What 152 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 Toyota Sienna

Today 4/7/23 My 2017 Toyota Sienna accelerated on its own. I was driving my 4 children to school and we were at a stop light. When I took my foot of the brake to start making a turn the car gunned it around the corner. It scared everyone in the car half to death. Thankfully no one was hurt but it looks like others on here haven't been so lucky with this issue. I hope toyota does the right thing a d fixes this issue before more people die.

NHTSA ODI 11515946

I have a 2017 Toyota Sienna that has needed the braked replaced on average every 6 months and I have already replaced the roaters 4x. This car eats brakes and roaters.

NHTSA ODI 11515947

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.

NHTSA ODI 11507093

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!

NHTSA ODI 11502715

2nd row passenger side seat belt receptacle is not latching seat belt. The contact stated that a replacement part was ordered but not needed. It was discovered that the original part had debris inside and was cleaned out. The original part started working again and a repair was no longer needed.

NHTSA ODI 11502354

Engine stalls and stutters. Check AWD light comes on dashboard

NHTSA ODI 11502050

The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH with her four children in the rear seats, the vehicle started jerking and decelerated independently. Additionally, the transmission was slipping. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact continued driving; however, the transmission continuously slipped out of gear. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was associated with Toyota UA80 Transmission program. The dealer contacted the manufacturer who agreed to cover the repair of the vehicle. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.

NHTSA ODI 11484475

Fuel and oil change

NHTSA ODI 11483152

Fule & oil change signs

NHTSA ODI 11483163

Wire harness section which controls the Parking Collision Warning and Rear Cross Traffic Warning is frayed, causing failure. This failure was determined by the dealer to be caused by mud packing into the rear bumper cavity. Dealer wanted over $1,000 to fix. Denied warranty, due to the cause being "an outside influence". There is no way to effectively wash the inside of the bumper without removing the bumper. If I pay for a new wire harness, the issue will re-occur. This poses an elevated risk to my family and any occupants of the vehicle, as key safety features must be disabled.

NHTSA ODI 11476926

The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while driving approximately 80 MPH, the side rail roof rack detached from the vehicle. Additionally, the oil warning light was illuminated. There were no reported injuries. The contact's personal property was damaged during the failure. The contact called the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact called another local dealer, Mark Toyota of Plover (1765 Park Ave, Plover, WI 54467) however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 59,000.

NHTSA ODI 11467947

I was driving my 2017 Sienna on 5/10/2022 and was approaching a roundabout. As I was going thru the roundabout, my van stalled. I coasted into a gas station. After a few minutes I notice smoke coming from under my hood. I popped the hood and noticed the smoke was coming from the air intake. We called AAA and they towed it to the dealership we bought it new from and had all services done at. The next day we authorized them to do a diognostic on it where they found a burnt airfilter and melted housing. Heiser Toyota in Milwaukee WI has not repaired the van yet and we wanted to talk to Toyota customer service and your office to see what we should do. We called insurance and a claim has been started - not sure if they have inspected the van yet. It is available for you to inspect. All warning lights were on when it stalled. There was no power loss or any warning before it stalled.

NHTSA ODI 11465602

The fuel pump has an issue leading to a check engine light and compromised engine performance. It has been inspected by an independent service center.

NHTSA ODI 11452606

The hood crumples like aluminum foil. The hood rod was holding the hood up and the slightest pressure on the hood made it bend. The hood should NOT bend as easily as it did. The fragility of the hood could cause a serious issue in the event of a crash.

NHTSA ODI 11449199

The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the third-row driver’s side window suddenly shattered causing shards of glass to enter the vehicle. The cause of the failure was not determined. No object had contacted the vehicle to cause the failure. The local dealer and manufacturer were not yet contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 41,000.

NHTSA ODI 11447450

Unknown, Steering wheel turns several inches when you engage the steering wheel lock. Causes the steering wheel to be off centered. Which in turn cause the alignment not centered. Dealer confirmed that it needs a steering shaft replacement.

NHTSA ODI 11444768

My power doors open and won’t close. It takes multiple times to finally get them to close.

NHTSA ODI 11443549

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.

NHTSA ODI 11437319

On October 15, 2021 at 2 pm I drove into the driveway of a friend. I turned to the right of the driveway on her grass so I could backup and face the road. I’ve done this many times in the past. On this day as I put my foot on the break the van accelerated at a very very high speed. The van was out of my control at this point. I do not know how fast because this all happened in seconds. I was heading straight to their privacy wood fence only feet away. Approximately 20 feet. I don’t recall breaking again but turned the wheel to the right trying to avoid the fence. I hit the fence at a high speed damaged the left bumper and scraped the drivers side of the door. The next second I attempt to break again so I could back out of this when the van continued to accelerate at high speed going straight toward the house only a few feet away. I attempted to avoid the house and hit the right bumper hard at a high speed on the corner of the house. At this point the acceleration stopped and I was able to backup and turn the car around and finally turn the car off. There is major damage to the van and some to the fence and house. I was very upset and in shock and some soreness the next day but thankfully no one was hurt. This is a very small yard area that this took place at. I am still in shock and extremely confused as to why this happened. I do know without question my foot was not in the accelerator. The van is presently in the body shop. I would like to mention I have a clean record at the age of 64 I have never had an accident and/or speeding ticket in my life. This truly was not human error. I’m a very experienced driver. If it was human error the van should have stopped at the first point of impact on the fence, but did not. It continued to accelerate at a fast speed after hitting the fence hard. The van paused but continued to accelerate at this point when I hit the break again and it went toward the right straight for their house.

NHTSA ODI 11436985

Driver side sliding door stops and reopens when trying to close using power option previous van did the same thing but had a recall. When turning power door option off, it's stopped, doesn't want to budge much and you have to use all of your force to try to close it. This has being going on since 2018 when I bought it but there was no recall so delearship wouldn't touch it.

NHTSA ODI 11430575

When vehicle is park on an angle (with Front section lower than the back) power sliding door (behind front passenger) does not fully engages arresting hook and tends to immediately return to close position sometimes hitting passengers trying to enter or exit the vehicle. Vehicle was taken to dealer for check up but dealer claims to have been unable to replicate issue, possibly due to not placing vehicle on an angle. No warning lamps or lights indicate any issue with the vehicle passenger door(s).

NHTSA ODI 11430103

on July 3rd, traveling on highway to airport tire blew out (right rear). Pulled to side of road and attempted assistance but this was friday afternoon before july 4th holiday, NOTHING was going to happen except a tow - possible wait as long as 2-3 hours. reportedly the Sienna has drive flat (50 miles at 50 mph) We drove 5 mph for approx 3 to 4 miles to tire store/Les Schwab. Flat was replaced but then on inspection ALL remaining tires had card showing wear on inner tires. ALL 4 (including the blowout). Pictures submitted . Of particular concern is that we had taken the vehicle about 10 K prior (March)specifically for tire wobble noise and to fix alignment. Wear was noted, but no safety concerns raised and no cautionary recommendations offered. When we brought the vehicle and tires to the dealer AFTER the blowout we were told by service manager that the early wear was a known problem to occur specifically on the all wheel Siennas. Again, NO CAUTIONARY ADVICE GIVEN in March despite recognized wear and this known history. We had a blowout in heavy holiday traffic at 60 mph less than 10K /3month later. This easily could have been catastrophic. We reported to Toyota to a "Beth" at customer documentation and risk reduction department who did an excellent job of deflecting causation/potential blame and advised us to contact the tire manufacturer or the dealer. Absolutely no evidence of concern for safety - ours or those around us - at highway speeds. Review of web shows known problem, service manager volunteered it to be a known problem of premature wear, with service given shortly before incident WITHOUT GUIDANCE. "Beth" told us she would document our concerns but that there was nothing Toyota could do or would do other than documenting. I am hopeful you can investigate further and initiate some reparative process before there is a preventable catastrophe much like the Prius accelerator problem. we will send copies of to wherever is useful

NHTSA ODI 11425207

The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH and coming to a stop, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to respond. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated the brake pedal was rigid. The contact stated the failure reoccurred while driving. The brake warning light and traction control warning light were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who could not determine the cause of the failure. The dealer advised the contact to take the vehicle back to the dealer she purchased the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer who sold her the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 14,500.

NHTSA ODI 11424445

Vehicle began running harshly, then stalled. Check engine light came on. Upon inspection at Toyota dealership, found to have leaked fuel into charcoal canister. Vehicle owner does NOT overfill gas tank.

NHTSA ODI 11419789

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 TOYOTA SIENNA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED AND UNATTENDED, THERE WAS AN ABNORMAL POPPING SOUND DETECTED. THE CONTACT'S NEIGHBOR NOTICED THAT THE REAR WINDSHIELD WAS CRACKED, WITHOUT IMPACT. THE CONTACT CALLED WALSER TOYOTA (4401 AMERICAN BLVD W, BLOOMINGTON, MN 55437, (612) 294-0220) AND WAS REFERRED TO A GLASS COMPANY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT YET REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 46,500.

NHTSA ODI 11415790