2003 Toyota Sienna: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Jan 29, 2012 · Body · 98,000 miles · HI

Driver and front passenger door started making loud clicking sounds when opening and closing doors back in may of last year. Then about 2 months ago, the front passenger door would not close fully and would only open up a few inches. After I was able to open up, I noticed the door weld had snapped and broken off (where it attaches to the door). I searched online and found out this is a common problem with siennas and there was a service bulletin for this problem, although not for my year. From what I've read, door welds are not suppose to break off on door and this is a serious defect that toyota should take care of.

Filed Jan 24, 2012 · Body · 140,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota sienna. The contact stated that the rear driver side sliding door would not open. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact also stated that the vehicle experienced a recurring failure in the past in which both rear doors would experience difficulty locking. The failure mileage was 140,000.

Filed Aug 23, 2011 · Locks · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota sienna. The contact stated the sliding rear doors were defective. The sliding doors would not latch properly and occasionally the rear doors would not open or close. The manufacturer was not notified. The dealer was notified, but denied any assistance with repairs to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 150,000.

Filed Apr 22, 2010 · Body · 17,000 miles · WI

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 toyota sienna. The contact stated that both sliding doors would not open intermittently. Also, the sliding door light would illuminate on the instrument panel until the vehicle was turned off. The vehicle had not been taken to an authorized dealership at the time of the complaint. The VIN was not available. The current and failure mileages were approximately 17,000.

Filed Nov 19, 2008 · Locks · 33,419 miles · CA

Car: toyota sienna ce, 2003 re: latches, locks, linkage you have a number of complaints in your data base regarding latches, locks, linkage. On which I also have a complaint. I have a sticky (inside) door release button problem. When it is depressed, to open the door, the button will not return to its normal position resulting in not being able to keep the door closed (latches will not engage to hold the door shut). I also had this problem in 2005 (other sliding door), which was fixed under warranty (invoice #310955, 06dec05). Driving with the door un-latched is dangerous and is also a safety issue. Because of the many complaints filed under this heading (but unable to determine if sticky button was the real problem), in your data base, I would like to see toyota fix this item if it is a problem. Dealer estimated cost to fix this problem is $170 (invoice #425596, 12nov08). They indicated that the entire door handle and sub-assembly must be replaced. It seems to me that all it needs is a new spring of some sort, but I must agree that I have no technical knowledge of problem or how it works. The handle (non-moving part, both inside and outside) looks good and is not damaged or dirty in any way (visual inspection).

Filed Nov 6, 2008 · Locks · 72,523 miles · FL

The passenger door handled broke on the back side sliding door. It was repaired but now to open the door from the inside you have use brute strength. It will not open easily and the shop is stating there is nothing wrong with it. However, the driver sliding door opens with ease even by a 10 yr old. I saw on many blogs that many people have the same problem. This is a safety issue and most places (school) and camps and any place else you are going to take your kids, they will have to get out on the passenger side. It is not safe for them to have to go into traffic to get out of the car. Then what if the same thing happens to the other door. Will the children be forced to climb through the front to get out, what if there is an accident and the front doors are inaccessible, how will the people in the back get out. This is very unsafe.

Filed May 9, 2008 · Body, Locks · 5,000 miles · MD

My minivan passenger doors intermittently either fail to open or close properly. Most often the doors won't open and passengers cannot exit without crawling through to the other side or front. Occasionally the doors will not catch when closed, forcing me to drive slowly with hazards until it gets "unstuck". I've had these problems intermittently since the van was less the 1 year. The dealer has tended to blame me or make a repair which hasn't lasted. Most recently they replaced a door handle and supposedly adjusted a cable and told me the problem was fixed and guaranteed for 6 months and then wanted to charge for additional parts and service when brought back in 5 weeks later with ongoing problems. In reviewing your website this is a problem which has been reported by others. Sometimes the thumb piece sticks, other times the handle fails to open the door. A this point both door handles have been replaced and yet problems still occur, especially when it is hot and humid or very cold. Date given is when problem first started, still occurs in 2008.

Filed Apr 10, 2007 · Body · 59,000 miles · MD

2003 toyota sienna ce 5-door v6 w 59k miles. Outside door handle on driver's side sliding door broke. Door cannot be opend from outside after the break.

Filed Sep 11, 2003 · Locks · 14,500 miles · MD · 1 injury

The door latch buttons on the sliding doors(where my children sit) have gotten stuck. I think the problem is related to heat (days where the car sits in the sun with temps of 95+). When the button is stuck the door either ( may not latch or may not open). If anything happened to my children because of this known and documented door latch failure, I hold toyota responsible. *on 30aug03 our family was going to our pool (it was a hot day). We all got in the van. My daughter closed the siding door. Uh-oh the button is stuck , the door wont close and latch. Our trip in this van is over. I stayed with the van, called our toyota dealer and scheduled a time to repair the door. Toyota could not recreate the sticking button and will not fix or replace. This was the third time the button stuck.