The power lift gate has twice reversed operation for no apparent reason and without warning. The first time I noticed and was able to move out of the way. The second time, my wife was about to walk under it and ended up hitting her head rather hard on it. The van is almost 3 years old. It is currently at the dealership service center, who initially suspected the cause to be some sensors within the liftgate.
2004 Toyota Sienna body complaints
Page 32 of 33: complaints 911 to 940 of 962, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Toyota sienna 2004 with power lift gate. Opened the lift gate on the van we just purchased and the lift gate started to come back down hitting my wife in the head while she was trying to load something into the van.
Dt*: the contact stated while the vehicle was parked in the driveway, the liftgate was opened but the door malfunctioned and closed hitting the contact on the head and the back of the shoulder. The impact of the liftgate knocked the contact halfway inside the vehicle. There were no warning signals prior to the incident. The vehicle was not taken to the service dealer for repairs. The manufacturer was alerted who provided a claim #.
While loading groceries, I opened the liftgate on our 2004 toyota sienna and it slammed shut. Apparently the liftgate struts have gone bad.
Rear power hatch came down on my back 2 times about an 1 hour apart. About a month ago they replaced the rear struts for the same problem, the hatch came down on a car wash attendant.
Dt*: the contact stated the rear lift gate malfunctioned on a worsening basis and almost closed on the contact's head. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined the rear support device of the liftgate failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted and stated the vehicle was not included in any recall due to the VIN. The vehicle was currently at the dealers for further repairs.
The power sliding door does not stay open when on a downhill slope - the door opens fully then closes immediately. The dealer has tried to fix it three times without success.
1. Opened rear door on 2004 toyota sienna. 2. The hydraulic struts failed and door fell on my head. No severe injury. 3. At this point, I'm looking to replace the struts but the cost is about $450.
Rear hatch struts failed on 2004 toyota sienna, causing rear hatch to slam shut.
Struts on tailgate failed to keep door open.
The liftgate "slipped", failed and came down on the owner. Because it was set for auto closure, it came down with a mechanical force behind it. I had to disable the auto closure because of this and then it just came crashing down by gravity. It would start to slip slowly so you didn't know it was happening, then past a certain point, just came flying down.
My 4 year old daughter had her hand caught and held in the trailing edge (rear edge) of the power sliding door on our 2004 toyota sienna lx we reversed the door as soon as possible, but she was held for about 10 seconds with the door totally closed over her mid palm. This LED to a cut over the palm, but she is now using the hand normally. I do not think there is any long term damage. I am a hand surgeon by profession and am concerned that the door has no sensors for reversal when closing against resistance, other than some sensors on the front edge of the door in the molding. In my opinion, serious injury could occur to any limb that gets caught in the trailing edge since there is nothing to sense or prevent the door closing on a limb. I would hope some sort of sensor could be placed at the motor level similar to the anti pinch mechanism of power windows. I described the problem to toyota and their response was less than encouraging or helpful. The door is functioning normally and this is just how the design works. The design needs help imo.
I had a problem with the hatch door on my 2004 toyota sienna closing without warning and continuing to close when it came in contact with my back. I wrote to my dealer (sloane toyota in glenside, pa) about the problem in march 2005 (I have copied the text of that message at the bottom of this complaint), and they told me to take it in to have it checked out. I took it to a local dealer (peruzzi toyota in hatfield) and they "fixed" it, by replacing a switch, I believe. I asked if this was a known defect and they told me no. I recently saw an article in the philadelphia inquirer that identified this as an issue that has injured some people. I believe that this is a threat to cause serious, potentially, fatal injury. Text of message from march 2005: to sloane toyota sent via e-mail on march 22, 2005 I bought a 2004 sienna from michael liss at sloane in may 2004. I recently had a problem occur with the rear hatch door closing without being prompted and without audible warning. It came down on my back and could have seriously injured me. It did not go back up when it came in contact with my body, but rather continued to shut. We have scheduled service with local toyota dealer, but I wanted to notify toyota of this issue. I could not find a way to submit an e-mail note to toyota corp., so I'm sending one to you. Is this a known defect with the 2004 sienna? Has their been a recall notice issued? This defect could cause permanent injury (or death to a young child).
Dt*: the contact stated the hydraulics that held the hatch open failed and caused the hatch to fall. The dealership replaced the hydraulic assembly.*ak updated 1/25/2006 -
Dt*: the contact stated the button on the key to open the hatch was depressed and the hatch went up, then immediately went down and would not stay open. To ensure the hatch would stay open, the contact had to hold it up. The dealership determined the shocks were defective and the shocks were replaced.
Rear lift gate of 2004 toyota sienna van upon reaching full open position using the automatic opener will reverse itself and close. This event occurs when the outside temperature is below 50 deg f. The latest event was 8/29/06 this event has occurred numerous times in the past year. The dealer could not duplicate the problem in the shop. There have been no injuries involved, but the liftgate has hit me on the back of the head several times.
The right rear automatic door closure mechanism exploded sending plastic shrapnel forwards hitting my wife in the face. She was sitting sideways with her feet out of the van she reached backwards and pressed the close button located on the pillar. There was a big noise that sounded like a rock hitting the van. We looked for damage to van then discovered the broken cable dangling and the door would not close. Luckily my wife had sunglasses on.
Dt*: the contact stated while the lift gate was opened automatically with the keyless remote, it fell downward without warning. No injuries were sustained. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who determined the hydraulic lift gate arm support device needed to be replaced. After the replacement, the problem later returned. The manufacturer was not alerted.
I own a 2004 toyota sienna and the liftgate struts have failed. No injuries as of 8/27/06.
Rear hatch unexpectedly fell onto head.
The liftgate on my 2004 toyota sienna minivan, which is equipped with a automatic opening and closing feature, will sometimes start to close when it is in the open position. Although I reported it as one incident date per your form below, the problem really occurs intermittently throughout the winter season. The problem seems to always occur only when the temperature is below freezing. Both my wife and I have hit our head on numerous times when we are unpacking the car from the rear and the liftgate starts to close without any prompting from us. I reported the car to the dealer once and they took a look at it and could find no problems. Once again, the problem seems to be triggered by the cold weather. Toyota needs to be responsible and fix the problem before someone looses and eye or potentially gets killed by walking full speed into the closing liftgate.
2004 toyota sienna van tailgate drops, hydraulic not function fell on my head it is permanently malfunctioning.
2004 sienna hatch failing (lift-gate struts).
2004 toyota sienna rear hatch hydraulics no longer hold up the hatch. The cost to replace these is $167.71 each!! I have had numerous other problems already with the vehicle in the two years I have owned it....crack in radiator, failed motor on automatic window, drive shaft had to be replaced...wand with wipers etc..had to be replaced. I am beginning to think I got a lemon. But the hydraulics on the hatch...after only two years. Found an article that this was being investigated by you guys involving approximately 400,000 vehicles. Has there been any resolution to this?
July 15, 2006 noted that rear hatch would not rise when commanded nor would it stay up when opened manually. Took to authorized dealer shop and was told that both rear hatch stays (struts) had leaks and would need to be replaced. Quote was 430$+ for repair. Vehicle is less than 36 months old, but has more than 36,000 miles. Found sienna owners website on internet which directed me to toyota technical service bulletin #bo003-4. Identifies this part as a known design deficiency.
After picking up our vehicle from naperville toyota service on june 20th, 2006, where it was brought in for an oil change and check-up, it was discovered the rear hatch struts had failed overnight, simultaneously, and without warning. This failure caused the rear door to open as usual but subsequently slam down on the vehicle owner with full force onto their head. Although the injury sustained was minor, the rear door was unable to operated automatically and had to be physically held open to load or unload any cargo in the back. Both the dealership and the national toyota consumer service hotline were informed of the safety issue. The repairs to the vehicle were quoted at $430.00 because the warranty was over by only 431 miles. ( case # 200607080129). There was an offer of a 50 dollar labor discount upon complaint.
5 year old son had wrist broken by automatic sliding door in minivan. Door closed on his wrist, fracturing both arm bones. Door closed on his arm and did not re-open immediately as door is designed to do.
The rear deck lid on my 2004 sienna xle limited van has a remote automatic open & close feature. I used the auto open and while placing items in the rear storage area, the deck lid closed (under power) without command, striking me and my son. The auto-stop feature didn't engage until I pushed very hard against the lid. As soon as I let go, it came down again. There were no prior incidents or any unusual behavior to indicate a problem with the operation of the deck lid. The lid hasn't worked since and it won't stay open without someone holding it. A week after the incident I found a toyota technical service bulletin bo0003-04 that states "back door stays for 2004 model year sienna vehicles have been redesigned in order to provide improved resistance to seal damage and prevent leakage." I checked my back door stays (gas or hydraulic filled struts) and they were both leaking. I checked the internet user forum "siennaclub.org" and found several similar complaints from sienna owners in the u.s. And canada. In my opinion, the uncommanded closing of a rear deck lid in a mini-van constitutes a serious safety hazard. Just a guess, most mini-van owners have or transport children. There is no way a child could have stopped and reversed the lid that closed on me and my son. This should be a recall issue, not a service bulletin that toyota is not required to disclose and in fact, can charge to repair.
On march 19, 2006 we found the rear cargo area of our 2004 toyota sienna filled with about an inch of rain and mildew beginning to grow. After inspecting our vehicle the dealer found a poor seal under our door and the remedy was caulking. And according to them there was no mold in the carpet. So I have decided to hire a mildew specialist to test my vehicle. Since reporting my situation to them (going on 3 weeks) they have still not changed my carpet and they are not permitting us to use a loaner saying it is not covered in the warranty and its still drivable. But I have three children under the age of 10 and I refuse to drive them around in a care that could harm them. I don't know how to prove it but I think the reason my children and I got sick 2 weeks prior to finding the leak was due to the mildew growth that was beginning. I visited the doctor with dry mouth, headaches, dizziness, vomiting and etc. With no diagnosis or answers available from my doctor, I visited the er twice with pneumonia and so on. But since we decided not to use our car until they fix it, my children and I have been temporarily cured. We need to have better ways of getting effective outcomes. This investment has totally turned out for the worst. What a waste of $31,000.
Dt*: the contact stated upon entering the vehicle, the automatic sliding door shut on a passenger's finger resulting in minor injuries. The vehicle has an automatic pinch protection feature that failed to engage. The vehicle was seen by a dealer. The dealer suggested this was a design issue that ultimately failed and no repairs were made.
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