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4.0

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
30,138 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2008 Toyota Sienna engine problems

engine problem

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2008 Toyota Sienna Owner Comments

problem #4

Jun 262011

Sienna 6-cyl

  • 45,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2008 Toyota Sienna with approx. 45K miles. Driving down highway after wedding. Traction control light comes on. A minute later, check engine light comes on. Half mile from exit, decide to take exit to see what's going on. As reach gas station right off exit, oil light comes on. Check oil and see no oil in engine. Oil splashed on tailgate. Determine oil flowing from engine. Toyota acknowledged problem with rubber oil hose and sent tow truck. Loss of all oil without indication until engine failure. Same V6 engine as recalled in Camry and avalon. This is a serious problem requiring complete engine replacement. This is unsafe--sudden engine failure without indication at highway speeds and oil spill to exhaust components of engine could have caused accident or fire!

- Idaho Falls, ID, USA

problem #3

Jul 282010

Sienna

  • 25,000 miles
1. engine lights came on alerting us to a problem (check engine, service engine, etc.). after alleged repair, spouse drove to families house approximate 600 miles away and found a significant amount of oil had leaked from the system - oil had been changed as part of the fix. A second dealer, at the new location, "fixed" with the same hose again, with similar results, though my spouse only drop 120 miles. She is unable to continue the trip home due to this issue. 2. after taking to dealer, was told the vvt oil line was a known faulty part and needed replacement. Was not a "formal" recall, but was considered an internal recall to Toyota that needed to be fixed for "free". both dealerships claimed to have fixed the problem, though the engine is still leaking a significant amount of oil. There is a significant amount of data on the web that addresses this oil line and the associated issues. 3. part was replaced, but with same type (part number, composition, etc.). basically, a "new" bad part was replaced. Furthermore, the first dealership installed various gaskets and seals incorrectly, and still gave the car a safe rating for a 600 mile trip. The second dealership merely replaced a bad oil line with another bad oil line.

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

problem #2

Jun 152009

Sienna

  • 15,000 miles
In the summer of 2009 my Toyota 2008 Sienna xle AWD engine speed slowly started to climb without my foot on the gas pedal. I don't remember the exact sequence of events that followed but I believe I placed it into neutral, stopped, placed it into park (automatic transmission) and turned the engine off then on again. After that the engine responded only to my actions on the gas pedal. It did occur to me that the pedal could have been caught under the floor mat so I checked its position and it was some distance from the pedal and could not have been the cause. I have owned this vehicle from new in May 2008 and this undirected acceleration has only occurred once. The car has just completed 20,000 miles. I reported this to the dealer who serviced my car for the 20,000 mile interval and via Toyota's web site but I want to make sure you are aware that Sienna vans can also have this problem.

- Scarsdale, NY, USA

problem #1

Mar 162010

Sienna

  • 35,550 miles
Driving my 2008 Toyota Sienna and it felt funny and I heard some rattling from under the hood. No idea what the problem was but I knew that something was definitely wrong. I checked the oil and the dip stick was completely dry! I put in a few quarts of oil and it came out all over underneath the car as I was driving. Had it towed to the dealer- they told me it was a faulty rubber oil line. I looked it up online and see that Toyota had not yet issued a recall but is replacing it in some vehicles. The 2008 Toyota Sienna is not mentioned - but clearly should be. This is a van that I drive my 2 children around - very clearly a safety issue if I did not recognize soon enough that the engine had no oil!

- Whippany, NJ, USA

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