The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the power motor unexpectedly engaged, which forced the power lift gate to the fully closed position. A serious injury could occur if someone was struck by the lift gate when it fell down or closed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and a technician concluded that his VIN was excluded from recall # 084244000, structure; body; hatchback/liftgate. Since he was ineligible for a free remedy, the vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileages were 87,000.

- Wilmington, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. While placing packages in the rear of the vehicle, the liftgate fell on the contact's head without warning. The dealer replaced the struts. One month later, while holding her infant and retrieving packages form the rear, the liftgate automatically fell and struck the infant. The manufacturer stated that they were investigating the failure, but have not reached any conclusions. The failure and current mileages were 31,000.

- Farmington, MI, USA

2005 xle Toyota Sienna - back lift gate goes up and should stay but comes back down. Comes down and pushes on what or whoever is standing there, goes up, and comes back down again and again.

- Tampa, FL, USA

Mechanism holding lift gate in open position failed. Lift gate no longer stays open without support.

- Round Rock, TX, USA

Liftgate on 2005 Toyota Sienna xle limited with the power liftgate option. Gradually stopped lifting and upon several occasions, would lift up completely and as I was loading cargo into the rear it came down pinning me between it and the bumper. The shocks were not strong enough to hold the weight of the liftgate and it had started to go down and the power closing feature took over.

- Birmingham, AL, USA

Please reference existing NHTSA action number: EA06020 struts for the rear power liftgate failed suddenly. Initial behavior was rear liftgate opening more slowly than normal, and began to occur during colder weather temperatures. Then liftgate struts suddenly failed completely- after opening the liftgate, it fell down with full weight (almost zero resistance) onto driver who was under the liftgate.

- Sunnyvale, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna xle. The current mileage and approximate failure mileage was 46,000 miles. There was liftgate strut failure. The automatic door on the vehicle was slow when opening, and occasionally it did not open. Without warning, the liftgate closed on its own and almost caused injury with the contact. There was an open investigation on the vehicle for that component, EA06020. The date of purchase was unknown. Updated 01/29/08

- Indian Trail, NC, USA

Rear door will not stay in the open position. Door has to be held open or it will descend on head and/or shoulders, causing injury/pain. Appears that rear door stays have failed.

- Mt. Pleasant, SC, USA

2005 Toyota Sienna liftgate cylinder failed and hatch did not stay open hitting me on the head.

- Holly Springs, NC, USA

Failure of rear door hatch to stay open. Defective struts (stays per Toyota) in 2005 Sienna.

- Ft. Gratiot, MI, USA

The support device for the back liftgate failed to stay up. It looks like it leaked fluid where the piston meets the cylinder. It fails everytime the door is open.

- Kennesaw, GA, USA

Lift gate will not stay open any longer. When power lift is enabled, it will open the back hatch (slowly) and immediately begin closing -- in power mode! this has some pretty fierce force behind it and am glad that we do not allow our children anywhere near it until this is fixed. One or both of the gas lifters has obviously failed. It used to be that this was bad only in cold weather but now it happens regardless of temperature (70 degrees today).

- Fort Worth, TX, USA

We have a 2005 Toyota Sienna xle limited AWD minivan with a power lift-gate. Earlier this week, after opening the lift-gate via the power remote, the door immediately slammed down. My wife was retrieving items from the trunk and was hit by the falling door. This is a very heavy door, and my wife hurt herself trying to hold it open, while getting out from under it. The lift-gate opens under power, but now will not stay open, and slams shut every time. We have since shut off the power feature, and only use the lift-gate when together. Someone holds it open, while the other loads or unloads the trunk. It is too heavy to handle alone.

- Edison, NJ, USA

My 2005 Sienna power hatch door would not hold during cold weather. When it is around 40F, the power hatch door would not stay at the top and would come back down. The dealer replaced the rear hatch struts but the problem remains. The dealer told me it is like that when the weather is cold and there is not much they can do. Here in Idaho, there are about 4 months in a year that the weather is that cold. That means I cannot used the power hatch rear door 4 months out of a year. I am just wondering why would a customer pays extra for something that they cannot use 4 months out of a year. One of the reason I purchased the limited version was because of the power hatch door. If Toyota takes the position that the power hatch door would not work when it is cold, Toyota should disclose this to all potential customers. So people can make an informed decision before they make the purchase.

- Nampa, ID, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the rear liftgate would not remain open. The dealer stated that the liftgate shocks should be replaced. As October 4, 2007, the dealer had not repaired the vehicle. There is a defect investigation open for the structure: Body: Hatchback/lift gate: Support device (NHTSA action number EA06020). The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 31,000 and current mileage was 32,000.

- Methuen, MA, USA

My daughter was placing items in the back of our 2005 Toyota Sienna xle when the power rear liftgate suddenly came down with great force and struck her on the arm/shoulder. It was with great difficulty that my daughter was able to escape from under the door. The liftgate operated on its own. This is a serious safety risk. My daughter was able to force her way free, with bruises, but a smaller person could have been seriously injured. I will talk to Toyota customer care to report this incident, but in my opinion this is a dangerous vehicle. I checked the liftgate when I arrived home and it is still operating erratically. Until this is resolved, we have turned off the power to the rear liftgate and are operating it manually.

- Santa Fe, TX, USA

I opened my rear liftgate using the power button and reached into the back of my Sienna and the door unexpectedly started closing on top of me. I was unable to push back hard enough on it and had to quickly drop to the ground to prevent being trapped and/or injured. Had my children been in their I don't know how serious it might have been.

- Port Hueneme, CA, USA

2005 Toyota Sienna bent rear shock due to part failure. Customer states that Toyota is going to make him pay for the repair to the van because it was not in recall and not under warranty. The consumer stated the rear hatch was being shut when the shock bent. The rear hatch was used minimally.

- Watertown, CT, USA

Rear liftgate stay on 2005 Toyota Sienna has leaked and failed. Result is now liftgate closes automatically on top of owner when loading and unloading. Only 25,000 miles at time of failure.

- Fullewrton, CA, USA

Toyota Sienna 2005 hydraulic lift gate failure caused lift gate to close inexpediently on head.

- Fairfax, VA, USA