Owners/service Manual problems of the 2008 Toyota Sienna

My Sienna side door cannot open. My son would not be able to escape the vehicle if a problem in an accident. Dealer said there is no recall but the door cannot even be opened manually. This would be a $1500-2000 repair which as a single mom is not an option for me. I do not feel something as significant as ability to escape a vehicle should fall on the consumer.

Cable on driver side power sliding door snapped while opening the door when parked. Door would only open a few inches as cable was stuck in the mechanism. I had to close it to drive home then it would not open at all after I got home, even after I disconnected the motor with the button under the dash and tried to operate manually. The door is completely non-functional now. I am concerned now since I can't move the door if it is truly latched and may come open while driving, also it is a safety issue that if the vehicle was in an accident and I couldn't open the other door for some reason that anyone in the back would not be able to get out quickly. The motor was working (I can hear it running) and I can see the snapped corroded end of the cable so I know it is definitely the cable and not the motor or the door latch. There is a big piece of cable hanging out the back of the door near the rear window.

The passenger sliding door's pulley cable snapped while performing a routing automated door opening operation. There where some grinding noises while the door attempted to open. The vehicle was parked on a level surface. Upon inspection of finding out what happened, the braided cable appeared faulty and was corroded. Meanwhile the loss in tension resulted in loose cable preventing the door from opening and closing properly. The cable was then cut but the excess cable is hanging out of the vehicle. The door is now opened manually but it is having difficulty holding itself when opened. I do have three young children under the age of 7 who frequently use these doors. My concern is that the door opening is not was I purchased/expect and second the cost of repair is very high ($1200-$2500) when hearing this issue has become more frequent in the last two years as these vehicles are surpassing their warranty expectancy. I do not have any photos but still have the faulty cable if pictures are requested at a later time.

While parked in my driveway and seated in the drivers' seat, I activated the rear lift-gate via the center roof console button. I exited the drivers' side door and proceeded toward the rear of the vehicle. At this time the lift-gate was still rising, and to all observance, acting normally. As I got to the rear of the vehicle the door was almost at its apex. While standing outside the vehicle, I bent down to get something out of the rear cargo area. I have done this hundreds of times with no concern because the lift-gate is designed to stay open once it reaches the top of its opening cycle. As I stood up to leave the area of the vehicle, the lift-gate came down without warning or activation on my part and hit me on my head and shoulder. I had not pulled down on the manually retraction handle on the inside of the lift-gate and no one had activated the button inside the vehicle at the console. After tending to my bleeding head and sore shoulder, I returned to the vehicle to try and duplicate the event. I am able to duplicate the event each time the lift-gate is activated. It does not matter whether the lift-gate is activated by the remote control fob, the console, or the manual lever on the door. Any time the door is opened, it reaches its apex and automatically and immediately retracts down to the closed position. I contacted the dealership where I purchased the vehicle and they told me that since my warranty has ended, I would need to pay a "diagnostic fee" of $118/hour. I thought this was unfair so I contacted the manufacturer's customer relations department. I was also told that since there were not recalls on this part of this vehicle, they "could not help with the repairs. " after encountering my second dead-end for assistance, I did a simple google search to see if anyone else has had this problem. Hundreds have, which is why I decided to contact NHTSA. Updated 08/21/lj.

Passenger door on our 2008 Sienna minivan would not latch shut. Nothing was jammed in it. We pressed the automatic door button several times and finally it latched. The next day it would not open. You could hear the motor trying but it would not open when you pressed any buttons or manually. Again we pressed the button multiple times and finally it made a popping noise and released. The door opened a few inches and now the cable inside was broken and hanging down. The door no longer automatically opens and closes and the cable is still hanging from the door. We took the van to the dealer with an automatic sliding door recall letter we received from Toyota. The dealer stated the part that broke on our van was not covered in the recall. They said it would cost over $1,000. 00 to fix. We had them put door back together because we did not want to pay for the repair until we do more research on the problem.

We bought a new-to-us 2008 Toyota Sienna with a power operated passenger door. Within 2 weeks of purchase we parked in our church parking lot (not on an obvious incline) and pushed the internal button for the power door. I went to take my child out of her car seat and the door automatically closed on me. It took all my force to keep it open. I let it shut, then reopened it and it would not latch and kept forcibly shutting. I literally propped the door open against its will to close while my child exited. The dealer cannot duplicate the problem and doesn't believe it happened. We are very concerned about this especially because there is no way to manually disengage the motor and stop it from forcing itself closed.