What 45 owners told NHTSA about the 2019 Toyota Sienna

2019 Sienna XLE with 77,000 miles has a UA80 Transmission is whining at the final gear per Imperial Toyota Milford MA service center. They want to replace the transmission for 9,000 USD and Toyota Corporate refuses assistance. It appear to be a common defect which could lead to transmission lockup if the gear fails.

NHTSA ODI 11731560

The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while attempting to open the driver's side sliding door, the door failed to completely open but remained ajar. The contact became aware that an electrical cable was hanging from the door. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the cable needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that the door needed to be taken off and reinstalled to repair the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.

NHTSA ODI 11730847

Started hearing a whining noise upon acceleration. Took car to Toyota for a diagnostic check. Discovered transmission is failing. Recommended repair is a full transmission replacement, quoted 10,000. After bringing to a local mechanic for a second opinion, he claims this is a widespread issue with Toyota Siennas in similar years. After some research, Toyota quietly claims there was an issue in the manufacturing of these transmissions however won’t take accountability

NHTSA ODI 11724299

About 2 years after the 9/30/2019 purchase (new), the paint on the front engine hood began peeling & cracking. Calls to Parks Toyota were ineffective. Now the entire hood has pervasive cracks. The hood needs to be removed, sanded & painted with a more substantial, long-lasting paint. The paint used is supposed to contain an additional clear coat for protection.

NHTSA ODI 11714572

Transmission has failed and been replaced. This is part of issues from 2017 to 2020 tranny failures, loud whining and needing to be replaced. Tranny failure is very dangerous to the occupants. Toyota has failed to warranty these.

NHTSA ODI 11703555

Lyft deactivated 60yo driver (7yr Lyft, 30yr driving) over vague "unsafe driving". Submitted **20 raw dashcam videos** (Oct 29, 2025) proving: - Full stop at flashing red light - Safe rolling stops (<4 mph) in Toyota Sienna + 3 passengers - Max 28 mph Videos requested by Lyft but ignored. **Tickets:** XXX/ XXX/ XXX **Evidence:** https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OIgAwnaAV8Jr8GS4uiUcmqwYodmgCAWy?usp=sharing Lyft violates safety policy (§7.3). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11697965

sever transmission whine started at 138k miles over a year ago.Toyota will not fix issues under recalled ua80 transmission. Said my vin doesn’t fall within recall.

NHTSA ODI 11670044

The Harness Adjuster Strap (item 5 in attached snip from user manual) loosens while in use. This item was manufactured post-recall 24C002000, using Nuna's new design described here: [XXX] This design change did not prevent the functionality of the strap to fail. There was zero to minimal debris (no food, drink, or water) in the mechanism causing it to fail. The Harness Release button (item 4 in snip from user manual) actuates freely. The adjuster strap, and subsequently the entire harness strap, moves freely, while the carseat is loaded or unloaded. I have a video available showing that the strop in the seat freely moving. We discovered the product failure while loading the child in the carseat and testing it's security by pulling on chest straps. Nuna's response was lackluster and unprofessional. Here is the sequence of events: We immediately reported the issue the first business day available, May 27th, and Nuna responded 24hrs later, informing us they would again respond in 1-2 business days to send us a form and shipping label to send back the defective product. We responded the same day asking them to expedite the process and send us a new product immediately as we had no backup for a carseat and my wife could not leave the home. A little over 48 hrs later they denied our request, and sent us the shipping and RMA form. We are now a full business week past the initial request and now are returning the carseat, with no assurance of when the replacement will be delivered. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11664341

Transmission UA80e is a poorly designed transmission. It almost caused an accident due to the transmission lunching forward on its own. Also has a whine coming from the transaxle. There is a customer service program for the 2017-2018 models about this issue. But I have a 2019 and not eligible for the program. Would like for Toyota to make this right. Less than 5 year old van.

NHTSA ODI 11613674

My van was struck directly in the driver side rear sliding door while sitting still at a stop sign. The other driver collided straight into the passenger compartment door at an approximate speed of 30 mph crushing the door, exploding the window and neither the driver side airbags nor the side curtain airbags deployed. Resulting in my wife severely jarring around in the driver's seat, as well as my son who was securely fastened in a child booster seat in the driver side rear seat. The glass from the rear door window shattered and covered my son and the interior of the vehicle. There are no active recalls, but I read about a recall concerning the passenger side door welds that could affect operation of the side airbag and side curtain airbag sensors, but this only applied to a small number of 2019 Sienna's. Could this have been a manufacturing defect that bled over to the other door structures affecting the sensors in the same way.

NHTSA ODI 11544692

Car was recalled for fuel pump and I repaired in 8/2020 with approximately 11,190 miles. I had complained that car, since time of purchase and had 4662 miles when I insisted Toyota fix this, (hunted for gears, hesitated, lagged when accelerator pushed, and had poorer gas mileage than expected). The car now has 34,875 miles on it and is doing the same thing, hesitating, lunging between gears. Our mechanic confirmed this and stated worse when using a.c. Called Toyota Customer Service and they said the car was out of warranty for the pump repair, but perhaps not the power train, transmission, etc. Have not gotten back to me yet, but has not been one working day after spending 2.5 hours on the phone with them yesterday. This is a safety issue, I press on the gas to make a turn and it lags leaving me in traffic. My 2007 Sienna, which is still running for my daughter, never did this and has full power when called upon. Toyota needs to repair the entire fuel system, transmission, if they cannot fix this. There are no warning lights when this happens & it is happening more frequently. Dealership told me they could not put another pump on car and to contact Toyota Customer Service and gave me the number. When we had the car for about a month, dealership said we were just not used to driving a car with this type of transmission and car was low on oil, we added oil and dealership said we used the wrong type, but we figured some oil was better than no oil. We are boomers and have been driving cars for decades, with clutches and without and we know how to drive a vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11528072

The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that after he entered the vehicle, he depressed the brake pedal to start the vehicle. After the vehicle was started, he shifted into reverse(R) while the brake pedal remained depressed; however, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated without warning. In a desperate attempt to stop the vehicle from crashing into another vehicle, the contact shifted into drive(D) while the brake pedal remained depressed. The contact then stated that he applied pressure to the brake pedal to stop the vehicle from accelerating when the vehicle then jumped the curb and struck a garbage can. The contact then shifted into reverse(R) while the vehicle continued to accelerate to move away from the garbage can and then shifted in neutral(N). The contact then shifted back into park(P). The contact then stated that after he placed the vehicle in park, the inadvertent acceleration stopped. The contact shifted into drive(D) and the vehicle performed as designed; however, the contact was concerned for his safety and carefully drove the vehicle to his residence where the vehicle remained. The contact was unsure if any warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,750.

NHTSA ODI 11521485

Problems with catalyst

NHTSA ODI 11508941

The microphone has an issue and it is tied to the SOS call button in the car. I asked my dealership, they wanted to charge $200 to run a diagnostic scan, I contacted Toyota directly, they basically said the dealer can charge it if they want and reverse the charge if they find a problem under warranty. I originally thought the issue was with the Blue Tooth. I found this video on YouTube, his fix did work-my concern is, if I had needed Emergency help-the button would not have called anyone, disconnecting your car battery is NOT something I should I have to do to fix a 2019 vehicle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkAdMRKHS_0

NHTSA ODI 11499369

I was traveling on the Capital Beltway (495) during morning rush-hour in my 2019 Toyota Sienna Minivan. Normal Road Conditions: Stop & Go traffic in the right-most lane around 9:30am on December 14, 2022. All of a sudden and without warning, when attempting to accelerate and keep up with traffic after the vehicle was stopped, I found that I was unable to move forward. (There was no indication that my vehicle was suffering from mechanical failure prior to this incident and no visible alert or alarm was triggered) At that point, I powered down the vehicle after turning on the hazard indicator lights. After re-engaging the ignition, I then tried to move forward, and found the vehicle to be unresponsive. A tractor trailer was directly in back of me and was inching closer as to keep up with the rush-hour traffic. I was immovable at that moment and waived the truck around. After finding a break in traffic, I attempted to move out of the right-most lane, but with the transmission not responding to the Drive function, found that my only course of action was to to engage Reverse and move to the Right shoulder of the highway. I then notified triple A and my vehicle was towed to a local garage for evaluation. Upon initial evaluation is was determined that it was either related to where the shift cable goes in to the transmission, or complete transmission failure. It is highly unusual for a Toyota transmission to fail at 71.000 miles (odometer reading at the time of the incident). I currently have two other Toyota vehicles with odometer reading in excess of 140,000 miles. I am concerned for the safety of my family and myself, as this is the primary vehicle used for transport. A 3 year old car with less than 100,000 miles should not suffer from transmission failure. This is a major safety concern. What if this happened and I was not in stop and go traffic or already in the slow lane, on a major highway?

NHTSA ODI 11497982

The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the liftgate failed to lower while using the remote. While reversing, the back-up camera became inoperable. The air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who stated the failure was due to the remote start feature that was installed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that she noticed the mirrors were fractured. While driving at an undisclosed speed, several unknown safety features became inoperable. There was a burning odor detected inside the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted and offered to pay a nominal portion of the repair for the mirrors and referred her to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.

NHTSA ODI 11486452

Second row passenger seatbelt jammed. Unable to be repaired needs new seatbelt part. We were out of town and a passenger was unable to be restrained on way home. The Part is on back order. I cannot use this seat which i need for babysitting grandchildren. I cannot eve sell this van because part not available. Van is available for inspection.Colerain Toyota Cincinnati is the dealership i also contacted Toyota complaint department.

NHTSA ODI 11486556

This tire separated at the side wall nearest the rim. The last one separated and swelled roughly the size of a ping pong ball, prior to that the same thing. This is the 3rd Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season tire to fail. After this last one, I realized it's got to be something with the construction of the tire so I googled and found recalls for other Pireeli tire models. I contacted the mfr and they refused to assist. Spoke with very rude individual at Pirelli USA in Rome, GA location who stated 'if I am concerned about the safety of the tire, report it to the NHTSA' and that in order to obtain a replacement I would have to contact the retailer to initiate a return. As instructed, I spoke with the retailer Simple Tire (Trevose, PA), an individual named Shailesh. I was told since there is no NHTSA recall therefore there is no replacement.

NHTSA ODI 11481138

The headlight on the passenger side has LED daylight running lights. A number of the led's are not working of flickering. Toyota refuse to cover this under warranty even though the car was bought 8-31-2019. Not having working daytime headlights is a major safety issue to me.

NHTSA ODI 11476061

The contact called on behalf of her husband who owns a 2019 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated while her husband was driving approximately 65 MPH, there was an abnormally loud bang heard. The driver became aware that the sunroof glass had shattered and that a part of the glass was missing. The driver continued to his destination. The vehicle was not diagnosed; however, the contact spoke with the local dealer; who informed him that a foreign object probably had struck the sunroof for the glass to shatter. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.

NHTSA ODI 11475771

The power sliding door on the driver’s side of the vehicle is malfunctioning. When the door is opened with the electric opening function, it detects resistance and starts to close. While closing, the door closes with great force and no longer attempts to detect closing resistance. Me, my wife, and my infant daughter have been crushed/trapped by the door. My daughter had her arm trapped in the door. My wife had her back crushed. The Toyota dealer in Tucson, AZ (Precision Toyota) said the electrical cables inside the door are binding, causing the resistance when opening. We have not modified or otherwise touched the electrical door opening cables during our three years of ownership and therefore believe this is an engineering design flaw, or manufacturing defect. My concern is that there may be several other doors with this defect which could eventually lead to great harm on a young child, in the form of a crushing injury.

NHTSA ODI 11472348

June 17, 2022, driving on San Diego freeway north near Sherman oaks California, the Transmission suddenly loses power, however the engine still running feels like the gearbox out of any actions, luckily it’s downhill, managed sliding to the shoulder stopped, The warning light says” turn off traction control”, and “ check engine “ It was rush hour, it was dangerous, after parked few minutes turn off and turn on the engine shift to drive gear the transmission only shifting to lower gears ( 1 or 2) moving slowly, So I managed get of next exit, and stop for few minutes, the I try starting again and driving low gear home, Next morning I turn on the engine the check engine light still on but transmission acted normal, I drove to the Northridge Toyota dealer, which is 2 miles away from my house, Took them 3 day, to return to me, they said it was a coil issue and luckily they didn’t charge me,

NHTSA ODI 11471812

The fuel door hinge has separated from the fuel door. The fuel door now opens partially and can impede the proper function of the power sliding door as it opens or attempt to close.

NHTSA ODI 11465777

The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the front end of the vehicle would lunge downward towards the road surface when depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, the contact stated while reversing in a parking lot of the Doctor's offices, the vehicle accelerated at high speed independently. The contact depressed the brake pedal as hard as he could with both of his feet; however, the rear end of the vehicle crashed into the rear end of another occupied vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. An unknown warning light illuminated. The contact sustained bruises on the left arm but did not seek medical assistance. The other occupied vehicle had three passengers including a baby asleep in a car seat located in the rear seats. The contact was unsure whether the other three passengers sustained injuries. The police arrived at the scene but there was no police report filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer informed the contact that they could not diagnose or repair the vehicle as it was involved in an accident that may have injured other individuals. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that a field engineer would contact him for the vehicle inspection. The contact stated the manufacturer took possession of the vehicle EDR but has not informed him of a diagnostic. A case was opened. The vehicle remained at the dealership but was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 6,800.

NHTSA ODI 11462747

I own a 2019 Toyota Sienna with 52,200 kms. I bought it January 29, 2021. On Saturday, June 26, 2021, I was exiting the Quebec to Lévis ferry on the Lévis side. As I went up the metal ramp at 10-12 km/hr, ALL the airbags suddenly deployed with a great boom. We hit nothing. ALL The front and side airbags deployed. The front windshield was broken and one of the side windows was totally shattered. In fact it was not there any more. Pieces of broken glass flew all over the car and hit us. The vehicle filled up with smoke. On board was my wife and I and our two special needs sons. We had to hurriedly get them unstrapped and hand them to ferry workers on the outside. I was the only one injured. I received the airbag straight in my face and it hurt my neck. I have had a headache and neck ache ever since (today is June 29). I ignore the reason for which the airbags deployed. But I do know that Toyota has had to recall other 2019 Siennas for spontaneous deployment of their airbags. Maybe it is an airbag defect. My vehicle was still under warranty. The fire department and police were on the scene. The Levis Ferry director wrote a report. The Levis police report is LVS-210626-008. Thank you.

NHTSA ODI 11422870