The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the electronic sliding doors on the vehicle had experienced several failures. The contact stated that the doors erroneously slid open while the vehicle was being driven and the sliding doors were very difficult to open when using the door handle. The doors, at times, would not unlock from inside the vehicle and would become jammed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer (kolar Toyota, 4781 miller trunk hwy, hermantown, mn 55811, (218-733-0100) who replaced the cables and greased the door parts, but the failures continued. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 100,000.

- Duluth, MN, USA

We have an '08 8 passenger Toyota Sienna le. My son likes to play with the lights... we kept warning him if they got left on the battery would die. It finally happened. Had to go in through the front door using the key - stuck the key in the ignition and turned it and yup, sure enough - dead. Totally dead. There is no way to unlock the sliding doors. There is no way to open the sliding doors (from inside or out). There is no way to open the trunk (which can't be opened from the inside anyway - another concern) I had gone out to the van because I needed something from the trunk. I am 8 months pregnant with twins - there was no way I could climb back. My son had to. I couldn't even get into the middle row B/C there is a baby bucket in the center. If you were in a front end collision such that the battery was destroyed - the only way out of the van would be out the driver's or passenger's side doors. Maybe this is only true if the doors are locked at the time of the accident... but the van locks itself once in drive unless you have this feature turned off at the dealer. No one can get out the back or sides - no one could get in to help you. If the adults in the front were ok it might be very hard O get to anyone in the back if there is a car seat in the middle of the middle row - and then, getting back out would be hard. I totaled a car in college - it is possible for an accident to wipe out battery power. This has me pretty alarmed. It's not something you think of when you buy a car. No one thinks "will I be trapped if the battery goes?" but in this van, I think you would be, and it could be very dangerous. There should be an over ride where if battery power is lost everything automatically unlocks - and there should be a way to open the trunk from the inside! I am freaked out to think of getting in an accident and no one being able to get in to help out my kid(s). This is a huge safety concern!

- Milpitas, CA, USA