2021 Toyota Redundant Sienna

At 7:35am on 7/20/2022, I was traveling south on Clementa Ave SW in Monticello, MN. The conditions were dry and the sun was out. As I approached the intersection of 127th St NW, I began to slowly press the brake pedal. The vehicle started slowing down, but approximately 5 seconds after pushing the brake, the vehicle automatically let off the brakes, the vehicle lunged forward for about 1-2 seconds, even though I was continuously pushing on the brake pedal. The vehicle’s brake system then re-engaged and the vehicle stopped. This is not the first time this issue has happened and the dealership does not have any resolution to this issue. They attempted a software update, even though my VIN is not included in previous brake issues. This issue happens daily and poses a safety risk if I were attempting to brake behind other vehicles. The release of the brakes and lunging of the vehicle should not happen and feels like the vehicle is out of control.

After the vehicle has been parked for a while, after starting the car the brakes give the following intermittent behavior. When releasing the brake pressure gradually, the vehicle will not move until the brake pedal is fully released. The vehicle then lurches and rolls backward quickly. Additional pressure then must be applied to stop the car. The car should start to move when the brakes are gradually released and not wait until the brakes are fully released. This happens almost every time I start the car. It is a recurring problem.

Our Sienna has had incidents of unintendedly accelerated a minimum of 25 times. I have been unable to stop the vehicle several time to the point where I have had to go through a lighted stop intersection. There have been numerous "close calls” where I have nearly hit the vehicle in front of me. My wife, while driving to pick up my 4 children, actually bumped into a vehicle in front of her. It is a serious risk to expect that I drive the vehicle with my wife and 4 kids inside, yet Toyota expects I will drive the Sienna for over a month while they wait to get the report back about the vehicle. I am not willing to put my life at risk along with my wife and four children while we wait for Toyota to address the issue. We brought the Sienna in after the initial few close calls (March 14, 2022), and they were unable to find anything wrong. After receiving the vehicle back, the issue continued. Once my wife was in an accident with the Sienna, we have decided we will not be driving it until we are assured it has been resolved. It was brought back to Toyota on April 19, 2022). At this point and I not confident Toyota will be able to fix the issue. Toyota has deemed the car safe to use; even though they have not received back the report. It's reckless and immoral to knowingly place someone in a vehicle that has already caused 1 accident (although thankfully very minor) and something I am unwilling to do. Meanwhile Toyota has offered nothing to keep me safe or offered a vehicle in the meantime. The forward collision does not work. The entire vehicle is available for inspection. I am not certain what Toyota has inspected, but an inspection was performed on May 10th and the results will not be available until June 13th. Problem is not able to be reproduced as the car has not been driven. The warning sign prior to the accident was numerous other near misses.

Braking is slow or non-existent on random occurrences. Although the car is automatic, it feels like you are pushing in the clutch when brakes are needed. At times when braking too, it feels as if the car lunges. On two occasions, I narrowly missed hitting an object. Its as if the braking hesitates. The dealer said that this is the design based on the vehicles software. They asked us to call Toyota’s customer service to complain.

1st. Brake sometimes get very stiff can’t press down and becomes normal after a few seconds or a few press on the brake pedal. (5 months) 2nd. A lot of wind noise coming from driver side windshield starting at 65mph. Complain to 2 dealers both said they test drove the same car but I don’t see any other Sienna around. They lied (1st day I took possession of the car) 3rd. The middle row seat rail are very hard to slide back and forth. (1st day)

After the vehicle has been parked for a while (>1 hour in my experience), upon startup, when reversing down a hill, the brakes give the following intermittent (maybe one out of four start ups) problematic behavior. When releasing the brake pressure gradually, the car will not move, until suddenly it lurches and rolls backwards significantly, the pressure on the break feels like it is reducing and the brake stroke length releasing. To stop the car rolling backwards you need to push down several extra inches on the brake to get it to stop. I have multiple videos of this happening (video of my feet and the rear camera).

We were driving down the freeway when we got rear ended hard by a large pickup. Then we lost electrical and engine power. The brakes stopped working. The hazard lights stopped working. Luckily we were able to coast to a complete stop as there was no way to stop the car. The police came and took a report. Then the car was towed to a body shop. We're awaiting the insurance company adjuster for inspection.

Van has just over 5k miles. Multiple warnings occurred while at speed on a highway. Primary warning was 'Low Brake Power' and braking became extremely touchy as it seemed to utilize the emergency brake as a backup. This extreme braking is hazardous and could result in an accident caused by braking too quickly - with a possible rear-end collision by traffic to the rear. Additional warnings/malfunctions were listed as well, due to the low brake power: LTA Malfunction (Lane keep assist), Automatic Emergency Brake Malfunction, Parking Brake Malfunction, Check Engine. There were no symptoms of poor braking prior to the incident. Dealer filed a TAS report with Toyota to address the problem, and was subsequently inspected by the Toyota Field Representative. Initially could not duplicate/identify the issue and the van was returned. Within one week the incident reoccurred, again on the highway. Van is currently with the dealer and the Brake Booster and Brake Master Cylinder will be replaced. Expect the dealer will retain the parts.