Steering gets stiff hard to turn steering

- Baltimore, MD, USA

Our 2002 Toyota Sienna had the gear shift repaired at a major atlanta area Toyota dealer on May 5, 2014. The gear shift replacement required the entire steering column to be disassembled. About one week after that repair, the steering completely failed. The steering wheel turned with absolutely no control of the wheels. By sheer luck this steering failure occurred in a parking lot after just traveling on the interstate. Had this steering failure occurred at interstate speeds, this may have been fatal. The vehicle was returned to the same major atlanta area Toyota dealer and the cause of the steering failure was identified as "steering joint bolt backed off from connection". I was told that the steering failure was caused by one bolt coming loose. The steering failure was corrected by "re-tightened' bolt with lock tight". in summary, the repair of a gear shift by a certified Toyota dealer service center resulted in complete steering failure due to one bolt that "backed off from connection" or that was not properly tightened or secured. It is very concerning that Toyota"S steering column design has the potential to cause complete steering failure when one bolt comes loose. It is also a major issue that a certified Toyota dealer service center is unable to safely dissemble and reassemble the steering column and provide a safe and drivable vehicle. I would like to find out how often this type of steering failure has occurred on this and similarly designed Toyota vehicles. I would also like to know how many crashes, serious injuries or deaths have resulted from this issue. This certainly can?T be the only occurrence. I feel it is imperative to alert owners of this vehicle as well as authorized repair centers of the situation or issue a recall to ensure that the steering joint bolt is secure. Video can be seen at: Https://www.youtube.com/watch"V=6xb-cpkr4hy updated 1/9/2015

- Alpharetta, GA, USA

I was driving the car to take dinner with my family when arrive to the restaurant I notice was a lot smog in the motor I open the hood was a lot smog so I plug out the battery and I call a mechanic and he tellme the fire was in the power steering pump he disconnect the cable from the power steering and tellme to bring the car to the dealer because is a safety problem and maybe have a recall. Thats by I want to no if is cover for the warranty or recall.

- Campbell, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the gear shift failed to shift out of park and drive. The failure recurred sporadically. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis where it was stated that the steering column needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

- Syracuse, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Sienna. The contact was driving approximately 5 mph when the steering wheel became abnormally hard to maneuver. The contact stated that he was able to finally move the steering wheel but the vehicle would not respond. The vehicle was towed to the to the contacts place or residence. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 57,000.

- Minehill, NJ, USA

My wife was backing out of a parking space on a slight incline. When she stopped and tried to put the car into drive, the gearshift broke. We had the van towed to the Toyota dealer and they determined that the metal parts into which the gear shaft inserts had broken clean in half. Neither the customer service rep nor the mechanic had ever seen that happen before they claimed. Nevertheless, Toyota did not deem this to be a defect and we had to pay close to $800 to have it fixed. Had this happened on a steeper hill or had my wife been pulling out into a busy street, an accident most definitely could have occurred. I have kept the parts which I believe were faulty/defective. The parts that were replaced were a tilt steering support, a steering tube sub-assembly, a shaft sub-assembly and a tilt steering bolt.

- Cockeysville, MD, USA