1999 Toyota Sienna: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed May 11, 2010 · Body, Locks · 150,000 miles · GA

Rear door handle came off in hand. Power sliding door motor failed. Power sliding door handle came off in hand.

Filed Feb 15, 2010 · Body · 50,000 miles · CA

I have owned my 1999 sienna for 5 years. Two months after purchasing my rear hatch door handle snapped. 3 years later it happened again. Now, every door handle on the van is broke. The slider doors stick causing you to have to pull hard on the doors to open. (and they were not sticky from soda) last month both the driver and the passenger front door handles broke. The design of the handles are poor in that the weight is not evenly distributed why pulling the handle. It all on one side and the weaker side snaps. The rear is a cheap plastic that snaps for no reason. If you go on the web there are numerous complaints of the rear hatch and the sliding door handles breaking.

Filed Sep 15, 2009 · Body · 90,000 miles · CA

Toyota sienna 1999 the power sliding door giving a problem from last three years and now completely jam, neither open nor closes. The other side door handle is very poor quality and broke twice now.

Filed Aug 13, 2009 · Body · 155,000 miles · TN

Cable on passenger side sliding door of 1999 toyota sienna van snapped and now the door will not open at all.

Filed Jul 18, 2009 · Body · 120,000 miles · GA

Rear door handle broke leaving one unable to open rear door.

Filed Jul 5, 2009 · Body · 50,000 miles · CA

The rear door of our 1999 sienna van has already broken twice since we purchased it 5 years ago. I replaced it once, but cannot afford to again. As a result, I cannot get to the back which also prevents me from getting to my spare tire should I need it. In addition, when the back handle broke a year ago a week later a sliding door handle. Now, three days ago, another sliding door has broken. I have no money to replace this handles and it will run about 1,000 to fix all three. Further, the sliding door panels keep lifting and I have tried replacing the pegs with no luck. I have never owned a car that has had no many issue with door handles. They should last the life time of the car. I see throughout the web others who have complained about the same issue. When I call for used parts, they are backed ordered because there are no many request for them. Especially the back door one. I really believe they are defective and were not made to with stand open and closing on a daily bases. I think they made them thinking they would be on doors that automatically released and opened versus manual doors.

Filed Oct 14, 2008 · Locks · 125,000 miles · GA

Rear door handle broke leaving door unable to be opened. Power sliding door does not work leaving door difficult to open.

Filed Sep 19, 2008 · Body · CA

Since I have owned my 1999, the rear hatch handle is broken twice and the sliding door handle on the driver side has also broken. We I call for parts I find out that the rear is on back order due to it being such in demand for replacement. I also found out that another sienna owner was calling for the same issue with the sliding door handle. Its seems these handles are made very poor and do not withstand the pull action required to open and close the door. On the rear, there is a tiny piece that constantly breaks off causing the handle to be replaced.

Filed Apr 25, 2007 · Body · OH

I tried to open the rear exterior door in the back and the handle made a snapping sound and is now stuck in the open position and now the door will not open on the outside and I don't see a way to open it on the inside. I purchased the van to transport my grandkids. Now I'm fearful to take them anywhere in it now for their safety reasons. Just in case I have to get in that way for an emergency.

Filed Jul 7, 2006 · Electrical, Locks · 55,000 miles · CA

Power door locks have started to fail on my 1999 sienna le. The driver's door seems to be the problematic part of the system. The other doors seem to want to respond but driver door makes a 'click, click, click' sound and doesn't respond. Key usually works to lock and unlock but not consistently. Dangerous since people could be trapped in vehicle during an accident, etc and other possibly dangerous scenarios could occur. Reporting this since it most likely has happened to others and wanted it on record. Driver and others could be trapped inside which is dangerous.

Filed Nov 16, 2005 · Body, Locks · 75,000 miles · CA

On back door of minivan, the outside handle broke when we squeezed it to open. The door cannot be opened. Why is there no release from the inside? The quote to fix is $275-300. Also, on the rear sliding door (driver side, not an automatic sliding door), the push-button latch "sticks" so the door will not latch when closing; we have to pry the push-button out with a key or screw driver so the door will latch.

Filed Sep 11, 2005 · Body, Seats · GA

This compliant is regarding two specific safety issues with a 1999 toyota sienna vehicle. On numerous occasions the rear hatch handle has broken. (3 handles so far) there is no release mechanism from the inside, so there is no way to get out the rear of the vehicle in case of fire or accident disabling the side doors. The part in question is poorly designed and is made of plastic. The plastic handle is under spring tension and accuates a metal part to release the door latch. The plastic is too weak to push against the metal part in normal use. The handle should also be made of metal to cure this defect. The latest and second safety defect involves the rear removable pod seats. The seat today will not lock in the normal seated position. An occupant can pull the seat up and out of the track if they lean forward enough. I would assume in an accident the entire seat would fly forward and cause serious injury in an emergency situation.