2005 TOYOTA SIENNA Complaints

BRAKE FAILURE IN A 2005 TOYOTA SIENNA. I SEE OTHER REPORTS OF THIS PROBLEM IN SIENNAS BASED ON AN ON-LINE GOOGLE SEARCH. THE PROBLEM, IN MY CASE, IS INTERMITTENT. BRAKE FAILURE HAS HAPPENED TWO TIMES WHEN ATTEMPTING TO STOP AT INTERSECTIONS. ONCE TO MY WIFE AND ONCE TO ME. THE PEDAL DOES NOT GO ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FLOOR, BUT PRESSING HARD ON THE PEDAL IS INEFFECTIVE TO STOP THE CAR IN A NORMAL DISTANCE. THE ABS SYSTEM DOES NOT ENGAGE DESPITE THE AMOUNT OF STRONG FORCE ON THE PEDAL THAT I EXERTED. THE CAR EVENTUALLY CAME TO A STOP, BUT IT FEELS AS THOUGH THERE IS NO VACUUM ASSIST. PUMPING THE BRAKE DID NOT HELP. THE PAVEMENT WAS NOT SLICK. THE BRAKES APPEAR TO WORK NORMALLY AT OTHER TIMES. *TR

WHILE DRIVING FROM CA TO VA IN MAY OF 2009 I EXPERIENCED AN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION WHILE IN CRUISE CONTROL. THIS OCCURRED AFTER I WOULD SLOW DOWN FOR TRAFFIC AND THEN ACTIVATE THE RESUME CONTROL. THIS HAPPENED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS DURING THE TRIP EAST AND ON THE RETURN TRIP BACK TO CA. THE SPEEDS WITH THE UNINTENDED ACCELERATION REACHED 95MPH ON THE FIRST OCCASION AND STOPPED ONCE I APPLIED THE BRAKES. AFTER THE FIRST INCIDENT I WAS ABLE TO KEEP THE ACCELERATION FROM REACHING MORE THAN 10 TO 15 MPH OVER THE ASSIGNED CRUISE CONTROL SPEED. *TR

STEERING PROBLEMS. STEERING SHAFT ASSEMBLY HAD TO BE REPLACED. STEERING WAS DIFFICULT AND SOMETIMES WOULD TURN TO SHARPLY. *TR

DRIVER SEAT BELT IS CONSTANTLY GETTING "STUCK". IT WON'T MOVE OR RELEASE AS IT SHOULD. *TR

THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM ON MY VAN IS MALFUNCTIONING AND IT PUTS THE VEHICLE IN "FAIL SAFE" MODE. THE LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER AS WELL AS TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE DO NOT WANT TO INVESTIGATE THIS RECURRING PROBLEM FOR THE DTC P0121. THE DEALERS DO NOT ANALYZE THE FREEZE FRAME DATA OR INVESTIGATE THE PROBLEM BEYOND READING THE CODE FROM OBD II SCANNER. I HAD ASKED THEM FOR THE ELECTRICAL VALUES FOR THE THROTTLE VALVE MOTOR AND THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL BUT THEY HAVE REFUSED THAT INFORMATION AND WANT ME TO REPLACE THE THROTTLE BODY BY SPENDING $1200.00. THE FIRST TIME THIS PROBLEM STARTED WHEN THE VEHICLE HAD 50,000 MILES AND I REPLACED THE THROTTLE BODY FROM SAME YEAR AND MODEL VEHICLE WITH 20,000 MILES. NOW AFTER 10,000 MILES SAME PROBLEM HAS STARTED AGAIN AND THE DEALER AS WELL AS TOYOTA WANT ME TO REPLACE THE THROTTLE BODY. I FEEL THAT THE THROTTLE BODY OR THE GAS PEDAL IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS ARE CAUSING THE DTC CODE AND MERELY REPLACING THE THROTTLE BODY SECOND TIME WILL NOT FIX THE PROBLEM UNLESS THE NEWER THROTTLE BODIES ARE WITHOUT THE PROBLEM ORIGINAL THROTTLE BODIES HAD. IN THAT CASE I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT PART. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE PROBLEM IS INVESTIGATED AND IDENTIFIED BEFORE ANY PARTS ARE REPLACED. I ALSO OFFERED TOYOTA THE ORIGINAL THROTTLE BODY FROM THE VEHICLE FOR TESTING / CHECKING FOR THE PROBLEM BUT THEY REFUSED MY OFFER. THIS SUDDEN LOSS OF DRIVEBILITY DUE TO THE ACTIVATION OF "FAIL SAFE" MODE IS DANGEROUS AND COULD RESULT IN ACCIDENT AND / OR FATALITY. ANY HELP IN THIS MATTER WILL BE APPRECIATED. *TR

DURING COLD WEATHER, MY 2005 TOYOTA SIENNA, ONE OR BOTH REAR SLIDING DOORS (MANUALLY OPERATED) WILL FAIL TO OPEN MORE THAN A FRACTION OF AN INCH. FURTHERMORE, HAVING PULLED ON THE DOOR TO ATTEMPT TO OPEN IT, IT IS THEN DIFFICULT TO CLOSE ALL THE WAY. THEREFORE, I HAVE OFTEN BEEN RIDING ALONG AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS (SOMETIMES AT NIGHT) WITH THE INTERIOR LIGHTS FLICKERING ON-AND-OFF BECAUSE THE VAN'S SENSORS SENSE THAT A DOOR IS OPEN. THIS SAFETY CONCERN IS IN ADDITION TO MY CONCERN THAT A CHILD COULD FALL OUT OF THE ONE OF THE REAR DOORS IF IT SUDDENLY OPENS ALL THE WAY, ALTHOUGH REALISTICALLY THIS LATTER EVENT IS UNLIKELY DUE TO BUILT-IN SAFETY MECHANISMS. THIS PROBLEM IS WIDELY REPORTED BY OTHER TOYOTA OWNERS, E.G.: HTTP://TOYOTASIENNAFROZENDOORS.BLOGSPOT.COM/2008/12/TOYOTA-SIENNA-FROZEN-DOORS.HTML THERE IS A TOYOTA SERVICE BULLETIN ON THIS: SB0028-08 APR 08 BODY - SLIDING DOOR WEATHERSTRIP FREEZES TO BODY BUT SO FAR I HAVEN'T PAID THE $27 TO OBTAIN ACCESS TO THIS DOCUMENT. DUE TO THE PREVALENCE OF THIS PROBLEM, THE PROBLEM IN GETTING DEALERS TO FIX IT (E.G., IF THE TEMPERATURE HAS WARMED-UP A FEW DEGREES BY THE TIME YOU BRING THE CAR TO THE DEALER), THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL FOR THIS ISSUE. THIS PROBLEM RECURS FOR ME ROUGHLY 10-15 TIMES PER WINTER SEASON (IN MARYLAND). *TR

POWER STEERING APPEARS TO BE FAILING, STEERING IS GETTING STIFFER. HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR ALMOST 2 WEEKS AND APPEARS TO BE GETTING WORSE. HAD IT CHECKED OUT AT TOYOTA DEALERSHIP YESTERDAY AND THEY CAN'T PINPOINT IT AT THIS POINT BUT BELIEVE THAT IT IS EITHER THE POWER STEERING PUMP OR THE ENTIRE RACK AND PINION MECHANISM. MINIMUM OF $1,000.00 TO FIX. *TR

3 TIMES IN THE PAST 5 DAYS (ONCE LAST FRIDAY 2/19 AND TWICE TODAY 2/23) MY 2005 TOYOTA SIENNA HAS LUNGED FORWARD WHILE DRIVING IN TRAFFIC AT 35 MPH. I DID NOT FEEL THE PEDAL MOVE UNDER MY FOOT. THE SURGE WAS MOMENTARILY, BUT HAD THERE BEEN ANYTHING CLOSE, I WOULD HAVE HIT IT. I DROVE IMMED TO BELL TOYOTA, PHOENIX, AZ AND WAS TURNED AWAY AT THE SERVICE DEPT (IT IS NOT ON THE RECALL LIST AND THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO) THEY SUGGESTED I CALL TOYOTA. I CALLED TOYOTA, THEY SUGGESTED I GO TO A DEALERSHIP. I EMAILED TOYOTA CORP. THEY SUGGESTED I GO TO A DEALERSHIP. BELL RD TOYOTA OFFERED TO DO A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK FOR A $108.00 FEE. I CALLED WRIGHT TOYOTA,SCOTTSDALE AND THEY AGREED TO DO A HEALTH INSP. FOR FREE. *TR

AFTER I READ THE ARTICLE ABOUT APPLE INC. CO-FOUNDER STEVE "WOZ" WOZNIAK'S EXPERIENCE ABOUT HIS 2010 PRIUS, I WAS RELIEVED SOMEWHAT FROM MY OWN DOUBT AND CONFUSION. I BOUGHT A USED 2005 SIENNA XLE LIMITED (WITH RADAR SENSOR) LAST NOVEMBER WITH 95000 MILEAGE. IT ACCELERATED UNINTENTIONALLY SEVERAL TIMES WHEN I WAS USING CRUISE CONTROL WITH ONLY SINGLE PUSH OF THE ACCELERATION HANDLE. I ONCE LET THE CAR WENT UP TO 90 MPH BEFORE I BRAKED IT OFF FROM THE CRUISE CONTROL MODE. THE ACCELERATION WAS VERY POWERFUL WHEN IT MALFUNCTIONED. ALL HAPPENED IN SEVERAL SECONDS. YOU COULD HEAR THE ENGINE REVERING LOUDLY TOWARDS FULL SPEED. I HAD NO PROBLEM TO BRAKE IT OFF EVERY TIME THOUGH. I ALSO BELIEVE IT IS AN ELECTRONIC OR SOFTWARE PROBLEM SINCE NONE OF MY FEET WAS ON ANY PEDAL WHEN THIS HAPPENED AND THERE WAS NO FLOOR MAT ISSUE AT ALL. *TR

2005 TOYOTA SIENNA HAS A PASSENGER SIDE POWER SLIDING DOOR THAT HAS GONE THROUGH THE STAGES OF STICKING, RUBBING AGAINST THE BODY AND RUBBER STRIPPING AROUND WINDOWS, AND NOW, WORKING AT ALL THROUGH THE POWER BUTTON OPTION (OR THE REMOTE) -- ONLY WAY TO GET IT OPEN IS VIA THE DOOR HANDLE. THIS SEEMS TO BE A RECURRENT PROBLEM IN A NUMBER OF TOYOTA SIENNA BUT THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT ISSUED A RECALL SO FAR. I DEEM THIS A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE THE DOOR FAILS TO CLOSE MANY MANY TIMES AND THE DRIVER HAS TO GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE TO CLOSE THE DOOR IN FRUSTRATION AND THAT CAN CREATE UNSAFE SITUATIONS. *TR