2000 Toyota Sienna

WHILE DRIVING OUR 2000 TOYOTA SIENNA THE SAFETY HOOD LATCH FAILED WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AND THE HOOD FLEW OPEN, SMASHING THE WINDSHIELD, DAMAGING THE HOOD AND THE ROOF OF THE VEHICLE. THE CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT WAS THAT HE HOOD LATCH NO LONGER ENGAGES WHEN THE HOOD IS SHUT. THE VEHICLE WAS SERVICED AT A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP 2 WEEKS BEFORE WITHOUT ANY MENTION OF AN ISSUE WITH THE LATCH. TOYOTA BASICALLY STATED THAT THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. I BELIEVE THERE IS A DESIGN FLAW TO THE LOCATION OF HE HOOD LATCH CAUSING IT TO NO LONGER FUNCTION FROM WEATHER RELATED EXPOSURE. THERE MOST LIKELY ARE OTHER SIENNA VEHICLES WITH THE SAME ISSUE WITH DRIVERS UNAWARE OF THE PROBLEM. *JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED A JUMPSTART WAS GIVEN TO A NEIGHBORING VEHICLE. THE NEXT DAY THE HOOD WAS RELEASED TO JUMPSTART THE NEIGHBORING VEHICLE AGAIN. THE JUMPSTART WAS NOT NEEDED. THE HOOD WAS NOT LOCKED DOWN BUT WAS NOT FULLY UNLATCHED, WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVING 45 MPH, ON A SMOOTH BLACKTOP PAVED ROAD, WHEN THE HOOD BLEW BACK INTO THE WIND SHIELD AND DAMAGED THE HOOD, WINDSHIELD, WIPERS AND THE ROOF OF THE VEHICLE. THE SERVICE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT NOTIFIED, BUT THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED AT AN AUTO-BODY SHOP.

MY WIFE AND 4 CHILDREN WERE DRIVING IN OUR 2000 TOYOTA SIENNA. WHILE ACCELERATING ONTO A HIGHWAY, THE HOOD ABRUPTLY RELEASED AND SLAMMED AGAINST THE FRONT WINDSHIELD, CAUSING THE WINDSHIELD TO SHATTER AND DAMAGING THE ROOF. MY WIFE PULLED OVER ONTO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD ALMOST COMPLETELY BLIND TO WHAT WAS IN FRONT OF HER. THE CAR WAS NEARLY HIT BY A SEMI-TRACTOR TRAILER. LUCKILY, NO ONE WAS PHYSICALLY HURT FROM THE INCIDENT. UPON INSPECTION OF THE LOCKING MECHANISM, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT BOTH THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY LATCHES WERE BOTH NOT WORKING PROPERLY. IT APPEARS THAT THE SPRINGS THAT ARE USED WITHIN THESE MECHANISMS HAD LOST THEIR SPRING EFFECTIVENESS. THIS WAS COMPOUNDED BY THE "STICKINESS" CAUSED BY SOME RUSTING ON THE LATCH. THE CAR WAS RECENTLY AT A TOYOTA DEALER MAINTENANCE CENTER. I FEEL THAT THE MAINTENANCE FACILITY SHOULD HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO CHECK THIS CRITICAL COMPONENT. IN REVIEWING THE NHTSA DATABASE, IT IS CLEAR THAT THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE ACROSS AUTOMOBILES. I WOULD EXPECT THEIR TO BE SOME RECURRING MAINTENANCE ON THE LATCHING MECHANISM (AT 30,000 OR 60,000 MILES) TO PREVENT SUCH AN INCIDENT FROM OCCURRING...I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE SHOP MAINTENANCE MANUALS SO I DON'T KNOW IF SUCH AN INSPECTION IS IN THE MANUALS. IF THERE IS NO SUCH INSPECTION IN TOYOTA'S MAINTENANCE MANUAL, I BELIEVE THAT TOYOTA IS NEGLIGENT ON THIS VERY HAZARDOUS FAILURE MECHANISM. IF THERE IS SUCH AN INSPECTION, I BELIEVE THE TOYOTA MAINTENANCE FACILITY SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE. *JB

THE PASSENGER (MANUAL ) SLIDING DOOR BECAME HARD TO OPEN. THE HANDLE STICKS AND DOES NOT OPEN ON THE FIRST TRY. THE HANDLE THEN BROKE OFF COMPLETELY LEAVING THE DOOR UNSAFE AND UNABLE TO LATCH PROPERLY. WE PURCHASED A NEW HANDLE FROM THE DEALER FOR A PRICE OF $95.00. WE FEEL THIS SPECIFIC CAR HANDLE IS NOT MADE TO WITHSTAND THE USE OF A SLIDING DOOR OR THE WEIGHT OF THE DOOR AND WILL FAIL WITH CONTINUED USE. YOU MUST PULL OUT THE HANDLE TO OPEN THE SLIDING DOOR AND CONTINUE TO HOLD IT OUT UNTIL THE DOOR IS COMPLETELY OPEN. ALL THE WEIGHT OF THE DOOR AND THE MOMENTUM OF THE SLIDER REST OF THIS HANDLE. HAVE FOUND OTHERS WITH THE SAME COMPLAINTS ONLINE. ALSO, MAY CONSIDER WEATHER AS A FACTOR TOO. THE COLDER THE WEATHER THE WORSE IT PERFORMS. *JB

BOTH OF THE OUTSIDE HANDLES ON THE SLIDING PASSENGER DOORS ON MY 2000 TOYOTA SIENNA BROKE WITHIN THE PAST FEW WEEKS. (ONE HANDLE BROKE OFF COMPLETELY AND ONE IS STILL PARTIALLY ATTACHED TO THE DOOR.) ONE DOOR CANNOT BE OPENED FROM THE OUTSIDE AND THE OTHER ONE IS VERY DIFFICULT TO OPEN. I CONTACTED THE LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND THE NATIONAL 800 NUMBER. BOTH THE LOCAL AND THE NATIONAL POINTS OF CONTACT SAID THERE WERE NO KNOWN ISSUES WITH THE DOOR HANDLES AND THERE WAS NOTHING THAT COULD BE DONE. THE DEALERSHIP ADVISED ME THAT I COULD PAY THEM @$300 A DOOR TO HAVE THE BROKEN HANDLES REPLACED. I DID SOME RESEARCH ON THE WEB AND DID FIND SEVERAL OTHER COMPLAINTS / POSTINGS ABOUT BROKEN DOOR HANDLES. *NM

DT: VEHICLE HAS A SLIDING ELECTRIC DOOR ON PASSENGER'S SIDE. DOOR STARTED OPENING OR STAYING OPEN AT THE WRONG TIME. FINALLY, THE ELECTRICAL DOOR STOPPED WORKING ALL TOGETHER. THE DOOR WILL NOT OPEN WITH THE BUTTON ON THE INSIDE OF VEHICLE OR THE REMOTE. CONSUMER JUST NOTICED THAT THE DOOR WILL ALSO NOT OPEN MANUALLY FROM THE INSIDE OF VEHICLE, BUT WILL OPEN MANUALLY FROM THE OUTSIDE OF VEHICLE. CONSUMER DID TAKE VEHICLE O DEALER IN JANUARY 2005 FOR AN ESTIMATE OF REPAIRS, AND FOUND THAT THE COST OF REPAIRS WOULD BE $1886.00. *AK