While merging onto a hwy I was leaned forward looking through the side rear view mirror with my right hand beside the seat hanging down. I raised my hand to place it on the steering wheel and my fingers caught on the shifter. The gear shift slid without resistance into reverse and the transmission shifted to reverse and started trying to go backwards. The transmission is completely wrecked and needs to be replaced. No injuries or damage to other vehicles but was a very close call as a friend was in his truck behind us and almost collided.
2004 Toyota Sienna transmission complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 89, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Toyota 2004 sienna. It's the most dangerous car I ever had, whenever I slow down and tend to accelerate, the car hesitate to go for about 1 to 3 seconds delay. I took it twice to the dealer but did not fix the problem, the third time I went back they denied that it is a problem. It is dangerous specially when you tend to pass a car on a two way road and the car wont accelerate at desired timing. My complain was toyota denies that there is a problem. This problem is an ongoing since I purchased it in 2004 to present.
I have a 2004 toyota sienna, with only 70,000 miles. I suddenly and intermittently lost power steering. It was not total loss--that I could have handled, but it would come and go, even within a single turn. When I turned the wheel, I could not predict how the car would respond. No accident, fortunately, but a couple of close calls. I drove immediately to a t dealer, and they diagnosed a failed u joint and replaced it today. There had been no prior signs of u joint failure. I wanted to submit this in case others are experiencing similar issues. Otherwise, I just consider it an isolated case. Thanks.
2004 toyota sienna xle . When accelerating the van hesitates. Have to press the accelerator harder to force a hard downshift. This is very dangerous when a predictable acceleration is needed specially merging highway.
I wrote to toyota sept. 7, 2007, concerning an acceleration problem with my 2004 sienna minivan, following many visits to the dealer to evaluate and fix it. The throttle response is delayed, in my case; it lags during initial acceleration from a stop, but more importantly, it lags when immediate acceleration is needed for passing, and accelerating after slowing for a turn. The factory rep who responded to my letter said the dealer would reevaluate the problem. The dealer rep drove the van, experienced the same problem, and concluded it was a "quirk" of the car, that could not be fixed unless, perhaps, the computer controlling the throttle was replaced. They would not do that unless a recall was ordered, he said. Needless to say, I thought that was the final word, until other problems began to surface with the "fly by wire" system in toyotas. I do believe that the electronic throttle, the throttle position feedback circuit, and related sensors are at fault, all of which are controlled by the computer. I also have other cars with electronic throttles, an accord and a town & country, and neither has that problem. No accidents have been caused by this daily malfunction, as I guess I have adapted my driving style to it, but don't you think there is a systemic problem here? The incident date is a continuing date, beginning during the first year of ownership (2004) up to the present time.
2004 toyota sienna steering. Steering suddenly binds while attempting to turn. Very hard to steer at times. Hard to control. There is 2 to 3 seconds delay and slight acceleration lag even when taking off from a stop. Couple of times I was close to run into accident.
I always took my 2004 toyota sienna in for maintenance. The maintenance was performed by midas or toyota. I took the vehicle in for brakes august 2008 and was told a timing belt was needed along with driving belt. I was never verbally told of a problem with the transmission. I took the vehicle back in for service to replace the timing belt, driving belt, and thermostat; still no mention of a problem with the transmission. A couple of days later the check engine light came on. When I took the vehicle back to the dealer they told me the transmission was bad and show me the dirt from the transmission. Never prior to the last visit did they verbally mention anything about a transmission problem.
While making a sharp left turn, I can hear clunk, clunk from the steering column. Dealer says the steering column (rack-pinion) joint is bad, need replacement, not under warranty, will cost 500 to 600 $, not an immediate safety threat , can wait until the noise gets too bad. I am not happy that such things break down at 45,000 miles.
On 5/29/2004 I purchased my toyota sienna. I started having "mysterious" lights coming on at all different times. On 7/15/2004, I went out to my car and it wouldn't start. This was the beginning of a nightmare. Since then my car has been in the shop at least 6 times for this problem. I have not had my car start at least once a month since I purchased it. I would usually just jump the battery but they could never tell me the reason why it kept on happening. There were times that I couldn't even leave my doors open for 5 minutes without it wearing the battery down. When the battery is checked it is always fine. When the battery is fully charged I have the interior lights turn on for no reason. They have put in a new battery and replaced the jbl audio switch because that had been shown to turn on intermittently and drain the battery/engine. Neither of these solutions have worked. They finally told me that my car had too many "bells and whistles" (which all are factory installed) and that I need to connect to a car charger when I come home or to go on long drives at least once a week.
Delay 2-3 seconds when press gas pedal. I though I am the only one have this problem. I hope soon toyota can solve this problem because if I will get into and accident with this van I am going to hire a lawyer to sue the toyota.
There is 2 to 3 seconds delay and slight acceleration lag even when taking off from a stop. Couple of times I was close to run into accident.
I own a 2004 toyota sienna with a transmission shifting problem that has been occurring since I purchased the new vehicle back in march 2003. This problem is not just on this particular vehicle as I test drove several other new vehicles from the dealer where I purchased this. The problem with the transmission is that it doesn't know when to downshift to a lower gear, particularly between 0-15 MPH. When it can't decide to downshift, you can't accelerate at all. This is very dangerous when in an intersection while attempting to make a left hand turn. I made several complaints through the toyota dealership back in 2003 and 2004. I was told that this is common with this transmission and that toyota was going to make a software change to fix this. It has not yet been fixed and I see that they now have the same problem with the camry. Are they going to wait until someone gets killed before they do something? Action needs to be taken by toyota to fix this issue with the camry's and siennas.
I've seen other complaints about the transmission being hesitant and the car surging and slowing unexpectedly. I've had these problems, too. The dealership told me I needed a flash to the computer that would give the car a shift enhancement. They said it wasn't part of the powertrain warranty, but then agreed to do it for the $45 I initially paid them to look the car over. It shifts more aggressively now, but it still seems to slow and surge unexpectedly and fails to downshift for acceleration at times. Today was my first dangerous situation in which I made a left hand turn right before a curve in the road. Just as I was beginning my turn a car appeared and I had to step hard on the accelerator. The car did not respond as quickly as it should have, but I did manage to make it across.
My husband noticed the 2004 toyota sienna moving in the driveway and found that the automatic transmission shifted out of park. He then played around with it and found that it can be shifted out of park without depressing the brake. I took it to the local toyota dealership and was told that something broke off inside and would cost around $700 to fix it. They then said that my children must have broken it off swinging from the shifter. I responded that I really didn't think that my children did such a thing and the customer service rep admitted that they're probably not strong enough to break it anyhow. Thiswas very dangerous.
Vehicle has had a transmission hesitation problem since we purchased it. The delay consists of a 2-3 second delay before the acceleration kicks in. This occurs when merging, turning or attempting to speed up to avoid collisions/objects. We have reported this problem to the dealer every time we bring it in for maintenance, with no improvement in performance. Additionally, under cruise control, the car "skips" gears unexpectedly and revvs randomly.
Toyota 2004 le sienna. Driving on straight, dry, road about 30-40 MPH. Vsc suddenly light turned on unexpectedly, followed by loud beeping noise. Van appeared to hesitate. Can't go more than 40 MPH. I was glad that there was no car behide me otherwise there would have been an accident. Van was brought into dealer (toyota of palo alto, ca). They found no error code.
Vehicle hesitates when accelerator is pressed. Vehicle 'surges' at times when brake is depressed. Similar to other complaints noted in this section, my sienna has a rough transmission, tires occasionally spin out with normal acceleration from a parking lot, toll booth, etc. Repeated trips to dealership bring no satisfaction: response from dealer is that vehicle is operating within standards.
Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle hesitated while pulling out of a parking lot with the accelerator depressed. The vehicle was driven to the dealer who determined the transmission control did not operate correctly. The consumer stated there is a 2-3 second delay in acceleration. When the transmission does activate, it seems to search for a gear and when a gear s found it is usually a low gear which causes the vehicle to lurch into traffic. Updated 10/04/06.
Toyota sienna 2004, 19,000 miles not even 2 years old. 1. Valves making noise when driving up hill at slow speed or when start driving. 2. Wind noise is unacceptable. Problem begins at the very first day of driving the car. 3. One big knocking noise when the vehicle is moving , only when shift from park to d4 and starting to drive.
Transmission hesitation and lurch forward. Dealer says this is characteristic of transmission. Also, rear AC not cold - dealer says this is normal performance.
Delayed engine power while turning, then sudden surge of power. Dealership response is: working as designed - drive-by-wire causes the delay.
Vehicle hesitates and lurches forward on acceleration. Driver gets jerked forward at an abnormal rate. After acceleration upon leaving a stoped state vehicle does not respond and/or hesitates for a second then lurches forward. Dealer has been notified many times and they tell me this is a characteristic with the new fly wheel design in the toyotas. They agree it is not right but tell me there is nothing I can do about it?? As a consumer this in unacceptable. Am starting to have neck problems as a result of doing a lot of local in town driving and constantly stopping and starting with being jerked around in my van. Even the passengers feel it. I think this is a major safety issues since it can create physical damage to the driver and cause an accident if van does not respond to accelerator when expected too. Tires may spin out too when the jerky acceleration occurs.
Problems with the dunlop run flat tires and the transmission on the 2004 toyota sienna.*mr during a 3000 mile service the technician notice that on or more of the tires was balding. All four tire were replaced. A few day after the 3000 mil maintenance the vehicle would not move because there was no transmission fluid.
2004 toyota sienna xle van. When accelerating from a coast the van hesitates. Have to press the accelerator harder to force a hard downshift. This is very dangerous when a predictable acceleration is needed. It seems like the transmission control gets confused on when to downshift. Probably a result of what toyota has to do to keep the mileage rating up. The number of times this happens are to numerous to count.
2004 toyota sienna le. Vehicle hesitates when acceleration. There is a big delay before the car gains speed. This is a on going problem. Dealer states that the car was made that way and there is nothing that they can do to correct the problem. This hesitation can cause an accident at any time.
We have a 2004 sienna le awd. The vehicle consistently appears to hesitate for 1-2 seconds when accelerating from a dead stop while depressing the accelerator. There has been no accidents, only some scares when merging or entering into flowing traffic from a stop.
2004 toyota sienna all wheel drives have a suspension or drivetrain issue that causes tires to wear to chords on inside edges in 10 to 15,000 miles.vehicle came with runflat,bridgestones br380runflats and dealer replaced at 9,000 miles due to severe wear with2256017dunlops,now at 28,000 no tread left inner,and require replacement again after 9 months of driving obviou sly problem is not the manufacter of tire but something in deseign of truck or awd system,toyota should recall,this issue cost approx1400.00 in tires for one set and apparently will only last a year,toyota should be accountable for this tire wear issue issue and either retrfit vehicle a suspension drivetrain fix that will not wear tires,it should be noted that I have 2 of the same vehicle with exact same problem,on both toyota replaced the 1st set of tires at under 11,000 miles and basically said too bad it's not toyota problem by the time 2nd set were worn 10,00 mies later.
2004 toyota sienna experiencing hesitation when trying to accelerate. *mr the problem would occur when starting to move the vehicle, when the consumers removed his foot and placed it back on the throttle, severe hesitation would occur.
With about 6000 miles showing on the odometer, and children present in the vehicle we suffered from a manufacturing defect; a complete mechanical failure that was life threatening. I was on an on-ramp preparing to enter the freeway when I felt the under carriage of the vehicle slam down. The rear differential disintegrated, and the vehicle was unable to accelerate or be put into gear. With tremendous effort and horrendous noises the vehicle could struggle to move at about 5 MPH. Once the dealer received the vehicle the toyota representative. Appeared within days to inspect, collect, and later analyze the failed parts. The transfer case and rear axel assembly were replaced. We cannot and will not be picking this vehicle up from the dealer due to the unexplained and dangerous events that have occurred.
After 5 months of purchasing a 2004 toyota sienna the transmission went out and was replaced. The vehicle continues to lag and lurch.
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