Outer door handles on doors of Sienna are extremely brittle and break easily even with normal everyday gentle use. Of the 4 main doors on my Toyota Sienna, 3 of them now have broken ousise handles causing the doors not to be accessible & opened from the outside. This has now affected both sliding doors and my passenger front door. My passenger sliding door is not even able to be opened from the inside since the outer handle broke off completely. This poses a major safety issue as doors are not able to be opened from the outside in case of an accident or emergency. Additionally the fact that the passenger sliding door can not even be opened from the inside causes even more of a safety issue. Upon reviewing other consumers who own this same vehicle I have found it alarming that well over 50% of them have complaints due to this same issue.

- Pace, FL, USA

Re: 2000 Toyota Sienna minivan I was parking my car on the street, my foot on the brake pedal, when the engine started to suddenly rev up. With my foot still on the brake pedal, I quickly put it on park and turned off the engine. This is the first time this has happened.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

I have owned this vehicle since 2003 and have never had any major problems with it. It has always been very reliable. However, on September 21 while driving East on I20 in the dallas area, I accelerated the vehicle while on a slightly steep hill. The engine suddenly quit for a few seconds while I was driving and all the equipment lights came on. It then mysteriously started back again and I kept driving. This happened a couple more times while driving East on Illinois avenue in dallas and it finally died completely on the same street. The engine would not start and even the lights would not come on. I was able to pull into the city of dallas's parking lot before the vehicle stopped completely. I had the van towed to one of the Toyota dealers in dallas. They checked it out and could not find any problems with it. Then on Monday, September 25 the vehicle was completely dead in our garage at home. I jump started the vehicle and drove it again to metroplex Toyota on Tuesday, October 5. the only thing they found was the intake hose clamp at T-body was very loose and the power door light was coming on. They tightened the hose clamp and re-initialized the power door. Again, on November 11, I was driving East on I 30 when the van completely died in the middle of the highway. Even the hazard lights would not come on. I was stuck in the middle of a busy freeway. Fortunately, I 30 was backed up and no one plowed into the rear because most vehicles drive at 60-70 mph on that freeway. I had the vehicle towed to metroplex Toyota again. This time the only thing they could find wrong was that the battery was not held down tightly. However, while I was going to drive away in the van, I noticed that the power door light was on again and the door would not close properly. We finally decided to leave the vehicle with the dealer for some time so it could be checked out.

- Grand Prairie, TX, USA

This 2000 Sienna is a lemon. At 50 miles the torque converter needed to be replaced. At 100 miles I noticed that the van pulls to the left at highway speeds of 65 to 70 mph. At 28,000 miles the front tires Firestone were all chewed up belts showing even though we had 3 alignments done in less than a year. The automatic side passenger door got stuck and would not close, dealer replaced door computer, at 15,000miles paint was chipping off the door handles and a short time later paint was chipping off the front hood as well. At around 20K the remote key/alarm started blowing fuses, it's been back 4 time to get fixed w/ nothing done to fix it. This is the circut that has the alarm, clock and dome light. From the very begining the trans. Sometimes would shift either hard or w/ a dely between 1st & 2nd gear then at about 30,100 miles the clutch cable was replaced. A clunk now happens when going from park to reverse esp. When on a hill. It still does not shift from 1st to 2nd right all the time. The sun visor, when it's covering the left drivers side window, will move and hit the driver when making a left turn at anything over 5 mph. So now every time I make a left hand turn one hand is on the visor and the other on the wheel, when I blew one of the front tires the aaa serviceman couldn't crank the cable that holds the tire back under the van, dealer replaced cable and other parts. The radiocd player skips a lot when going over bumps, have been waiting almost 2 months for the replacment. Mind you we've only had this van less than 2 yrs!!! other stuff, battery was replace within a year, why I don't know, change door keeps popping open (drivers left side) weather stripping on drivers side at the bottom on the car (not door) is falling apart. Head lights are either not aimed right when in spec. Or bad design. I think this is due to the way the lights are shaped, there is very little light directly in front of you but plenty of light on the 2 sides of the road.

- Guilford, CT, USA

Oil light failed to report major engine sludge problem before there was severe engine damage. The damage is reported by the Toyota dealer as $8900 to replace the engine in a car with only 20,181 miles. The light flashed for a split second and never turned on again. The oil light failed to indicate low oil pressure in the system causing considerable damage.

- Neponsit, NV, USA

While driving engine check light continously illuminates. Oil turns to thick sludge like substance, and blue black smoke comes from tail pipe.

- Lutz, FL, USA

While driving engine check light illuminates continously. Oil turns thick/ sludgy like substance, also, blows out blue black smoke from tail pipe.

- Lutz, FL, USA

Noticed white smoke upon starting car for a couple of days. The following Sunday, the oil pressure light came on while traveling-stopped and put in 1 quart of oil, light went out. The following Monday, the engine check light came on. The next morning, Tuesday I took the car to the nearest Toyota dealer and was told that our engine was full of sludge due to improper or lack of maintenance. The repairs were not covered under the warranty. Was given an estimate of $9K to replace the engine or $5500 to rebuild the engine. We then took the car back to the dealer where we purchased the car, and was told the same thing, only this estimate was $2K to "clean" the engine. The service manager called the Toyota rep on our behalf and was denied any help through the warranty. In filing a report with Toyota was told my next step was arbitration - "the paperwork is in your warranty book". I had to have the engine cleaned at my own expense.

- California, MD, USA

Estando mi hija detenida para doblar a la izquierda fue impactada por otro vehmculo por la parte posterior. Esto provocs que nuestro vehmculo impactara otro que SE movia en direccisn contrario al nuestro. Luego nuestra van SE auto-acelers de forma espontanea sin que mediara accisn para tal comportamiento. Mi hija que manejaba perdio el control sobre dicho vehiculo siendo imposible controlarla en un recorrido de unos 150 pies de distancia. Allm SE detuvo al impactar un arbol a orillas de la carretera. El vehiculo fue declarado perdida total por la aseguradora universal insurance de puerto rico. Este accidente ocurrio en el municipio de san german. Escribi una carta al presidente de la Toyota en puerto rico relatandole esto mismo que aqui les narro. He recibido una carta de ellos donde me indican que van a investigar. Quisiera que SE investigara mas a fondo las causas que provocaron esta aceleracisn szbita de este vehmculo. Pudieramos estar salvando otras vidas si lo hacen pronto. El vehmculo fue declarado perdida total. La aseguradora SE llevs este Y desconozco el lugar donde lo depositaron. Por tal razsn no puedo darle otros datos sobre el mismo. Aun despues de impactar el arbol este vehiculo SE queds acelerado Y las gomas SE pulverizaron por la accisn de estas contra el pavimento. Otra persona luego entro al vehiculo Y retiro la llave del encendido tengo fotos del accidente Y testigos del mismo. Este accidente fue reportado a la policma. El juicio sobre el mismo SE vera en el mes de marzo de 2001. Atentamente, filix rodrmguez. Summary written in spanish.

- San German, PR, USA

No summary

- Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

Engine check light kept coming on continually, causing winding sound from transmission. Dealer notified, and infomed consumer that vehicle was safe to drive until part arrived. Feel free to provide any further details.

- Vilencia, CA, USA

The check engine light came on at 50 miles, we were told car needs a new torque converter and that it is safe to drive the car while the part comes in. Six weeks later and 2400 miles on the car with engine light on and off the torque converter was replaced. When car was returned to us it shifted with a jolt. Back in the shop with transmission problems. Not acceptable on a new car.

- New Hope, PA, USA

Malfunction indicator lamp (check engine light) came on at 64 miles and remains on. Gas tank not empty and gas cap is on securely. Dealer service center advised that this is due to an inaccurate transmission code being thrown, and I should continue driving the vehicle while they wait for a tsb from Toyota.

- Alexandria, VA, USA