2005 TOYOTA SIENNA Complaints

I BROUGHT MY 2005 SIENNA IN FOR NORMAL SERVICE AT 7500 MILES. THE TECHNICIAN INFORMED ME THAT I NEEDED MY BRAKES REPLACED. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS TO ME. WAY BELOW WHAT IS TO BE EXPECTED. *NM

I HAVE A 2005 TOYOTA SIENNA WITH THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH THE BACK LIFTGATE BEING INVESTIGATED IN EA06-020. WHEN IT FIRST BEGAN TO FAIL, THE POWER OPTION WAS ENGAGED. IT DID NOT OPEN ALL THE WAY, SO I MANUALLY PUSHED IT UP FURTHER, AND UPON RELEASE IT FELL AND THE POWER CLOSING ACTIVATED WITH ME UNDERNEATH. THE LIFTGATE CURRENTLY WILL NOT STAY UP BY ITSELF. *JB

TOYOTA 2005 SIENNA MINI VAN XLE FWD - ACCELERATING FROM LOW SPEED ROLL (AROUND 5 TO 10 MPH) THE CAR ESSENTIALLY EXPERIENCES A STALLING CONDITION WHERE IT WILL NOT ACCELERATE FOR A FEW SECONDS. MORE GAS PEDAL DEPRESSION RESULTS IN A SUDDEN OCCASIONALLY ALMOST UNCONTROLLABLE ACCELERATION. *NM

HESITATION WHEN DOWNSHIFTING TO 1ST, THEN WHEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE IT FEELS AS IF NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN SO YOU GIVE IT MORE ACCELERATOR AND THEN IT ACCELERATES TOO FAST, MOSTLY NOTICEABLE AS YOU TURN A CORNER. *NM

I NOTICED ONE MORNING WHEN OPENING THE REAR LIFTGATE OF MY TOYOTA SIENNA THAT THE "DOOR" OR LIFTGATE VERY SLOWLY CAME BACK DOWN. THE NEXT TIME I USED IT IN A MORNING, I USED THE POWER LIFT, STOOD UNDER THE DOOR ONCE IT WAS FULLY OPENED AND IT CAME CRASHING BACK DOWN ON ME. NOW, I HAVE TO HOLD IT OPEN OR USE SOMETHING TO WEDGE IT OPEN. *NM

I'VE GOT A 2005 TOYOTA SIENNA XLE WITH THE POWER REAR HATCH. I THINK I'VE VERIFIED THE PROBLEM WITH THE HATCH NOT RETRACTING WHEN IT ENCOUNTERS AN OBSTACLE. LAST YEAR (FIRST YEAR OF OWNERSHIP) THE HATCH CLOSED ON ME AND WOULD NOT RETRACT. AND, I WAS PUSHING BACK ON THIS THING BY ARCHING MY BACK. I'M NOT SURE HOW I GOT OUT FROM UNDER IT BUT I DID. IT PRETTY MUCH FREAKED ME OUT. IT WAS COLD, AND THERE WAS SNOW ON THE VAN. THERE WAS ALSO AN ICE DAM IN THE GAP AT THE TOP OF THE DOOR. I ORIGINALLY ATTRIBUTED MY INCIDENT TO THIS ICE DAM. (BTW - CHRYSLER'S DON'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE THEY HAVE A PIECE OF PLASTIC ATTACHED TO THE DOOR THAT PREVENTS ICE FROM GETTING INTO THIS OPENING.) I CONTINUED TO TEST MY HATCH ON OCCASION FROM THEN ON ALL THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER AND THE FALL. IT WORKED JUST FINE UNTIL DEC 8, 2006. DEC 8, 2006, THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 33 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. IT WAS A CLEAR DAY. THERE WAS NO SNOW. THE HATCH WOULD NOT RETRACT WHEN I PULLED BACK ON IT. IT CLOSED - EVEN THOUGH I BEGAN APPLYING UPWARD PRESSURE WHILE IT WAS STILL 90% OPEN. IF I HAD BEEN BETWEEN THE CLOSING HATCH AND BUMPER, I COULD HAVE BEEN BADLY HURT. IF MY CHILDREN WERE THERE, IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE. I AM CONVINCED THAT WHATEVER IS BEING USED AS A SENSOR IN THE DOOR MECHANISM LOSES SENSITIVITY DURING FREEZING TEMPERATURES. I'M SUGGESTING THAT THE REASON THE FAILURE TO RETRACT CAN'T BE REPLICATED AT THE SERVICE CENTERS IS BECAUSE THE CAR HAS WARMED UP ENOUGH BY THE TIME IT GETS THERE, OR WHEN IT IS WORKED ON IN A HEATED GARAGE, THE SENSOR THEN BEGINS TO WORK CORRECTLY BECAUSE IT IS NOW "WARM". EACH TIME I'VE HAD THE PROBLEM, MY CAR WAS STONE COLD. IT SAT OUT OVERNIGHT DURING FREEZING OR NEAR FREEZING TEMPERATURES WHILE IN MY DRIVE WAY. THE ENGINE HAD NOT BEEN STARTED. I WAS USING MY REAR HATCH TO LOAD/UNLOAD THE VAN ONLY. NOW THAT THE TEMPERATURE HAS MOVED UP INTO THE 40'S-50'S, THE HATCH APPEARS TO RETRACT CORRECTLY WHEN IT ENCOUNTERS AN OBSTACLE. *JB

REAR BRAKES, BOTH, PADS COMPLETELY WORN AWAY OR SEPARATED FROM BACKING PLATE. THE VEHICLE HAS ONLY 22000 MILES ON IT. IN MY TYPE OF DRIVING, BRAKES NORMALLY LAST AT LEAST 40,000 MILES. FRONT BRAKES APPEAR TO BE OK, WEARING NORMALLY. *NM

I HAVE A COMPLAINT ABOUT SIENNA'S VSC SYSTEM. IT OVERREACTS SUDDENLY AND AT TOO MUCH A RATE, IN AN ANTICIPATED LITTLE SKIDDING THAT HAD BEEN EASILY CORRECTED MANUALLY IN MY PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER CARS. I HAVE A 2005 SIENNA LE AWD. IT COMES WITH VSC, ABS, TRAC. I WAS CORNERING A 30 MPH LEFT TURN WITH THE VAN GOING 35 MPH ON HIGHWAY 431 IN NEVADA. IT WAS DOWN HILL, SO I WAS USING LOW GEAR (3) TO APPLY ENGINE BRAKING. IT WAS NOT SNOWING. THE ROAD WAS DRY WITHOUT SNOW. ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, THERE WERE SOME GRAVELS/SALTS. THE VAN VEERED TO THE RIGHT A BIT AS I WAS MAKING A WIDE TURN. IT WENT OFF THE LANE ABOUT 1 OR 2 FEET ONTO THE SHOULDER, BUT STILL ON PAVEMENT. ON THE SHOULDER, THE FRONT WHEELS SKIDDED BY A VERY LITTLE AMOUNT, WHICH IS ANTICIPATED AND NORMAL IN MY DRIVING EXPERIENCE AND HAD ALWAYS BEEN HANDLED WITH EASE. HOWEVER, THE VSC KICKED IN SUDDENLY, CAUSING THE VAN TO TURN TO THE LEFT TIGHTLY AND AT A VERY FAST RATE, INTO THE OPPOSITE LANE ON THE UNDIVIDED 2-LANE HIGHWAY. IT ALL HAPPENED IN A BLINK OF EYES. FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS NO TRAFFIC IN THE OPPOSITE LANE, AND I WAS ALERT ENOUGH TO QUICKLY STEER THE VAN BACK TO MY LANE, AVOIDING HITTING THE MOUNTAIN ON THE LEFT. THE VSC LIGHT DID COME ON IN FEW OTHER OCCASIONS, BUT THE VAN WAS NEVER OUT OF MY CONTROL IN THOSE CASES. FROM MY PAST DRIVING EXPERIENCE OF 20 YEARS (MANY OF WHICH WERE WITH SNOW), I REALLY FEEL THIS IS AN OVERCORRECTION BY THE VSC BY A HUGE AMOUNT. I AM STARTING TO FEEL VERY UNCOMFORTABLE THAT SUCH VSC REACTION CAN'T BE REDUCED (E.G., TO A SLOWER AND LESSER RATE) OR COMPLETELY TURNED OFF. IT'S WINTER TIME AGAIN AND I AM GOING TO SKI WITH MY FAMILY. IT REMINDS ME THAT I HAVE NOT FILED THIS COMPLAINT YET AND THAT I WILL HAVE TO BE DRIVING NERVOUSLY, WHO KNOWS WHEN VSC IS TO KICK IN AGAIN, BY HOW MUCH AMOUNT, OR AT WHAT RATE. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY, THE RIGHT REAR RUN FLAT TIRE BLEW OUT WITHOUT WARNING. THERE WERE NO OBVIOUS ROAD HAZARDS SEEN. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY A DEALER, WHO DETERMINED THAT ALL FOUR RUN FLAT TIRES NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS ALERTED. THE TIRES WERE DUNLOP, RUN FLAT TIRES, AND THE TIRE LINE AND SIZE WERE UNKNOWN. *AK

THE "RUN FLAT" TIRES ON MY 2005 SIENNA HAVE COMPLETELY WORN OUT TO THE EXTENT THAT THE STEEL TREADS ARE SHOWING, WITH ONLY 11,000 MILES ON THE CAR. OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE VERY DEFECTIVE. *JB