Passenger sliding power door stopped working. I manually tried to open the door and it fell off the rear hinge point. I am a mechanical engineer specializing in product testing. I worked in the automotive component industry for 11 years. I can say that this door system is way under engineered. Toyota should be forced to fix this. People are reporting this all over the internet. I called Toyota when just the auto open/close system was broken. They told me I'm on my own. That system fails in two ways. 1.) if the auto open/close system fails it should break way from the hinging system so the door will just function manually. Instead it jams the door in the position it broke in. That is a safety issue. 2.) the hinge system is way under engineered for load. I am a 180lb 46 yr old engineer who is soft around the middle. I'm not very strong. I took the door off the hinge! that should not able to happen with such a low force rate. I see this as a safety issue as well. Toyota engineers should be ashamed of them selves. That van cost over 40K brand new. It's only 6 years old and has been well cared for. T's a family/child carrier. It should be designed like a tank in my opinion.

- Bristol, NH, USA

Sliding doors open when driving.

- Phillipston, MA, USA

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna. Both sliding doors now have broken cables and will not open from the inside. They only open when forced open from the outside. The repair cost from a Toyota dealer is $1,600 per door. The part itself cost $1,100 plus the labor. The doors now are a safety issue since my son can not get out of the back quickly if needed. The cables rusted and severed while opening. The doors do not have a manual override to allow opening properly once the electronic operation is compromised.

- Ravenswood, WV, USA

The contact owns 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the motor cable for the passenger side sliding door fractured. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the motor assembly unit failed and would need to be replaced. The door was no longer operable because the dealer stated that it was opened, it would cause further damage. The dealer did not give a cause for the failure. The failure and current mileage was 88,000.

- Columbia, MD, USA

The 2004 Toyota Sienna xle van that we own has two power sliding doors. The cable to the passenger door snapped preventing the door from functioning as it should. The motor on the door is still in working order, but you cannot replace just the cable, you must replace the entire unit including the motor at $1200. We converted the door to a manual door and that worked for about 2 weeks. The door stopped functioning entirely and we are no longer able to open the passenger sliding door on our vehicle. This is a potential safety risk to us as we haul our 3 children in the back of the van. For example, when fueling the vehicle, the driver side sliding door is inoperable and in the event of a fire, the children would be trapped in the back of the vehicle. We have had very little luck in finding a used part and will hopefully be getting a new part to fix the problem in the near future.

- Dixon, IL, USA

I own a 2004 Toyota Sienna with power sliding doors. The cable on my driver's side door snapped, causing the door to not be able to close. My husband sat in the back seat and held the door shut while we drove it to the service center. The repair was estimated to be around $1500, so we had them disable the power feature and we now use the door manually. This cable snapping on 2004 Sienna vehicles is a known problem which they refuse to issue a recall for. The sliding doors are poorly designed and dangerous. I currently drive a newborn and a toddler around in my Sienna and I don't trust the doors that are supposed to protect them. Please encourage Toyota to issue a recall and fix these broken sliding doors!

- Rochester, NY, USA

A few months ago a cable snapped on the passenger side sliding side doors. Without the cable the door will not open properly. Recently, the same cable snapped on the driver's side sliding side door. Now that door will not open. I have been told that an entire new cable assembly must be placed in each door. Without the sliding side doors opening the only means of ingress and egress from the vehicle is through either the rear hatch or the front doors. It is both a safety concern as well as very inconvenient to not be able to use those doors. The side sliding doors, back when they still worked, were also prone to freezing shut whenever it got cold outside and the doors would not open unless they thawed. Again, this made the passenger compartment difficult to access and dangerous in case of an emergency.

- Bremerton, WA, USA

2004 Toyota Sienna: Automatic sliding door fails to open or only opens intermittently. In 2008 I spent over $1000 to have this exact problem fixed and it is happening again. The passenger sliding door will not open, whether in the automatic mode or if changed to manual. This not only shouldn't happen, but is a safety hazard. If I were in an accident and my kids were in the car - they would not be able to get out of the car. Toyota has not taken responsibility for this problem. There are over 500 posts on edmunds.com about the exact same problem! it is about time to do something about this!!!!

- Naperville, IL, USA

2004 Toyota Sienna xle driver's side power door cable (part of the motor and clutch assembly) frayed and snapped. Toyota recommends full replacement of motor and assembly part at $1200 plus labor $660. (wire material cost estimated at $20 or less.) issue: Design defect leading to material stress/breakage.

- Parkville, MO, USA

2004 Toyota Sienna driver door problem. Door makes cracking and popping when being opened have been told that it is a broken weld but the door has never been pushed to far or compromised in any way that would have broken weld. Toyota basically washed their hands of any responsibility though from reading posts on this site and others it is a common problem.

- Marmet, WV, USA

We have a 2004 Toyota Sienna, which we bought new. Very often we've had both rear sliding doors frozen shut when it gets cold. If we attempt to open one of the doors, the motor opens it a fraction of an inch and then won't close again completely so that we have to drive with the door not entirely closed. I don't feel that I can have my child in the back safely with this situation, not to mention the inconvenience of having to climb over seats to get in and out. I will not take it on the highway with any passengers for fear the door will suddenly open on the highway without warning. This appears to be a problem with many 2004 Sienna vans and it should be a safety recall.

- Portland, OR, USA

We have had issues with our sliding doors on our 2004 Toyota Sienna le AWD since we purchased it. Both doors stick whenever the temp drops below freezing. The only way to open them at times is to climb inside and throw my 6'0" 240lb body into it. Even then I've had them not open. Due to the continued stress placed on the outer handles the driver's side rear finally broke off. That was not due to me being overly physical with it either. That one was pulled off by my wife, 5'0" 120lbs.also, the passenger rear sliding door was equipped with an automatic door. The cable snapped on that a couple of months ago. That door won't even open now. I understand normal wear and tear but I believe this goes beyond that. Heaven forbid if we're in an accident because one door can't open and the other side will only open from the inside.

- Fredonia, NY, USA

My 2004 Toyota Sienna mini van power sliding door made a horrific 'snapping' sound when the cable that activates the door snapped. The snapping cable did not hurt anyone, but could have if someone was standing behind the door near the rear quarter panel window. The door is no longer functional and will cost $1500-$3000 to repair.

- Carlsbad, CA, USA

The automatic sliding passenger door on a 2004 Toyota Sienna le became stuck in the open position which did not allow the vehicle to be driven properly. It had to be forcibly closed by four adults so that we could drive the car home. The malfunction is a known defect in Toyota Sienna vehicles. The failure would occur anytime the door was opened and in fact the door would not open properly. This has created a severe safety hazard with people entering and exiting the vehicle. If there was an emergency and you had to open the door, the malfunctioning cable would prevent you from exiting the vehicle in a timely manner. The repair cost of this defect was $2,000. You have to repair this as its unsafe to drive any car with a non-functioning door. How can you drive a car with a door that will not close or one that requires several adults to close it? Toyota is well aware of this issue and has done nothing to recall this defect.

- Ashburn, VA, USA

Our 2004 Toyota Sienna has had yet another issue with the power doors. The cable on our drivers side door broke last year around 60000 miles. It would have been 1200. To fix; luckily Toyota obviously knowing it's a problem fixed it for us. When that occurred the cable snapped and slammed shut, thank god my daughter was in her car seat yet. Now at 65000 miles the passenger side door cable snapped and the door actually popped off the track and would not close. Glad it happened at home and not away while we were out especially with two young kids and 20 degree weather. Toyota said that they are not going to fix it this time even the many services managers admitted it's a major problem. This is extremely unsafe and hopefully it does not take some one like a child being serious hurt or even killed for Toyota to own up to it. They even released a tsb on the issue.

- West Lawn, PA, USA

Power sliding door failure 2004 Sienna the power sliding door on my 2004 Sienna has failed 3 times. The first 2 were covered under warranty, but the 3rd time is not. This is a very costly repair as the whole door needs to be taken apart and is estimated @ $1,400. It is also a safety issue as children cannot get out by themselves if they need to in a crash. I have contacted Toyota corporate to no avail. My case # [xxx]. nothing in a vehicle should need to be repaired three times!! there are 1000S of complaints and once again Toyota will not do something until someone dies in a crash as a result of this! information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Baltimore, MD, USA

The driver door makes a load clicking noise when you open or close the door. The door does not open or close properly. I have not repaired it yet but have been told it is a spot weld that has failed. I also read online that this is a very common problem on the 2004 Sienna.

- Indian Head, MD, USA

The automatic door failed and almost crushed my 21 month old. It opened and as she was getting out it started closing. It did not detect her and I had to forcefully push it open before it closed her in it. Then again the same thing happened with my 10 year old luckily she thought to get out of the way.

- Bryant, AR, USA

Toyota Sienna xle automatic sliding door jampep, and caused the door can't be closed when I had a car full of children and dogs, how can I drive home without the door close, this is a big safety issue for myself and my children.

- Pearland, TX, USA

Toyota Sienna XLT 2004 power door cable snaps due to exposure to weather. Cable then jams in door, causing door to malfunction as daughter was exiting the van.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA