Hatchback/liftgate Hinge Problems of Toyota Sienna - part 1

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the liftgate fell on him as he was loading items into the trunk of the vehicle. The contact moved out of the way as the liftgate proceeded to close independently without warning. The contact was unable to stop the liftgate from independently closing. The dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000.

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The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the liftgate struts fractured without warning. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but would not repair the vehicle because the extended warranty coverage expired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 143,900.

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The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that during cold temperatures, the rear liftgate failed to remain open without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the rear struts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000.

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Fail of automatic rear hatch on replaced recall struts. Hatch will not stay open, causing possible injury. Hatch broke a broomstick I had used to prop door open.

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On multiple occasions our lift gate after being opened manually slowly started to come down 12 inches then stop. On two separate occasions it fell down, once on my husbands back and once on mine, while we were changing our sons diapers. After this someone was always there to hold it making sure this didnt happen again. Once the weather turned cold it had failed completely with visible oil/grease showing on shocks. We were told "sorry" by the dealership, they said it was only automatic lift gates. We have been told multiple times the same shocks were used on both models just one opened by hand and another by motor but the same shocks held it open and these are the same ones that have failed. We cant understand why Toyota hasnt issued a total recall since so many people have had problems and injuries. We feel very fortunate that we were able to throw an arm up to help break the fall of it on our backs, so there were only bruises.

The rear hatch on my 2006 Toyota Sienna xle had the struts replaced under recall. Now, the power hatch will occasionally fail to close. I have started driving the van on one or two occasions without realizing that the rear hatch was still open because it had failed to close. Luckily, nothing fell out of the back of the van, but I think it is a real danger. I brought it up with Toyota, and they told me it would cost $1500 to fix. The problem did not start until the recalled lift supports were put in so I don't think I should be responsible for these incompatible parts. I did an online search of this problem, and it is clear that this is a very common problem for those of us who have had our lift supports changed out.

Rear hatch hydraulic lifters fail catastrophically on 2004 Toyota Sienna, resulting in heavy liftgate falling on occupant in 2008. Lifters were replaced and again failed 8/2010.

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. While attempting to open the hatchback, it failed to fully open. The contact had to apply force to the lid in order for it to fully open. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. In addition, the contact stated that there was a noise coming from the front driver side door and the door opened further than normal. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the door arm needed to be welded. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000.

The rear lift gate gas support struts, that have been previously recalled for rear power lift gates, are failing now on non-powered rear lift gates on Toyota Siennas. The rear lift gate on the Toyota Sienna started to fail to stay in the up/open position about 3 months ago. Now the gas support struts have completely failed and the rear lift gate will not stay open leading to potential injury to anyone underneath the lift gate on the Toyota Sienna. The failure occurs now all of the time and the gate on the Toyota Sienna will not stay open. The same lift gate support was already recalled for vehicles that have power lift gates, but it is now happening on manual lift gates. The Sienna was taken to a local Toyota dealer who refused to repair the support strut. Toyota previously conducted a special service campaign (recall) 80c for powered rear lift gates in 2008. The part number for the previous recall is the same part failure with non-powered rear lift gates.

Rear hatch struts suddenly failed to hold rear hatch up, coming down on people when they are removing contents from the rear compartment of the vehicle. Rear hatch is hard to open as well.

2009 Toyota Sienna - raised the power rear hatch to load luggage. Was under the hatch when it started to automatically close on me. I had to use force for it not to close on me. Not sure what would have happened if it was a child putting something in the back. I don't think a young child could have stopped it from squeezing them. It would not stay open unless we manually held it. Had to manually hold it open the whole week of vacation. When returned, took it into the dealer the struts were bad and they replaced them under warranty. Works fine now.

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I own a 2010 Toyota Sienna purchased back in sept. 2009. Power liftgate closes itself everytime when open using the keyfob or the button inside the cabin. This was happening like couple of months after I got the car. There were several incidents that me and family members were hit our heads and shoulders by self closing liftgate when didn't know what the cause was. After researching about this problem, Toyota had recalled Sienna in the past about this same problem for older models for faulty strut used for power liftgates. I had not taken the car to the dealer yet because of time. I use the liftgate in manual mode to prevent the problem for possible injury until I fix the problem. I will be taking the car to the dealer soon.

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The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. When the contact lifted the liftgate on her vehicle, it dropped down on her head. The contact was not injured. The hinges failed and caused the failure. The dealer stated that the vehicle would be repaired for free since it was part of an extended warranty program. There was a recall for the power liftgates, but not for the manual liftgates. The contact found several complaints about this failure and feels that it is a major safety hazard. The vehicle is currently at the dealer being repaired. The VIN was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 43,000.

This winter I noticed a hissing sound coming from one of the struts that lifts the hatch to my 2005 Toyota Sienna. Then, several days later, the hatch opened and then slammed down on my head and continued to drop. From then on, the hatch opens when the button is pushed but does not stay open on its own, but instead drops on the head of anyone in the way. Very dangerous. The hatch is crushingly heavy. Van is less than 3 years old, but out of warranty because it's past mileage cut off. Is a hatch even affected by mileage?! Toyota repair costs about $600!! this is a safety issue and has happened to many Toyota Siennas. Toyota should step up and recall!.

Both gas struts that support rear lift gate (manual) on back of minivan failed and the lift gate is no longer supported by struts. Gate is very heavy, and is difficult to open. And it does not stay open, making access to the truck impossible without second person their to hold up the heavy gate.

For the past month or so, the power lift gate seemed to not go up/raise as high as I thought it did. Then yesterday the power lift gate unexpectedly closed down. Using the key fob/remote I raised it only to have it close again. I tried lifting it manually and it closed again. I locked the car and tried the lift gate again and it closed down. This makes the rear of the car inaccessible since it immediately closes down. This is very disconcerting since the door is very heavy and this is a Mini-van which is frequently purchased by families with children. It would have been terrifying and possibly fatal to my young children if they were by the rear of the Mini-van when this thing unexpectedly closed.

1. Events leading up to the failure: pressing either button (in the main cabin or on the key fob) top open the power rear lift gate 2. Failure and its consequences: upon reaching the fully opened position (or very close to?), the power rear lift gate reverses and automatically closes on the operator without user intervention. Since it's common to proceed to extract contents from the rear of the vehicle after opening the rear lift gate, injury ensues due to the powered closing of the rear lift gate on your head/arm/should/child. This has caused numerous minor injuries due to the significant force required to prevent the door from closing on the operator 3. The dealer has now replaced the rear lift gate struts twice and it's currently being worked on for a third time after a complaint to Toyota corporate. The failures still continue and the dealer has said they have no clue how to fix the problem (during the second replacement of the rear lift gate struts).

The hydraulic pistons which assist in raising and stabilizing the rear liftgate in the open or lifted of my 2005 Toyota Sienna failed. The gate is difficult to raise and will not stay in the open or lifted position without falling. The vehicle was purchased in may of 2005 and has 46,000 miles.

The lift supports on the rear lift gate of our 2004 Toyota Sienna has failed again during the middle of December 2007. The rear lift gate struck my wife on her head/shoulder but luckily did not cause her serious injury when it failed to remain open. We had the same problem in November 2005. At that time the repair/replacement was covered by warranty. This time, being that the mileage is now plus 46000, we thought that the extended "bumper to bumper" warranty offered by the auto dealer would cover the replacement again but was informed that the warranty did not covered struts, shocks etc. We purchased the vehicle new in August of 2004 and in November of 2005 the supports failed. After being replaced they failed again in December of 2007. The vehicle is used by my wife for transportation to and from work and other normal usage. Obviously something is wrong with the design of the supports.

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna xle with power liftgate. Last month one of the two supporting strut is failing and I heard a leaking sound, then the door just automatically powering closing on me without my operation. I use a lot of strength to fight it back, almost hurt me. This is a serious safety problem with the defected strut. After this incident, the liftgate can power open it but not all the way, and very easily fall down to close with just a little touch of the pinky finger strength. I did some research and found out that Toyota didn't recall for this safety issue with the defected strut, they only issue a technical service bulletin bo001-07 to address it. Since my warranty just expired on April 07, I might not be able to replace it under warranty. For me, this is a very serious safety problem that it might result injury if a child is under the powered liftgate with this defected strut when it unexpected closing down with power lift. Please investigate this safety issue. Thank you! updated 01-16-08. Updated.

Liftgate struts on 2004 Toyota Sienna van do not hold the liftgate open. Once the door is opened nothing supports the weight and the door slams shut. Extemely dangerous for children or adults unloading the rear hatch. Struts have failed. Toyota refuses to acknowledge the problem.

Failure of the liftgate struts on my 2004 Toyota Sienna. For about two weeks, the liftgate failed to open fully. Then one morning, my son attempted to open the liftgate and it failed completely, nearly crushing him. He was able to move and let the door close without injury.

Failure of the liftgate struts on my 2004 Toyota Sienna. Today I was opening my rear door to remove an item, I continued to fully open the rear door and released the door when it suddenly began to close rapidly at full force. I pushed my two children, 1 and 4, out of the way of the falling door to prevent it from falling on their heads. No one was injured and there was no warning. I will contact Toyota to fix the problem if not I will have to pay for it myself. It is something that I use daily and it must be fixed.

The rear liftgate on the Toyota Sienna does not hold and will not stay up. This creates a serius hazard, especially when children are nearby.

I tried to open the rear exterior door in the back and the handle made a snapping sound and is now stuck in the open position and now the door will not open on the outside and I don't see a way to open it on the inside. I purchased the van to transport my grandkids. Now I'm fearful to take them anywhere in it now for their safety reasons. Just in case I have to get in that way for an emergency.

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In December, 2006, my tailgate closed on its own, injuring my wife. Toyota replaced the rear stays (struts) under warranty, including the addition of some brackets. At first everything was fine. But when the weather turned colder (below 20f), the rear hatch would not open on its own unless opening under power. And then a couple of days ago (still very cold), the hatch closed on its own under power again. This time, my daughter and I were both in its path, but fortunately, so was a shopping cart. There were fortunately no injuries this time. I am frustrated that just 45 days after the problem was "repaired" it is already happening again.

I have a Toyota Sienna 2004 xle. In late December 2006, we started having problems with the power rear door closing once opened. I just researched and learned of case ea06020 of the investigation into this problem. The door is completely non-functioning, sometimes closing slowly and sometimes slamming with such force we were afraid it would take off an arm or leg. The door came slamming down on our son's leg who luckily had a ski boot on which protected him from his foot being severely damaged. Toyota says it needs new struts and will not pay to correct the problem. After my research it seems that even the new struts they are installing do not work. We have not had the struts replaced - we just don't use the door unless we have an adult to physically hold it open. We did see fluid leak from the struts when the problem started in December 2006. We are hoping Toyota will have to recall this serious problem and fix it correctly.

I noticed one morning when opening the rear liftgate of my Toyota Sienna that the "door" or liftgate very slowly came back down. The next time I used it in a morning, I used the power lift, stood under the door once it was fully opened and it came crashing back down on me. Now, I have to hold it open or use something to wedge it open.

In December we took our 2004 Sienna in because the rear liftgate began closing on us expectedly. We have 3 young children and fear they will be seriously injured or killed. I see there is an investigation into this exact problem. Both Toyota corporate & the dealership have refused to fix it because it is out of warranty.

I've got a 2005 Toyota Sienna xle with the power rear hatch. I think I've verified the problem with the hatch not retracting when it encounters an obstacle. Last year (first year of ownership) the hatch closed on me and would not retract. And, I was pushing back on this thing by arching my back. I'm not sure how I got out from under it but I did. It pretty much freaked me out. It was cold, and there was snow on the van. There was also an ice dam in the gap at the top of the door. I originally attributed my incident to this ice dam. (btw - Chrysler's don't have this problem because they have a piece of plastic attached to the door that prevents ice from getting into this opening. ) I continued to test my hatch on occasion from then on all throughout the summer and the fall. It worked just fine until Dec 8, 2006. Dec 8, 2006, the temperature dropped to 33 degrees fahrenheit. It was a clear day. There was no snow. The hatch would not retract when I pulled back on it. It closed - even though I began applying upward pressure while it was still 90% open. If I had been between the closing hatch and bumper, I could have been badly hurt. If my children were there, it could have been worse. I am convinced that whatever is being used as a sensor in the door mechanism loses sensitivity during freezing temperatures. I'm suggesting that the reason the failure to retract can't be replicated at the service centers is because the car has warmed up enough by the time it gets there, or when it is worked on in a heated garage, the sensor then begins to work correctly because it is now "warm". Each time I've had the problem, my car was stone cold. It sat out overnight during freezing or near freezing temperatures while in my drive way. The engine had not been started. I was using my rear hatch to load/unload the van only. Now that the temperature has moved up into the 40's-50's, the hatch appears to retract correctly when it encounters an obstacle.

My liftgate on our 05 Sienna van began acting very strange, not opening fully, closing on people while in the back of the van, almost causing injury to my 9 yr. Old. Very odd behavior. The dealer said we need to replace the stay sub-assembly and two brackets.

Rear hatch unexpectedly fell onto head.

I own a 2004 Toyota Sienna and the liftgate struts have failed. No injuries as of 8/27/06.

I went to put boxes in the rear of my 2005 Toyota Sienna le and as soon as I lifted the door, it fell on my head. After looking at the door, I noticed what appeared to be oil on my bumper and the ground right below where the struts holding the door were. It worked perfectly fine the previous day, but I am concerned that this really could have injured my children if it were them opening the door. The door will no longer stay up by itself and it is a very heavy door. There was absolutely no indication that there was a problem with the door prior to this. I called the dealership and since I am out of warranty, I will have to pay for the replacement. On top of that, they have replaced the strut so I also will have to pay for new brackets. The 2004 have a TSB on that very part, why not the 2005?? isn't it the same part??.

2004 Toyota Sienna van tailgate drops, hydraulic not function fell on my head it is permanently malfunctioning.