2001 Toyota Sienna Body Problems

Which parts fail

• Body › Door
  17
• Body
  9
• Body › Door › Hinge and attachments
  1
• Body › Hood
  1

Components named in complaints (doors, hood, frame, rust, paint and trim).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  521%
• 25k–50k
  313%
• 50k–75k
  417%
• 75k–100k
  28%
• 100k–150k
  833%
• 150k+
  28%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2001 Toyota Sienna owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

The driver's side rear sliding door has several times now refused to latch, and when in emergency situation I have locked it and forced it to shut then it will not unlock and it has to be taken apart to be opened and the whole latch and lock mechanism reworked by the mechanic, and in the meantime the door is unable to be opened which is extremely unsafe when I have children in the middle and back rows of the van. This is the third time in the past 3 years that this problem has occurred, so it is definitely an actual problem with the hardware of the door latch mechanism itself and not simply a glitch that occurred once or something.

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 55 MPH, the hood was shaking violently and unlatched from the vehicle causing the windshield to crack. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the failure was undetermined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

The left and right rear passenger doors failed to open due to breakage of the cable. I am uncertain of whether the child safety locks were engaged, however, the doors will not open wider than approx. 6". Rear passengers had to crawl out of the van via the driver's or front passenger door. I am elated that the failure of the doors did not occur during a hazardous condition, since this would have placed the rear occupants in extreme danger. If Toyota and NHTSA was aware that there is a failure in the cables and the manual release of the rear doors, there should have been a safety alert and/or recall of the vehicles for repair of the vans. The failure of the doors is not simply a matter of cosmetic issues, it is potentially hazardous and life threatening. At a minimum, the doors should have allowed for manual opening and closing, if the cables should break. …

I own a 2001 Toyota Sienna van ce. In the past 1.5 years all door handles have separated from the car. This includes the driver, passenger, rear driver, rear passenger and tailgate doors handles. These handles are made from plastic and crack and break off at the hinge point. I don't believe the number of breakages of these handles can be caused by normal wear and tear and certainly with two small children and two adults making use of the vehicle would constitute normal wear and tear. This problem is a defect of design or workmanship of the handle and the cost to repair is approximately $350 per handle. It is a serious threat should they break at the improper time or for emergency access to the automobile. I have addressed my concerns with Toyota and they don't believe there is a need to correct. Please investigate and respond. [redacted]

I purchased a brand new 2001 Toyota Sienna xle in 2001. The passenger side power sliding door and the drivers side power sliding door has given us problems since we purchased the car. We had it back to the dealer for the same power door issue at least 11 times. They now want to charge me. The ntsb should force a recall to fix this issue. The door will not open or close and now it will not move at all either by remote or manually. We purchased the dual power sliders as a convenience and now we have inconvenience. We have not been able to use the door properly for years, we have never had the benefit of the power sliding doors that we paid for. I would request that the government investigate the numerous complaints on the various blogs for the same issue described here. We have had this problem for over ten years without a resolution provided by Toyota. The doors still do not function. …

I have a 2001 Toyota Sienna and the both the rear sliding doors have had intermittent issues with either opening or closing since around 2003 (although more often seen with driver side). When the issues is present the doors work fine when the automatic open/close is turned off. The issue May occur more often when raining then when dry. One observance of issue is that when auto open is engaged the door makes a clicking sound but doesn't open. The other observance of issue is when the door is open and the auto close is engaged the door starts to close (maybe an inch) and then re-opens...the only way to get the door closed is to turn off the auto open/close. While under warranty I took the van to be serviced twice, but was not able to re-produce the issue at the dealership...as such they would not even look at it.

The sliding doors of our 2001 Toyota Sienna xle are not reliable operated. Sometimes work sometime not, sometime stuck, no safety sensor. Only a man can push the closing door back open. If a child in the path of a closing door, manually pushing back the door is impossible for me. The push button and the key button sometimes work sometimes not since the first year. We brought in elmore Toyota many times. They said nothing wrong with it. We complained to cooperate Toyota, they referred us back to elmore Toyota, with the same answer nothing wrong. We fear for the safety of our children. This is our last resort for help. When we have money to replace this car, there will be no more Toyota on our list.

My 2001 Toyota Sienna xle power sliding door on the passenger side (came only with this one power door) did not work properly. It did not open by pressing the button, it works to close but not tight. When I choose to use it manually, it is so heavy that the children have not enough strength to open it. They have to exit the car from the driver's side other than on the curb side. It places the passengers in dangerous situation, as well as to the driver if he has to come out of the car to help open the door at the curb side. My complaint is that door should be operated as light as the other door when it is in the manual mode and the cost to fix is too much (about $2,000) to afford.

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the brakes were depressed with the vehicle turned off. He then shifted into reverse and the vehicle began to roll backward. The contact was able to maintain control of the vehicle until it stopped. In addition, the driver side running board melted and fractured in several places. The dealer advised that they were unable to replace the running board because it was no longer in stock. The manufacturer did not provide any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 113,770. Updated 11/15/10 the dealer was able to duplicate, but was unable to solve it. Updated 11/26/10

2001 Toyota Sienna... The plastic door handles are breaking off... The right, rear slider handle broke off in 2007. .next the left, rear slider handle broke off... This was dangerous since the child lock was on preventing opening the door from either inside or outside the vehicle with the children trapped inside...now the front passenger door handle has broken.....Toyota dealership charges $89.73 for each handle not including installation....it is obvious to me plastic fatigue is the problem...3 of 4 handles have failed in past 3 years...I contend these handles as well as the fourth remaining were and are defective.

Related recalls

Body complaints in other Sienna years