My 2004 Sienna sliding doors have failed numerous times by not opening. This happened off and on for a year. In spring of 2008 the driver side sliding door opened and would not slide back. The cable was broken and it cost us over $1100 to have it fixed and that was with a $500 goodwill credit from the dealership. Now the passenger side door has the exact same problem. After reading some other complaints and looking it up on the internet I have to ask how Toyota can ignore such a serious and dangerous issue with a car that is only 4 years old. I have a Toyota service bulletin from April 19, 2004 that states there was a production change made on the doors, but my car was produced before this. Why wouldn't Toyota be responsible enough to fix the cars prior to the change?

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna xle limited. My passenger sliding door failed. You couldn't open it from the outside and if you opened it from the inside the door would not stay closed. It cost me $1800 to fix the sensor and the motor that holds the door closed. I called Toyota to complain and out of good will, they offered to pay half of the bill. The day after I got the passenger side door fixed, the other sliding door has now failed - the drivers side door. It will not stay closed. I have a call in to the dealer to discuss this. Also, my rear hatch would not stay up and almost took off my 6 year old son's head when it came flying down on him. Toyota finally issued a recall on the pistons, so they were replaced for free. So, all three of my mechanical doors have failed.

- Dover, MA, USA

Approximately 10 months to a year ago, complained of noise with front driver door. Nothing was done by Toyota dealership. Most recently, door began making a popping sound upon opening and closing. Learned from dealership that door weld needs replacing. Contacted Toyota company, however, they will not fix. Researched web and learned other consumers are having the same problem in their 2004 - 2007 Siennas.

- Bowie, MD, USA

The left sliding door lock failed. It cannot be locked or unlocked from the outside or by using the door remote. The only way to lock or unlock it is by moving the lock button at the inside of the door manually. The dealer advised to replace the door actuator which costs $1200! the dealer charged $90 for just checking what's wrong with it.

- Irvine, CA, USA

The cable on the power door of my minivan has snapped. The door will not open, leaving only 1 access door out of the rear of the van.

- Newton, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle the passenger sliding door disengaged which caused damaged to the body of the vehicle. The contact felt that rusted cables caused the failure. The current and failure mileages were 103,000. Updated 07/08/08.

- Gillette, NJ, USA

Automatic rear door on my 2004 Toyota Sienna xle closes while removing items from trunk. I was removing a stroller and the thing started closing on me and I had to fall to the floor to get out of the way.

- San Diego, CA, USA

The sliding door on the driver's side of my 2004 Sienna has failed repeatedly in the last two years. The full assembly for the door mechanism (cable and motor) have already been replaced twice, and it is already breaking again. Once the system fails, the door becomes fully inoperable and cannot be opened/closed manually. From what I have observed directly, it seems that something along the cable track is wearing away the plastic coating on the cable (I know because the plastic is partially dangling off the cable below the rear window, just like it did last time). The last time the cable assembly was replaced, a large portion of the plastic had peeled away leaving the cable stripped bare. Fortunately, the door failed before the cable actually snapped from wear-down as I have read in other cases. It just doesn't seem right that the door assembly continues to fail every 6 to 8 months. There definitely has to be a manufacturer defect.

- Tarpon Springs, FL, USA

In the past 5 months, I have been having problems with the automatic sliding doors on both sides of the van. After activating the close button on the side or with the remote, the doors close and then re-open by them selves repeatedly. On several occasions we had closed the door and driven off and the door would open by it self. This is dangerous, someone or something could have fallen out. When the doors will not stay closed, you have to physically using your body to push and hold the door in the close position to make it stay closed. I took it to the dealer and they charged me 2 hrs labor to look at it and they could not replicate the problem. They said if it keeps happening he suggested changing all the lock buttons and a new ECU for about $900 as I am out of warranty as of this past March. This is crazy and dangerous.

- Alameda, CA, USA

We own a 2004 Toyota Sienna limited minivan and several times the back door has started to shut on my wife and son. The back door is automatic, and when my wife or son has leaned in to get something or put something in, it has attempted to shut on them. Fortunately it will sense that they are there and not continue to close, although it does take some force before it reverses.

- San Ramon, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The vehicle was taken to the dealer at 26,000 miles because the driver side door was making a loud popping, squeaking, and clunking sound when driving over a slight incline or bump. At that time, the vehicle was still under warranty and was repaired by the dealer. At 41,898 miles, the vehicle began making noise again, but only much louder. When the vehicle was taken to the dealer, they informed her that the well mechanism inside the door failed. The cost to replace the door was $3,000. The vehicle is currently out of warranty. The purchase date and speed were unknown. The current mileage was 41,898 and failure mileage was 40,000.

- San Dimas, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the driver side door made a loud clunking noise when opened. He felt resistance when opening the door and it had to be pushed in order to open from the passenger compartment. The dealer stated that the door check part was unwelded. The current and failure mileages were 68,563.

- Orange Park, FL, USA

This is for a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The driver side door is not closing completely. It appears the welding for the door check is the culprit. The door does not feel secure when closed. I brought the door to the Toyota dealership and they said it was out of warranty. You are sol. I called Toyota customer service and they told me to call the dealership.

- Berkeley Heights, NJ, USA

Driver's side passenger door internal mechanism is broken. Auto body shop states they have seen this failure on multiple Toyota Sienna vans of this model era 2004 and later. Will cost $1,500 to repair including welding of failed metal part in internal door mechanism. Updated 11/1/07

- Newbury, MA, USA

Right now our middle row seatbelt is not retracting. I see the recall notice and am taking it in. Our other issue is this. About a year ago, when the car was only two years old but over 36,000 mile warranty, our automatic sliding side doors began to malfunction. The one on the driver's side has to be manually closed and the one on the passenger side is sluggish to respond. We thought it was a battery or alternator problem. Both were replaced. The problem remained so we took the Sienna in to the dealer. The dealer reported that both door motors would need to be replaced at a cost of over $6,000.

- Shepherdstown, WV, USA

My problem started approximately back in Nov 2006. I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna that has it's driver side door hinge/latch defective. It started making a clicking sound when the door is opened almost as if it is getting caught. Now that my wife has taken the car to the dealer she was informed that this is a rare occurrence on this model and that the only remedy is to get a new door at a cost of around $2300. I understand that although the car is passed the warranty period (I use my car for long family trips and therefore have high- highway mileage--around 65K) I feel that this is either a design defect or a structural problem since it started within 2.5 years of purchase. I had my wife contact an independent mechanic who actually pointed out the problem by showing us that the connecting area of the door is actually cracked!!! I proceeded to call Toyota of na and they informed me that they've never heard of such a thing and that my car was out of warranty. A search at your site uncovered what I feel is a similar complaint (ODI id number 10167890). Like that person I feel that this is a structure defect and it has nothing to do with the high mileage of my car. I have owned over 18 cars of all classes, mileage, and ages and have never experienced this or even heard of such a thing. I'm not a structural engineer but it seems to me that this is a case of metal fatigue. Could you please contact me as I'm concerned that this will only worsen with time to the point that this door will not be usable or actually become a hazard. What actions can I take to get the manufacturer to at least acknowledge this defect? what's worse, now that my car has this defect I feel my vehicle's resale value is significantly reduced. Thank you for your help!

- Land O Lakes, FL, USA

The power sliding door does not stay open when on a downhill slope - the door opens fully then closes immediately. The dealer has tried to fix it three times without success.

- Portland, OR, USA

My 4 year old daughter had her hand caught and held in the trailing edge (rear edge) of the power sliding door on our 2004 Toyota Sienna LX we reversed the door as soon as possible, but she was held for about 10 seconds with the door totally closed over her mid palm. This led to a cut over the palm, but she is now using the hand normally. I do not think there is any long term damage. I am a hand surgeon by profession and am concerned that the door has no sensors for reversal when closing against resistance, other than some sensors on the front edge of the door in the molding. In my opinion, serious injury could occur to any limb that gets caught in the trailing edge since there is nothing to sense or prevent the door closing on a limb. I would hope some sort of sensor could be placed at the motor level similar to the anti pinch mechanism of power windows. I described the problem to Toyota and their response was less than encouraging or helpful. The door is functioning normally and this is just how the design works. The design needs help imo.

- Prescott, AZ, USA

The right rear automatic door closure mechanism exploded sending plastic shrapnel forwards hitting my wife in the face. She was sitting sideways with her feet out of the van she reached backwards and pressed the close button located on the pillar. There was a big noise that sounded like a rock hitting the van. We looked for damage to van then discovered the broken cable dangling and the door would not close. Luckily my wife had sunglasses on.

- Tillsonburg, 00, USA

5 year old son had wrist broken by automatic sliding door in minivan. Door closed on his wrist, fracturing both arm bones. Door closed on his arm and did not re-open immediately as door is designed to do.

- Rutledge, PA, USA