This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Approaching slight right turn on a park way at about 40mph, down hill of the right turn suddenly the slip icon light on the dash board was on and off with beeping sound alarm and observed grinding or braking sound on the vehicle which made jerking like on and off power of the vehicle. Road condition was dry and sunny at about 11:30 am.
The contact owns 2006 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while merging onto the highway at 65 mph, the vehicle abnormally accelerated to 100 mph. The accelerator pedal had become stuck and would not release. The contact had to reach down under the steering wheel and release the lodged accelerator pedal, while continuing to maneuver the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who inspected the vehicle for ten days but was unable to diagnose a failure. The manufacturer was then notified and a complaint was filed. The manufacturer sent an investigator to further inspect the failure however, was unable to determine a failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 80,000.
Coming up to an intersection, car kept accelerating as I lifted my foot off of the gas pedal, had to push hard on the brake as engine continued to rev, placed in neutral, depressed gas pedal a couple more times, engine quit revving. Discovered that anchors for the driver's side floor mat had come out of the carpet and allowed the floor mat to creep up affecting the gas pedal. Removed the mat, took to local Toyota dealer who said there was no recall regarding the Sienna floor mats, the dealer replaced the 2 rings in the carpet used to anchor at my cost, one anchor became dislodged again within a day. Seems that there is some type of defect in the engineering of that ring used to sandwich/secure into the carpet.
I was attempting to park my 2006 Toyota Sienna when suddenly the engine started to rev loudly & the car continued to move forward, even as I frantically applied the brakes. The car would not stop but my fast-thinking husband quickly put the car into neutral & then shut the car off. We drove to our Toyota dealer in vineland, NJ, where they performed diagnostic tests but couldn't find anything wrong. Their determination was that it must have been the floor mat pressing on the accelerator. I am sure that the mat was not the problem and that Toyota is attempting to cover up a problem with a car that is not already on their recall list.
I was driving on a straight, level dry road with cruise control set at 58mph. Suddenly car began to downshift. Assuming transmission problem I disengaged cruise control and car almost came to a stop. I pushed gas pedal and drove in low gear to nearest pull-off. Discovered left front brake was smoking. After things cooled off I drove car in low gear about 6 miles to local service station. Mechanic found all brakes locked and removed all wheels. He inspected all rotors, calipers brake lines, etc and found no problems. (I had new brakes installed at dealership about 4 months earlier.) when mechanic manipulated left front caliper all brakes disengaged. Mechanic found brake fluid level was normal. I've driven car about 500 miles since problem occurred with no problems. I don't use cruise control often - and haven't used it since problem occurred. I'm wondering if problem is with cruise control rather than brakes?? this could have been a disaster if it happened on a freeway at higher speeds!
- Dryden, NY, USA
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When starting to accelerate from a stop at a light, my Toyota Sienna suddenly bolted forward as if a boulder had been dropped on the accelerator. I braked as hard as I could, but was only able to keep the speed down to about 40-45 mph. Eventually, it either it let up on its own, or I shifted into neutral and slowed, I am not sure which -- it happened so fast. I immediately got out of my car and looked to see if anything was on the accelerator, but there was nothing. I do have floor mats, but they are cut to avoid the pedals and in fact were not caught on the pedals. This is the one and only time it has happened. I reported it to Toyota but they informed me that Siennas do not have the part that is causing the sudden acceleration problem.
I was going down an off ramp in my Sienna, braking gradually as I came to the bottom of the ramp. There was another car stopped about 6 ft ahead of me. I still had my foot on the brake when the engine surged and the van lurched forward. I stomped down on the brake and the van did stop before it hit the car in front of me. I have taken the van into the local dealer (Toyota of knoxville) but they could find no problems. I have also reported the incident to the Toyota consumer hotline.
The accident happened 3/9/2010. The accident involves our 2006 Toyota Sienna... there were two adults and three small children in the van. My husband, who was driving, slowed down to make a right hand turn into a gas station. While he was turning... the van accelerated at a high speed... my husband tried to apply brakes to no avail. We smashed into a parked car (with owner standing next to it pumping gas) at the gas station pump and then the van continued to go a bit before slowing down at a snow berm. Luckily no one was badly injured.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Sienna. The driver stated that while driving 10 mph in an attempt to increase speed, the vehicle began to hesitate and surge. The dealer stated that there was nothing they could do to assist him since the failure was electrical which was also a normal function of the vehicle. The failure mileage was 10 and the current mileage was 75,000. The consumer stated when slowing down between 5- 10 mph and then speeding back up again, the van would hesitate and then surge forward to the point of jerking the consumers neck. The vehicle would slow down once the accelerator was released. Also, the drivers side door was exhibiting a popping/scrapping noise when it was being opened or closed. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed there was a recall regarding the thinness of metal which allowed the cracking of the metal where the door stop was attached to the door. Updated 04/21/10
Toyota Sienna 2006 braking problem caused self collision. On dry weather. Vehicle lost braking and I hit near by hilly land on turn. Vehicle showed braking problem on wet weather, rain and snow and vehicle looses the braking and related ABS and vsc failure. Brake pedal goes down and clicks and brake stops working. My wife no longer trust this van and everybody is afraid to drive with me in it.
2006 Toyota Sienna le with bz package (vsa) - safety issue (electronics): Vehicle stability control system (vsa) is unsafe during road slippery conditions if cruise control is used. The slippery condition could be rainy day or snowing or icy road conditions. The incident occurred several time. The first time I noticed the issue is around September of 2008. It was heavy rain, I was driving on a highway with normal speed. The van was set to cruise at 65 mph. I ran over a small pot of water on the road. One of the tire probably slipped for a brief milli-second. The vsa control kicked in (I can see the vsa light flashes), the van was then running from side to side and the RPM suddenly jump up (violently). The van was difficult to control. I tap the brake to disengage the cruise control. Then the van went back to normal. 2nd incident, about December of 2008, I was driving on the highway with light snow. The van was cruising at 55 mph. The van passed a slippery spot. The vsa kicked in and caused violent left and right movement of the van as well as sudden acceleration. The incident almost caused an accident. Since then, I stopped using cruise control on the rainy or snowy days. But if anyone out there with Toyota minivan, I would like them to know it is a serious potential problem. I took my van to be checked out at the Toyota dealership. They said could not find the problem and it is normal as is.
1. cruise control device on my 1996 Toyota Sienna has been behaving erratically since about 2 months. It has over 45000 miles on the odometer and is thus out of warranty. 2. mechanically there does not appear to be any defect. However the following anomalies are being observed during the past 2 months. A: 90% of the time in speeds in excess of 50 mph, when I try to set the cruising speed by pressing the ccl (cruise control lever) downwards, nothing happens. In more than 50% of these times, if I lift the ccl upwards (normally the method to re-set cruising speed after braking/slowing down) the cruising speed gets set. B. under conditions as in 'a' above many of the operations of the ccl appears to happen in an inverted manner, like setting instead of re-setting, re-setting instead of setting, etc. 3. it appears there is something definitely wrong with the electronics of the cruise control system, and while this has not happened so far, may in fact, cause unwarranted de-celeration/acceleration, and could cause accidents. 4. it is emphasized that these anomalies have *** not *** caused any accident yet. This vehicle is *** not *** included in any unexpected acceleration-related recalls. But this behavior of the cruise control may have something to do with unusual accelerations.
When using cruise control our Toyota Sienna 2006 van will increase in speed without any changes. We have stop using cruise control to prevent any increase in speed.
I have a 2006 Sienna and have a few complaints. As I have learned from reading some other complaints I know I am not the only one who has experienced a hesitation upon acceleration with the car from day 1 (January 2006 when the car was purchased). I have been told by the Toyota dealer nothing is wrong. Recently, on a very cold day I noticed the steering wheel was extremely stiff and hard to move- almost like not having powering steering. The most important reason why I am filing this is because I too have started to have a problem with the right side passenger sliding door. It started to malfunction in January of this year (2010)- one month ago. First the door wouldn't open. It would pop to release but not really open. You could not move the door to fully open it or then close it. After a while you could then manually open the door. This happened several times but would sporadically work. Toyota replaced the motor- we have platinum warranty. Then a few weeks later it started to malfunction again. I took it back and they adjusted the door. Almost immediately started to malfunction again and is worse than before-inoperable most of the time. I've been told that the whole door is out of alignment and the body shop has to adjust the door I don't know how this could happen and Toyota doesn't seem to have an answer. Door is still not fixed- I have to bring it back, but another person I think is on the right track with the hinge failing and that is probably why the door is not aligned. Aside from the inconvenience a door failure is a serious safety issue that needs to be addressed asap!
My 2006 Toyota Sienna is making this unintended acceleration even after I make a complete turn, or driving in a school zone. This is starting to get me worried since I am using this to Transport my 5-year old daughter.
Couple things happened- right after we both Sienna, about 1 month later the brake light went on. It was late Sunday night, so the dealership was closed. We went there the following week. They couldn't find a problem, cause the light went off. When I left the dealer, the light went back on so I left my car thereand told them I'm not going to drive until they find a problem. I have 2 small kids and their safety is first. They fix it and said that some sensor unfortunately was damaged during the delivery and they replace it. Then I got problem with my power side door- will still be closing even if you try to stop it. Solution from the dealer- lubricate and that's it- it still happen from time to time. Next- front passenger and second row seat belts- lock during the trip. Dealer solution- they don't see the problem. Now about 2 months ago my accelerator got suck while driving for about 15 seconds. I did not made a big deal out of it, because I was sure it suppose to happen, but nw after hearing what going on with other Toyota models, I'm just not sure. The gas pedal did not got stuck to the carpet for sure- I would see it, it was like it got stuck at 70mph... I love my Sienna and husband drives corolla too and we both love Toyota. I just think now it's not about love for the engine, it's about safety of our children. If necessary I have documents regarding the brake sensor replacement, seat belts complains, etc. I spoke with the dealer about the gas pedal and said to me that my model its not in the recall and it could be something else, but did not offer to check what could it be...
I am assuming you have seen the article about steve wozniak complaining about his cruise control on his Toyota prius. It is an issue of using cruise control with the sonar activated to slow the car down to maintain a safe distance between the car in front of you. When the car in front moved out of your lane, your car takes off like a rocket to regain the programmed speed. I have a Toyota Sienna mini van that does the same thing he described. When I complain to the dealer they tell me it works as designed. I ask them if they want to drive their kids around on the interstates using the cruise control with the sonar activated or pay my speeding ticket when I get pulled over when it does this. After accelerating at such a high speed the braking mechanism kicks in to slow the car down. So you know you have gone above the speed you set the cruise control. A car shouldn't take off like a rocket and cause you to speed when the car in front of you moves out of your lane. It also does this with the sonar off and hitting the "resume speed" switch on the cruise. I have not had an accident with this issue, but it sure is scary when it does this. As a result, I don't use my cruise control very often and if I do, usually kick it off by tapping the brake when the sonar slows the car down so it doesn't take off like a rocket. I am sure it is a programming issue but it sure isn't safe or comforting the way it currently works.
Two episodes of sudden unexplainable acceleration. 2006 Toyota Sienna mini-van. First incident: Driving at about 25 or 30 mph. Car suddenly sped up. Using brake stopped the car. Second incident occurred when I put car in reverse to back into my driveway; sudden speed increase in reverse. Brake worked to stop.
I was traveling alone on errands and had stopped at a T-intersection, positioned at the top of the "T" and preparing to turn right. I'd let afew cars go past, traveling on the main street with traffic closest to me going from left to right. When those cars had passed and it was safe to turn right onto the main street, I started to slowly depress the gas pedal to accelerate. Suddenly the car bolted forward and out of control, accelerating directly across the street and into the path of oncoming traffic traveling right to left. A car going about 40 mph slammed into the right front passenger side of my car. The airbags deployed and both our cars came to a complete stop. I was dazed from the collision and exited my car from the driver's side as soon as possible. I could see that the whole front of my car, including the engine was completely demolished. I was in shock and a lady from a nearby house who had heard the crash came out with a chair for me to sit me down on while the police and paramedics were on the way. I never went to the passenger side of the car and don't know the condition of the other driver or their car. I was taken to the emergency room and suffered chest, neck and back pain. I am quite sure it was the gas pedal sticking that caused the car to accelerate so unexpectedly and quickly, propelling me through the cross-traffic and onto the other side of the street. It was an absolutely horrible accident and I am still in shock over it, not to mention not knowing the condition, extent of injuries or even the identity of the other driver as yet.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- White Plains, NY, USA