Steering Column problems of the 2012 Toyota Sienna

Knocking/bumping sounds coming from lower steering column when turning - dealership diagnosis was that the steering intermediate shaft needed to be replaced.

Steering wheel column (or part of the steering wheel is making a clicking sound when turning wheels in low speeds or in reverse. The clicking sound is getting louder and the wheels appear to "skip" or "jerk slightly" when turned. I thought that it was a typical or individual issue, but a lot of Toyota Sienna owners are experiencing the same issue.

Joining highway in a situation where vehicles giving way cause hesitation and then give way causing braking then acceleration repeatedly, transmission refused to downshift on kick down, vehicle would not accelerate, actually slowed significantly forcing following vehicles to brake . Vehicle eventually began to pick up speed. Generally poor response from transmission in all modes. Transmission drops out of drive at low speeds causing engine to race before taking up drive, very hard to operate vehicle smoothly. . Excessive engine vibration and noise for this price point ,known more refined diesels knocking from steering column on constant radius turns when making small steering corrections, detectable at low and moderate to high speed.