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Vans & Minivans Toyota Sienna Toyota Sienna Sliding Door Problems
322 messages, Last post on Oct 19, 2009 at 10:29 AM
You are in the Toyota Sienna Forum. Your Host is Karens
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Replying to: jrmac (Dec 29, 2008 10:43 am)  In a crash you're better off with all doors closed, locked even. The van gets its safety rating based on all of the doors operating That's more than a stretch. IIHS and NHTSA/NCAP give out safety ratings that would not at all be affected by a door that didn't operate properly. It's very inconvenient, yes. But unsafe? How will someone be harmed by a non-moving door? If it were pinching body parts, that would be a different story.
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Replying to: ateixeira (Dec 29, 2008 10:48 am) I have, personally, been in a car accident where the front passenger door would not open because of the electronic locking system. The driver's door was hit, but the passenger side was not. We were unable to get out the passenger side, leaving us to crawl to the back to get out. Fortunately, the car did not catch fire and we got out safely. We were not hauling babies around, so we didn't have that issue to deal with, thankfully. If you are unable to get back into your vehicle, in -20 to -40 C temperatures, because your doors have frozen shut, and it's nearly impossible to crawl over the front seat to buckle babies into their spots, it is a safety issue. If you have gotten into a vehicle accident, and you can't get out of your seat to get your children out of their buckled in seats, and those standing by trying to help can't climb over you to get to your children....that's a safety issue. If you have a child who gets car sick and you need to pull over, it is possibly not a safety issue, but it's a very inconvenient issue to not be able to get them out of the vehicle. Yes, we carry a bucket with us and know the routine, but it's not necessary to be so inconvenienced by our doors locking us to the point we can't get out of the vehicle. At this point in time, all our issues have been covered by our dealer. As I said earlier, we have a great dealership we are working with and I am very grateful for that. Carol
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Replying to: Violaisabelle (Dec 29, 2008 12:47 pm)  Unless you have a moonroof, then you could still get out.  Obviously I'm teasing, but I still don't see this as a safety issue. It definitely is a *major* inconvenience. If you've been driving, the heat from within the car would likely have the doors unfrozen. The doors on my Miata freeze every day in the winter, including today. I could tear through the vinyl top so I guess I could still save myself.
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We almost bought a Sienna, but in the end bought a Kia Sedona, and guess what? The sliding doors freeze shut every time it is below freezing!! This is not just a Sienna problem, although I do wonder about the comment about the compound used in the rubber seals. We still have our 13 year old Plymouth minivan (310,000k) and have not had the sliding doors freeze even once on it. Mind you, nothing on it fits as snugly and tightly either! I'll watch your blog with interest.
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Replying to: slider13 (Jan 15, 2009 4:09 pm) My 93 Miata's doors freeze shut all the time. I've had to open the passenger door, then push out the driver's door to get it open. It has those tiny little art-deco door handles. Cute but no leverage to pull at all. |
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Does anyone know if Toyota is "fessing up" yet that they have a serious product flaw in the cables on the sliding door? Again, ours snapped in the mid 40's. Their customer orientation was to want $1,800 to fix it. DO NOT BUY A SIENNA
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Replying to: znet (Jan 22, 2008 9:25 pm) Same experience. |
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Replying to: socal13 (Sep 29, 2008 2:00 pm) Shame on Toyota! |
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for those who have had the incredible inconvenience of having their sliding doors frozen shut upon attempting entry, i have a solution. having tried every lubricant without success, the only solution was the replacing of the door seals with a re engineered part i believe available on 05 models and later. the new seals work perfectly, but they must be the upgraded ones that toyota came up with in response to the obvious problem. there should be a toyota campaign for this issue, but there isn't. i complained to head office, but received no compensation. here in ontario, canada, the cost was appro. $150 including labour. not bad, but still, the problem should never have existed in the first place. maybe if more people contact head office with similar complaints, toyota will listen, and a campaign will surface. anyways, now that the new seals have been exposed to temps well below freezing for over 2 months now, i'm happy to report that they are doing the job, no stuck doors anymore! |
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Here is a link to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm If you are right and enough people complain, a recall can be forced. I dunno, though, my Miata's door froze shut again today, it's pretty common IMO. |
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