I owned a 2001 Toyota Sienna le that I bought use in April 2004. Three weeks ago, as I was driving on an expressway at a speed of 55 mph, my hood just popped opened and hit my windshield with a force of dynamite. Luckily I didnT get panic and looked through the clearance at the bottom of the arched hood and slowly stopped the vehicle on the side of the road. Nobody got hurt. When I took my vehicle to this dealer, they found the secondary hood latch was faulty and was left opened that supposed to prevent the hood to come loose in case someone lift the hood opener from inside by mistake. (there is a tension spring in latch mechanism that keeps the hook engaged to keep the hood from freeing was not strong enough) I asked the dealer if this faulty latch would be covered under Toyota safety program but was refused and paid for it out of my pocket. I have inform Toyota about this incident as well as to advise to take it seriously and at least pay for my repair cost of the latch and other damages done to my car due to this incident. I could have lost control of my vehicle and had run into someone else. I am in mechanical engineering profession and would suggest taking a deeper look into this problem since I know another person who had identical problem with the same model year. But Toyota corporation, after writing them twice insists their vehicles have no problem. May be other people doesnT want to take time to write what they have faced. But two similar incidents cannot be a co-incident. I want this report to be known to other 2001-Toyota Sienna owners so they become aware of this seemingly small un- reported but deadly problem thanks syed N masood.

- Pittsford, NY, USA