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.
I was backing out of my driveway and heard a clunk. The area was clear so I didn't hit anything. Lost power steering and power brakes. The information screen flashed messages to check brakes and contact dealer. I drove back into driveway with difficult steering and slow enough to not need brakes. The engine was running fine. I shut it off thinking something needed to reset. It would not start again. Hat it towed to dealer. They replaced a fuse ($445 + towing). My concern is that if this had happened while in traffic at a higher rate of speed, it would be difficult to steer or stop. The dealer stated they had never seen this before where the engine would continue to run and the fuse is usually blown if someone reverses polarity during a jump start. I have had the vehicle for over 1 year and have never jump started it.
I was parking the car and needed to move the vehicle backward in a parking lot with a slight slope. When I attempted to move the shift lever to reverse the lever locked up and the vehicle started to roll backward. I applied the brakes to no avail and the engine died. The steering was locked. The ignition switch also locked. The vehicle stopped. I called the Toyota dealer and the service manager said to apply the brakes vigorously, at the same time pump the accelerator and turn the ignition. I did and the functions all started working. No damage, no injuries. This occurred in fredericks burg, tx this appears to be the same incident in complaint # 10585286, dated 3-17-2014.
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while reversing from a parking space, the steering seized without warning. The contact was not able to turn in either direction and had to restart the vehicle to regain steering capabilities. The contact also stated that on a separate occasion, the key could not be turned in the ignition. The contact had to call roadside assistance to get the vehicle started. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, they were unable diagnose the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 24,000.
Within one week of purchase, the driver side, power assist sliding door failed to open completely. After initially opening six inches it would only move four inches in either direction by pulling the exterior handle. Only with multiple pulls/jerks could the door be fully opened or closed. This problem would manifest unpredictably, most often with the driver side power door, but once with the passenger side. Otherwise the doors functioned properly about eighty percent of the time. This failure appears to involve a safety feature which prevents the door from advancing when sufficient resistance is met. In all cases of failure no mechanism for resistance was found. My fear is that the safety feature may also fail when it needs to perform properly, to prevent an arm or leg from being crushed.
- Yorktown, VA, USA
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The contact owns 2011 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who performed a diagnostic and determined that the battery failed and caused the vehicle to stall. The battery was replaced however the dealer could not explain the cause of the battery failure. Additionally, the contact stated that the engine was previously replaced due to failed springs which caused the valves to also fail. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 31,312 and the current mileage was, 31,800.
In the morning car did not start, battery was dead. I charged battery overnight. After 2 hr of driving ( 120 miles) car was parked for 2 hr, when I tried to start it battery is dead again ( had to jump start it) after driving ~ 7 miles I parked car and battery was disconnected. After 4 hr I connected again and no problem with starting. Dealer (schaumburg Toyota) kept my car for 3 days. They replaced sliding door switch and integration relay. They told me that everything is fixed. I parked car in garage and in the morning I could not start it again. Had to go back to dealer. Car is still at the dealership lets hope they will fix this problem this time.
While driving down the road in the van with 7 elderly people it caught on fire and smoke came into the cabin via A/C vents. I pulled over and all 7 of us scrambled to get out of the van. Fire was pouring out from underneath and black smoke out of the hood. Within about 20 seconds after we got out, the van was fully engulfed in fire. The van was totally destroyed and only the metal frame was left. The fire investigator hired by my insurance company believes the fire started in the ECM. There were no warnings at all except the smoke in the cabin and from under the hood. We were extremely lucky to get out alive as we are all over 75 yrs old and not all of us in great health. The van is a total loss and my Toyota is aware of the event and a claim number assigned to us.
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the front passenger's side door caught on fire. The fire spread to the fuel tank and flames quickly engulfed the vehicle. The fire was extinguished by the fire department. The vehicle was destroyed. The vehicle was not inspected. In addition, the contact stated that the security system would sporadically sound prior to the fire incident. The vehicle was not inspected too determine the cause of the fire. The failure and the current mileage was 24,000.
The powered fold up ramp and motor locked up completely blocking wheel chair exit and entry access in the Toyota Sienna 2011 braun ability rampvan. The alleged manual ramp operation function failed to work trapping the wheel chair occupant inside the vehicle. This dangerous design has been made since 2011 and continues to be made into 2013. Braun has released another in-flloor ramp option this year which is a much safer design that is impossible to block door access even if it malfunctions. Braunability needs to recall this design and make a true manual release that disconnects from the motor incase of failure or lockup. My son is severely disabled and has alot of medical equipment. The jump seat bolted to the other side of the floor blocked entry and exit clearance for a wheel chair on the other side as a possible alternative emergency exit. We had to literally pull him out of his wheel chair and disconnect his equipment - all very difficult in the tight space and very dangerous especially in the case of an emergency. This is an extremely dangerous defect and should be address immediately. The van was towed and in the shop for 3+ weeks to fix this issue and replace the equipment.
Traveling at highway speed, (55 mph) when the vsc failure message appeared along with the check engine light and apostrophe inside a triangle error/ warning light. Vehicle was purchased as a certified used vehicle at a Toyota dealership less than two weeks ago. Mileage is less than 36000.
I was stopped for a red light at a traffic light on highway 20 in niceville, fl. I had my right foot on the brake when I felt the vehicle attempt to surge forward and I could heard the engine rev. I looked at the tachometer and noticed the engine was at 2000 RPM instead of the normal idle of approx 800 RPM. When the light turned green, I drove away and the vehicle drove normally. I did not have another incident driving home even when I stopped at other traffic lights. This is the second occurrence of this un-commanded acceleration - the other took place last year.
The vehicle engine stalls. This occurs intermittently especially when making turns. I had to press the gas pedal all the way down to accelerate. The vehicle brake lights do not come off for about 10 minutes when the engine and lights have been switched off. It is possible to start the car with the push button without pressing down on the gas pedal sometimes.
The power sliding doors on both sides stopped working. Must open and close the sliding doors manually. None of the open buttons on the car or remote responds to opening the sliding doors. Just a beep is heard when the key is pressed.
Electrical failure the clock loses time when you turn off engine then when you start engine it will give you warning to check vsc, SRS airbag is off, radio is off too. The autimatic lock is not functioning we have to lock doors manually. This is frustrating because we have a brand new car!!!
Driver side power door is not opening on its own. With very few miles the door refused to open and close on its own power. As time progressed the door is now not functional in power mode. The van currently has 20000 miles. Dealer blamed customer for problem as the car was "too dusty". dealer is going to attempt to fix under warranty but warned customer if the van is continually driven on gravel roads that the customer will need to wash the car after every dusty trip to ensure the doors do not fail again. The passenger power door is now starting to fail. It was never disclosed to customer that car cannot be driven on gravel or dusty roads. The customer must drive on gravel roads daily so the van is now all but useless for its intended purpose. Additionally the lack of the driver side sliding door to open is a safety concern for rear seat passengers. If the passenger door were to become damaged in an accident the rear occupants would be unable to safely exit the vehicle.
After arriving home with my 2 kids yesterday, we were getting out of the vehicle (2011 Toyota Sienna xle)- my 2 1/2yr old daughter was getting out of the passenger side power door while I was about to get my 3 month old son out of the driver side power door. My 2 1/2yr old daughter pushed the power door button to close her door after getting out of the vehicle and was holding onto the van to gain her ground, at which time the power sliding door closed entirely on her right hand! it did not open with the door sensor as we were told it would do if anything was in the path of the door closing. When I frantically tried to pull open the door from the inside, and push the power door button, the door would not open and she just kept screaming from the other side. I had to put the keys back in the ignition just to open the door and free my daughter! it was a prolonged, scary and traumatizing ordeal that I hope no one else ever has to experience! when you are told the power doors and windows are on a sensor they need to actually function 100%, not only for a large object like a body obstructing the door/window, but also children's hands- after all this is a family vehicle that I was under the impression was built on safety!
Failure of driver's cabin lamp override switch to extinguish cabin reading lights obscured driver's vision at night during high-speed merge maneuver: I was attempting a high-speed highway merge, at night, entering route 29 from the left side of the highway, when my three-year-old son discovered that he was now tall enough to operate his overhead personal reading light. My vision of merging traffic to the right was suddenly obscured by the unexpected operation of the cabin reading lamp, and the situation was compounded by my inability to quickly override the lamp from the driver's position, in the manner as directed on page 526 of the owner's manual. The reading light above my son's head stayed on. According to the Sienna 2011 owner's manual on page 526, the door light button, above the driver's head, also serves as an override for all the personal cabin reading lights when the "door" function is disabled: Page 526: "rear on/off: Rear personal/interior lights turn on [upon activation of the illustrated individual reading lamp buttons at each seating position] when the personal/interior main switch is in door position." The dual functionality of the door light button is confirmed; on page 525 of the manual, the other well-known purpose of the door button is separately and independently described to activate automatic cabin illumination when entering/exiting the vehicle: Page 525: "door position: The personal/interior lights and rear interior light come on when a door is opened. They turn off when the doors are closed." Therefore, the reference to the door button on page 526 is for the separate override feature. Thank you for your consideration. I recommend Toyota recall the affected vehicles, to correct the functioning of the cabin lamp override switch as this is an essential safety feature of the vehicle for nighttime driving with passengers.
My new 2011 Toyota Sienna le automatic power sliding door on the driver side stopped working. It won't open or close using remote control as well as top console/pillar switches. If I try to open using remote control or switches then it will try to open but close immediately and make beeping sounds. I took the vehicle to the local Toyota dealer couple of times but they simply said there is no problem. Finally, when I called Toyota directly then the same dealer diagnosed it further and found a fault code C224 in the system. Toyota refused to fix the issue promptly until we filed for arbitration to replace the car or refund vehicle purchase price. Toyota finally replaced power sliding door motors for both left and right side to address the issue.
Driver side power sliding door on 2011 Toyota Sienna repeatedly (but intermittently) jams upon opening -- happened almost immediately after purchased. Because the problem was not replicated by Toyota service and no computer error code was registered, they were prohibited by Toyota from attempting to solve the problem. This was despite that fact that I had phone video documenting the problem, a Toyota salesperson observed the door jammed, and previous Toyota technical service bulletins related to the Sienna power sliding door problems (BO010-01). I was told that until enough people complain, Toyota won't recognize that there is a problem and won't do anything about it. This is reminiscent of the Toyota accelerator problem that they refused to address until they were forced to.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Bonita Springs, FL, USA