Automatic Transmission Problems of Toyota Sienna - part 2

I've seen other complaints about the transmission being hesitant and the car surging and slowing unexpectedly. I've had these problems, too. The dealership told me I needed a flash to the computer that would give the car a shift enhancement. They said it wasn't part of the powertrain warranty, but then agreed to do it for the $45 I initially paid them to look the car over. It shifts more aggressively now, but it still seems to slow and surge unexpectedly and fails to downshift for acceleration at times. Today was my first dangerous situation in which I made a left hand turn right before a curve in the road. Just as I was beginning my turn a car appeared and I had to step hard on the accelerator. The car did not respond as quickly as it should have, but I did manage to make it across.

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The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna van. The failure mileage was 700 and the current mileage was 51000. There is a transmission delay with his vehicle that is constant, and occurs when driving between 6-10 mph. The dealer called it hunting for a gear. The vehicle has been to the dealer 6 times since a month after purchasing the vehicle for this problem; however the dealer has been unable to repair the vehicle.

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The automatic transmission on my 2006 Toyota Sienna causes the engine to race when trying to shift to a lower gear at slow speeds.

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Vehicle hesitates when accelerator is pressed. Vehicle 'surges' at times when brake is depressed. Similar to other complaints noted in this section, my Sienna has a rough transmission, tires occasionally spin out with normal acceleration from a parking lot, toll booth, etc. Repeated trips to dealership bring no satisfaction: response from dealer is that vehicle is operating within standards.

Hesitation when downshifting to 1st, then when trying to accelerate it feels as if nothing is going to happen so you give it more accelerator and then it accelerates too fast, mostly noticeable as you turn a corner.

There is 2 to 3 seconds delay and slight acceleration lag even when taking off from a stop. Couple of times I was close to run into accident.

The vehicle exhibits unpredictable acceleration. When the acceleration is pressed there is a delay of several seconds before the vehicle responds resulting in an unsafe situation.

: the contact stated the vehicle had difficulty switching gears and caused acceleration issues. The service dealer stated the computer system adjusted to the driver and this was a normal function. However, the contact stated the gears did not shift properly. Updated 10/18/2006 - the vehicle would hesitate when picking up speed. The check engine light illuminated. The dealer found code for evap purge valve. The technician found the vacuum lines off at intake.

Delay 2-3 seconds when press gas pedal. I though I am the only one have this problem. I hope soon Toyota can solve this problem because if I will get into and accident with this van I am going to hire a lawyer to sue the Toyota.

Vehicle surges while gently applying accelerator and can't decide which gear to be in. Transmission appears to hesitate, especially noticeable at 5-10 pmh and while turning. Dealership says its completely normal. The drive-by-wire system cannot react quick enough to changes in acceleration. After days of research I see this is occurring on avalon, camry, Lexus es300-330, highlander, BMW,Audi, vw touareg, Subaru. . . Shall I keep looking. Obviously the drive by wire technology is not mature and dangerous. Re-programming is needed. To date there are no TSB's for the 04-06 Sienna's regarding this issue. 8jb.

When accelerating from 5-10 mph, van hesitates and then jerks forward trying to find correct gear or catch up. This is especially dangerous on snow/ice. Took to local dealer 3 times and was told all of Toyota's 5-speed transmissions do this and my Sienna wasn't as bad as others. The dealership did reprogram computer and I could tell no difference. I was told there was nothing else they could or /would do. I complained to Toyota headquarters and still got nowhere.

My mechanic informs me that the "speed sensor" on my 2000 Toyota Sienna has gone bad and cannot be replaced. She stated that the Sienna's that were manufactured overseas have accessibility to this part, but that those made in the u. S. Have no way to replace this defective part. The result of this defect is that I no longer have a reverse gear and she said that first gear will go at any time, and no amount of money can fix. Now car is worthless car.

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2005 Toyota Sienna. Consumer states problems with transmission response. The first encounter the consumer had with the dealer with regards to the transmission was poor programming. So, the dealer re-calibrated the ecm. However, the transmission continued to hesitate before shifting up or down. The problem was most noticeable when slowing down.

On my 2005 Sienna xle limited awd, I have noticed at 50+ miles an hour interstate or even downhill) that the car feels like there is excessive rolling resistance, and if I don;t accelerate, very soon it downshifts (have noticed this even on a downhill slope at 45 miles a hour). Service advisor said all Toyota cars as designed to downshift as soon as you take your foot from the pedal (something which sounds very strange to me, since I'm driving other makes and models as well). Seems the transmission is not tuned well. On a separate matter, I noticed several times that the car hesitates to accelerate for a few seconds when I push the accelerator a bit harder at very low speeds, such as when I need to merge into heavy traffic from a side road. It also happened when I needed to change the lanes from a very slow moving lane to one where I needed to accelerate rapidly. Again, something feels wrong about the transmission.

2000 Toyota Sienna le needs new transmission. Has 73,000 mi.

: the contact stated while driving 15mph or less, the automatic transmission shifted into neutral. Although the gearshift was not visibly seen changing gears, the vehicle was physically felt shifting down and loosing momentum. The vehicle was seen by the local dealer. The dealer reprogrammed the computer, but the problem persisted. The dealer was unable to determine how to remedy the problem.

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Sienna. The driver stated that while driving 10 mph in an attempt to increase speed, the vehicle began to hesitate and surge. The dealer stated that there was nothing they could do to assist him since the failure was electrical which was also a normal function of the vehicle. The failure mileage was 10 and the current mileage was 75,000. The consumer stated when slowing down between 5- 10 mph and then speeding back up again, the van would hesitate and then surge forward to the point of jerking the consumers neck. The vehicle would slow down once the accelerator was released. Also, the drivers side door was exhibiting a popping/scrapping noise when it was being opened or closed. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed there was a recall regarding the thinness of metal which allowed the cracking of the metal where the door stop was attached to the door. Updated 04/21/10.

Delayed engine power while turning, then sudden surge of power. Dealership response working as designed - drive-by-wire causes the delay.

Transmission hesitation and lurch forward. Dealer says this is characteristic of transmission. Also, rear ac not cold - dealer says this is normal performance.

Vehicle hesitates and lurches forward on acceleration. Driver gets jerked forward at an abnormal rate. After acceleration upon leaving a stoped state vehicle does not respond and/or hesitates for a second then lurches forward. Dealer has been notified many times and they tell me this is a characteristic with the new fly wheel design in the Toyotas. They agree it is not right but tell me there is nothing I can do about it?? as a consumer this in unacceptable. Am starting to have neck problems as a result of doing a lot of local in town driving and constantly stopping and starting with being jerked around in my van. Even the passengers feel it. I think this is a major safety issues since it can create physical damage to the driver and cause an accident if van does not respond to accelerator when expected too. Tires may spin out too when the jerky acceleration occurs.

Contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. The vehicle has severe hesitation, almost impossible to drive the vehicle on a wet road or on a snowy road. Gas pedal and transmission do not seem to connect. No crashes. No police reports. No fires. The vehicle has been to Toyota dealer 5 times; the mechanic came back and said they found nothing wrong with vehicle. (11/08/05) the transmission would down shift very harsh on turns and on hills. The service dealer placed an upgraded computer in the vehicle but the problem worsened.

2005 Sienna le auto transmission will not downshift properly at slowing / low speeds. Feels like shifts into neutral at times. Has been checked by dealer every 5,000 mile oil change with same answer - nothing found.

The transmission has a delay when running at low speeds and when having to change gears up or down under a change of load condition; like going uphill or passing. Very noticeable when you take your foot off of the gas for a moment, like turning into a street or driveway. The van will jump into a gear like if someone had popped the clutch on a manual transmission. I have had this problem since I have owned the van. I have taken it the dealer several times and they always say there nothing wrong. I have had the transmission fluid changed several times but nothing changes. I thought I was the only one having this problem until just now; after reading about how many other have the same issue. I wish Toyota would just tell the truth about the vehicles that they make instead of just acting like it is always the customers who is at fault. This will be my last Toyota. I have owned three in the past, no more. Especially since all of the other things that has happen with their cars lately.

Problems with the dunlop run flat tires and the transmission on the 2004 Toyota Sienna. During a 3000 mile service the technician notice that on or more of the tires was balding. All four tire were replaced. A few day after the 3000 mil maintenance the vehicle would not move because there was no transmission fluid.

2004 Toyota Sienna experiencing hesitation when trying to accelerate. The problem would occur when starting to move the vehicle, when the consumers removed his foot and placed it back on the throttle, severe hesitation would occur.

Toyota 2005 Sienna Mini van xle fwd - accelerating from low speed roll (around 5 to 10 mph) the car essentially experiences a stalling condition where it will not accelerate for a few seconds. More gas pedal depression results in a sudden occasionally almost uncontrollable acceleration.

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna with a transmission hesitation problem. (a problem toytoa denies but there are thousands of complaints about it to dealers) it is dangerous in snowy conditions as the 2 second hesitation results in a slowing down before an abrupt upshift/power surge that breaks the wheels loose in the snow. This then causes the traction control system to engage. I was stuck repeatedly and in many dangerous conditions in the mountains in an attempt to get to a ski area due to this problem. Toyota needs to have some pressure put on them.

Hesitation when accelerating. Particularly when already rolling at less than 5 miles an hour.

Car would not go over 45-50 mph. Currently at dealership for a new transmission .

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There is a slight, but annoying and unsafe, hesitation with the transmission when accelerating from a turn or from stopping. I have brought it back to the dealer for numerous TSB upgrades, including replacing of a new transmission. However, nothing has changed !!!!!!.

I backed down the driveway. There was a trash can in the way at the bottom of the driveway, so I put the car in park and hopped out to move the can. I turned to get back in the car and found it moving forward up the driveway. I chased the car up the driveway. It ran over a joggerbuggy and struck a retaining wall before I was able to get into it and stop it.

When slowing to make a turn the transmission will on occasion hesatate and then surge.

I could not shift out of park upon starting the engine and the vsc and abs light came on, I had to set and release the emergency brake and the brake pedal randomly then re-attempt to shift out of park which would then enable me to shift into drive or reverse.

2004 Toyota Sienna xle van. When accelerating from a coast the van hesitates. Have to press the accelerator harder to force a hard downshift. This is very dangerous when a predictable acceleration is needed. It seems like the transmission control gets confused on when to downshift. Probably a result of what Toyota has to do to keep the mileage rating up. The number of times this happens are to numerous to count.

Vehicle transmission appears to have a significant delay, dead spot or trouble deciding what gear it wants to be in. Primarily when accelerating if hesitation or a lifting of the pedal takes place and then gas is applied again the car lurches after hesitation and downshifts jerking the car. This can't possibly be healthy for the vehicle transmission long term as well as other car parts. I have had to change my driving habits to account for the poor design of the transmission. I've registered my complaint w/the dealer and they've checked to see if the latest software was on my vehicle and it was. They also indicated that there have been other complaints of this type. The major concern is long term and if my transmission goes bad 3-5-7-10 years from now, how much of this is actually Toyota's fault from poor design but then I have to incur the cost. At a large price tag initially this is not fair to the consumer.