Yesterday, my wife opened the power rear door of our 2004 sienna xle to get some items from the inside of the van. As the door got to the apex, she started to reach into the car, but the door slammed down violently hitting her in the back. We had never had a problem before so she tried it again, but stood back this time. The power door slowly lifted up and then suddenly slammed down. This is a heavy door so you would not want to be hit in the head or body when it slams down. I got the same results when I tried it. Apparently toyota has a service bulletin out about this problem and there is an ongoing investigation. I sure hope this gets figured out before a child gets hurt! Toyota dealer acknowledged the problem and is working with to replace necessary parts for little to no cost.
2004 Toyota Sienna locks complaints
Page 10 of 11: complaints 251 to 280 of 308, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Rear hatch closes on person without warning. Rear hatch does not stay open.
The rear hatch opens fine but starts closing automatically (it is electric) a few seconds after it opens all the way when cold even when no buttons nor the door are touched.
Our 2004 toyota sienna xle rear door does not stay up. It rises automatically, holds for a second or so and then starts closing. It takes a lot of force to stop. It has been doing it fairly consistently lately. The first ominous sign was in the summer when it was not opening as high as it used to.
I have a2004 sienna xle. Last sunday october 28,2007 the lift back door when opened (powered ) and reach it's highest point when all of a sudden it jerked downwards forcefully nd hit my husband(-trying to put grocery). It should have stayed up. The mileage is just 17,000+ even though it was bought july 2004. It has since never worked. It does open but jerks back down again when it reached the top.
Our van has power sliding doors. In the summer of 2006, the driver side door was opening when the cable snapped. The van was taken to the local dealer who was able to get toyota to supply the part ($1,000) and charged approx. $300 for labor to install new motor & cable assembly even though the van was out of warranty (approx. 65,000 miles). In the summer of 2007, the passenger door was opening when the cable also snapped. The same dealer told us to contact toyota directly, which I did. They had us go back to the dealer who informed us that it was out of warranty and would not be covered. Contacted toyota again but was told the same information that it was not covered and out of warranty. (approx. 90,000 miles)
No significant events occurred up to the failure beyond normal expected use. Defective welds on the driver side door strap result in failure of the door strap mechanism. Toyota has not resolved the problem.
Door check failure on the drivers side door. This causes loud popping noises when opening and closing the door.
The lift gate has fallen unexpectedly on several occassions. My wife, my mother-in-law and my child have all been "hit" on separate occassions by the gate during this malfunction. The dealer has advised that the struts need to be replaced.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. The passenger side door opened while the vehicle was in motion and accelerating. The speed was 4 MPH. The dealer stated that the control panel and latch assembly needed to be replaced. The current mileage was 54,347 and the failure mileage was 54,000.
Rear hatch support cylinder failed. I purchased a new cylinder and replaced it myself. At a cost of $150.00 for one. I started to notice the problem when my automatic rear hatch would only raise the hatch half way and then re-close the hatch. 2004 sienna xle limited. 45k *jb updated 10/03/07
I have a 2004 toyota sienna and the power liftgate is closing unexpectedly. My wife's arm was squeezed the other day because of this liftgate closing by itself while she was getting groceries out of the car.
Struts on rear liftgate failed, injuring my back.
Driver's side passenger door internal mechanism is broken. Auto body shop states they have seen this failure on multiple toyota sienna vans of this model era 2004 and later. Will cost $1,500 to repair including welding of failed metal part in internal door mechanism. Updated 11/1/07
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. The contact stated that the rear lift gate fails to remain open at the appropriate times. When the lift gate is opened automatically, it rapidly falls and closes. When opened manually, the lift gate closes automatically and without hesitation. He emailed the manufacturer, but has not yet received a response. The contact stated that there is a the federal safety agency defect investigation (pe06029) in regards to this failure. The current and failure mileages were 75,000. Updated 08/29/07
I have a 2004 toyota sienna, which overall I love. In the past 3 months, the trunk hatch has started to not hold when open & resist opening at times. It used to hold for longer, making me delay the repair. It has progressively gotten worse, so that now it closes within moments with a lot of force. I have no choice but to repair it now, at a cost of $400, or risk serious injury to myself & 3 young children. My husband & I have already been bonked on the head & back repeatedly. Toyota is aware of the defect, & the obvious risk to car owners (a majority of whom have young children I would guess as it is a minivan), but has not issued a recall. Instead they are profiting over the defect. I don't fault the service dealer that we deal with, as they have always been helpful & honest. I am upset that the toyota corp. Won't issue a recall.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. The contact stated that the rear lift gate closes unexpectedly and on its own. She stated that it closes with such force, that it makes it very difficult to re-open. The dealer and the manufacturer have not been notified. The failure has caused the contact's husband to sustain a strained back. The VIN and engine size were unknown. The current mileage was 20,000 and failure mileage was 15,000.
Rear liftgate on 2004 toyota sienna failed. It was in up position and suddenly came down and I was unable to get it up while I was under it loading groceries. The weight of the door hit my shoulder first and knocked me into the back of the van. I was then able to push it back up after I dropped the grocery bags. The door came down very fast and forceful,ly. I was sore but very thankful that my 4 year old wasn't under the lift gate with me.
Broken welds in door on door stop on 2004 toyota sienna. This is a know defect that needs to be covered under a recall. I know of 35 other vans with the same problem. It is hit or miss if they will fix this under warranty. This will become a safety issue when the brakes ar einvolved. Toyota customer care has refused to take complaints on the problem. Ak
Relating to current investigation of 2004 toyota sienna rear liftgate strut failure the federal safety agency recall campaign number: ea06020). My wife has a 2004 sienna xle with the power liftgate and the struts just failed, causing the liftgate to close and requiring help from a friend standing nearby to help her hold it up to remove our children's stroller. I looked at it this evening and noticed grease around one of the cylinders where the seal had obviously failed. While I was looking at the struts I took my hand off of the hatch for a second mistakenly thinking that the power assembly would hold it up and it immediately came down and hit me in the head, causing luckily only a headache. After researching the problem and finding the ongoing investigation I wanted to add my name to the list of complaintants and suggestions that toyota be required to fix the defect and replace the struts. Note: I entered 2 in the number of failures box since both struts failed and I entered 1 in the persons injured because it did hit me in the head hard enough to give me a headache ,and I am a 200 lbs man. My fear was that if it would have closed on one of my children that it could have caused serious injury. I will be shopping tomorrow for replacement struts from an aftermarket dealer because in my research I have found people on their 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th sets of struts replaced under warranty. Unfortunately, my sienna was conveniently at 39,000 miles, 3,000 miles out of warranty.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sienna. The contact opened the vehicle's rear hatch and it immediately shut. When the hatch attempts to close automatically, the electric motor kicks in for fifteen seconds before it can be lifted up again. The hatch must be held open by someone or propped open by a stick. This failure occurs in both wet and dry weather. The engine size and # of cylinders were unknown. The current and failure mileages were 80,000.
A month or so prior to this incident, I took the 2004 toyota sienna to the local toyota dealer and asked them to check the door latch on the driver's door - it was making a popping sound. I was told it would not hurting anything ,and some time in the future bring it in and they will order the part and take the door panel off to replace the latch. Well, on tuesday, may 8, 2007 I opened the door and the latch broke in half, and the part connected to the door broken the metal around the latch, and it fell into the door. When I lowered the window several hours later the window fell of the track and down inside the door. - it would not raise back up, so I took it back to the toyota dealer, and after waiting for 3 hours ,I was told the clips were broken, and they would have to order a new window with clips attached. The window was put back in place, and I was told not to roll the window down or it would fall off the track again. - the service department at the toyota dealer was going to charge me $106 for putting the window back up. I was told this labor charge and the charge to replace the window/clips, or the door latch , actually the door would have to be replaced, would not be covered under my extended warranty. - I was not informed that it was not covered under my extended warranty until they were charging me for the labor of putting my window back on the clips. So, they did not charge me anything - after I argued with them about this. - the next day, I had someone else look at the clips, window and the track holding the window. - the clips are not broken, just unglued from the window - because the track bent when the broken door latch part fell into the door.
Liftgate hazard -- I own a 2004 toyota sienna, with manual liftgate. The liftgate struts/supports have failed. I was hit on the head and shoulder, but was not seriously hurt. Jb
2004 toyota sienna passenger side power sliding door stopped working. It wouldn't close the final 18 inches. I had to bungy strap it and drive to the dealership. They said the brackets were bent and motor was no good. It would cost $1400 to fix it. I told them to cut the cable or just figure a way to close it. When I returned to the dealership they were able to shut the door. I asked if I could use the door manually. She said since I didn't authorize them to fix it ($1400) they would not say it was ok to use. I would be using it at my own risk. This still cost me $130.
Tl*- the contact stated that he owns a 2004 toyota sienna with failure mileage of 38,000 and a current mileage of 69,000 miles. Two years ago the driver's side sliding door would not completely shut, it would be half latched and half unlatched. He took the vehicle to the dealership, and they informed him that the vehicle was out of warranty, but they agreed to pay for half of the repairs. As of today that door was working fine, they replaced the door latch assembly. Presently, the passenger side sliding door would not close completely with the remote or by hand. While driving the door was continually ajar. He contacted the dealership, and has a scheduled a repair appointment for 04/16/07. He took the vehicle to a repair shop, and they informed the contact that the door needed an electric door lock assembly. He called the manufacturer, his case number was 200704130436. They informed him that this was a safety problem, but that he would be responsible for the cost of repair.
Failure of the rear hatch support mechanism ,making the hatch extremely difficult to raise, and when released causes it to crash down with great force on top of a person that may be under it.
The rear door on the 2004 toyota sienna van camer down by itself. The motorized hatch went up and then almost immediately came down. I was getting items out of the back when it hit the top of my head. It kept closing until I hit the remote button , but as soon as it reached the top,it started to close again. I contacted toyota, and they told me the warranty expired, and it would cost $470.92 to fix it. This was a safety issue and could cause major injury, especially to a small child. I think they should be responsible.
The power liftgate on my 2004 sienna closes on its own after I open it. The liftgate has struck me on the head and shoulders on several occasions. About a year ago toyota replaced the gas pistons but the situation has reoccured, especially in cold weather. Today, it closed on its own three times.
Hatch on my 2004 toyota sienna van comes down by itself. It is the limited edition version with motorized hatch raising and lowering. It goes up and then comes down by itself. I was standing underneath and it struck the top of my head and gave me a stiff/sore neck. It does this intermittenly, not all of the time. I contacted toyota and told me my warranty is out of date and would not repair it. This is a safety issue and could cause major injury especially to a small child and I think they should be responsible. This is not like a fan belt or alternator where the failure cannot actually injury someone. I understand this has been corrected on the newer siennas that still have the same body style, so they obviously know it was a problem.
Tl*- the contact stated that when he opened the rear liftgate of the 2004 toyota sienna using the remote control access the gate will rise to the top and immediately come down without warning. The contact stated there was an updated door stay replaced on the vehicle in januar 2006 under warranty. The rear liftgate will only lower without warning when opening using the remote. The gate did not lower without warning when it was opened manually. The contact spoke with the dealership, and was informed they would not replace or fix until they received something from toyota. The failure mileage was 28200, and the current mileage was 28400.*ak the consumer stated the rear lift gate somtimes lowers without warning during the opening cycle. Updated 03/19/07.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2004 Toyota Sienna?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history