2017 Toyota Sienna UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
While driving our vehicle on the highway, the check engine light suddenly came on and traction control turned off. Within moments, the vehicle began to stall and would not accelerate. My wife and children were in the car and we were nearly hit by another vehicle as she struggled to get the car to safety. It was a terrifying experience that put my entire family in danger, along with everyone else on the highway. Upon taking the car to the dealership, we were told the transmission failed and would need to be replaced.
I am writing to report a significant safety issue with my vehicle involving a leaking sunroof that is causing damage to both the seatbelts and airbags. I believe this issue poses a serious safety concern and could lead to malfunctioning safety systems during an accident. I asked my local Toyota dealership for guidance adn they told me to clean the drain tubes out with weed eater wire. We tried that and the drains were working fine. If that did not work, it would be 3-5 thousand dollars to fix it. I have reported this issue to Toyota cooperate, but they are not willing to acknowledge the issue because of the year and miles on my van. There are several other Toyota Sienna van owner that have experienced the same problem and yet a recall has not been issued. This is my family vehicle that I drive my young kids around in. I feel that Toyota is willing to put my family's safety on the line by not acknowledging this on going issue. Issue: The sunroof in my vehicle has developed a leak over the past year that continues to get worse. The leak is allowing water to enter the cabin during rain. The water appears to be collecting around the area where the sunroof is installed and is dripping onto the headliner, seatbelts, and side airbags. It soaks my driver and passenger seatbelts for days. Damage: Over time, this leak has caused visible deterioration to the seatbelts, as they are getting wet and showing signs of wear. Additionally, the airbags may be at risk, as moisture could affect their proper deployment during an accident. I am concerned that the presence of moisture may result in these safety features malfunctioning when needed most. This could potentially be a fatal issue.
Wining noises, feels like car is shaking, and get fast by itself
Rear liftgate opens, but then beeps as if closing, then does close without us wanting it to, slowly halfway, then slamming down after half-closed as if hydraulics or whatever holds up liftgate is failing. Anyone under door gets caught/slammed on. Yes, dealer rep has seen it happen at our local Toyota service center. The vehicle or component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. There aren't any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms other than the usual beeping closing sound of the problem prior to the failure, and they first appeared Wednesday, May 1.
On [XXX], I was driving down the highway in Grand Rapids, MI when the sunroof above me suddenly exploded for no apparent reason. Thank God I had the interior cover closed at the time or I would have been covered in glass while driving down the highway. I pulled over, took pictures, and called my insurance provider. They have given me a real runaround about getting it repairs, offering to cover less than 10% of the repair cost. Neither the dealership, nor the glass shop could offer any reasonable explanation of why it shattered. The insurance company adjusted the claim via photos. I am currently waiting for them to offer fair compensation so that I can get it repaired. Repair cost estimate is $1335. If this is a defect, as it appears from some online searching, it should be covered my the manufacturer. It appears multiple individual and class action suits exist. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Brand new factory tires from the dealership only lasted 32k miles. Tires were replaced with the recommended tires for this vehicle and after 22k miles, there is significant wear where they will need to replaced again in the coming months. Each set of tires are 60k tires, and they are rotated and aligned religiously every 5k miles. However, each set of tires had excessive wear, no where near commensurate with the age of them. I will soon be on my third set of brand new tires when my van will only have roughly 58k miles on it. And per a general google search, it seems this is happening to a lot of Toyota Sienna owners. There needs to be an investigation as to why Siennas excessively wear their tires. I used to easily get around 60k miles with my tires on my previous vehicle, as I rotated and aligned them religiously to ensure their long life.
THE CLIP/HINGE IN FUEL TANK DOOR IS BROKEN. NO LONGER APPEARS FLUSH AGAINST VEHICLE HAPPENED IN APRIL WHILE STATIONARY PUTTING IN FUEL AT STATION.
WHILE DRIVING DOWN INTERSTATE WITH WINDOWS AND SUNROOF CLOSED, THE SUNROOF GLASS EXPLODED DUE TO UNKNOWN CAUSE, BUT NOT AS A RESULT OF FALLING OBJECT OR PROJECTILE.
FINISH ON AC CONTROL PANEL IS BUBBLING UP. THE CAR WAS STATIONARY AND NO APPARENT CAUSE.
BACK WINDOW POPPED AND PARTIALLY SHATTERED. THE VAN WAS IN THE GARAGE AND THE GARAGE DOOR WAS CLOSED.
TOYOTA'S AWD SIENNAS HAVE A DEFECTIVE DESIGN IN THEIR AXLE HUB CAUSING PREMATURE TIRE WEAR WHICH CAN LEAD TO AN ACCIDENT. THERE IS NO WAY TO ALIGN THE REAR WHEELS ON THE AWD VERSIONS. PEOPLE EXPECTING 50-60000 MILES ON THEIR TIRES, WILL NOT GET THAT AMOUNT OF MILES. MOST WILL GET 15-20000 AT MOST. THIS IS CAUSED BY THE LACK OF WHEEL ALIGNMENT FEATURES LIKE THE 2 WHEEL DRIVE SIENNA'S HAVE.
MY DRIVER BACK SLIDING DOOR OPEN THREE TIMES WHILE I AM IN MOTION. THE SECOND TIME OPENED WAS ONE ABOUT ONE WEEK APART THEN THE THIRD TIME WAS IN TWO TO THREE HOURS.
WE WERE DRIVING SOUTH ON I-95 AT 4 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING HEADING TO VACATION IN MYRTLE BEACH. 2 HOURS INTO OUR DRIVE AT 6 AM, DRIVER STATED THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING ON WITH THE CAR. FELT LIKE HE WAS LOSING CONTROL OF THE CAR . I LOOKED OVER AND SAW A GAUGE THAT READ AWD BRAKE OVERRIDE CONTACT DEALERSHIP. IT STARTED TO SLOW DOWN EVEN MORE SO HE PULLED OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND WHEN HE DID THE CAR SHOOK AND VIBRATED AND MADE A LOUD NOISE. WHEN THE CAR CAME TO A STOP SMOKE WITH SEEN COMING FROM UNDERNEATH THE HOOD. AND THEN A SECOND LATER A FLAME SHOT OUT FROM UNDERNEATH THE HOOD. IT ALL HAPPENED SO QUICKLY. I TOLD EVERYBODY TO GET OUT OF THE CAR THAT THE CAR WAS ON FIRE. I GRABBED MY PHONE AND MY PURSE AND JUMPED OUT AND CALLED 911. FIRE ENGINE SHOWED UP AND PUT OUT THE FIRE. THE CAR WAS A TOTAL LOSS. THE FIRE WAS SUPER FAST.
VEHICLE WAS TURNED OFF AND IN "PARK". VEHICLE APPARENTLY SLIPPED OUT OF "PARK" ON ITS OWN AND BEGAN ROLLING OUT OF GARAGE, DOWN AN INCLINED DRIVEWAY, ACROSS AN ALLEY, AND INTO A NEIGHBORING FENCE.
VEHICLE WAS TAKEN IN FOR NORMAL SERVICE AND WAS TOLD THAT THE TIRES WERE NEEDING TO BE REPLACED AT 20997 MILES. TIRES WERE ROTATED PROPERLY AND VEHICLE WAS NOT DRIVEN OUTSIDE OF NORMAL CONDITIONS. BRIDGSTONE TURANZA EL400 RUN FLAT TIRES ARE ORIGINAL TIRES. WINTER TIRES WERE INSTALLED AT ROUGHLY 6000 MILES AND DRIVEN DURING THE 2016 SEASON WINTER UNTIL 11000 MILES. INSIDE OF BRIDGESTONE TIRES ARE ALMOST TO CORD. TOYOTA SAYS THAT IT THE TIRE MANUFACTURES ISSUE, AND IT COULD BE AN ALIGNMENT ISSUE YET THE WINTER TIRES SHOW NO ISSUE OF WEARING OUT OF NORMAL WEAR. THEY STATE THAT IT IS OUR PROBLEM, WE NEED NEW TIRES. HAVE READ A LOT THAT OTHERS ARE SEEING THIS SAME WEAR ISSUE AND EVEN CALLED ANOTHER GARAGE AND WAS TOLD THAT THIS A MAJOR ISSUE WITH THESE TIRES CONCERNING THE PREMATURE WEAR ON OEE TIRES ON THIS VAN.
A FEW WEEKS AFTER WE PURCHASED OUR BRAND-NEW TOYOTA SIENNA, THE BLIND SPOT RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY STOPPED WORKING. WHEN I TOOK THE SIENNA TO A TOYOTA SERVICE CENTER, A SERVICE ADVISOR SHOWED ME THAT OUR SIENNA HAD BEEN SIDE-SWIPED, UNBEKNOWNST TO ME, AND THAT IT WAS THAT EXTERIOR DAMAGE THAT COMPROMISED THE BLIND SPOT RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY. WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE TOYOTA SERVICE CENTER, A SERVICE ADVISOR INSPECTED THE EXTERIOR OF THE VEHICLE TO NOTE ANY PREEXISTING DAMAGE, AND EVEN THAT SERVICE ADVISOR DIDN'T NOTICE THE DAMAGE (THIS IS HOW MINOR THE EXTERIOR DAMAGE IS: THE PERSON WHOSE JOB IT IS TO INSPECT THE EXTERIOR OF VEHICLES DIDN'T NOTICE THE SCRATCH THAT APPARENTLY KNOCKED OUT AN ENTIRE SAFETY FEATURE). IT SEEMS THAT THE BLIND SPOT RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY WAS BUILT TO BE EXTREMELY VULNERABLE. EXTERIOR PHYSICAL DAMAGE THAT IS BARELY VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE WAS ENOUGH TO MAKE THE ENTIRE BLIND SPOT RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY BREAK COMPLETELY. WHY ISN'T THIS FEATURE BETTER PROTECTED? FURTHERMORE, THOUGH ONLY ONE COMPONENT OF THE SYSTEM IS COMPROMISED, THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IS UNUSABLE.
THE LEFT REAR WINDOW SHATTERED WHILE AT A STOP LIGHT, NOTHING HIT THE WINDOW OR ANYTHING BUT IT SHATTERED. THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY, RUNNING AND STOPPED AT A STOP LIGHT WAITING TO TURN. I HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THE AIR COMPRESSOR IN THE WINDOW HAD TOO MUCH PRESSURE AND EXPLODED. AT HIS TIME THE VEHICLES HAS NOT BEEN ASSESSED FURTHER .
NAVIGATION SYSTEM THE INSTALLED NAVIGATION SYSTEM ON TOYOTA SIENNA MODELS DOES NOT INDICATE THE DESTINATION SIDE OF THE ROAD. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS AN AUDIO INDICATION "YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR DESIGNATION" BUT IT DOES NOT INDICATE WHICH SIDE OF THE ROAD IT IS. THIS IS A REAL SERIOUS SAFETY RISK -- SUDDENLY THE DRIVER HAS TO TRY TO CHANGE LANES, SLOWING DOWN, TO TRY AND FIND THE DESTINATION, THEREBY RISKING BEING REAR-ENDED WHILE TRYING TO MANEUVER OUT OF THE CURRENT LANE. ALL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO STATE THIS INFORMATION. EVEN HAND-HELD GPS SYSTEMS GIVE THIS VITAL INFORMATION. TOYOTA HQ SAID THERE IS NO PLAN ON FIXING THIS PROBLEM.
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Quick Summary
The 2017 Toyota Sienna has 18 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.