Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (accelerator pedal, throttle, sudden acceleration, cruise control).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2005 Toyota Sienna owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I was driving on a dry road, going 70mph when my car began flashing the abs indicator and it began breaking and controlling my steering taking me into another lane. The car slowed my vehicle suddenly down to 60 mph and then went off like it never happened. I then had control. There was no reason for the car to do this. There was nothing in the road and luckily no one was to close to me or there would have been an accident. I almost over corrected due to the pulling of the steering and the breaking of the vehicle.
shifter broke at 55 mph wouldn't stay in 5 gear, was easily moved to R, N, and flopped around! won't stay in 4 now when used either, or PARK unless held when turning car off. NO warning, shifted down for a hill, speed limit change, and corner in neighborhood as usual, no lights on in car. just happened but upon research, have found many others with this problem online, same veh and same kind of miles.Toyota knows but won't recall their broken plastic piece and no notification to consumer
I was backing out of my garage and I have an l shaped driveway. I was going approx. 2mph and then I took my foot off the gas and was "covering" the brake and suddenly the car began to accelerate and I tried to brake, but the car slammed into a parked car and still did not stop. It continued to accelerate until I ended up in the street. I was trying to brake the entire time, but the car did not stop and continued to accelerate. My foot was not on the gas. We live on a residential street in the suburbs and luckily no one was hurt. The Sienna and the parked car both have extensive body damage.
Husband pulled into parking spot in front of a store, he was completely stopped in the spot and before he could put in park it suddenly accelerated full rev, hopped the curb and hit the building. While up against the building it was still in full rev. Finally it stopped and he backed it back over the curb. Van went about three feet into the building. Tire on front passenger side was flattened. Van has been totaled. Thank god no one was in front of our van.
While reversing out of a parking spot, felt the van "jumped" then accelerated on it's own while in reverse swiped a parked truck, and did a half circle into the drive-through of a parking lot only to stopped when it hit another SUV. I felt I had no control of the van while this was happening.
Shift control didn't work and van rolled away. We also had an issue backing out of our garage and the car sped up and went out of control. The van was out of control and finally stopped out in the street. This van scared the day lights out of us. Complete defect
Continuous issues with traction control system almost daily. Any time vehicle veers towards the right anti-slip indicator light, alarm sounds and ABS system activates. This happens almost daily, on dry roads, going downhill or on a curve, even while switching lanes now. This happens above 20 MPH. Driving becomes stressful and worry-some when alarm begins to sound and dash light come on. Fear of losing control becomes great, fear for your passengers safety as well as other drivers safety becomes real. During the past 3 months there have been 5 separate incidents in which the vehicle has lost acceleration, pulls steering in one direction and sudden break lock occurs. 2 of which took place on the freeway on ramp at a speed of 35mph, 1 driving downhill, slightly towards the right, at a speed if 20mph and the last 2 while switching lanes, 35 MPH. …
I was backing out of a parking space in a parking lot. I put the car in reverse, place my foot on the brake, put the car into drive, lifted my foot off of the brake and the car immediately began to accelerate without my foot even touching the accelerator. When I put my foot on the brake, the brake pedal went all the way down to the floor without stopping the vehicle. The van struck another vehicle that was parked in the parking lot, went over the curb of the parking lot, down an embankment into a ravine and headed towards a tree. The passenger that was in the front seat then reached over and put the car into park, which brought the car to a stop. The whole time the car was moving I was trying to stop the car by pumping the brakes, but they did not work. The car was accelerating the entire time until the passenger stopped it by shifting into park. The airbags did not deploy. …
Tl contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. While driving between 5-6 MPH, another vehicle ran a stop sign and struck the left rear driver's side of the contact's vehicle. Her vehicle fish-tailed and turned to the left. The vehicle accelerated and struck another vehicle. The contact had no control over the vehicle. She attempted to place the vehicle into park, but was unsuccessful. The engine revved and the vehicle accelerated again. The vehicle struck a curb, a boulder, and then a palm tree before coming to a complete stop. The brakes failed to operate during the incident. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to a GMC dealer and they test drove the vehicle, but were unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle is still at the GMC dealer and will be appraised. The failure and current mileages were 40,000. Updated 5/7/09 updated 05/11/09.
Takata inflators - when driving in city 30mph or freeway 50-60mph in curvy path, the unti-skid lock turns off even if the road was dry. When it happened frequently and a motorcycle almost slammed from behind, I brought my van to the dealer and it shows no record of the unti-skid lock being on. I insisted to take precautions and they did a zero calibration, changed new tires and realignment but problem persist. I brought it back with the same complaint but they claimed the they never had any other customer with the same problem. I reached online yet there were many others. I hope you can help me on this. The dealer can't figure out this problem and just washed their hands. This happened multiple times already and afraid to drive my van.
Acceleration complaints in other Sienna years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2005 Toyota Sienna?
NHTSA has 62 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2005 Toyota Sienna, 5% of the model year's 1,130 complaints. The component named most often is accelerator pedal (3 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2005 Toyota Sienna acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2005 Toyota Sienna, though it has 12 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 2005 Toyota Sienna acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 71,000 miles, and 23% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 18 crashes, 0 fires and 5 injuries and 1 death to speed control & acceleration 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.