On 8/18/05 morning the shifter lever behind the steering wheel was broken loose that I had no control of the gears. Then I brought my van to stevens creek Toyota (san jose, ca) where I bought the Sienna van for repair. After the Toyota technician opened up for inspection, I later went there to took some photos of the conditions, I found out that the main cause for the malfunction of the shifter was a big piece of cast iron (approx. 1/2" thick) that serves as a main frame or bracket for all other components in the assembly for support of their moving mechanism broke in half ( have photos to prove it) literally. Since it appears as a "defective part" of the shifter and not a "wear & tear" condition, I 've requested Toyota Corp. (both local & headquartes) to replace it with free of charge. The request was declined due to warranty policy beyond 30,000 miles/ 3 year. Then Toyota Corp. Issued me a case no.:2005-0818-0778 (filed 8/18/05).I also asked service representative, auto mechanics, and Toyota Corp. Agent that have they seen or heard anything similar like my case, nobody could confirm it is a common problem of "wear & tear" beyond warranty period. The question is how a consumer like myself get projected from the "defective part" that a driver defends heavily for maneuvering of the vehicle has no control over the gears? fortunately, the incident didn't happen while I was driving on the freeway with my wife and (3) young kids or get stuck in the middle of the railroad with running train approaching. I believe that "safety issue" shall be the first priority needed to be resolved by Toyota Corp.

- San Jose, CA, USA