2008 Toyota Sienna: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Sep 26, 2020 · Body · 133,000 miles · TX

My vehicle has 138,000 miles and when I inquired about fixing the sliding door, I was told that the recall was over in 2016; however, I know of a person that was able to have his vehicle fixed by toyota. In fact, toyota replace both the door sliding components / latches. For my vehicle I tried getting toyota to fix this last year and tried again today but toyota will not cover these repairs. I want it documented that this VIN has not been fixed regarding the sliding door and should a serious safety issue arise in the future due to these doors, this will server as documentation. The issue began about 1 year ago when the driver side sliding door would not open. This year I had to take it on myself to try and fix the issue due to toyota not willing to cover the costs. The cable for the sliding door had frayed and when the door was manually opened, it would only open some but not fully. The roller latch for this door also appears to be bent and now the door is close to hitting the side panel when opened; I had to remove the cable components myself to allow the door to open. I believe the estimated repair costs for having both doors mechanisms replaced is $4,000 and I cannot afford that costs. In 2016 I do not recollect being informed by toyota regarding the sliding door issues and now my vehicle cannot be repaired for that service program has expired.

Filed Aug 9, 2018 · Body, Locks · 100,000 miles · MN

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota sienna. The contact stated that the electronic sliding doors on the vehicle had experienced several failures. The contact stated that the doors erroneously slid open while the vehicle was being driven and the sliding doors were very difficult to open when using the door handle. The doors, at times, would not unlock from inside the vehicle and would become jammed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer (kolar toyota, 4781 miller trunk hwy, hermantown, mn 55811, (218‑733‑0100) who replaced the cables and greased the door parts, but the failures continued. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 100,000.

Filed Jun 5, 2018 · Visibility · CA

Bought the car brand new from toyota dealer, the second year we noticed the passenger sliding door will not open during cold days when you pull the handle from the outside. We took it in to get inspected, service manager told us everything was fine. But it still experience the same problem. This year, we noticed the front windshield started to get blurry. First we though the window was dirty, so we tried to clean it with windex many times, it still the same. So nothing we can do. Especially when we drive for a long time, we will feeling dizzy. We contacted toyota (case number 1806052799), they said there is no recall and since the car is out of warranty, they will not replace it, even though the front windshield is original. This is clearly a manufacturer defects.

Filed Jul 13, 2017 · Body · AZ

Vehicle was parked and turned off parked in parking lot. Opened side door with automatic key fob and the door opened halfway then started making a weird noise. It would not close or open manually no matter what I did. I had to drive myself and 5 kids across town with the door open, car beeping because door was open. My husband finally got the door to close after I got home but there was a severed cable that now hangs under the rear window. The door will not open manually or automatically now. So I can't use the door at all. If you even try to touch or open the door then the system thinks the door is open and beeps the whole time you are driving and you can't lock the door. I'm worried it will open while driving. From research it appears to be an all too common issue with toyota vans and should be a recall or covered for the life of the vehicle in my opinion. The auto opening door was the only reason we purchased a van and not a SUV.

Filed Apr 13, 2017 · Body · 114,000 miles · IL

The drivers side sliding rear door will not latch closed. While driving,the door will slide open when accelerating. I called toyota about this and they said there's nothing they can do unless I pay for repairs. They have extended the factory warranty specifically for the sliding doors to 9 years/ 120k mi. My vehicle is 11 days past the 9 years but under the 120k mi. I cannot get the door to latch closed, a toyota supervisor informed me there was a recall to keep the door latched closed but my vehicle wasn't covered under that recall. This problem happened 4/12/2017 while parked at my kids soccer practice. After reading how many complaints have been filed against toyota for their sliding door problems, I'm not sure why this wouldn't be classified as a recall. Driving with a door that won't stay shut is not very safe.

Filed Apr 2, 2017 · 220,000 miles · IL

Cable on driver side power sliding door snapped while opening the door when parked. Door would only open a few inches as cable was stuck in the mechanism. I had to close it to drive home then it would not open at all after I got home, even after I disconnected the motor with the button under the dash and tried to operate manually. The door is completely non-functional now. I am concerned now since I can't move the door if it is truly latched and may come open while driving, also it is a safety issue that if the vehicle was in an accident and I couldn't open the other door for some reason that anyone in the back would not be able to get out quickly. The motor was working (I can hear it running) and I can see the snapped corroded end of the cable so I know it is definitely the cable and not the motor or the door latch. There is a big piece of cable hanging out the back of the door near the rear window.

Filed Oct 15, 2016 · Electrical · 67,700 miles · CA

My toyota seinna 2008 , has been locking and unlocking while driving....for the past few months in 2016 my sliding doors and front passenger door lock up and will not unlock with my remote or any other way...I can unlock the front passenger door with a key,but there is no way to unlock the sliding doors...recently I had two friends riding with me...we got to our destination and I got out tried to unlock sliding doors with my remote,they did not unlock...my friend sitting in the second row seating could not get out .she is handicapped....I had to crawl through the rear door and help her up out of her seat and then carefully crawl on the floor of the van to the rear door and climb out.this is truly a safety hazard and cannot be dismissed....sometimes the doors will unlock and sometimes they won't .....so when I take it to the toyota dealer it always seems to work for them......my van runs well and I have no other problems with it.I feel if the toyota manufacturer can design computerized doors then they have to have a way to find and fix the problem.my first thought is,why did they not design key access to these sliding doors ? Something has to be done to correct this problem.

Filed Apr 7, 2016 · Body · 114,000 miles · PA

The door latch assembly is a defected part admitted by toyota. This defected part caused the sliding door cable to break. Toyota has sent out an extended warrenty to fix the door latch but not the sliding door cable. I can now open up the door but without the cable the door will not stay open if on a grade. This is a major saferty hazard as the door could shut on a person including my four children. I have contacted toyota about the issue and it is noted. I feel that if they have admitted to a defective part and that part caused another issue, it should be replaced.

Filed Apr 5, 2016 · 207,700 miles · NC

Power sliding door won't open or closed. Looks like the cable is messing up. Called toyota and they said no recall only a addition to the warranty. 9 years or 120,000 miles. My van has way over 120,000 miles! That stinks! This may cost over $1,000 to repair. I look online and thousands of people having issues! Should be a recall!

Filed Jan 31, 2015 · Body · 84,900 miles · MD

Power sliding door cable got rusted and snapped. Jammed the door. Toyota covers the door latch but not the cable.

Filed Oct 20, 2014 · Body · 24,578 miles · NH

The driver side passenger sliding door would not lock open. I was on a slight decline. My daughter was getting out of the car and the sliding door was pushed open but did not lock and slid back and slammed into my daughters hand. When trying to re-open the sliding door, it would not lock open, it would continue to slide forward. Since that day, the problem has persisted sporadically. The vehicle can be on a flat surface, incline, decline etc, it does not seem to matter. Each time when the door is slid open it, the locking mechanism is not working. The door will not stay open. The vehicle was brought to the dealership in july 2011 and I was told they could not duplicate the problem, so it was not fixed. The problem continued. In 2013 I received a voluntary recall notice on the non-power sliding doors were not locking shut and could open during operation (which was also happening with my vehicle) so I brought the vehicle to another dealership in october 2013 and asked for them to fix the door since I was having both the recall problem and the other problem. That dealership stated they could not duplicate the problem and they "greased" the mechanism. That did not resolve the issue and it was increasingly happening. In september 2014 I brought the vehicle back to the original dealership and asked for the vehicle to be repaired or the mechanism replaced. I stated I was concerned for the safety of my 3 year old son who goes in and out of the door and I did not want the door to slam into his hand or head and cause serious injury. I had taken video during one of the times that the door was malfunctioning. I showed it to the service rep hoping it would help with the problem. Again, they stated they could not duplicate the problem and it went unrepaired. The problem has continued and it will only be a matter of time that it will cause serious injury.

Filed Feb 18, 2014 · Body · 30,305 miles · PA

My toyota 2008 sienna le passenger automatic sliding door won't closed and opened completely. I've experienced an intermittent jammed with this door for the past 3 days. As a temporary fix, I need to get out from the car to help the door in closing and opening it because the button inside the car and even the remote(has new battery installed) won't do the work . One day, when driving my kids to school. As I made a left turn, I heard an audible noise/alarm and we were surprised and tried to figure out where the sound came from until my kids told me that the door is partially open while driving. I pulled over and temporary close the door. I managed to go back home and still with the alarm on and then re-pushed harder to make the door completely closed. That was scary because my kids were sitting in 2nd row. To address this problem. On same day, I rushed my car to toyota dealership and the representative told me that cable assembly is broken and need to replace all parts but must pay $1700 + tax because the issue was the power sliding door cable assembly although my car has very low mileage 30, 312 miles (sitting most of the time inside the garage) and still not covered by toyota warranty enhance program for rear sliding door cable. This is very frustrating and adding insult to injury, I was told that I'm not the only one had this problem.