general problems of the 2004 Toyota Sienna - part 1

Manufacturer design flaw leads to jammed sliding doors, possibly locking passengers inside. Numerous complaints online. Toyota apparently acknowledges the problem as it has extended warranty on those parts to 9 yrs or 120k miles. Mailing letters earlier this year. I received notice from them when my car had 7 yrs / 130k miles. I think they are not being proactive enough with an issue that rendered one of my doors inoperational. It is not that I can't use the electric door opening mechanism, the defect also impedes the door from opening at all. I think it becomes a safety hazard and should be covered no matter when. It is not my fault it took them several years to acknowledge the problem - my car would be covered had them mailed the letter one year before.

Our 2004 Sienna's driver-side manual-slider door does not latch properly. 2 of the 3 bolts have become detached. Toyota states that this is not covered under the "rear sliding door latch assembly" warranty enhancement notice, although detached bolts and failure of the rear sliding door to properly latch is clearly a latch assembly issue. This is also a significant safety concern as my son rides in that side of the car and if the door would become unlatched while driving he could be injured not to mention causing an accident as I (the driver) attempt to control/assess the problem and protect my son in a moving vehicle. My "door open" dash lights are constantly on and this is a distraction while driving not to mention when I ignore the lights because of this persistent problem, I may be missing other door-open issues. There are online posts of other Sienna owners who have experienced the same problem. Is it possible to urge Toyota to make this obvious "latching" defect covered under the warranty enhancement program or to recall affected vehicles?.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked when she attempted to open the front drivers side door, but the door would not open until excessive force was used. The contact also stated that the driver's side sliding door would not open when the button on the key fob was engaged. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or to be repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 91,000.

Total failure of rear liftgate struts (manual liftgate). Cannot support weight of liftgate; liftgate drops immediately when released. Similar to problem in recall 08v244000 for Sienna power rear liftgate struts.

Toyota Sienna automatic sliding door failed. The door is unable to be opened even in manual mode. This is a design flaw and a serious safety issue as my children need to climb over seats to exit through the only door that works. When that cable mechanism breaks, they will have no way to exit the vehicle in an emergency.

The cable which drives the sliding door is completely exposed to elements. (you'll find it within the groove located under the rear side windows) this cable is made of some kind of metal (steel? who knows. ) then coated with a black plastic/acrylic/rubber casing (such as an electrical wire). With time, the casing begins to dry and be brittle, causing it to crack and fall off the wire, leaving the wires completely vulnerable to getting wet, rust, freeze, etc, also rubbing extensively unprotected against the gears. Within a few months or even weeks, the metal cable wires snap thus getting caught in the mechanism. One thing leads to another and the whole cable snaps, making the door jam altogether.

My complaint began at 110,000 miles. I began calling Toyota in 2008 when my passenger side automatic door caught my daughters arm and the safety feature did not reopen the door. About two months later, I dropped my daughter off to school the principal was coming toward the door and the cable snapped! I have called every Toyota company I can only to be told it would cost $3,000 and "its normal wear and tear" really? the cable was rusted because the cable is on the outside of the vehicle. The door would not shut at all, and could not be put into manual because of the cable. I have taken to anothermechanic as Toyota has no regard for human life, when someone dies, they will fix it. I have 6 complaints on file and noone will help me unless I pay $3,000 to fix a cable that was defective. The car was barely 4 years old. I got it shut, and with no job and budget restraints, it is not fixed yet. Today-5/10/11 the passenger manual door locking mechanism broke and now this door will not open. I have called 15 people from Toyota, and all they can tell me is sorry. It is normal wear and tear of the vehicle. My children are trapped in the vehicle, have to climb over the seats- this is a defect. I have googled the problem and thousands have this issue. I contacted another man from Toyota and he directed me to your site. I was told" noone had died from it, so its not a safety issue. " I will never purchas a Toyota again! someone needs to do something about this before someone is killed because the doors won't stay locked, or shut and if the lock breaks, the kids are trapped inside the car. I am not going to stop, I will call my state reps, congressmen, news attorney general until someone realizes this is a huge issue. Investigate this issue and you will see how many this is happenning too. Please before a life is lost.

Manual sliding door (drivers side) doesn't latch completely and comes open when turning right.

Passenger sliding door failure. Cable compromised due to design flaw that stripped it of its insulation. Despite being garaged, this caused the cable to fray and then rust, making the door inoperable. This includes manually, as the cable catches on a roller at the door hinge in the sliding track. Additional fear is that consequent motor strain may cause additional failure/expense/fire. The cable failure causes it to bind on the hinge roller and prevents the door from both opening * closing. In an accident, you will not be able to exit the vehicle from that side if necessary. Door did open partially and then would not close without great exertion. Thankfully, my wife was able to force it closed before having to take the highway with our children inside and an open door. Once the part fails, the door can not be made operable without major repair. Toyota has TSB el004-004 on this issue that covers our particular VIN, but will not cover the repair out of warranty. Cost of repair is approximately $2,000 and the fear is that many, like us, will not have the part repaired due to this cost (and anger over *acknowledged* design flaw).

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna. Both sliding doors now have broken cables and will not open from the inside. They only open when forced open from the outside. The repair cost from a Toyota dealer is $1,600. 00 per door. The part itself cost $1,100. 00 plus the labor. The doors now are a safety issue since my son can not get out of the back quickly if needed. The cables rusted and severed while opening. The doors do not have a manual override to allow opening properly once the electronic operation is compromised.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that when depressing the button to activate the sliding door, there was an abnormal noise but the door would not open. The door could only be opened manually. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was told that the door lock actuator needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was 102,085 and the current mileage was 122,055. Updated 07/06/12.

2004 Toyota Sienna xle driver's side power door cable (part of the motor and clutch assembly) frayed and snapped. Toyota recommends full replacement of motor and assembly part at $1200 plus labor $660. (wire material cost estimated at $20 or less. ) issue: design defect leading to material stress/breakage.

2004 Toyota Sienna van drivers side sliding door rear latch has become detatched and the door won't close. Not only is this a safety hazard while driving but the locks will not engage with an open door.

Toyota Sienna XLT 2004 power door cable snaps due to exposure to weather. Cable then jams in door, causing door to malfunction as daughter was exiting the van.

A few months ago a cable snapped on the passenger side sliding side doors. Without the cable the door will not open properly. Recently, the same cable snapped on the driver's side sliding side door. Now that door will not open. I have been told that an entire new cable assembly must be placed in each door. Without the sliding side doors opening the only means of ingress and egress from the vehicle is through either the rear hatch or the front doors. It is both a safety concern as well as very inconvenient to not be able to use those doors. The side sliding doors, back when they still worked, were also prone to freezing shut whenever it got cold outside and the doors would not open unless they thawed. Again, this made the passenger compartment difficult to access and dangerous in case of an emergency.

The power struts on the rear hatch of my Sienna were recalled and replaced because they were not holding, and were falling down on people. My hatch recently fell on me, even with the new part. At the time of the incident, I was putting things in my trunk. The hatch slammed down, hitting me on my head. This has caused head, neck and back injuries. I am now in month 2 of physical therapy and rehabilitation. The new struts are not that old and will have to be replaced, as this continues to happen, especially when it is cold. A replacement part for a recall should fix the problem, not continue it.

Power sliding door failure 2004 Sienna the power sliding door on my 2004 Sienna has failed 3 times. The first 2 were covered under warranty, but the 3rd time is not. This is a very costly repair as the whole door needs to be taken apart and is estimated @ $1,400. It is also a safety issue as children cannot get out by themselves if they need to in a crash. I have contacted Toyota corporate to no avail. My case # is 110-1210025. Nothing in a vehicle should need to be repaired three times!! there are 1000s of complaints and once again Toyota will not do something until someone dies in a crash as a result of this!.

The driver door makes a load clicking noise when you open or close the door. The door does not open or close properly. I have not repaired it yet but have been told it is a spot weld that has failed. I also read online that this is a very common problem on the 2004 Sienna.

Automatic door stopped working.

The rear, automatic sliding door to my 2004 Toyota Sienna is inoperable. The cable snapped. I've read numerous reports on-line of this type of incident related to this model. The repair estimates average about $1500. Obviously, this is a consumer issue as well as a safety issue that should be addressed.

2004 Toyota Sienna xle van door cable/motor broke. Door stuck open and were not able to close manually. Can't drive because door is stuck open. Only way to fix is cut cable or pay $2000 to Toyota to fix the door motor.

2004 Toyota Sienna passenger side (power) door refuses to close; broken door cable. Also, the driver's side door (manual) has been broken for over 3 yrs; Toyota fixed this 3 times while still under warranty but refuses to fix it again despite the fact that it is a design defect since it keeps happening.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the front passenger door would not open from the inside or outside. The automatic door locks failed first and the door stopped working altogether. The sliding door on the passenger side also was non-functioned. ; it would open manually only from the inside. The vehicle had not been inspected or epaired. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000 and the current mileage was approximately 71,000.

The wire apparatus that functions our both of our automatic side doors on our 2004 Toyota Sienna has snapped. Both doors now do not function correctly and cause the one of the doors to require a lot of force to shut. My online research has enlightened me that this is in prevalent issue on the 2004 Sienna minivan. Please help!.

Sienna 2004 xle power door cable snapped and sliding door wont work. Though car had been serviced by Toyota dealer all the time.

Driver side sliding door cable frayed and snapped.

2004 Toyota Sienna's automatic sliding door mechanism jammed preventing door closure. The door could not be closed automatically or manually. Circumstances forced passengers, including 4 small children, to travel several highway miles with that door open. In April 2004 Toyota modified that door mechanism for new product and issued technical service bulletin el004-04 "power sliding door inoperative" to correct existing product. Sienna's early 2004 sliding door is a defective product. The Sienna product is a minivan marketed to families and children. As such it is designed to be a closed vehicle. The defective door should be considered a child restraint failure because closed doors are, in fact, the primary protective restraint in a family vehicle. Corrective action we elected is to cut the automatic door's tractor cable. That frees the door to close and permanently disengages the defective door mechanism.

Power door cable snapped during operation.

Cables on both rear power sliding doors have frayed and snapped. Replacement cost of cable is excessive at $2200 per door.

2004 Toyota Sienna. Power sliding door cable snaps. Leaving door unable to open fully. Toyota dealer says part is $1200 dollars and 4. 3 hours labor to install. $1800 to fix.

2004 Toyota Sienna minivan. Toyota has recognized that there was a safety issue with the driver's door mechanism in 2007 and an extended warranty was issued to repair the problem and it included my vehicle model specifically. I however, did not get any mail regarding the issue. The only time I was made aware of it is when I mentioned it to my personal mechanic and he is the one that printed the letter for me on may 07, 2010 from an internet site. I took my car in for repair of the problem today on August 25, 2010 and the Toyota dealership charles maund Toyota in austin texas failed to honor and repair the problem on today's date stating because of some technicality they will not honor the repair it at no cost to me anymore, and do not consider it a safety issue anymore. The door still has the potential of breaking off , the hinges that hold it are defective and broken and make a loud noise every time one opens or closes the driver's door. It is actually a true safety issue if the door falls off and no one can drive the vehicle. It is a manufacturer's defect and it has to be repaired at no cost to the consumer even if it is out of this arbitrary time frame that the company had created. The manufacturers are responsible for their work and honoring their products' safety. Toyota's position is just unacceptable to create that are unsafe and not stand behind them and repair them when necessary.

The driver's side sliding door on my 2004 Toyota Sienna began to get stuck when in the automatic position over a two month period. Then we had an incident where the door would not close. We have taken the minivan to a Toyota dealer and they have said the whole motor has to be replaced, which is $1700 including labor. I am now aware that this is a common problem for that year's model, which would imply that it is not just normal wear and tear, but a defective part or a defective design. Given the cost of the repair we have decided not to have the problem fixed, but will rather use the minivan with only one operational door.

2004 Sienna, the right side sliding door cable coating is braking down. The door is not closing properly and is hard to move in either direction manually. Still investigating issue to see if repairs are possible or if new assembly will be required. Concerned about safety of door operation as many others. We have stopped using that door at this time.

Regarding a 2004 Toyota Sienna xle. Sliding door on driver side door will not open properly. Sliding door cable snapped under normal usage -- opened the door up this morning and it snapped. Toyota has TSB el004-004 for the issue, but no recall. The TSB is valid for 3 yrs/36k miles. My vehicle has over 100k miles. Called Toyota customer support and recorded a complaint. Toyota will not offer an financial assistance for this repair which will cost $1500-2000.

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna (le), both my sliding doors will not open from inside or outside, I contacted the dealer and they said they could fix the problem for approximately $2200. This is a serious safety concern of mine and I need to know if their is any type of recall on the on the sliding doors, or what course of action can I take besides paying the dealer $2200 to correct this problem. I've read online numerous complaints on this similar situation with these sliding doors, and the dealers are telling its customers the same thing as they told me. Again, I personally feel this is a serious safety concern for a life when you cannot open these doors to safety.