Owners/service Manual problems of the 2006 Toyota Sienna

In August 2016, the cable to our power sliding passenger rear door broke while on vacation. Up to this point the door made a little "groaning" sound when opened but it never failed to work. After the cable broke, we were able to open the door manually for about 1 week, then the door stopped opening. After researching the internet, this is a common problem. Toyota has offered a fix to vehicles 9 years or younger for specific year vehicles. Ours is too old. If this is a common problem, why is the replacement of this cable prior to breakage a not required maintenance item? I feel this is a safety issue since if we are ever in an accident that requires a fast exit from the vehicle, anyone sitting in the third row will have a difficult exit.

The automatic sliding passenger door jammed approximately halfway open and could no longer be opened or closed. The incident occurred while the vehicle was stationary at a rest stop along I-87. I removed the door panel and observed that the protective plastic coating on the actuator cable had worn off and the bare cable appeared to have cut through one of the plastic pulleys which completely disintegrated thus jamming the door. I had to cut the cable and remove the remnants of the pulley in order to be able to manually operate the door so I could continue driving home with my family. No one was harmed as a result of the incident.

Wire cable that operates automatic door on passenger side snapped without warning. Door no longer opens or closes - even manually without some effort. Vehicle only has 55k miles.

The power sliding door would not close completely, leaving the operation of the vehicle on the road unsafe. Upon inspecting the door, the power cord making the door open and closed looked frayed and knotted and off its tracks. The only way to get the door to completely close was to cut the cord. The door now operates manually. They passenger side cord plastic coating looks to be cracked and could eventually could become not operable as the driver side. Contacted the Toyota of des moines, they said there is an extended warranty of the power sliding door cords and its parts for 9 years and 120,000 miles, which ever comes first. Cannot fix my Toyota Sienna under the extended warranty because it was over 120,000 miles. I bought the vehicle when it was 127,000 miles. The previous owners did not get it fixed nor Honda of ames, the dealership where I bought the vehicle. I think Toyota did not do enough to get the word out to the previous owners of the extended warranty or the dealerships. I looked on the Toyota website, entered my VIN, they was nothing about extended warranties on this vehicle. This should be a recall, due to defective parts from Toyota and the potential unsafe situation this could of caused to people, especially young children. They are the target market for Toyota Sienna minivans-families with young children. If I bought a minivan with power doors, I expect to be able to use the power sliding doors as it was intended. I am very concerned about the safety of my three children who are all under 5 years old.

The driver-side rear sliding door would not close by interior controls or remote. After several attempts I was able to manually force the door closed. Has happened 3 times since, once leaving the lights on and door open overnight in the cold, draining the battery and leaving my belongings unprotected and another time while my kids were loaded into the vehichle in extreme winter conditions and we were not able to close the door or drive home. Huge safety concern! I expect my children to be safe in my van which is why I purhased a Toyota and because I expect them to be non-accessible to strangers/criminal acts when they climb into our family van and I close the door. . . Dealer is saying that the issue is with the hinge and is not covered by the safety recall issued.

Automatic door will not latch closed manually or automatically.

In November 2006 I purchased a lowered floor Toyota Sienna with automatic wheelchair ramp. The purchase was made through mc mobility in mentor ohio, modifications done by braun corp in indiana. First the gas tank had not been changed which caused malfunctions in the emissions system and associated electronic systems. This took several months to diagnose and fix. Then an ac tube running from front to back had not been strapped in properly, causing it to wear through. This took about two months to resolve. The most persistent problem is with the ramp. Since the spring of 2007 it has intermittently malfunctioned. The ramp will deploy as designed, but then sometimes the ramp will not stow back in the vehicle. Obviously the van cannot be operated with the ramp extended. Assistance is needed to manually work against the automatic system to stow the ramp, and assistance is not always around. The malfunction may happen just once and be fine for weeks on either side, or it might happen continually for weeks with obvious impediment to employment and other life activities as well as serious potential for injury as a lone disabled driver has to try to cope with the problem. Under vehicle warranty mc has done numerous repair attempts but nothing so far has worked permanently. This is a continuing problem.