Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (headlights, tail lights, turn signals, interior lights).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2004 Toyota Sienna owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Electrical fire inside parked van occurred overnight and burned driver and passenger front seats, dash, and all air vents and all plastic component located near all vents. Van was parked on street in front of my house.
The headlight bulb compartment allows water to leak into it on the passenger side causing the bulb to blow. This has happened twice, the repair cost was $500. We drove the car for one week and the bulb blew again because water leaked into the compartment. This is a design flaw and is hazardous when you are driving at night or god forbid if it's raining and dark. We also were pulled over and given a warning from a state trooper about the bulb being out. This is a dangerous and costly situation. We are still waiting to get the bulb repaired a second time. In the meantime we are without a van for our family. Please demand that Toyota recalls this hazardous defective part. The bulb went out while we were driving at night. This is a problem and a hazard!
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the passenger side sliding door cable fractured and caused the door to remain ajar. The contact stated that the failure also caused the battery to be drained because the dome light remained illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.
Steering do not stay straight while I am driving this vehicle. Since I purchased, I went to Toyota in the beginning they fix it but issue was not resolve and as of today same problem and I replaced new tires still alignment is the biggest problem. Lighting is not strong to see deer on the road.
Radiator ruptured and the engine overheated; hose replaced in steering column recall; rust protective tape recall; dvd screen replaced and the entire dvd player replaced(screen still not easily visible in middle row); passenger seat belt replaced; middle passenger seat belt failing; gasoline smell inside of car with ac on recirculation; driver's window fell inside door in snow storm and was not considered a safety issue to get a loaner vehicle even though the vehicle could not be locked; tires completely bald and leaking under 30,000 miles, dvd player must be at a high db volume and when returned to radio/cd will almost deafen you; interior lights have to be manually over ridden or will drain battery; car hesitates 1-2 seconds when trying to quickly accelerate and then lurches forward alarmingly; cruise control is not functioning; waiting to have fuel mixture sensor replaced. …
In regards to a 2003 Toyota Sienna xle model with high intensity discharge headlamps: in June of 2007 with vehicle out of warranty by mileage, but not time, driver's side headlight stopped working. Initial recommendation by dealer (boch Toyota of norwood, ma) was to replace HID computer at a cost of 1,100 dollars. Following replacement of HID computer, light operated for approximately three months before beginning to operate intermittently. Was then told by dealer that there was a "short in the bulb" and dealer recommendation was to replace bulb assembly at cost of 400 dollars. Within two weeks of this repair, I was stopped by a police officer and told the headlight was not working. Again, headlight is working intermittently. Today dealer recommended replacement of entire headlight housing at a cost of 1,100 dollars. …
Initially the dr side low beam headlight would not light. Dealer replaced bulb and ECU module. Warranty replacement. Cause was reported the ECU failed. Months later the dr side low beam headlight failed again but after the one year repair work warranty. This time it was reported to be the bulb and was replaced, dlr. Would not warrant the work, even the extended warranty supposedly did not cover. Cost to cust. Was $395. Currently the passenger side low beam headlight has quit working, several months ago and cust. Bought direct replacement bulb and installed it. That did not remedy the problem. It appears that the ECU for the passenger side low beam headlight May be faulty. It has been reported that costs for the ECU and dlr labor to replace would cost about $800. This seems to fall in the safety category and should be a recall and warranty work. …
The electric door (passenger side) intermittently worked for years, sometimes it worked, sometimes it did not. Finally it quit working. The rear fan goes on and off at will. There is an electrical short. My rear tail light on driver's side is always out, even after replacing it multiple times. The trunk door lost all its hydraulic lift and actually hit me in the head. It has no hydraulics left now and is very hard to lift. The lighted buttons by the front windshield where you operate the garage door, electric door - burnt out at probably 37,000 miles and were ridiculous to replace. The door locks are all screwed up. Hard to unlock the driver's door manually with a key, have to unlock from passenger side. The door clicker does not work. Batteries have been replaced multiple times and the clicker quit working shortly after, again an electrical short of some sort??? …
I own a 2004 Toyota Sienna with 76,000 miles on it. I was one of the first owners when the new model was introduced. It has been well maintained through molle Toyota, kc mo that I have been pleased with prior to this incident. I had some problems with it initially and Toyota motor sales always took care of it and provided excellent service and follow up. However, the reputation that they have built over the course of 4 years has come unraveled. One of my headlights went out recently and I took it in to the dealer to get fixed, assuming it needed a new bulb. I was presented with a projected price of $ 900.00 to fix one headlight. $ 800.00 of this was a ?igniter? Part from Toyota and $ 100.00 of this was labor from the dealer. …
To whom it May concern, I purchased a set of aftermarket replacement headlights for my 2004 Toyota Sienna that were advertised as dot/sae approved. Http://www.am-autoparts.com/2004/Toyota/Sienna/headlight-assemblies/am-19245220/350742.html based on how far from the original equipment headlights these aftermarket lights performed (plus the fact they leaked) I went ahead and returned them. From my research it shows that the majority of aftermarket lights do not meet title 49, part 571-federal motor vehicle safety standards, standard number 108 (FMVSS 108) and I am wondering why the dot and NHTSA is allowing them to be sold. Please take a look at this study by a lobbying group for these companies, whose own test results show they don't meet the OEM standards that are required to meet FMVSS 108. Http://www.capacertified.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/capalighting3.pdf respectful [redacted]
Headlight complaints in other Sienna years
Frequently asked questions
How common are headlight problems on the 2004 Toyota Sienna?
NHTSA has 42 complaints about the lights of the 2004 Toyota Sienna, 2% of the model year's 2,062 complaints. The component named most often is headlights (9 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2004 Toyota Sienna headlight problems?
No. NHTSA lists no lights recall for the 2004 Toyota Sienna, though it has 10 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2004 Toyota Sienna headlight problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 75,000 miles, and 19% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 1 fire and 0 injuries to lights problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.