The rear liftgate on the toyota sienna does not hold and will not stay up. This creates a serius hazard, especially when children are nearby.
2004 Toyota Sienna body complaints
Page 31 of 33: complaints 881 to 910 of 962, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Power liftgate starts closing immediately after opening. Does not stay open. When liftgate "power" is turn off, the gate slams down hard when released; if my child was standing behind door he would have been crushed.
Rear door struts failure.
During this winter (2006-2007) we noticed that the rear tailgate on our 2004 toyota sienna (purchased in aug 2004) wouldn't open up all the way. We thought this to be the cold temperatures. However, this week, the rear liftgate failed all together. The struts that keep the gate up have ceased to operate. My wife was able to lift the gate, but it came down and slammed shut to her surprise. Pretty scary since we have a 3 year old who's seat is the back and likes to enter through the tailgate. The right strut (looking at the tailgate) seems to have leaked and has left a film on some of the plastic molding for the rear taillight. My wife contacted our local toyota dealer, whom we have worked with before, and was given an estimate to have the struts replaced (about $411-$435). She was told that the have seen this problem on other siennas of the same year. I have called toyota and was basically told that they would open a case with the dealer to what can be done to help me out. I am currently waiting for the call from the dealer.
Power lift gate gas strut failed. Gate hit spouse from behind. Lift gate dropped unexpectedly. It currently does not work at all passenger side gas strut is leaking fluid.
Power lfitgate was closing unexpectedly on the 2004 toyota sienna xle fwd because the struts supporting the lftgate failed.
My problem started approximately back in nov 2006. I have a 2004 toyota sienna that has it's driver side door hinge/latch defective. It started making a clicking sound when the door is opened almost as if it is getting caught. Now that my wife has taken the car to the dealer she was informed that this is a rare occurrence on this model and that the only remedy is to get a new door at a cost of around $2300. I understand that although the car is passed the warranty period (I use my car for long family trips and therefore have high- highway mileage--around 65k) I feel that this is either a design defect or a structural problem since it started within 2.5 years of purchase. I had my wife contact an independent mechanic who actually pointed out the problem by showing us that the connecting area of the door is actually cracked!!! I proceeded to call toyota of na and they informed me that they've never heard of such a thing and that my car was out of warranty. A search at your site uncovered what I feel is a similar complaint (odi id number 10167890). Like that person I feel that this is a structure defect and it has nothing to do with the high mileage of my car. I have owned over 18 cars of all classes, mileage, and ages and have never experienced this or even heard of such a thing. I'm not a structural engineer but it seems to me that this is a case of metal fatigue. Could you please contact me as I'm concerned that this will only worsen with time to the point that this door will not be usable or actually become a hazard. What actions can I take to get the manufacturer to at least acknowledge this defect? What's worse, now that my car has this defect I feel my vehicle's resale value is significantly reduced. Thank you for your help!
The two liftgate support arms failed and the door fell on my head. I was not seriously hurt, but had a knot on my head. Toyota and the local dealership refused any responsibility. This door has not yet been fixed because it is expensive ($520) and since they are continuing to use the same parts, this will probably happen again!
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. The tailgate had the same failure as noted in defect investigation # ea06020 concerning the liftgate. The only exception was that the tailgate was not power operated. When the tailgate was lifted it fell down immediately. The dealer stated that the struts failed. The current and failure mileages were 48,000.*ak updated 05/23/07
Right side rear hatch support strut failed causing the hatch to self-close instantaneously after opening. I began to load groceries as the hatch opened and the hatch closing startled me to jump into the traffic lane of the parking lot. No traffic. Strut replaced at dealer at my cost. Old part retained by dealer.
Struts on lift gate of 2004 toyota sienna failed suddenly, making lift gate dangerous, and causing minor injuries when being used to myself and my children.
2004 toyota sienna, rear lift gate hold open gas struts failed with rear hatch in full open position causing rear hatch to slam shut narrowly missing my wife. Failure may cause severe injury if person struck by falling door. Toyota contacted, vehicle out of warranty by 6 months & 2500 miles. No assistance offered. Parts ordered from local parts dealer.
Tl* - the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. While driving the vehicle at various speeds the driver's side and passenger's side sliding doors will open without warning. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a repair shop for a diagnosis. The failure mileage was 130,000, and the current mileage was 142,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. The contact stated that the liftgate failed and comes crashing down if you do not manually hold the tailgate. The current and failure mileage were 54,000.*ak the consumer states that his wife had a personal experience where the liftgate hit her in the head while unloading the groceries. Update 4/30/07
Rear tailgate struts bind and fail to hold up tailgate.
Toyoata sienna rear power liftgate abruptly reverses directions and begins to close immediately after it has opened up. Liftgate will not remain in open position. If liftgate is opened manually the struts provide no lift assistance or support - liftgate door is very heavy. This is a safety hazard & liftgate is not able to be used with this defect. Each attempt to open the liftgate results in failure.
The liftgate struts on my 2004 toyota sienna minivan failed. The liftgate (manual, not power) slammed down with no warning while I was putting groceries in the back. If I had been in the way, I could easily have been injured. If either of my children had been helping me, they certainly would have been hurt!
Back door (gate) started to fall down at colder temperatures (approx. 50 f). After couple of month the gate doesn't stay up anymore. It just falls down. Also, whitish spots started to appear on the dashboard in the area where there is an airbag is located.
Rear lift gate struts fail causing injury to head when door is in the open position. Lift gate does not open to the full position and the problem gets worse during time. If the person opening is not aware that the clearance is not sufficient, the sharp edge of the door can hit user in the forehead.
In december, 2006, my tailgate closed on its own, injuring my wife. Toyota replaced the rear stays (struts) under warranty, including the addition of some brackets. At first everything was fine. But when the weather turned colder (below 20f), the rear hatch would not open on its own unless opening under power. And then a couple of days ago (still very cold), the hatch closed on its own under power again. This time, my daughter and I were both in its path, but fortunately, so was a shopping cart. There were fortunately no injuries this time. I am frustrated that just 45 days after the problem was "repaired" it is already happening again.
Tl*- the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. The contact explained that the rear door liftgate did not stay open when used. The contact would push the key fob to open the automatic rear door and the door would open. After a short period of time they would close without warning. The door normally has a chime to alert the contact when the door is closing, but when it closes in error there isn't a chime to alert the contact of the closing. The contact has been hit several times because of this failure. *ak updated 2/27/2007 -over the past few weeks the rear door would close immediately after being opened. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but hey did not fix it.
Tl* - the contact stated that while the 2004 toyota sienna was parked in the driveway,and the liftgate was opened, the door malfunctioned and closed hitting the contact on the head and the back of the shoulder, causing his knee to hit the back fender. The impact of the liftgate knocked the contact halfway inside the vehicle. There were no warning signals prior to the incident. The vehicle was taken into the service dealer menlobe dodge toyota in bountiful, ut) and they stated that they couldn't do anything to remedy the issue. The contact can provide copy of the invoice from the service dealer. *jb updated 04/16/07
Auto powered rear door; when powered opened will open all the way and a few seconds later suddenly close without warning. It has happened a few times, only in cold weather. This has happened after toyota fixed the hatch studdering problem. I was injured (bruised) in the head due the door hitting me as it automatically closed by itself (note it did not stop closing after it hit my head).
In december we took our 2004 sienna in because the rear liftgate began closing on us expectedly. We have 3 young children and fear they will be seriously injured or killed. I see there is an investigation into this exact problem. Both toyota corporate & the dealership have refused to fix it because it is out of warranty.
I own a 2004 toyota sienna, purchased new, from the palmer's airport toyota in mobile, al. In late 05, the back hatch lift struts started failing. First it opened sluggishly, and proceeded to shut spontaneously. These following are the 5 incidents occurring between dec. 05 - jan. 07: hatch came down on husband's head; hatch completely closed on my 9 year old son's hand; hatch struck me in the back of head and neck; came down on my father's head; and struck my brother across brow. My husband has notified the dealership of the problem. Husband filed report with toyota us hq. However, we don't feel toyota has taken this seriously. We followed up w/toyota on getting the parts replaced as they have decided this isn't "important" enough to issue a recall. (we researched many similar cases on the internet). We were told these parts were so "new" no one would have them but toyota. The cost will be $400+ for parts. As a family with an autistic child, we are forced to take money designated for his necessary medical bills to pay for this repair to prevent serious injury! The lifts failure has made it difficult for anyone to open. The door is unpredictable, so as a precaution, I have to get my autistic son to stand in the opening while I load my groceries! I have to do it quickly, because the door is so heavy his arms get tired. If he is not with me than I have to use a 5 ft. Wooden pole, that I carry with me for this issue, to prop open the door. Soon, I will have to load my packages through the passenger doors, forgetting all about the back 3 seats, and cargo area that I paid for. I hope someone will turn up the heat on toyota to issue a necessary recall on these hatch struts. I don't feel that I should pay for a commonly occurring vehicle defect that people nationwide are dealing with! I hope it doesn't take the death of an innocent toddler before someone intervenes with a timely recall! Thank you for your attention to this matter!
2004 toyota sienna minivan power lift gate closes in an uncommanded manner. This has happened with several times with myself and my wife while loading items in the rear of the van. I fear that it is a real safety issue if my wife or child would happen to be under there and not move out of the way fast enough.
Liftgate closes unexpected without any input after being opened. It has closed on my wife's head, my 4 yr old, the bagger at the grocery store, and myself. My 4 yr old had a bruise on her head. This has been happening for about 2 months. It was just once in a while at first, but now it won't stay open at all without being supported by hand. I've gone to the local toyota dealer and they want to replace the "stays" at a cost to me of several hundreds of dollars. No repair has been made yet.
2004 toyota sienna lift-gate struts on the rear hatch failed. Both struts leaked, then completely failed causing the lift gate to fall. Lift gate no longer stays open, but completely drops.
The liftgate on my 2004 toyota sienna closes unintentionally and unexpectedly. This problem started a couple of months ago. It has trapped me several times now. I have to use the key (in my hand or pocket) to get it to reopen. It closes silently so that you don't know that it is happening until it is too late. It poses a very dangerous situation for my wife and kids (9 and 12) if they were to be trapped. I now am conscious of this failure and watch for the door closing and simply quickly move out of the way.
Intermittently the back lift door on our 2004 toyota sienna xle minivan closes unexpectedly. So far, no one had been injured by the closing door, but we have had a couple of very close calls. This happens when only the door has been raised using the remote control and most often on cool wet days..
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