Tailgate problems of the 2004 Toyota Sienna

The powered rear liftgate struts were replaced as part of the NHTSA recall campaign on 12/18/2008. The new struts no longer lift the tailgate to its previous height. The tailgate now opens about 2" to 3" lower than the maximum extension. The tailgate must be manually pushed to its full extension. At its lower height, it is easy to get bumped in the head as you assume the door will open fully. The dealer states that the tailgate cannot be adjusted for greater travel to open all the way.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that there were several failures with the vehicle, including the tailgate. The tailgate has been repaired four times. The failure only occurs in 32 degree weather or below. When opened, the tailgate starts closing automatically and without warning. The contact has struck his head several times. During the most recent failure, his shoulder got stuck and popped due to the tailgate closing automatically. He stated that this was a safety issue because individuals could get closed in by the tailgate. The failure persists. The current and failure mileages were 62,000.

2004 Toyota Sienna power rear lift tailgate malfunction. Tailgate lifted normally then suddenly and without warning began powered closing, striking my wife in the back. I was able to reproduce the malfunction repeatedly. The malfunction occurs constantly. The consequence should a child or elderly person be struck by the rear gate. It has not been repaired yet.

Automatic rear tailgate door sometimes closes by itself after opening, causing potential injuries to people who are leaning into the vehicle to unload the van. This happens often, mostly in the winter on cold days.

My Toyota Sienna with power lift gate has become unreliable and will initiate closure without warning or initiation. Replacing the hydraulic support struts has not corrected this problem. When I search the internet I found that this was a common complaint. It could cause injury or death if the door initiates closure when a person is not expecting it and vulnerable.

2004 Toyota Sienna opened back door dropped unexpectedly causing minor head injury and property damage.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The tailgate had the same failure as noted in defect investigation # ea06020 concerning the liftgate. The only exception was that the tailgate was not power operated. When the tailgate was lifted it fell down immediately. The dealer stated that the struts failed. The current and failure mileages were 48,000. Updated 05/23/07.

The liftgate on my 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan, which is equipped with a automatic opening and closing feature, will sometimes start to close when it is in the open position. Although I reported it as one incident date per your form below, the problem really occurs intermittently throughout the winter season. The problem seems to always occur only when the temperature is below freezing. Both my wife and I have hit our head on numerous times when we are unpacking the car from the rear and the liftgate starts to close without any prompting from us. I reported the car to the dealer once and they took a look at it and could find no problems. Once again, the problem seems to be triggered by the cold weather. Toyota needs to be responsible and fix the problem before someone looses and eye or potentially gets killed by walking full speed into the closing liftgate.