Battery problems of the 2004 Toyota Sienna

Power sliding door of Toyota Sienna le 2004 fails to open. Happened when car battery ran out of power. After battery was charged by an aaa mechanic with jumper cables, power door could open and close again. After driving the van for a few miles, power door started opening and closing by itself. Very, very dangerous as van was being driven on a busy highway. After I pulled up on the side road, power door kept opening and closing, but not getting successfully closed by itself. I helped the door close successfully by pushing it fully to closed position. Door is stuck in closed position since. Electronic controls and manual knobs don't manage to open the door.

The owners manual of my 2004 Toyota Sienna indicates that there is a safety feature that turns off the lights after a period of time, if the door is left open. However, it doesn't work correctly, and my battery has been drained numerous times.

Pages 155 and 156 of my 2004 Toyota Sienna states "to prevent the battery being discharged, the lights will automatically turn off when the key is removed and the door is left opened with the switch at "door" position for 20 minutes or more. " however, when my side door or rear hatch is left opened, the feature does not work. I informed Toyota's corporate office in California of the problem and was told that my complaint was the first time they heard about it. I told her that I found it hard to believe my complaint was the first since I read about the problem on various online message boards. She said information on message boards cannot be verified. I later discovered that my complaint was not the first because others have complained about the problem to Toyota as well. It should be noted that the previous generation of Toyota Siennas had the battery saving feature on all doors. When I called the dealership (gateway Toyota in NJ), their showroom specialist (maryann) agreed with me that the interior lights should turn off after 20 minutes if the doors are left opened. When I demonstrated the problem to them, they called Toyota's corporate office to report the problem. The person from gateway Toyota said Toyota's official response was that the battery saving feature only applies to the front doors. When I called Toyota again, I was told that it was a misprint in the manual and they were working on it. When I asked for a definition of "working on it", I was told that Toyota was working on revising the manual but not fixing the problem. I had learned that people who have purchased a 2004 Toyota Sienna after me had their manuals altered in such a way that the areas mentioning the battery saving feature had been covered up by a white piece of paper. I was also informed that Toyota corrected the problem on their 2005 models.

Battery saver feature discussed in owner's manual for 2004 Sienna does not work. Sliding door inadvertently left open for 3 hours while visiting country friends. Battery drained to point engine would not turn over. Had to connect battery charger in cold rain to crank. Owners camping out with this vehicle may find themselves stranded and could possibly result in loss of life.

Radiator ruptured and the engine overheated; hose replaced in steering column recall; rust protective tape recall; dvd screen replaced and the entire dvd player replaced(screen still not easily visible in middle row); passenger seat belt replaced; middle passenger seat belt failing; gasoline smell inside of car with ac on recirculation; driver's window fell inside door in snow storm and was not considered a safety issue to get a loaner vehicle even though the vehicle could not be locked; tires completely bald and leaking under 30,000 miles, dvd player must be at a high db volume and when returned to radio/cd will almost deafen you; interior lights have to be manually over ridden or will drain battery; car hesitates 1-2 seconds when trying to quickly accelerate and then lurches forward alarmingly; cruise control is not functioning; waiting to have fuel mixture sensor replaced. I was not informed of first 2 recalls until I my engine overheated. I did get the rust recall and a sticker on my sliding door informing user of danger of having middle windows open while opening the middle door could catch a head or other extremity. Toyota dealer service manager says mine is the only 04 Sienna experiencing any problems except for the recalls on the radiator; the steering hose; the rust tape; and the middle seat belt. Not so according to all I have read here. Most of the problems have occurred between 22,000 and 34,000 miles; the dvd screen always failed to lock into a good position for the middle row viewers.

"battery saver" feature is only partially in my 2004 Toyota Sienna. The owners manual and the Toyota service manual state that "if any door is left open, then the room lights should go out after 20 minutes". This feature is only partially operable as the ignition key cylinder lights and the two front personal lights do go off, but all other interior lights remain on with an open door. Toyota has taken no action to correct problem. When a door is inadvertently left open, the battery will discharge, removing the ability to start the vehicle. There are numerous reports of this problem on the internet.

The rear hatch on my two-month old 2004 Toyota Sienna did not close all the way, therefore the interior light stayed on and drained the battery after one night. An owners town hall type web-page states that Toyota noticed this "oversight" ( the interior lights not timing-out) and corrected the problem. From what I understand there was no recall and no fix for those of us who have this problem. I have small children and need a reliable vehicle, that's why we bought the '04 Sienna. As a consumer what can I do?.

Vehicle has a battery saver feature which should go into effect after 30 minutes. However, battery save feature was ineffective. After 6 weeks consumer was told that vehicle was not equipped with the battery saver feature. Manufacturer was still advertising that the feature was installed and came with the new vehicles.