1.4
hardly worth mentioning- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 127,563 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
I've only had the van for 5 months and this problem has occurred over a dozen times, beginning with the day I bought it. And every time this problem has occurred I've been driving on dry roads. It usually happens when driving around a corner, anywhere from 35-65 mph, far. All of a sudden the traction control light starts beeping, the brakes engage on their own, and then engine makes a loud noise (likely downshifting itself). It's as though the vehicle thinks it is slipping, even though it is not, I drive very cautiously so it's not me flying around a corner super fast, it also happens when my partner drives the van as well. I finally took the van to a mechanic and they told me it was the steering angle sensor that was faulty and needed to be replaced, so I spent $900 to have it replaced. I've had the van back for less then 2 weeks and just tried to take it on a road trip, got about an hour from our house and it did it again 3 times in less then 15 minutes, again driving on dry pavement and when driving on a windy highway. It's terrifying when this happens especially because it always happens when we're going around a corner, it's very dangerous and scary. It seems to be happening with a lot of other Sienna's, even newer ones. This is an expensive problem that desperately needs to be addressed, someone is going to wreck and die from this if they haven't already.
- La Pine, OR, USA
I have been having problems with the traction control. The light will randomly turn on, which brakes the wheels. The system will start beeping and saying a false traction control problem. (when the road is clear) I looked online many Toyota Siennas have this issue. It is dangerous and should be recalled to be fixed!
- Oshkosh, WI, USA
Slip indicator sensor turns on, brakes while turning causes me too loose control while driving very unsafe
- Calistoga, CA, USA
Continuous issues with traction control system almost daily. Any time vehicle veers towards the right anti-slip indicator light, alarm sounds and ABS system activates. This happens almost daily, on dry roads, going downhill or on a curve, even while switching lanes now. This happens above 20 mph. Driving becomes stressful and worry-some when alarm begins to sound and dash light come on. Fear of losing control becomes great, fear for your passengers safety as well as other drivers safety becomes real. During the past 3 months there have been 5 separate incidents in which the vehicle has lost acceleration, pulls steering in one direction and sudden break lock occurs. 2 of which took place on the freeway on ramp at a speed of 35mph, 1 driving downhill, slightly towards the right, at a speed if 20mph and the last 2 while switching lanes, 35 mph. Vehicle began losing power and slowing instead of increasing speed. There are many complaints regarding this issue with many drivers in many areas. Why isn't this being investigated?
- La Habra, CA, USA
The traction control system is activating improperly. The vehicle's anti-slip indicator warning light illuminates; an alarm sounds; the ABS system activates; and the vehicle sometimes loses power. This happens on dry roads, most commonly either going downhill or else on a curve, even a mild one. This happens above 20 mph. When it happens, the combination of alerts and sensations are very startling to the driver, creating a dangerous situation. It has occurred while trying to accelerate to merge onto a highway. This was exceptionally dangerous as the vehicle began losing power and vehicles behind us almost hit us from behind as we were slowing instead of increasing speed. From my internet searches (including NHTSA complaints), this appears to be a recurring issue with this make/model/year range. This has been happening for the past 3 months. Our vehicle has approximately 135,000 miles on the odometer.
- Orange, CA, USA
A couple of years ago, my 2005 Sienna's vsc warning lights, alarms and braking would come on while going around turns. My car had new tires, wheels were balanced and aligned. It's scary and dangerous when the brakes engage. I'm not going around sharp turns at high rates of speed. Dozens of other people have exactly the same experience, and when the brakes engage, it yanks the car hard, and has almost caused accidents to me and others. This happens to me on a regular basis. The only way to avoid it is to slow down to less than 40mph on some turns, which is dangerous when the speed limit is 65. Here's a link to the many other people's experience with this exact same thing. This is a liability and Toyota really needs to take action here. Https://www.cargurus.com/cars/discussion-C9152_ds656326?sntemlid=4322597535#msg1051125
- Imperial Beach, CA, USA
When driving at any speed above 25 mph, the traction control light on the dashboard will come on, it will beep and the brake will engage without the driver pressing the brake pedal (these all happen at the same time). This in turn locks the brakes at times and the car veers to the right. There is no reason that we can figure out that this happens. It has happened many times and three days ago, it happened twice in one day. We have taken our vehicle to hendrick Toyota in wilmington nc and provided them a video where two owners took videos each time it happened in their vehicle. I also provided them with email discussions from two different web sites where owners were discussing the issue. We believe this should be a recall for Toyota.
- Shallotte, NC, USA
The problem occurs when going out a variation of speeds 35 on the street or 60 on the highway 45 on the freeway regardless of whether we're turning or going straight both my wife and I have can I have had this problem with her we did notice that it's happy and tends to happen more on a turn. The car will come to a route abrupt stopped and the slip indicator light will come on for a brief second making a noise and then simply disappear and this happen spontaneously or sporadically which is very dangerous.
- Tucson, AZ, USA
I have a 2005 Toyota Sienna where the vsc system activated randomly and slowed our van down. When it first happened we thought that the van broke down because there was a beeping sound and it seemed like the brakes activated by itself. Kinda scared us because we were going around a turn at 60mph
- Houston, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. While driving approximately 20 mph, the vehicle started to lose power for a few seconds and the ESC warning indicator flashed. The contact stated that the failure occurred every day when exiting the highway for approximately six months. The vehicle was taken to team Toyota of princeton (2871 us-1, lawrenceville, NJ, 08648) to be diagnosed, but they could not replicate the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 161,388.
- Lawrenceville, NJ, USA
Vsc system activates the ABS while driving under normal conditions. Usually on interstate entrance/exit ramps, the vsc light comes on with loud beeping noise and activates the anti-lock brakes. The vehicle pulls either to the left or right and acceleration is affected. It's very scary! speed limit on ramp is 55mph and it happens when going 45-50mph. It's also happened while driving 35 mph. It happens at multiple locations. I've had the car checked by 3 different shops and nobody can figure out what's going on. It's a weekly occurrence.
- Sandston, VA, USA
Vsc keeps engaging / with lights and alarms, the car looses power and pulls to right. This occurs unnecessarily at different speeds below 20 mph and at 65 mph on a freeway straight away and on & off ramps of the freeway. This is happening with dry / good weather operation. I have owned this vehicle for 1 week and have had this happen at least a dozen time.
- Newbury Park, CA, USA
Airbag light for driver side blinks off and on during driving at speeds between 35-45 mph. This occurred at 209,560 +/- miles. This is occuring with other issues in the electrical modules including ABS control malfunction, power supply voltage yaw/deceleration sensor and it loses communication with steering angle sensor module. This seems to not only be an issue with my vehicle but others as well from reading many forums on Toyota Sienna vans including ones just a few years old.
- Hillsborough, NC, USA
Check engine light, vsc and trac off. As I was driving after just purchasing this vehicle from a dealer after about 60 miles or so these lights all came on the same time. I was told after a scanner was placed on the vehicles computer system that it is due to either catalytic convertor/O2 sensor malfunctions.this is an important exhaust and emission component designed to burn up toxic exhaust fumes that sets off these lights. This is a major issue with not only this vehicle but other Toyota. This needs to be addressed. We in the usa would like to breath clean air and it doesn't seem feasible to have to continue to "fix" these sensors designed to make consumers spend large amounts of money to fix their vehicles.
- Hillsborough, NC, USA
While on the road, infrequently as we start hitting continuous curves, the beeping starts with slip control symbol coming on. The brakes engage on their own. It doesn't seem to matter how fast or slow we take the curves. I have no control over the vehicle at that point and it starts braking itself for few seconds. Very dangerous on the curves and especially if someone is behind you.
- Benicia, CA, USA
While driving approximately 10 - 15 mph under the speed limit on a gently curving overpass, the stability control engaged, sharply jerking the steering uncontrollably in the wrong direction and hindering my ability to steer the vehicle or brake. This has happened twice previously, both on curves, and on neither of those occasions was I exceeding the speed limit, nor was there any reason for the system to engage.
- Alexandria, VA, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. While driving approximately 30 mph, the stability control warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle decelerated and the rear end swerved sideways. The contact stated that the failure occurred for approximately 30 days and only when driving above 30 mph. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 143,000.
- South Lake Tahoe, CA, USA
Two instances in Oct 2017 of brakes activating without driver action. Braking accompanied by beeping - possibly electronic stability control (ESC) activation signal. Braking reduced speed approximately 10-15mph. Both instances occurred on the same road, a curvy 45mph limit asphalt 2-lane. Conditions dry, ~50 deg F. braking occurred on a straight section and did not pull the car to one side. Do not believe anti-lock engaged. Van has 137K miles.Toyota service (11/9/17) : "no problems found no codes stored no vehicle event log (vehicle does not have that capability) more obvious and likely cause could have been the fact that the front tires were at 20 psi and the rear at 35 psi, the disparity in wheel speed signals could have triggered a false event." Verbal report confirmed "no problems found" including steering rack bushings, steering angle sensor, and wheel speed sensors. The service representative, with 6 years experience as a mechanic, said he had encountered this problem before but it was rare. He also stated that an apparent difference of only 1mph in wheel speed could be enough to cause inadvertent ESC activation. However, he was unsure why the problem, if it was caused by the fore/aft inflation difference, was so intermittent. The dealer waived the $98 diagnostic fee. A drive on the same road on 11/10/17 did not produce the unexpected braking, but it is unclear whether this means the equal tire inflation fixed the problem as, as stated, the problem was intermittent. Systems designed to improve safety should fail in ways that do not compromise driver control and owners should be made aware of critical maintenance procedures to avoid such failures. Failure of active safety systems such as ESC, risks delaying acceptance of increasing levels of driver assistance including full autonomous control, an advance that promises dramatic reduction in road mortality.
- Charlottesville, VA, USA
This report includes two separate safety issues. First issue: After backing out of my driveway onto my street, my car would not shift into drive gear from reverse. The engine would not restart after turning the key off since it was still in reverse, even though the lever was shifted back to park. Thankfully, I don't live on a busy street and there happened to be a few linemen doing work that were able to push the van back into my driveway. With two young children in the car and not being able to push the van on my own, this could've been a very dangerous situation in a busy location. After disassembling the dash, my husband discovered the mechanism in the gear shift had malfunctioned and was able to repair it himself instead of towing it to a Toyota dealer for pricey repairs and towing fees. Second issue: On multiple occasions (usually, but not always, while accelerating onto a highway on-ramp) the traction control light will illuminate, a repetitive beeping will sound, and the steering wheel vibrates and becomes difficult to control since it freezes up. This has happened on dry roads and smooth driving conditions only when no traction control is needed. Each time is happens it is a stressful experience since it could be lead to an accident due to lack of control. After calling a Toyota service center to inquire if there are any known issues of this, they deny it. Upon doing our own research, we were able to discover other people with the same issue. A very similar replication of our situation is shown in this video. The only difference is that ours doesn't happen as often in one drive. It usually will happen a one or two times and then not happen again for weeks or months. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=sy9A8shj0xg
- Spring Hill, FL, USA
- Westminster, CO, USA