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.
The sliding door cables have broken just like in the 2007 models that a recall has already been done. Toyota has refused to fix this on my 2008 model because the NHTSA has not requested it and because they supposedly have not had enough reports of failures. Now our door does not completely seal shut and going done the road, the door alarm goes off indicating a door is open that has nearly caused my wife to jump out of her skin thinking that our autistic son is opening the door while she is driving down the road. It doesn't make sense that this defect has been recalled in 2007 but not in the 2008 which is the same problem. Cables are dangling out the side of the van whipping in the wind.
Our left rear sliding door won't function or open any more. The cable broke. Then 2 days later the right rear sliding door won't function or open anymore. Same problem. Cable was severed or snapped. Looks like it was rusted on both cables, both sides, and severed in the same position or length. So, both rear sliding doors do not function. They only open to about 1 foot, and no further. Extremely difficult to close or open doors at all. The minivan was stationary both times while opening doors for my kids to get in. I was parked on a street. The left side broke on July 1, 2016, and the right side broke 2 days later on July 3, 2016.
Power sliding doors have a common problem of the cable breaking and the power sliding feature stops working. The door can still be used in manual operation, which is just an inconvenience. The power rear latch is a safety issue as the door can suddenly open while driving, or other times remain locked so as the door cannot be opened. This problem is compounded when both doors are affected, and I have had multiple repairs done to both doors to a point where I cannot keep up with the frequency of how often the doors fail. To summarize, power sliding function granted is a luxury though an expensive one when Toyota does not warrantee the repair. The latching problem is most certainly a safey issue as the doors either do not stay closed, or are stuck shut forcing the rear passengers to climb over the front seat to exit the vehicle. Imagine what would happen in an emergency.
Toyota cable frayed on automatic sliding door (it was fine one open then had a terrible sound the next and we could visually see the frayed cable from the outside), however the 2008 is not in the designated years (2004-2007) to have it fixed under extended warranty. Originally 3 calls to Toyota customer service provided me that it was covered but I had to speak to a supervisor after reading the paperwork online to explain that although I was part of the extended warranty for cable and latch mechanisms, that the latch mechanism is the only part that applies to the 2008. It's so confusing, the customer service agents can't figure it out. Taking it to the dealership to have them tell the 2008 cable isn't covered would have cost me $110. The repair is $1500-2000 on a car only work 8K or so. Being that this has been an issue in the past is upsetting. And the fact that the warranty enhancement bulletin is so confusing their own employees don't understand it is also ridiculous. From reading online it seems others are still having this issue.
Automatic sliding door cable snapped when children were exiting the van. A known issue that was covered by csp for years 2004-2007, but not 2008. Same exact problem.
- Ithaca, NY, USA
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The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the trunk failed to stop when the contact depressed the trunk release button. The contact stated that the trunk hit her in the head. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the hatch strut failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000.
Driver side rear sliding door cable broke. Toyota said it is not covered! door will not even open manually. I feel this to be a huge safety factor being that children are in the back and in case of emergency it would be hard to get them out!. the problem occurred wile my wife was picking the kids up from school!
The door latch assembly is a defected part admitted by Toyota. This defected part caused the sliding door cable to break. Toyota has sent out an extended warrenty to fix the door latch but not the sliding door cable. I can now open up the door but without the cable the door will not stay open if on a grade. This is a major saferty hazard as the door could shut on a person including my four children. I have contacted Toyota about the issue and it is noted. I feel that if they have admitted to a defective part and that part caused another issue, it should be replaced.
Sliding door on our 2008 Sienna stopped opening or closing. We can not get in our get out off the car on driver side. We are glad it happened on parked position. It is not working electrical or manual mode. Toyota is asking about $1600-3000 for repair. We are trying to use the van with one sliding door and it is nor practical or safe.
Rear power sliding door issues. Hard to open and close Toyota has csp that only completely covers the issues to year 2007 but 2008-2010 the cable assembly is excluded. These models and years are having the same problem I don't understand why it's only partially covered.
In very cold weather (approximately 20 degrees or colder), the automatic tailgate on the back of the minivan malfunctions while parked. It will go up but as soon as it gets to the full open position, it comes back down and will not stop, even if you have your hand or body in the path of the tailgate door. This has happened to me numerous times over the last seven years (the last time being on the evening of 2/12/16 in bloomington il) and the first time I barely was able to pull back before the tailgate would have crushed me. In summary, the tailgate door malfunctions in very cold weather (as it won't stay open) and it appears the sensor that detects something in the path of the tailgate door also is malfunctioning since it will not stop if something is in its path. I have submitted this to Toyota via occasional user panel email surveys they send, but I don't know if they are looking into it. This needs to be investigated before someone gets crushed, injured, or killed.
The door check on the driver side breaks prematurely. Each time I open the door, it clacks. Instead of holding the door in position which is designed to do, it moves and sometimes it can be dangerous.
The passenger side of the powered sliding door stuck open during a cold winter night and we were lucky we were at the parking lot not on highway for an emergency stop (which is possible with two little ones on board sometimes). We did a little research and found out that this is due to an known faulty sliding cable assembly and Toyota already had a a customer support program which extends the warranty of the cable assembly for model years of 2004 to 2007. Unfortunately, our car is 2008 and the local dealer asked for $2000 to change the cable assembly. Since this issue is the same as the previous model years for the second generation Sienna, this should have been covered by the same program. Due to the potential risk of door stuck open on highway during emergency stop, Toyota should have included this as a recall campaign.
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while driving at 10 mph, the passenger side sliding door opened independently. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was repaired, but the failure recurred several times. The details of the repairs were unknown. The vehicles passenger side sliding door also opened independently when parked and failed to close. In addition, the door ajar warning light illuminated. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 5,000. Updated 2/4/16.....updated 02/10/16
Passenger side power slide door does not work by pressing the button on the central console, on the side of door or the key fob. The slide doors do work by pulling the handles from the outsides. I was told this was the override procedure. This is a big concern with this being a family vehicle.
I was getting things out of back with power lift gate up. While leaning in vehicle the power lift gate came down without warning and caught me. It did not continue to crush me but it did not reverse so I had to use a pretty good force to push it up (my wife probably would not have been able to do it). It did it a second time a week or so later. When I took it to Toyota they said the struts were bad and replaced them. When I asked why there was no warning they just shrugged their shoulders and said do not know and insinuated they would not know what to do so it would not happen again without warning. How was I to know the struts were bad since it is a power lift gate had been working just fine? it seems to me if this is not something Toyota can fix so it cannot come down without warning they at least need to install warning labels in an obvious place that the lift gate can close without warning. I really think my wife would not been able to push it up as I did. She would have needed assistance.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Delta, CO, USA