2000 Toyota Sienna

I had my car's brake lines replaced at McGee Toyota in Hanover MA on June 20, 2023. On July 19, 2023, my wife and I had just exited the interstate, and were stopping at a grocery store on our way home. I tried to brake upon entering the parking lot and the brake pedal sank to the floor. There was no resistance when I tried pumping the brakes. Fortunately, I was traveling at a slow speed and there were no moving cars in the lot, so I was able to safely stop the car without an accident. I had the car towed to McGee for repairs and the next day was told the catastrophic brake failure was due to a defective part. Since this would likely have had much more serious consequences such as serious injuries or worse if the failure occurred on the exit ramp or at the busy state highway intersection in front of the grocery store, I wanted to report it to be sure it doesn't happen to someone else.

I have a 2000 Sienna with 305000 miles. I have never had trouble with this vehicle until about 2 weeks ago. When I am stopped and my car is in drive, I just tap the gas pedal for a second and the engine RPM will increase to about 2000 RPM and will stay there until I put the car in neutral or turn the engine off. This is a problem because my breaks barely hold this and I must put the car into neutral for the car to stop pulling forward. Putting the car into neutral resets the rpm. If there is no car in front of me, I can release the brakes and the vehicle will continue to accelerate until the transmission switches to second gear, at this point I can drive normally. One time the vehicle continued to accelerate even after switching gears, I put the vehicle into neutral and the engine went to over 4000 RPM, the brakes could not stop the vehicle, I had to turn the engine off. The gas pedal is not sticky or stuck, floor mats are not in the vehicle. I can rev the engine normally when I am in park, this only happens when I am in gear. I have checked the Throttle Body, Throttle Position Sensor and disabled the cruise control module, I can see no reason for this to happen. I have seen many complaints about this same issue online but have not found a resolution. I can buy an ECM but this is an expensive trial. I will take it to the dealer from here.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 TOYOTA SIENNA. WHEN THE IGNITION WAS STARTED, THE VEHICLE STARTED TO ACCELERATE AND MOVED FORWARD WITHOUT SHIFTING INTO DRIVE. THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL AND APPLIED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE, BUT BOTH FAILED TO STOP THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO STOP THE VEHICLE BY SHIFTING INTO NEUTRAL GEAR. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. A DEALER AND THE MANUFACTURER WERE NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 210,581.

OUTER DOOR HANDLES ON DOORS OF SIENNA ARE EXTREMELY BRITTLE AND BREAK EASILY EVEN WITH NORMAL EVERYDAY GENTLE USE. OF THE 4 MAIN DOORS ON MY TOYOTA SIENNA, 3 OF THEM NOW HAVE BROKEN OUSISE HANDLES CAUSING THE DOORS NOT TO BE ACCESSIBLE & OPENED FROM THE OUTSIDE. THIS HAS NOW AFFECTED BOTH SLIDING DOORS AND MY PASSENGER FRONT DOOR. MY PASSENGER SLIDING DOOR IS NOT EVEN ABLE TO BE OPENED FROM THE INSIDE SINCE THE OUTER HANDLE BROKE OFF COMPLETELY. THIS POSES A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE AS DOORS ARE NOT ABLE TO BE OPENED FROM THE OUTSIDE IN CASE OF AN ACCIDENT OR EMERGENCY. ADDITIONALLY THE FACT THAT THE PASSENGER SLIDING DOOR CAN NOT EVEN BE OPENED FROM THE INSIDE CAUSES EVEN MORE OF A SAFETY ISSUE. UPON REVIEWING OTHER CONSUMERS WHO OWN THIS SAME VEHICLE I HAVE FOUND IT ALARMING THAT WELL OVER 50% OF THEM HAVE COMPLAINTS DUE TO THIS SAME ISSUE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 TOYOTA SIENNA. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN. THE VEHICLE DID A STOP AND GO ACTION THAT OCCURRED EVERY TIME THE VEHICLE MOVED. THE CONTACT HAD TO PLACE THE VEHICLE IN NEUTRAL IN ORDER TO STOP IT COMPLETELY. THE MANUFACTURER AND DEALER WERE NOT NOTIFIED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THERE WERE NO RECALLS ON THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 200,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 TOYOTA SIENNA. WHILE THE IGNITION WAS OFF AND THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, THE VEHICLE ROLLED AWAY INDEPENDENTLY. ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED, THE GEAR SHIFTER WAS STILL IN THE PARK POSITION. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, BUT THE FAILURE COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VIN WAS INVALID. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 200,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 TOYOTA SIENNA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT BOTH REAR DOORS FAILED TO SECURELY LOCK AND SUDDENLY OPENED WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DELLA TOYOTA DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE LATCH ASSEMBLY AND ANOTHER PART ASSOCIATED WITH THE LATCHES (THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO RECALL) FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT COVERED BY A RECALL. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 180,000.

YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, I WAS DRIVING ON A SEMI BUSY ROAD IN TUCSON, ARIZONA AT ABOUT 40 MPH AND THE VAN SUDDENLY BEGAN TO ACCELERATE. I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT I HAD HIT THE CRUISE CONTROL BUTTON BUT THE DASH SHOWED NO INDICATION THAT THIS WAS CASE. I REPEATEDLY PUSHED THE CRUISE CONTROL BUTTON AND JIGGLED THE LEVER ARM HOPING TO TOGGLE SOMETHING OFF BUT IT HAD NO EFFECT. I BEGAN TO PUSH THE BREAKS BUT THEY WERE NOT CAPABLE OF SLOWING THE CAR BELOW ABOUT 25. I THREW THE VAN INTO NEUTRAL AND THE ENGINE REVVED UP TO ABOUT 7000 RPM. THAT SOUND CONCERNED ME SO I THREW IT BACK INTO GEAR AND THE VAN BEGAN TO ACCELERATE AGAIN. I PUSHED THE EMERGENCY BREAKS, AND WITH MY PEDAL BREAK FULLY COMPRESSED I COULD GET THE CAR TO 5-10 MPH BUT THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO STOP THE VAN. AFTER NARROWLY MISSING A PEDESTRIAN, I TURNED RIGHT, FOUND A PLACE TO PULL OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, THREW THE VAN INTO NEUTRAL AND QUICKLY TURNED THE VAN OFF. WITH THE ENGINE TURNED OFF THE BREAKS WERE AS EFFECTIVE AS THE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SO THE THE VAN CAME TO A STOP. AFTER A BRIEF PERIOD I TURNED THE KEY, STARTED THE VAN AND, AGAIN, THE ENGINE AGAIN REVVED TO 7000 RPM. I TURNED IT OFF AGAIN. I PUMPED THE ACCELERATOR SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE STARTING IT AGAIN AND IT STARTED UP FINE. I HAD THE VAN TOWED AFTER THIS AND I'M NOT LIKELY TO DRIVE IT AGAIN.