Owners/service Manual problems of the 2012 Toyota Sienna

Driver's side rear sliding door will not latch shut when closing door either manually of electrically. When closing front latches engage of sliding door but subsequent rear latching does not engage upon end of closing cycle. One can hear rear of sliding door locking mechanism actuator whine when attempting final close cycle. After the van's failure to cycle the door shut at rear, then also at rear a diagnostic sounds a long beep warning sound afterwards. Removing negative to see if this would reset the door in some way only served to cancel all electronic commands to the door to open or close useless from any button (fob, overhead control console button, manual door handle opening or open/close buttons). Passenger (right) sliding door unaffected.

We first encountered a problem in which the automatic sliding door would not function to open or close automatically but it still worked manually. About a week later the rear latch of the passenger sliding door became stuck in the lock position thus not allowing the door to fully close. I took the vehicle to my mechanic who greased the latch and allowed it to function properly however the door would still only open automatically but would open or close manually just fine. During this time there were 3 instances when the door would automatically open without human intervention but while we were driving down the highway with children in the rear seats. Toyota agrees this is a major safety issue but will only split the $1,200 bill with us. Based on the fact they are willing to help pay for the repair out of warranty proves they are aware of the issue yet fail to issue a recall and put are willing to risk lives especially children's lives to save face.