Problems with 2004 Toyota Sienna STRUCTURE

Cable broke off the motor that controls the right side sliding door. vehicle was less than 4 years old when breakage occurred. since owning the vehicle the door would on occasion not open properly. brought the vehicle back to dealership on several occasions while still under warranty and they stated they could not duplicate the problem. when brought to the dealer for repair of the cable i was told the repair would cost $1600.00. *tr

While opening the automatic, passenger side, rear sliding door, the cable frayed and became stuck, causing the door to stop mid way open. the door was stuck and wouldn't open or close. we were finally able to get it closed, with much force, so that we could continue driving home (we were out of town at the time). we were told by toyota that it would cost $3000 to repair the problem, as the entire system, not just the cable, would need to be replaced. i asked if they could just make it so that i could open the door manually. having a door that won't open is a safety hazard. they said no. i took the van to a repair shop, where the owner cut the cable and took it out. this allowed the door to be opened and closed manually. how did he manage to do something that i was told by toyota wasn't possible? he didn't charge me for this simple fix. i have letters that i wrote to toyota detailing what happened. we were offered a free oil change for our trouble, which i declined as i will not visit a dealer again by choice, and told we would have to repair the issue ourselves. a toyota rep recently, 2012, told me that there are many complaints with this same issue, but a recall status has not yet been reached or set. very disappointed that toyota allows this to continue to happen. what could owners possible do to make a cable snap or break? it's obvious this is a faulty design and should be repaired. *tr

This concerns me as a safety issue. the dash on my sienna 2004 has cracks everywhere. in summer 2008 is when i saw the first crack. four years later they are all over the front dash, in the driver side as well as in the passenger side. i have seen through the web that this is a common problem for this same make and model, so i decided to file this complaint. it concerns me that this cracks can potentially prevent airbags from deploying properly or prematurely and cause injure. i did ask toyota for a quote to fix this problem since my warranty expired and it was too costly $2000.+. i do like my car and would like to keep it as long as i can but besides the dash looking awful it make me nervous that this might cause an accident. hope toyota finds a way to fix this. thanks *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. when the contact attempted to open the rear passenger side door, he noticed that the power door would not function. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the door needed to be replaced. prior to the failure, the contact noticed that the door would not operate properly. the current and failure mileages were 114,000. updated 10-30-08 *bf updated 10/31/08. *jb

Tl*the contact owns 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the cables on the rear sliding passenger doors were covered with rust and broken and prevented the contact from opening or closing the door. the failure occurred to both rear sliding doors. the dealer stated that this was a known problem, but the cable was not covered under warranty and there were no recalls. the failure mileage was 80000 and the current mileage was 101000. updated 12/30/10 *bf updated 01/10/11

The passenger side automatic sliding door stopped working one day without warning. the door than jammed in the open position. with 3 children in the car there was no way to safely drive the car without closing door. thankfully we were able to free the frayed cable, unjam the door, and close it. because the car was no longer covered by the warranty toyota wants $2000+ to fix the door. *tr

The right power sliding door cable on the 2004 toyota sienna le broke. the car was 5.1 years old, bought new in 2003, and had 69,000 ml. on the day of problem. no indications on a sliding mechanism were prior to the incident. as always the door was activated by the remote control. it did not open on several attempts. when i approached it and tried to open by the handle i saw the cable being rusty and broken. the dealer worked with toyota on the issue and toyota offered to pay 50% of parts and labor, but my fee is still above $800. toyota refused to cover it entirely, although the problem is well known to them. http://toyota.justanswer.com/uploads/snd27613/2008-07-05_074916_sienna_sliding_door_inop.pdf . no extended warranty on this part was offered by toyota. i can not use this door in any way until is repaired, even if i set it to act manually, it won't open more than 1/2 ft. the only way my two children can get in/out the car is from the left side door. where one's car seat is installed. needless to say this is a serious safety issue as the left side is the one to the road and children jump out or run to the car in a blink of an eye. *tr

Passenger side door has automatic open/close feature. the door broke within weeks of our purchase of sienna from dealer. something snapped. others have complained of this exact failure. *tr

The paint on the oem 17" aluminum rims for my toyota sienna started bubbling and peeling. if left unchecked, i will have to have the wheels either replaced or stripped and repainted to keep the metal from corroding and the rims from failing. the bubbling happens on the inside of the rims as well, making a good seal with the tire difficult and causing slow air leaks. thus far toyota refuses to recognize the problem. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the rear liftgate strut failed in the vehicle. he attempted to open the gate, but it would not open. in order to lift the gate, he had to trip the handle. the liftgate would not remain open and had to be held open manually. if the rear door was released, it would slam down hard enough to possibly cause an injury. the vin and mileages were unavailable.

The sliding door on my sienna broke. i looked online several years ago when this happened, and noticed this appears to be a common problem with the sienna. since it no longer automatically opens/closes, it needs to be closed manually. but, the door is very heavy and it is difficult to close it securely. in fact, my children are unable to close it because of its weight and therefore the door must always be checked. when the door broke, i was out with all 3 of my children and basically stranded because i certainly couldn't drive the car with a door that wouldn't close. we had to cut the cord to free the door and allow it to close in order to get home. also -- related to sliding doors...the other sliding door on my sienna does work. however, it doesn't not stop sliding when it comes into contact with a person. it continues to apply pressure to the person standing in the doorway until is squeezes you quite tight...then finally lets up. (i know this from personal experience.) so far, my kids haven't had their hands closed in the door, but i'm sure that if they do, it will be a very very unpleasant experience. i thought the sliders were supposed to stop sliding if they met any resistance at all. overall, i'm pretty unhappy about the door situation. *tr

The left sliding door lock failed. it cannot be locked or unlocked from the outside or by using the door remote. the only way to lock or unlock it is by moving the lock button at the inside of the door manually. the dealer advised to replace the door actuator which costs $1200! the dealer charged $90 for just checking what's wrong with it. *tr

The rear passanger power door stopped opening and closing under power. will only work now if we manually open and close it. *tr

2004 toyota sienna power rear lift tailgate malfunction. tailgate lifted normally then suddenly and without warning began powered closing, striking my wife in the back. i was able to reproduce the malfunction repeatedly. the malfunction occurs constantly. the consequence should a child or elderly person be struck by the rear gate. it has not been repaired yet. *tr

The door would not open manually, on my sliding door in my 04' sienna. the only way it would open was to use the one power door- i callled toyota explaining i have 2 side doors that the locking mechanism was broken and this is a safety issue- they did not feel it was an issue, a month apart both sliding doors stopped opening!! today i pushed the button to open the motor door, a cable went flying sideways and almost cut the principal at our school when i was letting my daughter out for school. the door would not open or close it was just stuck! i called toyota as i have seeen thousands of 04 sienna's with the doors doing this- the cable gets a rust spot and just snaps!!! i can not believe that toyota does not think it is a problem to have children in a car where the door will not either open or close- thats a huge safety issue! let something happen to one of my kids and i will own toyota!! repairs for this doorare $1800.00!!! with layoffs and jobs- who has $1800.00 to just fix something that should have never happened in the first place, normally you could not have to replace the motor you could use the manual door- but, it seems with all the metal in the locking mechanism,and if that little .29 cent piece breaks, you have to replace the whole $600 mechanism. come on people- seriously! well i have contacted them, this is a huge safety issue far more preceeding a tire cable. thousands of complaints- toyota-doesnt seem to think its an issue at all, maybe it will happen to one of them and their kid has a door open while driving or a wreck, and no way to get them out. *tr

Driver side sliding door will not stay locked and latched. the fasteners that hold the locking mechanism place pulled through the door sheet metal. dealer states it cannot be fixed and a new door would be needed at $3500. door can open at any time. *tr

The right power sliding door on the 2004 toyota sienna le has jammed. the cable attached to the door is stuck in the door mechanism. the door was activated via the remote control on the day of the malfunction and it simply jammed open. the door wont close with this cable jammed into the gears. we had to drive home with the door in an open position. toyota's dealers say that this is a known defect. when i brought the toyota technical service bulletin - power sliding door inoperative ? el004-04 document to their attention, they still refused to repair the problem because my vehicle is over the 36,000 miles tsb warranty, but since when does a defective part on safety of a door become limited to a mileage issue? they insisted that i pay a $120 fee to 'diagnose' the problem, but then state that the costs for repairs are at least $1800, as they know exactly what the problem is. i have contacted national toyota at 800-331-4331 and they say that there's nothing they can do to assist me. i have switched off the electronic controls of this door, but it still wont close all the way. it is a total safety hazard. *tr

The rear liftgate on my van will open then close suddenly. if a person were to get in the way they could be crushed and seriously injured. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that while parking the vehicle the passenger sliding door disengaged which caused damaged to the body of the vehicle. the contact felt that rusted cables caused the failure. the current and failure mileages were 103,000. updated 07/08/08. *bf

My 2004 toyota sienna xle had the power slider door cables snap within 3 weeks of one another, one at 39,000 miles, the other at 40,000 miles. this is an extremely unsafe van for my kids now. there are no handles to close these doors, and my kids have a lot of trouble with them. i have read that this has happened to numerous sienna owners, yet toyota does not recognize this as a recall item. i used to love my toyota's, but after this, i will have to rethink my position. i think toyota should make this a recall and protect their reputation. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. when the contact started the vehicle, the passenger side sliding door would not operate. he stated that the motor failed twice. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that the repair cost was approximately $1,500. the dealer referred him to the manufacturer who stated that they would not provide any assistance due to the age of the vehicle. when the failure previously occurred, the manufacturer paid half of the repair cost for the identical failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 70,000 and the current mileage was 113,000.

The cable on the power door of my minivan has snapped. the door will not open, leaving only 1 access door out of the rear of the van. *tr

Rear sliding door cable broke. very expensive to repair ($1600) no help from dealership. told me to call manufacturer. car had 50,000 miles. seems like this should not fail at all. *tr

Sliding door issues. i took the vehicle in because the driver's side door wasn't functioning at all automatically and the passenger side door was freezing and not working automatically all the time. the dealership replaced the cable and motor on the drivers side and told me that there was an obstruction causing my problems with the passenger side door (a pokeman card). the was in the spring of 2008. now in the fall of 2008 i went to the dealer because the passenger door isn't working at all. they have told me it will be $2400.00 for the repair. *tr

Rear hatch struts on 2004 toyota sienna failed on approximately 01may08. liftgate closed on my wife and six year old nephew. had to use considerable force to reverse the action of door. took the car with rear liftgate strut warranty enhancement to the dealer on 21may08 and the repair was made,but the liftgate still fails to stay up. *tr

No event or warning of pending failure. passenger side sliding power door. cable snapped. motor/cable assembly failure. estimate of $1800.00 to replace repair. *tr

I own a 2004 toyota sienna xle 7 passenger limited van. my rear liftgate will not stay open it will raise to fully open and immediately begin rapidly closing. i barely got out of the opening before it closed. no sensors reacted to stop the automatic powered door from closing. this occurs either from using the remote button on the keyholder or from the button inside the van near the sun roof switch. this defect can and will hurt, injure or could kill a child or adult using this vehicle. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that when the vehicle was parked on an incline, the rear sliding door would not hold in place. the cable for the door was also frayed. also in freezing cold weather, the door on the passenger side would not open. the vehicle was taken to the dealership four times in regards to the failure, but the contact was not sure if the vehicle was ever repaired at the dealership. when the dealer opened the door, he noticed that it would not shut. the contact was informed that she would have to replace the door motor and cable at her expense. the failure mileage was approximately 60,000. the current mileage was approximately 103,000.

Toyota sienna 2004 automatic door (passenger site) cable that opens the door snapped and broke. a burning smell occur but no fire. i was looking to fix this problem. dealer wants to charge me $ 1800.00. i found on several blogs that this is a common problem. i am wondering if this is a manufacturing problem. *tr

2004 toyota sienna xle -driver's side door hinge pops, called dealer, asked if there was a service bulletin on this problem. there is, but they send the van to a body shop for repairs (re-welding) and that will take 4 days. because it is under a service bulletin and not a recall, they do not provide a "loaner" or rental vehicle. *tr

For the past month or so, the power lift gate seemed to not go up/raise as high as i thought it did. then yesterday the power lift gate unexpectedly closed down. using the key fob/remote i raised it only to have it close again. i tried lifting it manually and it closed again. i locked the car and tried the lift gate again and it closed down. this makes the rear of the car inaccessible since it immediately closes down. this is very disconcerting since the door is very heavy and this is a mini-van which is frequently purchased by families with children. it would have been terrifying and possibly fatal to my young children if they were by the rear of the mini-van when this thing unexpectedly closed. *tr

Rear lift gate struts replaced on 3/11/2008 by toyota due to rear lift gate not staying open and closing down on top of us by itself. rear lift gate struts replaced again on 12/18/2009 by toyota due to the same thing happening. rear lift gate struts are again failing as of 12/2012. called toyota about it and they will not replace them stating they are out of warranty. the rear lift gate opens slowly, then begins to close down on top of you by itself. the rear lift gate takes great force to stop it from coming down on top of you. the safety mechanism/auto reversal does not seem to work properly as it takes a very strong person to reverse it. a woman or child could easily be crushed by the rear gate as they may not be able to force it back up. being that these new struts in 2009 were suppose to be "longer lasting" according to toyota, they are having to be replaced much sooner than most consumers would expect. new struts being replaced every 3 years is not what the consumer expects of "longer lasting" struts. at some point, someone is going to get seriously hurt or killed by these defective rear lift gate struts. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

2004 toyota sienna ce(manual hatch):the hatch is hard to lift open and does not stay up--just slams down shut. very dangerous!! need 1 person to hold hatch open when accessing interior. *tr

2004 toyota sienna sliding doors malfunctioning. over time, the doors appear to wear out and will not open from the inside or the outside of the vehicle. they cannot be opened manually or by using the power operation feature. the dealer was able to open it and adjust it but told us that it will happen again unless we paid approximately $1200 per door to replace the worn parts. we are concerned about getting trapped in the vehicle. *tr

Rear hatch lift gate came down on my daughters back....not sure what happened, but it took a lot of force to free her. later the same day the lift gate opened all the way and then came down about a foot and hit my wife on the head....knocked her to the ground and caused a pretty bad headache for a day. after the gate hit her, it continued to close. right now the lift gate opens half way and then slams shut. *tr

Broken cable in side sliding doors (automatic). would not open manually. children stuck inside had to exit through front doors. manual override not functioning. dealer wants $2,000.00 per door to repair. van only 4 1/2 years old when cables broke. *tr

Our 2004 sienna sliding door became stuck open and we were forced to cut the cable in order to shut the door. the toyota dealer quoted several thousand $$ to fix it. the cable remains cut and we now use it as a manual opening door. *tr

Automatic rear tailgate door sometimes closes by itself after opening, causing potential injuries to people who are leaning into the vehicle to unload the van. this happens often, mostly in the winter on cold days. *tr

On 2/13/2008, i tried to open my passenger slider door with the auto button. the door opened approximately a foot then closed itself. i tried this a second time and again it happened. my husband then tried to open the door manually and the door would not open further than about a foot again. my husband checked the door and upon inspection noticed that the cable was broken. we called toyota and found that at the time there were no recalls related to this problem. the representative stated to go to an authorized dealer and have them diagnose the problem then call to see what toyota could do for us. when we arrived at the dealership, i informed the service tech behind the counter that i was bringing in my 2004 sienna to have the sliding door checked. his reply was "let me guess, the cable snapped". he then proceeded to tell us that they were having alot of issues with this. the dealership checked my vehicle over, confirmed the cable had snapped and stated that it would cost roughly $1,600.00. i told them that their customer relations mgr. needed to contact toyota to see what they would do for us, as my everyday mechanic had stated to me that for a 4 year old vehicle this should never have happened. the tech consulted with his manager (who never even picked up the phone) returned and stated that they would pay for the part and we would be responsible for the roughly $500-600 for labor. i agreed as i really had no choice. please help not only me, but the other sienna owners get this problem into a recall status, as if this ever shuts on a child serious injury or a death may occur. *tr

1. events leading up to the failure: pressing either button (in the main cabin or on the key fob) top open the power rear lift gate 2. failure and its consequences: upon reaching the fully opened position (or very close to?), the power rear lift gate reverses and automatically closes on the operator without user intervention. since it's common to proceed to extract contents from the rear of the vehicle after opening the rear lift gate, injury ensues due to the powered closing of the rear lift gate on your head/arm/should/child. this has caused numerous minor injuries due to the significant force required to prevent the door from closing on the operator 3. the dealer has now replaced the rear lift gate struts twice and it's currently being worked on for a third time after a complaint to toyota corporate. the failures still continue and the dealer has said they have no clue how to fix the problem (during the second replacement of the rear lift gate struts). *tr

Toyota sienna 2004 rear power lift gate - gas struts failed causing the lift gate to fall below normal opening. *tr

Automatic rear door on my 2004 toyota sienna xle closes while removing items from trunk. i was removing a stroller and the thing started closing on me and i had to fall to the floor to get out of the way. *tr

The rear automatic lift-gate of my 2004 toyota sienna is defective. approximately 50% of the time the lift-gate opens and immediately starts to close on top of your head. it's gotten so bad that my family now pushes the button to open the rear lift-gate while we stand clear and then when it reverses, we keep pushing the button on the remote over and over until finally the rear lift-gate will stop reversing and stay up. only then can we duck under the door to get what we need out of the back. in the early stages of the problem, family members were whacked over the head at least a dozen times. it didn't take long to learn that the rear lift-gate cannot be trusted. it began as an intermittent problem, but it happens every day now. the dealership said this morning that the problem is not under warranty. *tr

2004 sienna - power sliding door cable snapped. *tr

The lift gate on the van suddenly failed and struck me in the head. *tr

We are pleased with our sienna with the exception of the sliding doors which freezes the last 2 winters. i have 2 small children under the ages of 3 and very concerned about the safety issues. whenever the temp is below freezing, the door will not open until the temperature rises. i know that i am not alone with this issue. should an emergency arise, i fear the safety of my children - however i do not have the money to fix this issue. others have been quoted fixing it in the price of upwards of $1000. please make toyota do the right thing and recall these vehicles to fix them. *tr

The driver's side sliding door on my 2004 toyota sienna does not close properly. sometimes its opens at the end of the close cycle or worse yet, closes at the end of the open cycle. i experienced 3 incidents where my children's hands were almost crushed by the door which was expected to stay open. toyota has issued a tsb (el004-04), however our car is no longer in the warranty period. the opening of the door after the close cycle or closing of the door after the open cycle occurs intermittently. *cn

The dashboard started developing cracks and started to get mushy. the condition has continued to worsen over the last several years and there are now major cracks over the spot where the passenger side airbag deploys. i am very concerned that these cracks could turn parts of the dashboard into missiles in the event that the passenger airbag would deploy in any type of accident. you can now see the indentation of where the passenger side airbag would deploy, and the cracks extend around the plastic making it possible for pieces of the dash to unintentionally strike the passenger in the face or other place. *tr

Toyota verbalizes there was a substance left out of the dashboard mixture during production of the vehicle. it, according to them, is an issue with two models and two years of those models. the dash board begin to crack about 28,000 miles. the van only has 38,000 now. it has cracked from side to side across the top, down the front and around the sides (like an egg shell). the right side air bag is housed in the dash. pieces of the right dash are actually going to fall out now. toyota, again, admits the problem, but refuses to help. i last spoke to them on 5.2.2014 (roy g.). i have been speaking to them about this safety issue since 2008, even with the regional manager, as the local toyota asked them to replace it. toyota declined. this is an issue that can cause the airbag to deploy without an accident or wrongfully so in an accident. the entire dash will blow out, the physical damage to a person unknown. i need help with this issue. this is a 60,000 sienna that has handicap lift in it. this is a huge safety concern for me.

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the right passenger automatic slider door almost injured the passenger while trying to exit from the vehicle when it suddenly closed. she noticed that there was a cable that was fractured in the door which caused the door to close suddenly. the failure occurred on an intermittent basis for three years. the vehicle was not inspected nor had it been repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 135,000. the vin was unavailable.