger side sliding power door was making when we opened and closed it. the next day we parked in a shopping center and after getting our two year old twin girls out of their car seat, we pushed the button to close the door and it got stuck half way. we could not push it open or closed. the cable had frayed and the protective covering over the cable had come off. we panicked because we did not know how we would get home since the door would not shut to safely drive our children home. fortunately after some time we came up with the idea of cutting the cablewith wire cutters so we could at least get it closed. it worked and the door is now manual but the door may be compromised from this cable failure. apparently this is a common problem that many sienna owners feel toyota needs to address due to the inadequate materials used to operate the power sliding doors and the hefty expenses to have it replaced. *tr

Automatic sliding door left and right are not operational. only works manually. *tr

Both sliding doors worked only intermittently. then driver's side door got stuck open and we had to drive with the alarm blaring. could not get the door open or shut. approx 3 days later, the passenger sliding door got stuck shut and when i tried to open it i heard a loud sound. the cable snapped and the door is stuck shut. our kids had to get in and out of the van by going in the front door and climbing around to the back. if there is a reason to need to get out of the van quickly they will not be able to do so. this is an ongoing issue w/ siennas and is a big problem that needs to be addressed. *tr

The spot welds for the "check strap" on the driver's side, front door of my sienna have failed. toyota headquarters advised me that they recognize that there is a problem and they have expanded their warranty to 5 years/100,000 miles to cover it. unfortunately, my 2004 sienna is beyond the limits of the expanded warranty. i do not understand why this is not a "safety recall" issue covering every impacted toyota sienna. clearly this problem has serious safety implications. without this "check strap" in place, the door can unexpectedly swing shut on a person causing serious injury, particularly if it slams into a child. also, there are additional safety issues associated with a car door that can swing open freely. how can the nhtsa possibly allow toyota to get away with correcting this safety issue on some but not all of the defective sienna models involved? *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated the sliding interior door on the driver's side would not release open whenever accessing manually. in november of 2011, the sliding door would only release open or close with substantial force exerted and over a period of time the malfunction progressed. the contact planned to take the vehicle to authorized dealer for diagnosis and repair. the manufacturer was notified of the defect. the approximate failure mileage was 122,000.

Passenger side automatic sliding door requires manual force to assist electric motor during opening and closing. door appears out of vertical alignment and impacts car frame during opening procedure. exposed metal occurs where door has rubbed paint off of frame. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. while parked, the contact noticed that the rear driver side sliding door would not open manually. the contact inspected the sliding door cable and noticed that it was corroded. the rear passenger side sliding door was also corroded. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the technician stated that the door panel and the sliding door cable would have to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 151,000. updated 10/10/12 *cn the consumer stated the rear door was repaired with recall but it would still fail. it was difficult to close the door. updated 10/15/2012 *js

I have 2004 toyota sienna minivan le model. 2 years ago trying to get out of drivers seat, as i tried to open the door i heard a motorized clicking sound and the door wouldn't open from inside. i took to a mechanic and he found that the metal wire that connects to the latch had broken. i called toyota and they said it will cost $250 for the assembly that controls the latch to open the door. last year my power sliding door (passenger side) started acting up. sometimes the door would open and sometimes it won't when i press the power door button located on the ceiling close to driver's side. then it would only open from outside if i pull the latch from outside. then one day when i pulled the door latch from outside to open it, i heard a loud noise and the metal cable that the door slides on snapped! i received an"enhancement recall" letter from toyota just after the warranty expired. i searched the web and saw complaints that toyota does this on purpose last minute expecting that customers won't see it in time. i called the scion dealership in palatine, il and they said that it will cost me $120 to inspect what's wrong with the power door and there are 4 to 5 parts where 1 or more could have gone bad. some parts are covered and others are not covered by the warran ty. this should be safety recall and could kill a small kid. a class action suit must be filed against toyota for ripping off customers. they should be fixing it for free since its a design flaw. i would expect an engine to fail at 96000 miles but not the 2 doors (front manual door and power sliding door). big companies like toyota needs to cut off bonus form ceo and board of director's paycheck and use the money to correct their design flaws. i paid $32,000 and expect toyota to return the cost of repair which is $1800+tax or fix it for free and thank me that i did not file a suit against them. *tr

In my 2004 toyota sienna xle limited awd, the upper dashboard(by the windshield & front airbags is cracking. i am highly concerned that these cracks will interfere with proper deployment of the front airbags in an accident situation. also the upper dashboard may break apart in an accident situation and become airborne causing further injury to vehicle passengers. i have contacted toyota and was told it was only covered for 36,000 miles or 3 years despite the fact it can pose a safety issue. in researching the internet, i found other 2004-2007 toyota & lexus owners are having the same issue with the cracked dashboard. here is a link to one such discussion: http://www.automotiveforums.com/t959673-discuss2004_sienna_cracked_dashboard.html. *tr

Door has a broken weld, the whole door swings open as the weld is the stopping device. this is a manufacture defect and i am not able to get help from toyota on this as it has been broke for over 4 years.

I would like to file a complaint about toyota failing to take full responsibility for a manufacturing defect in the front doors of their sienna minivan. like thousands of other toyota sienna owners, the welds on my door have failed and now the door must be completely replaced at a cost of more than $2000. toyota covered this failure for just 5 years and did not notify owners during the coverage period that they should have this manufacturing defect repaired. i have complained to toyota, but they have refused to cover the cost of this defect. there was nothing i could do in the repair and maintenance of my vehicle that would have prevented these welds from failing. the fault lies with toyota manufacturing practices at the time my van was built and the cost should lie with them as well. *tr

The power sliding door on the passenger side stopped working. the buttons do not open or close the door. the door is so heavy that it cannot be opened or closed easily. the cable that moves the door snapped and visible (hanging outside the body). we had the extended warranty for 7 years and the car was serviced regularly, but this problem occurred after the extended warranty expired. the dealer says the whole motor, not just the cable, should be replaced, asking for more than $1500 for parts and repair. snapped cable, loose and visible moving parts outside the body of the van, and a heavy and hard to operate "power" door present a safety problem, especially with the kids going in and out of the passenger side sliding door. i would appreciate it if you could take a closer look at the issue and have toyota own up to its design problems. this issue has its own forums online, has its own facebook page and it seems that toyota will not listen one customer at a time. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the dashboard was cracked from the driver side and extended to the passenger side. the contact did not take the vehicle to the dealer. the contact called the manufacturer and filed a complaint. the manufacturer advised that because the vehicle was out of warranty there was nothing they could do to assist. the contact was concerned that the cracks could cause damage to both the driver and passenger side air bags. the failure mileage was 144,028.

At approximately the same time, days apart, both sliding doors stopped working. the left door would beep continuously indicating that it was ajar. with some grease and help from a mechanic, this problem resolved but has happened twice since. two days later, the sliding door on the right made a horrible scratching sound when closing. when the door was opened a second time, the cable snapped. from what i understand, it is quite costly to repair this. i love my toyota, but i am not willing to spend upwards of $1500 to fix a problem that evidently is an issue with other owners of siennas. i am hoping that toyota would consider a recall as there is an obvious flaw in the door mechanism causing the cable to break. *tt

The driver's side door check strap is failing. my understanding is that it has to do with the failure of welds where the strap connects to the door. there have been other complaints i have seen on line of similar failures. some as early as 35,000 miles into the van's life. the repair for this defect is expensive and requires the re-welding of the strap to the internal portion of the door. *tr

The passenger power sliding door has failed to operate due to a frayed cable. the door will not open even in manual mode with the cable in place. i snipped the cable to free the door, and it will open but will not lock in the open position (useful when opening the door at a slight decline). when closing the door manually, it makes a loud "thunk" as the door edge and frame of the car make contact. it appears as though the door has shifted on its hinges preventing a perfect alignment with the locking mechanism. *tr

Power sliding passenger door no longer operates with the keyfob remote, or the door switches. the door will open if the handles are used to disengage the door. *kb

Dash board cracks look like done by a very sharp knife everywhere across the dash board. may interfere with proper deployment of air bag and is a safety hazard. *tr

Electric sliding van door has failed on passenger side, will not open or close. manual sliding side door on driver side is very difficult to open and close. very dangerous in event of crash or fire. dealership estimates over $1000 to fix. there are over six hundred similar complaints at http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0eb3fd/600 please help. thank you. *tr

The cable for the motorized sliding door rusted and snapped. i've been told this is a common problem but toyota has not recalled the problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the vehicle was parked when she opened the passenger side automatic sliding door but the door would not close. the contact examined the door and noticed that it was detached from its tracks. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and was in the process of being repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. the failure mileage was 78,000. updated 01/10/12*lj the passenger door came apart. the dealer replaced the roller hinges, electric motor, cables and sliding door rails. updated 03/12/12

Passenger side power sliding door is stuck open and will not close. *tr

I have a 2004 toyota sienna xle. late last year, both of my power sliding doors broke within a week of each other. the cable that operates the doors frayed and snapped apart. i was able to force the doors closed but have not been able to open them since. my kids have had to climb thru the front seats until we could figure out how to fix them. i talked to my local toyota dealership and was told to fix them the cost of the parts only would be $1200 a door. this cost included a new motor and cable because toyota does not replace just the cable. i believe this cable issue should of been upgraded to a recall many years ago and is very discomforting to us who are loyal toyota drivers. we as drivers have paid $30k+ for our vehicles and believe that we should not have to deal with this type of problem on a feature that we paid for as an upgrade to the original package. this is a wide spread problem nationwide from what i have read on several websites and blogs and includes several different year models from what i understand. thank you for allowing me to share my story and i look forward to hearing about this issue in the near future. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the sliding door cable broke and as a result she was unable to close or open it automatically. an appointment was scheduled with the dealer. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 93,000.

Failure of electric sliding door cable. cable that pulls electric sliding door open rusted, failed and snapped in half. failed cable now hangs outside the vehicle (below the rear passenger's side window) dangling from the door track. *kb

Passenger side sliding power door became difficult to pull closed. occasionally stuck in closed position such that someone outside has to let passenger out. power sliding not working, must be pulled manually. taken initially to my regular mechanic at 99598 miles, have documentation. told to go to toyota. i waited until i needed oil change and another recall done to go last week at 109639 miles, van age = 9 years and 13 days. i am told the actuator, cable, and latch need replacing and that there is a known defect, with toyota extending warranty to 120,000 miles or 9 years. toyota will not cover my car under this warranty because it is 13 days past, though under the mileage limit, even though i have documentation of the problem from 7 months ago. cost of parts $1167, labor $1069. unaffordable. corporate office said they would cover parts as a "goodwill gesture" but do not care that my door has been malfunctioning for a long time and i have documentation to this effect, and this warranty extension wasn't even available until this month, to my knowledge. the danger from this problem is that the door can become stuck in the closed position. if this happened after a bad car accident or fire, young occupants could become trapped. however toyota is not willing to address this known defect and prefers to accept this risk. there are countless complaints of sienna sliding doors becoming stuck at all ages of vehicle. the 2004 sienna was the first model year of a new design and has suffered a much higher than usual number of recalls. toyota should simply recall and repair their sliding doors rather than risk their customer's lives. *js

Power sliding door cable broke due to the fact it is exposed to the elements of the rain and snow and ice causing the cable to rust and break door will not open this is a safety issue toyota needs to address this issue if there was an accident this could be deadly for my family if they can't get out!!!!!!! *kb

The passenger side power sliding door cable snapped causing the power door to fail. we did not realize it was broken at the time and the door did not fully close and latch. our 7 year old son was in the seat right beside that door and we drove 20 minutes home before we realized the door was not fully shut. this seems like a serious safety hazard as a child could potentially fall out of a moving vehicle with an unsecured door. this should be corrected immediately. *tr

Right rear sliding power sliding door cable broke rendering the door inoperable. cable snapped with the door in the open position and door could not be closed. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact noticed there was a crack in the dashboard that extended to the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic. the technician stated the dashboard would have to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 26,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the rear driver side sliding door separated from the hinge, causing the side glass to fall inside of the vehicle and onto a child. the manufacturer denied any assistance with repairs to the vehicle. the dealer was in the process of repairing the vehicle. the failure and current mileage was 90,000. the vin was not available.

2004 toyota sienna. consumer states problem with failure of door check mounting panel resulting in broken door welds *tgw the consumer stated the driver's door began making a popping noise when it was opened. three out of six door welds had broken and the only effective repair, was to have the door replaced at a cost of $2206.23. the consumer learned the problem was a result of an engineering flaw, and toyota had recognized the problem and responded with a warranty enhancement for the issue. however, with the warranty extension, the door did not begin to show signs of a problem until outside of the extended warranty period. toyota was willing to pay 25% toward the cost of the repair; however, the consumer believed that was unsatisfactory and believed toyota should cover the entire cost. *jb

The sliding door has a faulty door hinge and a broken cable. *tr

Both the power sliding door and the manual sliding doors do not open. the first incident was that it was difficult to open the manual door and eventually it could no longer be opened. the power door, one day, would not close with the power. we closed it manually and it kept reopening. we turned off the power to the door and finally got the door closed. it no longer opens either with power or manually. after researching this problem online, it appears that there are numerous toyota siennas that have the same problem with the sliding doors. also from researching, toyota has not done anything about this problem other than to charge high prices to fix the doors and to tell people that it is very rare for these doors to stop opening. i feel this is a safety issue as if there was an accident, no one in the back could easily get out of the vehicle. *tr