2005 TOYOTA SIENNA Complaints

I HAVE A 2005, TOYOTA, SIENNA. WHILE SITTING IN THE FAR REAR OF MY VAN, WASHING THE REAR WINDOW, THE DOOR SHUT AND I WAS UNABLE TO GET OUT OF THE CAR. I COULD NOT FIND THE LEVER INSIDE THE COVERED AREA ON REAR DOOR PANEL. NEITHER COULD THE AUTO REPAIR MAN, EVEN AFTER READING MANUAL. THERE IS NO RELEASE EVEN FROM THE FRONT OF THE CAR. AND IF WE COULDN'T FIND IT, HOW WOULD MY GRANDCHILDREN OR ANYONE IN AN EMERGENCY. I CONSIDER THIS AN EXTREME SAFETY HAZARD WHICH COULD KILL...AND THE DESIGN HAS NOT CHANGED IN THE NEW CARS. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS AND LET ME KNOW WHAT I CAN DO BEFORE IT'S TO LATE. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE......... *TR

WE HAVE HAD SEVERAL DOOR PROBLEMS WITH OUR 2005 SIENNA XLE LIMITED (LESS THAN 30,000 MILES). SLIDING DOORS ROUTINELY FREEZE SHUT. HAVE TO CLIMB THROUGH FRONT DOORS. SLIDERS HAVE ALSO FROZEN OPEN SLIGHTLY--FORCING US TO DRIVE WITH DOORS UNLOCKED & AJAR WITH OUR CHILDREN IN THE CAR. NOW THE AUTOMATIC PASSENGER SLIDING DOOR NO LONGER FUNCTIONS. THIS IS A COMMON KNOWN ISSUE--CABLE SNAPS. COST IS ESTIMATED AT $1800. OUR CHILDREN NOW USE THE DRIVER SIDE SLIDING DOOR WHICH IS TYPICALLY STREET SIDE & EXTREMELY UNSAFE. OR THEY CLIMB IN THROUGH FRONT. CAN'T CLIMB IN THROUGH BACK BECAUSE REAR LIFTGATE CLOSES AT WILL. REAR LIFTGATE WAS REPLACED PRIOR TO RECALL & NOW NEEDS REPAIR AGAIN. SLAMS DOWN WITHOUT WARNING--USUALLY HITTING US IN THE HEAD OR BACK. *TR

MY 2005 TOYOTA SIENNA'S REAR DOOR LIFTGATE STRUT WAS FAILED AND IT'S NOT OPEN THE REAR GATE FULLY AND DOOR CLOSE UNEXPECTEDLY. THIS CAUSE SOME MINOR INJURIES FOR MY FAMILY MEMBERS INCLUDING MY 3YRS OLD SON I WENT TO DEALER TO REPORT THIS PROBLEM BUT THE DEALER HAS NO IDEA ABOUT ANY RECALL OR TSB INFORMATION FOR THIS. THE DEALER JUST SUGGESTED ME OVER $500 TO REPLACE THE STRUT. *TR

2005 SIENNA XLE MODEL. THE PASSENGER SIDE AUTOMATIC SLIDING DOOR'S LATCH DOES NOT LOCK AND WILL CLOSE ON SLIGHT INCLINE. MYSELF, MY WIFE AND ONE OF MY KIDS HAS EXPERIENCE THE DOOR CLOSE ON US UNEXPECTEDLY. THIS IS A POTENTIALLY SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE IF THE CAR IS PARKED ON A STEEP INCLINE FACING DOWN. THE CAR HAS BEEN IN THE DEALER FOR OVER A WEEK AND SO FAR, THEY HAVE TRIED TO REPLACE THE MOTOR, THE LATCH TO NO AVAIL. I THINK THERE IS A DESIGN FLAW SOMEWHERE IN THE DOOR THAT CAUSES THIS TO HAPPEN. STRANGELY, THE PROBLEM DOES NOT EXISTS ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE SLIDING DOOR. IT'S UNKNOWN IF THE PROBLEM IS CAUSED BY REPEATED USE OR NOT. *TR

ON BOTH OCCASIONS PRECEDING THESE EVENTS THE WEATHER WAS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR. WHETHER CONDITIONS WERE RAIN/ICE/SNOW AND FREEZING TEMPS. ON 2 SEPARATE INCIDENTS BOTH SLIDING DOORS HAVE BECOME FROZEN SHUT. I WAS UNABLE TO OPEN EITHER DOOR . ON ONE OCCASION I HAD TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE FOR ABOUT 45 MIN WITH THE HEAT ON HIGH BEFORE I COULD OPEN THE DOORS. ALSO THE DOORS WERE NOT COMPLETELY CLOSED CAUSING THE INTERIOR LIGHTS TO GO ON AND OFF AND THE WARNING CHIME TO SOUND CONTINUALLY. WE HAVE FOUR YOUNG CHILDREN AND WILL NOT PUT THEM IN VEHICLE THROUGH THE REAR HATCH. NOT BEING ABLE TO OPEN THE DOORS IS AN UNACCEPTABLE SAFETY HAZARD. *TR

PASSENGER POWER SLIDING DOOR CABLE JACKETING HAS COME OFF AND CABLE IS FRAYING BADLY (UNWRAPPING) AND MAKING MUCH NOISE AND MAKING DIFFICULT FOR DOOR TO OPEN/CLOSE. I AM CONCERNED THIS WEAKENED CABLE MAY SNAP AND HIT SOMEONE (ESP MY CHILDREN) WHO USES THE DOOR FOR ENTRY/EXIT AS IT IS UNDER HIGH TENSION. DRIVER SIDE DOOR CABLE JACKETING IS ALSO BEGINNING TO COME OFF AND I AM CONCERNED IT WILL END UP DOING THE SAME THING. THE VAN WAS PURCHASED IN MARCH 2005 AND SINCE I AM PAST THREE YEARS, THE TOYOTA DEALER I ORIGINALLY TOOK IT TO SAID IT WAS NOT COVERED BY ANY WARRANTY (INCLUDING MY 7 YEAR/100K MILE EXTENDED WARRANTY) AND IT WOULD COST OVER $1700/DOOR TO FIX. THE CAR IS NOT EVEN 4 YEARS OLD AND THE BASIC SAFETY OF THE DOOR OPEN/CLOSE IS ALREADY COMPROMISED! I WAS ALSO TOLD TODAY BY ANOTHER DEALER THAT TOYOTA ISSUED A "TECHNICAL BULLETIN" ABOUT THE HINGES/MECHANISM ON 2004 VERSIONS (AND THE 2005 - AT LEAST THROUGH MY PRODUCTION DATE) SINCE THEY HAD A NUMBER OF (QUESTIONS?) ABOUT THIS ISSUE - AND IT IDENTIFIED SPECIFICALLY HOW TO FIX IT. TO ME IF THIS IS OCCURRING ENOUGH TO HAVE A TECHNICAL BULLETIN, THEN TOYOTA KNOWS THEY HAVE A PROBLEM. BUT SINCE THEY DO NOT CONSIDER THIS SAFETY ORIENTED THEY NEVER RECALLED IT. IF THIS CABLE SNAPS I DO NOT SEE HOW IT COULD NOT BE A SAFETY ISSUE. IN SUMMARY IT IS HAPPENING ON BOTH DOORS (THOUGH FASTER ON THE MORE USED PASSENGER SIDE) AND TOYOTA SEEMS TO BE AWARE OF A NUMBER OF ISSUES IN THIS AREA. THE FRAYED CABLE ALSO TENDS TO SCRATCH UP THE CABLE TRAVEL AREA FOR THE RUBBER SEALING AND THE PAINT.*TR

VEHICLE CAUGHT FIRE SPONTANEOUSLY DURING NORMAL USE. FIRE STARTED IN THE AREA OF EXHAUST MUFFLER AND QUICKLY SPREAD INTO THE CABIN. *TR

I HAVE A 2005 TOYOTA SIENNA WITH ALL WHEEL DRIVE AND RUN-FLAT TIRES. I WAS TOLD THAT THE CAR HAS A TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM (TPMS). I HAD TWO EVENTS OF LOW TIRE PRESSURE THAT WENT UNDETECTED BY ME. BOTH TIMES I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER WHO TOLD ME THE NOISE AND VIBRATION WAS DUE TO LOW TIRE PRESSURE. I TOLD THEM THAT I NEVER SAW THE LOW TIRE PRESSURE LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD. THE LATEST EVENT WAS A BLOW-OUT OF THE LEFT FRONT RUN-FLAT TIRE ON HWY 85 IN CA. THE CAR WAS DIFFICULT TO HANDLE AND I SLOWED AND EXITED THE FREEWAY AND THERE WAS NEVER A TPMS WARNING LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD TO INDICATE LOSS OF TIRE PRESSURE. THE TIRE WAS TOTALLY GONE. HAD TO COVER THE COST OF THAT REPAIR. I RECENTLY TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER TO FIND OUT WHY THE TPMS WAS NOT WORKING. THE DEALER THEN TOLD ME THAT THE TPMS SYSTEM ON THE 2005 TOYOTA IS BASED ON THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM AND USES THE SPEED OF TIRE ROTATION AND NOT DIRECT TIRE PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS. FURTHERMORE, THEY TOLD ME THAT THE TMPS WAS WORKING PERFECTLY. I FIND APPLICATION OF A TMPS BASED ON TIRE CIRCUMFERENCE WITH RUN-FLAT TIRES IS COMPLETELY USELESS. THERE IS NO WAY THE 2005 TOYOTA SIENNA TMPS WILL EVER WORK WITH RUN-FLAT TIRES. THE RUN-FLAT TIRES HAVE EXTREMELY STRONG SIDE-WALLS TO ALLOW THE CAR TO CONTINUE WITH LITTLE AIR PRESSURE BUT, THAT MEANS THE TIRE DOES NOT DEFORM WITH LOW TIRE PRESSURE. THE FACT THAT I HAD A TOTAL TIRE BLOWOUT WITHOUT A TMPS WARNING LIGHT SHOWING MEANS THE TMPS SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK. I FIND THIS SYSTEM TO BE UNSAFE AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS BEING DONE AND HOW COULD THIS TMPS SYSTEM COMPLY WITH DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RULE CFR CITATION: 49 CFR PARTS 571 AND 590; DOCKET ID: NHTSA 2000-8572, RIN ID 2127-A133? *TR

PASSENGER SLIDING DOOR WOULD NOT OPEN, OR IT WOULD OPEN A LITTLE BIT AND CLOSE AGAIN. *TR

2005 TOYOTA SIENNA LE, THE AUTOMATIC PASSENGER SIDE DOOR FAILED, AND THE CABLES WERE HANGING FROM THE TRACK. DOOR BECAME FIXED IN ONE POSITION, WOULD NOT OPEN OR CLOSE. REPAIRS WERE TOO COSTLY, NEARLY $2000 FOR PART ALONE, NOT INCLUDING LABOR. DEALER REMOVED AUTOMATIC DOOR CABLE TO ALLOW IT TO WORK AS A MANUAL DOOR. THERE WERE NO INCIDENTS LEADING TO THE FAILURE, IT WAS A COMPLETE SURPRISE. IN MY OPINION, AND AFTER READING OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THIS ISSUE, I BELIEVE THE FAILURE IS CAUSED BY A DESIGN FLAW BETWEEN THE SLIDING DOOR AND OPEN WINDOW. ON A MANUAL DOOR, THE DOOR WILL NOT STAY FIXED OPEN WHEN THE WINDOW IS ROLLED DOWN. ON AN AUTOMATIC DOOR, THE DOOR IS FORCED OPEN EVEN WHEN THE WINDOW IS DOWN. CLEARLY THERE IS A CONFLICT BETWEEN THESE TWO MECHANISMS. ONE ADDITIONAL NOTE ON THE SLIDING DOORS, THEY FREEZE CLOSED AT THE FIRST DROP IN TEMPERATURE. EXTREMELY INCONVENIENT WHEN TRYING TO LOAD 3 KIDS ON A CHILLY MORNING. *TR