general problems of the 2004 Toyota Sienna - part 2

The vsc has activated multiple times on my van for no apparent reason. While driving at any speed and usually in a turn, the vsc light will flash, the warning beep will beep, and the abs brakes will automatically be applied and the engine will quickly decelerate. I have almost been rear-ended several times because the van will suddenly decide to decelerate. I have no control over when this happens and no control of the van when it does!.

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna, it is not recalled. My Toyota van would struggle to get moving especially going up a small incline I would have to push the gas pedal to the floor(the cars rpms would race) in order for it to move, it was like gasping for air. I brought it to Toyota and they ran the tests and said nothing was wrong, in the end they claimed it was the floor mat preventing the gas peddle from operating properly. Not possible the floor mat was not out of place because of stains on the floor. The floor mat is heavy and does not slide around. Now I am frustrated so brought it to cottmans automotive and they ran the computer on it and said nothing came up on the computer as not working, if it keeps doing it bring it back. Well now I know whether it comes out or not this is a computer problem. It does not show up on the computer tests they run and you can not duplicate the problem on demand. With all the troubles occurring with Toyota, they are trying to blame it all on floor mats, a computer problem would be much more costly to repair sometimes computers can take control. I find it very interesting my problem and now the problem with acceleration is all blamed on floor mats? my Sienna is still having the same problem not able to accelerate and jerks when it does get going. This is our 4th Toyota and we have never had any trouble. In all my years as l loyal Toyota customer I find this very sad. Thank you.

After changing the front brake pads on our 2004 Toyota Sienna sometime early 2009 and while it was propped up on metal ramp, my daughter placed the transmission in reverse applied some gas, it instantly took off at a high speed in reverse. The car traveled approx 40 feet backing into a ditch which at that time it stopped possibly because of the sudden abrupt ditch. I her father was watching and asked "what did you do" she stated "nothing it just took off" this was a year before I heard of the Toyota problems so I just shrugged it off as a weird incident. Now hearing other incidences I suddenly remembered my incident. I only report it now because it may help with any investigation as to what the problem is. I have not yet heard of the accelerating problem happening in reverse like it happened to me.

I have 2004 awd Sienna. A week ago, when I started the car in a freezing morning and drove in subdivision road, the slippery light and beep came on and the brake acted here and there on the wheels. At the very beginning, I thought the road was slippery. But it was not the case. There was no way my van was skidding all the time. I was only driving at 10 mph. Then I realized the vsc was wrongly activated. Whenever I get to more than 10mph, vsc got activated and broke the speed down to 5 mph. I could only drive at 5mph without getting vsc activated. Then I realized I could not drive this van on the road. I parked it back in garage. The next day, my wife drove it out of the garage and got the same symptom. We put the van back to garage for another 3 days before I was about to call a tow truck to tow it to a dealer for examination. I tried it again. Miraculously, the problem went away. I went to the dealer and talked to the service adviser, he said he knew nothing about the problem (recall etc. ) and asked me to bring the van back for service once the problem happens again. My van appears to be working correctly now, but I dare not drive it far away from home. I know the problem is not gone. It will come back at the most inconvenient time. I do not want to be stranded in a snow storm at -30 degrees f that I can only drive at 5mph (that is what the weather is like here in chicago at this time of the year). I do not want to be thousand miles away from home when the problem happens again. It would be nightmare if vsc wrongly comes on at high way speed.

I had slowed my car to allow a group to pass and was making a left hand turn into a parking spot. My car lurched forward and sped forward nearly striking a group of teenagers. I plowed through three cement pillars and a flower pot and finally came to rest. My engine was revving and my foot was on the brake. Updated 12/02/09 updated 12/03/09 the consumer also stated the air bags did not deploy. Updated 12/03/09.

In may of 2008, I was attempting to pull my 2004 Toyota Sienna into the garage. I was idling when suddenly the vehicle took off. I was standing with both feet on the brake and could not stop. I crashed through the rear of the garage and hit a tree which ripped the right tire and axle from the drive shaft. At that point, I can to a stop however the engine continued to race until I turned off the vehicle. My 2 year old daughter had been right outside the back door of the garage when I crashed through. She was somehow pushed off to the side. The back portion of the wall and the back door went about 30 feet into the backyard. The tree I hit was about 45 feet behind the garage. I traveled for another 50 feet after hitting the tree and losing my right front tire. When we had the vehicle looked at by the Toyota dealership in sioux city, IA, they said nothing was wrong with the vehicle. Since it has been repaired, the electronic speed control will quit working at times and there are error lights that show up on the dashboard. I believe it is an esc light and the check engine light that show up when the speed control quits working. Once these lights go away, the speed control will continue working again.

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna. I was only driving at 10 mph out of a parking lot when I realized the vsc was activated even though the vehicle was not in a skid situation or on a slippery pavement. Whenever I reached more than 6mph, vsc activated and broke the speed down to 5 mph. I could only drive at 5mph without getting vsc activated. Had to get a fairfax city police escort to the nearest Toyota dealer. This is definitely a safety hazard and with all the occurrences of reports found on the internet, Toyota should be requested to issue a recall for repair. I understand this has been a problem with other Toyota vehicles. . Read more...

The driver owned a 2004 Toyota Sienna. While driving 60 mph, the driver crashed into a semi-automatic truck. The driver and a passenger in the front seat were killed as a result of the crash. The contact stated that there were no indications that the brake was applied and that the vehicle may have accelerated forward. The current and failure mileages were not available. Updated 04/22/10 updated 06/14/10.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact was driving approximately 35 mph on normal road conditions. There was pressure applied to the accelerator pedal, followed by an unexpected acceleration and surge. The driver applied excessive force to the brake pedal and the vehicle slowed down. The vehicle was able to continue operation with caution. The failures occurred intermittently. The vehicle has not been repaired for the malfunctions. The failure mileage was 47,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- the contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna Mini van. While driving at 15 mph the contact experienced the following failure: intermittent vsc activation after starting the engine and driving straight from a stop position. This failure was always accompanied by the instrument panel vsc light and an audible warning buzzer. The current and failure mileage were 47,000. The consumer sated the abs would activate. The consumer sold the vehicle. Updated 03/30/07.

Van was put in reverse and it accelerated on its own and hit car behind, quickly put it on drive and w/out pressing accelerator, it surged forward. Luckily there were boxes between the van and the wall. Brought it to Toyota, said they found nothing wrong with the van and that the warranty wont cover.

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.

I was pulling slowly into a parking space and my 2004 Sienna van uncontrollably accelerated and smashed into a building.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna ce. The contact was driving approximately 40 mph. When releasing the foot from the accelerator pedal, the vehicle momentarily continued to accelerate. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The contact was under the impression the failure was due to driver error. The failure and current mileages were approximately 30,000.

: the contact stated intermittently while applying brake pressure, the pedal will go to the floor. In addition, the vehicle accelerated without warning causing an accident. One person sustained minor injuries and there was a crash and property damage. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the problem could not be duplicated and the contact was informed that the vehicle is functioning normally.

I was driving into a parking space at approx 10 mph when the vehicle accelerated while I was parking it. Thank god a tree was in front of the space or I would have hit a person or vehicle. It happened on 9/27/2005 and I was told I must have hit the gas. Since my husband works for a Toyota dealership I let it go. I now realize I should report it to you as my husband knows of other accidents since then. The vehicle was a 2004 Toyota Sienna which was not included in the recall.

Vehicle hestitates upon acceleration.

As I was driving on a dry road at about 30 mph the vehicle speed control (vsc ) indicator light went off, followed by a continuous beeping from the dashboard, by a vibration of the vehicle (more the left side) and by an automatic intermittent application of the brakes on selected tires as if the minivan was trying to regain control and pulling towards the left. The minivan immediately slowed its speed to less than 5 mph and when tried to reapply for acceleration, as soon as exceeded 5 mph the beeping restarted, the light went off again and the pulling to the left and the automatic breaks were applied. The vehicle had to be towed to the dealership where is still under repair. Apparently they indicate there is a TSB related to this matter.

Driving approximate 45 mph on straight, dry and clear residential road when vsc indicator illuminated and rapid beeping occurred. Abs proceeded to kick in causing vehicle to lurch while moving. The brakes will apply themselves while driving at a particular speed. Which then enalbe you from driving at all. This is the third time this has happened. The first two times the dealer could not reproduce the problem ,and there was no error code on the onboard computer so no fix could be made. The final time we cited TSB br08-04 (after much searching on the web) and they agreed to replace the steering angle sensor.

Vsc activates while vehicle is traveling straight. This can and has caused the vehiscle to shift lanes and stop short. It has happened a dozen times and the dealer is not able to diagnose this.

While parking, accelerating no more than 5 mph vehicle surged forward. Although I was applying the brake, the car would not stop until it ran into a tree trunk. I will be making an appointment with oakbrook Toyota in westmont, IL to replace the broken foglight that occurred during the collison as well as research the problem and hopefully apply a fix.

I noticed an article recently about a probe into Toyota's (camry and Lexus) that surge. My 2004 Toyota Sienna surges forward when braking and though it does not do this consistently, it happens every so often and could potentially cause an accident. I have reported this to the dealer and they have examined the vehicle and said that there is nothing wrong. My personal experience with the electronic throttle control is that not only does it surge when braking, there is also a delay in the signal when accelerating that either causes an unsafe delay in entering into traffic and can also cause the vehicle to "peel out" from a stopped position. I basically feel unsafe in this vehicle, yet my concerns voiced to the dealer have been dismissed. This defect needs to be seriously monitored in Siennas as well as other Toyotas with the electronic throttle control.

Vehicle hesitates/fails to move forward in the following mode: after braking, when the vehicle is still moving between 5 to 15 mph, the van does not respond to accelerator pedal input; vehicle hesitates with no movement forward, then shifts hard into first gear and lurches forward. We have had 2 close calls, waiting for the vehicle to respond to accelerator pedal input. Also, accelerator pedal has a dead spot. The first half inch of pedal causes no response from vehicle). This "dead spot" along with the hesitation noted above can result in a 2 second response failure from the vehicle. This situation has put my family in harms way on numerous occasions.

2004 Toyota Sienna exhibits poor low speed drivability when accelerating from slow speed. Throttle does not respond to pedal action which results in unpredictable acceleration time and amount. Poor, or no, engine response is followed by lurch forward as throttle (over) reacts and transmission searches for the proper gear. Many 'near misses' in traffic merging situations. The primary driver, my wife, will no longer use this vehicle. Several dealers have reviewed this issue and state that Toyota classifies this performance as a 'characteristic' of the 3. 3l platform. This performance is not acceptable to me and vehicle will be replaced if not repaired soon.

Engine idles very fast in cold weather first few minutes. While driving a block to the first stop sign has to apply the brakes very forcefully to get the car to stop. This causes some loss of control , especially on a slight down hill slope during snowy/icy weather. Appears to be combination idle, and the automatic transmission.

While parking, the vehicle surged forward. As a result the vehicle collided into a fence. The dealer stated they were unable to duplicate the problem. Please provide additional information.

2004, Toyota Sienna xle limited. Very sluggish throttle response when cruising, apparently due to very sluggish automatic transmission down shift. No problem when accelerating from a stop. Problem is bad enough to cause an accident when the driver expects reasonable throttle response to avoid a collision , such as crossing an intersection.

Recurring drivability problem with 2004 Sienna xle 3. 3l. After decelerating then reapplying throttle, surge varies from annoying to dangerous. On occasion, is severe enough to squeal tires. From a dead stop, throttle response is better but from a rolling stop, dangerous and inconsistent.

2004 Toyota Sienna lurches upon acceleration after braking. After breaking for a turn or any other reason the car will not respond to acceleration and then lurch or accelerate quickly. I was told by Toyota that this was a electronic function of the car and it is normal. This is not normal and will lead to transmission repairs or an accident. This occurs all the time and has not been repaired.

When driving at an undetermined speed vehicle surged. Consumer took the vehicle back to the dealership for inspection.