Problems with 2006 Toyota Sienna STRUCTURE

We have a 2006 toyota sienna with dual automatic sliding doors. about 6 months ago, the passenger side door would scrap, and needed to be closed manually. we took it into the dealer, as it was scratching the paint, it cost us almost $800 to replace the hinge. this week the otherside is starting to do the same thing. i have checked other sources and have found that this is a systemic problem with these models and that it clearly presents a danger to passengers including children who are often passengers in minivans. the problem itself appears to be caused by poor design. toyota has had other recall problems with it's door designs and this appears to be another one. *tr

I have a 2006 sienna and have a few complaints. as i have learned from reading some other complaints i know i am not the only one who has experienced a hesitation upon acceleration with the car from day 1 (january 2006 when the car was purchased). i have been told by the toyota dealer nothing is wrong. recently, on a very cold day i noticed the steering wheel was extremely stiff and hard to move- almost like not having powering steering. the most important reason why i am filing this is because i too have started to have a problem with the right side passenger sliding door. it started to malfunction in january of this year (2010)- one month ago. first the door wouldn't open. it would pop to release but not really open . you could not move the door to fully open it or then close it. after a while you could then manually open the door. this happened several times but would sporadically work. toyota replaced the motor- we have platinum warranty. then a few weeks later it started to malfunction again. i took it back and they adjusted the door. almost immediately started to malfunction again and is worse than before-inoperable most of the time. i've been told that the whole door is out of alignment and the body shop has to adjust the door i don't know how this could happen and toyota doesn't seem to have an answer. door is still not fixed- i have to bring it back, but another person i think is on the right track with the hinge failing and that is probably why the door is not aligned. aside from the inconvenience a door failure is a serious safety issue that needs to be addressed asap! *tr

Left side power sliding door stuck in 3/4 open position, during foul weather. unable to close manually. noticed slack cable on front side of center hinge and stripped cable from rear of hinge. also, metal pieces have fallen out of hinge track from upper door rail (below window). unable to drive safely (obvious), with door open. now vehicle extremely wet inside. covered van with plastic. checked internet for other occurrences besides those listed in the complaint log this website. too numerous to count since 2004. why can't this be fixed. vehicle still in extended warranty period but this is not covered? *tr

The motorized sliding door on the sienna 2006 stopping working at 51,000 miles. *tr

Toyota sienna 2006 rims r defective paint bubbling n chipping off toyota has checked n said these rims r defective but would not replace because its not in warranty. *tr

I have a 2006 toyota sienna with an automatic sliding door. the car is 6 months out of warranty. recently, i drove my children somewhere and the door would not close and became completely inoperable. i took the car to a local dealer and toyota motor corp would no take responsibility to have it fixed. i checked other sources and have found that this is a systemic problem with these models and that it clearly presents a danger to passengers including children who are often passengers in minivans. the problem itself appears to be caused by poor design. toyota has had other recall problems with it's door designs and this appears to be another one. *tr

Found below on the web and we have the same issue. we purchase the extended warranty so they will replace the motor-cable assembly but not the central hinge. they said that we have to pay for it at $300.00+. ******************************************************************************** 2006 sienna slide doors is the center hinge wears out and that's when the cables break. there is a tsb (el004-04) that addresses this. we replace the hinge/motor-cable assy/and a bracket. *********************************************************************** now just waiting for the other door to break. we found numerous issues with cold weather. we just had snow and a cold spell in rocklin, ca (sacramento,ca)this past week which we rarely get snow. the folks at toyota said this a know problem but there is nothing they can do. the hinge is part of the van which holds the sliding door in place and if it fails the sliding door has a good chance of completely off while driving. this could cause someone getting killed. i guess we have to wait until that happens, before anything is done. we purchased a 2006 toyota sienna sept 2006 and purchased with extended warranty. *tr

My 2006 toyota sienna, of which i am the original owner, has a passenger side rear sliding door. without warning the door refused to close. the cable had popped out and the door will not close. we cannot drive the car because it is a safety hazard to drive with an open door. we have to have the car towed to a repair place and then pay for whatever the repair would be. we cannot afford to do this. apparently this is a common problem which the dealer should cover as it is a safety hazard. *tr

2006 toyota sienna xle; door began opening when in an unlocked position. then unable to close door and therefore unable to operate vehicle is safe manner. contacted dealer; after inspecting vehicle told cable fraying/failure side door stuck in open position. dealer states unable to rectify problem by overriding cable system to allow door to be operated manually; forced to replace entire mechanical door operation system because of cable failure resulting in cost of approximately $2000 to dealer. *tr

Power slider door failed on 2006 sienna van. will not close. *tr

Right-side power sliding door is beginning to fail. there are there hinges that support the door. two are located at the front of the door (one at the top and one at the bottom). the third hinge is located at the rear of the door (in the center). it is the center hinge which is failing. the hinge is sagging, and scraping the rear body panel (under the rear quarter window). given the failure of the hinge, proper clearances are not maintained, and the door scrapes the front edge of that body panel. it also catches on the door frame (body frame) when opening and closing. this is a well-documented problem with these vans and toyota refuses to acknowledge any fault. eventually this door will cease to function. others have had it fail in the open position, while others have had it fail in the closed position. there have been recorded incidents of this failure causing strain on the cable that controls the function of this door (leading to it fraying/snapping). other owners have experienced the rear quarter window shattering and even having the door fall off. light internet research (using the term "sienna sliding door" or "sienna sliding door failure" will help to reveal the gravity of this problem and the extent to which the consumers are feeling it. average cost for repair is in excess of $1500.00. please force a recall. make toyota own up to this issue and its resolution. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the gas struts were losing power and the rear liftgate would not only lift 1/4 to the its highest position. recall 08v244000 was related to the failure in september 2008 and it was repaired according to the dealer; however, she noticed the failure in october 2009. a second dealer confirmed that the recall remedy was performed in 2008, she had to repair the vehicle at her expense. the manufacturer offered no assistance. the vehicle had not been repaired to-date. the current mileage was 89,903. the failure mileage was approximately 78,000.

I have a 2006 toyota sienna minivan. the latch on the driver's side passenger sliding door failed to keep the door secured when driving down the road. the door would become unlatched and open slightly in transit. i took the car to the dealer and they informed me that the latch would have to be replaced. i talked to the service manager who told me that there was nothing he could do about it nor was it covered by any recall or warranty. i tried to have the regional parts manager call me, however, he would not return my call. this a major safety issue for toyota, but they did not want to hear about it nor do anything about it. what really bothers me is that this door gets used when the grandchildren are traveling with us. i find it very upsetting that this door unlatches by itself without any prior warning. *tr

The passenger side electric sliding door has failed. the door kept going open and shut one evening and then stayed shut and has been inoperable since. the door will not open manually now and has created a safety hazard. toyota has refused to fix the problem and says that it can only replace the motor which will cost over $2000. the failure is that the door will not open at all. it is a safety hazard for the passengers. the door has a manual mode, and should therefore be able to operate manually without the motor. the dealership would do nothing to help besides charge over $2000 for what will surely be a temporary repair. *tr

Our sliding door stopped working about a year ago. this morning, despite the electric doors being turned off, while my husband was driving with all 4 of our babies the door opened and got stuck. my husband can't open or close the door. *tr

Rear passenger sliding door will not lock..remains unlocked and ajar in both manual and power setting. door has large scratch on side. door worked fine for three months after scratch then stopped working. took van to advantage toyota in lynnbrook ny who blamed lock problem on door scratch and will not fix under extended warranty. *tr

The rear power sliding door on my 2006 toyota sienna wagon shut on my child's thumb even though it supposedly has a mechanism to prevent it from trapping body parts. *tr

Toyota sienna rollover accident at low speed (35 mph) resulting in roof and driver side structural failure and fatal crushing injury to driver. *tr

Automatic slide doors and back door won't open in auto. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota sienna. the contact stated that both rear sliding doors failed to close securely. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they replaced both door latches. three years after the repair was performed, the failure recurred. the vehicle was currently being repaired by an independent mechanic. the manufacturer was notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 60,000. the vin was not available.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota sienna. the contact stated that the dashboard exhibited a crack that ran across from the driver's side air bag indicator and instrument panel. additionally, the foam from the dashboard was exposed through the vinyl cover. the manufacturer was not contacted. a local mechanic stated that the dash needed to be replaced. the failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 125,000.

The power sliding door on my 2006 toyota sienna van fails to open either manually or by the power controls. the toyota dealer refused to fix it since it was past the warranty period. i believe this to be a safety concern since the door cannot be opened, even manually. the toyota dealer wants between $1,000 and $2,000 to fix it with no guarantees that it won't happen again. *tr

Drivers side door pops when opening and the door stop/ strut device has loosened where it is welded to the door allowing the door to move more freely. i have not yet sought to repair the problem but have read where this has been a problem for other owners. tsb 07017. i plan to take it to the dealership this coming week to see what they can do. *tr

2006 toyota sienna passenger power sliding door will not work. drivers side manual sliding door works intermittently. *tr

A side power sliding door on our toyota sienna started occasionally malfunctioning a while ago, initially simply making strange noises while opening and closing. three months after the expiration of our warranty, the problem started getting worse, with the door requiring physical assistance to complete opening or closing. finally, the door simply got stuck shut. we, or the dealership, are unable to open the door at all. first, this is hampering the repairing of the door, as the dealership claims they have to rip the door out to fix the problem, therefore requiring the purchase of a new door in addition to all the other repair and installation costs. this is prohibitively expensive to us at the moment, and our children and we thus have to ride in a minivan where a door can't be opened, and where the door sensor beeps from time to time, as if the door was improperly shut. second, we feel this is a serious safety hazard. the inability to open this door might impede or prevent the timely evacuation of our family in case of an emergency (accident or others). in addition, the beeping suggests the door is improperly shut and we fear it may strangely open one day as we're driving, just as it strangely got jammed. this would pose a serious safety hazard to the passengers. *tr

Hello, this is my second complaint about a 2006 sienna that i purchased. there seems to be a problem with the air bag light going on and off. when this happened earlier, i immediately took it to the dealer to get it fixed. now, it has come on again and just recently it turned off. i don't know if this is normal, but i would like to know what else can i do so that my family will be secured in case of an accident. also, the automatic slide door on the right that came equipped with it is not working properly. this happened about a 6-7 months ago. this door used to make a beep noise to let us know the door was not shut, and now when we close it, it acts like it is going to close but it opens. in other words, it does not shut unless you force it to shut which is dangerous to my youngest child. *tr

The manual sliding door on my 2006 toyota sienna sticks because of a latch problem. it can cause the door to either not shut, or not open. this is a serious concern, i couldn't imagine not being able to get my child out of a burning car. toyota really needs to fix this, there are hundreds of sienna owners with the same issue. it sounds like this could lead to a negligence lawsuit. http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0eb3fd/289. *tr

The dash start cracking up for no apparent reason and the car is mostly park inside a garage day and night. i have called dealers and nothing has been done so far and i have been told that's a manufacturer defect and it should be corrected by dealer. the transmission some times does not change the gears and others stop to work and i could cause a rear end collision. *tr

Since purchasing our 2006 toyota sienna xle we have experienced problems with the power sliding doors - a grinding and/or rattling sound as well as jerky operation (as opposed to opening and closing smoothly). the dealership greased the cables and track which seemed to eliminate the sounds. last week the door stopped opening all the way - it would open about a quarter of the way and then automatically close on its own. this problem occurred whether the door was operated with the key fob remote or the interior button. i checked the track and there were no obstructions. we took the car to the dealership where it was purchased and although they could replicate the problem only once (naturally) they replaced the power door motor and clutch assembly under warranty (we are within the warranty period). important to note is that the reason they replaced the motor and clutch assembly is because we had brought the vehicle in complaining of the door operating poorly in the past. had we not had problems previously and brought them to the attention of the dealership i suspect they would have claimed there were no problems with the operation of the door. therefore, i strongly recommend that anyone having issues with their power sliding doors report their problems to the dealership and document their problems/complaints with the dealership. *tr

I own a toyota sienna 06. the automatic sliding door will not shut. they tell me it will be over 1200.00 dollars to fix it. if i want it converted to a manual door then it will cost 600.00 dollars or more. why did i pay for automatic doors if they are going to break in less then 4 years? please make them recall the door motor and make them fix this problem. *tr

Our 2006 toyota sienna van has one of the automatic side doors that opens back up on its own because it does not close properly. this has been a problem since the car was fairly new with a little over 36,000 miles. toyota does not consider a door that opens on its own a safety issue, therefore they would not fix the problem without charge. i consider this dangerous because a door that continues to open on its own is clearly not safe. *tr

The power sliding door on passenger car side is inoperable after four repair attempts within a five month period. this is a safety issue because the passenger side sliding door cannot be used in case of a sudden need to escape the vehicle. *tr

Original recall for back door stay kit, covered under warranty 12/17/08-dealership replaced rear hatch stays. door continues to be faulty. when you press the button to close, it responds temporarily, than begins to lift. *tr

I always use the keyfob to open the passenger side power sliding door. first thing this morning on my way to drop my son off at daycare, the sliding door opened just fine but was a little sluggish in closing. i had to make a stop at cvs to buy some cold medication and the sliding door jammed the next time i tried it. no amount of pushing the keyfob or in-vehicle buttons would cause the door to open/ close fully. the door was permanently jammed with an opening about 4-5 inches wide. fortunately, the cvs is very close to the daycare and i asked for help moving his stuff while i carried him in. i could not risk driving around with the door open no matter what the distance because of the safety issues. i promptly dropped the car off at the dealership. the 2 mile drive to the dealership with the door ajar and the alarm beeping the whole time couldn't have felt longer. i've yet to hear back from them, but i did some online research and it sounds like the sliding door motor has failed. i am very concerned by the frequency that this problem occurs. i am shocked that there has been no recall due to the inherent danger this defect could pose for passengers. *tr

Cracked dashboard that may interfere with air bag deployment. dash is cracked right above glove compartment and airbag, is not from sun damage. what could cause these cracks? manufacture flaw! *tr

Liftgate shocks failure. *tr

Right side sliding door cable snapped so that automatic door no longer slides. motor continues to function but cable looks rusted. car has 45,000 miles but is under three years old. *tr

Sliding door stopped working cannot open. *tr

Drivers side sliding door would not shut worked to shut now hasn't open since 34 month after purchased. i went to the toyota dealership to 'did you purchase it here? when i told them no, she sent me around to service where i waited until i left without even my name given. i went back when my van was 38 months past purchase... to have my tail gate under recall and asked when toyota will recall these vans with sliding door issues. *tr

The dashboard began to show cracks and became sticky to the touch. the problem has continued and grown progressively worse. the glare created by the current condition of the surface makes driving hazardous. *tr

Passenger sliding door would not open to let passengers escape from the vehicle. -- several time in last 4 years. *tr

Our 2006 toyota sienna's right power sliding passenger door suddenly failed. there was no prior warning. mileage was 47,385. we were outside of the warranty period. the motor simply gave out. the door had to be replaced so that the van could be drivable. we took it to nalley automotive , 11130 alpharetta hwy, roswell, ga 30076. the dealer replaced the right side power sliding door control motor. cost of repair was $1914.39. *tr

The driver side door hinge on our 2006 toyota sienna xle minivan tore apart allowing the door to freely swing open/shut without any restriction. a slope or wind gust could slam the door on any of the occupants. history: - door was previously repaired by toyota for the same defect back in 2007. - defect is widespread and toyota issued a warranty enhancement (recall) to over 600,000 effected siennas. - previous repair appear inadequate and can reoccur - reported the second incident to toyota motor corp and dealer. *tr

2006 toyota sienna - excessive paint chipping and rust. vehicle has been taken to two toyota dealerships for excessive rust caused by paint chipping. both dealers claim that stones on roadway are the cause. rusting began to appear in the rear quarter panel area; directly behind both passenger doors. toyota placed two clear plastic strips in both these areas (factory installed). the clear plastic strips have done nothing to prevent to chipping and rust. in fact the rust has appeared under the clear plastic strips. paint has also begun on the right passenger sliding door. toyota corporation was contacted concerning this problem. toyota's answer was that is was not their problem. the rusting is now 1/4 of the way up the frame of the van on both sides. every chip in the paint rusts, regardless of size. this vehicle was bought new. the wheels were replaced in 2008 by toyota, as a result in a defect in the metal which caused the paint on the wheels to bubble and chip away. *tr

Both gas struts that support rear lift gate (manual) on back of minivan failed and the lift gate is no longer supported by struts. gate is very heavy, and is difficult to open. and it does not stay open, making access to the truck impossible without second person their to hold up the heavy gate. *tr

The gas in the lift gate support of the back door escaped 3 years after i bought it. *tr

Brand new bought toyota sienna 06 with 31k miles the doors started making noise. i read up on this on some websites and it appears that there is poor welding / bad deigns on toyota sienna doors. *tr

Power rear door on 2006 toyota sienna xle will not stay open. door automatically closes and does not auto-reverse easily with obstruction. *jb

Was out shopping, went to open the rear door when i realized the struts were not lifting the door. i inspected the struts ,and realized they had exploded and were leaking. no failures of the rear door previously; door was working properly the day before this incident. have an appointment with toyota dealership to correct the problem. cannot use the back portion of the minivan to store items since door was not functional. i am glad the door did not fail when it was opened and someone was underneath, especially one of our kids. i have read on the internet that this has happened with other toyota siennas.*ak

2006 toyota sienna two potential safety failures: (1) the drivers side sliding door when opening will slide into the gas fuel door while another person is fueling the vehicle. there is no stop that prevents the door from striking the gas door when a person is exiting the vehicle. when this happened, the fueling nozzle was jarred loose and fuel was splashed on the vehicle. also, the fuel message stayed on following this event on the dashboard. (2) driver's side and passenger's side front door power locks both failed(driver's side at 37,000miles & the passenger's side at 58,000 miles.) this may or may not become a safety failure; however, if the doors are not locked manually, the lack of locked doors could prove to be dangerous when the car is moving. *tr