2017 Toyota Sienna

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.

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.

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)

I was driving and suddenly the 2017 Toyota Siena just lost all acceleration. The car no longer could move in gear. I put car into reverse or drive or any other gear and the vehicle would not move. The engine was on. The parking brake was not on. The transmission seems to have had a major malfunction. I had to have my car towed and my enitre family was stranded. I then looked up tranmission issues and found that 2017 Toyotas have a serious tranmission issue under “ Certain 2017 to 2018 Model Year Toyota Sienna Certain 2017 to 2018 Model Year Toyota Highlander Coverage for UA80 Transmission Customer Support Program ZJC”. I have approx 35000 miles on this vehicle and I bought it close to used from a Kingston Prestige Toyota dealership in New York State.

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.

Today I had a crash and luckily walked away. I went down an embankment at speed into trees where the vehicle rolled and struck trees head on. All the vehicle airbags deployed and vehicle came to rest on the drivers side. Although there was electrical power and the engine still running none of the right side doors would open and neither would the rear hatch which was clear of obstruction! Had there been a fire I wouldn't be making this report! Doors need to be operable regardless of situation when none of them are jammed from an accident!

On 10/14/2021, as my wife was pulling into our attached garage, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, hitting a metal storage shelf located at the back wall of the garage. The impact of the crash caused the vehicle and the shelf to extensively damage the dry wall of that area of the garage, as well as to damage the pedestal supporting the house water heater, which resulted in the water heater detaching away from the wall and being destroyed. There was, of course, also major damage to the front bumper area of the vehicle. It is my contention that the cause of the accident lies in some component of the vehicle acceleration system. I believe this to be true because of two prior incidents which occurred within the month before this happened. On 09/16/2021, I was driving this vehicle and wanted to make a U-turn. I was traveling at approximately 10 MPH, but as I began the turn, suddenly, the vehicle accelerated to about 25 MPH, even though my foot was off the accelerator. My wife and granddaughter were in the vehicle at the time and both expressed alarm, somehow thinking I had purposely made this maneuver, which I assured them that I had not. Then, approximately 7-10 days later (I am unsure of the date), I was driving, alone, in this vehicle and went to make a left-hand turn. The vehicle again accelerated, even though I had removed my foot from the accelerator pedal and was applying the brakes. I estimate that as I began the turn, my speed was 10-15 MPH, but the vehicle accelerated to 25-30 MPH. I dismissed both of these prior incidents as not too important and attributed them to some unknown anomaly on the road. However, after the latest incident involving the damage to my garage and vehicle, research showed that several Toyota models and specifically the Sienna have had similar issues in the past. I am reporting this incident to Toyota for their evaluation, but wanted to make your agency aware, also.