Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Thank you...
I own a Toyota now and several Toyotas in the past, so do several of my in-laws, and my immediate family, and several of my neighbors. None of our car has SUA problems. My car now has 64K+ miles without issues except for what my kids broke in it. I believe Toyota is doing all they can. I just heard on the news today, NASA is also now being involved to try to figure this out(per Bloomberg TV).
Your best defense against this situation is to be knowledgeable and know how to shift your vehicle into Neutral if this ever happens and floor the brakes.
PS
I do not work for Toyota or any other car company. I do not own stock in Toyota.
Now that the Sienna has it, question is, do competitors have the same fail-safe mode?
Did you say on another post that 2007 Odysseys had more UA complaints than the same year of Toyotas?
I still say all this is making me want to walk everywhere. It would probably be good for me.
For instance, with the Ody I saw lots of complaints about brakes. Sure enough, Honda now has a recall on the brakes.
What surprises me is that with the Ody, Consumer Reports ratings clearly show issues it has has in the past:
- transmissions before '04 had black dots
- 05 to 07 suspension got black dots
- 05 to 08 brakes got black and half-black dots
All 3 can be explained. We know the Ody got a revised trans for 2004. The suspension is the coil spring issue they are having. And the brake issues are clear to anyone who has read through the NHTSA ODI complaints database.
But here's the thing - Sienna shows no signs of problems under categories you'd think UA would affect:
Engine, major
Engine, minor
Electrical
Brakes
All are red dots or half-red, i.e. better than average reliability.
Issues are with Body Hardware from 04-06, and we know that was the door skin on the driver's door that a few people reported falling off (!) or more commonly rattling and getting loose. The other issues involved the 06-08 audio system, basically pre-Bluetooth.
It's strange, to me, that most of the well known issues on both these vans appear very clearly on the CR ratings, but UA does not. :confuse:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100713/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_recall
This past week, I have been noticing a delayed response in acceleration when I stop at a neighborhood stop sign. The car jerks forward with such force that I must apply the brakes. I'm assuming this was the issue today.
Terrified of driving it, I had the car towed to a dealership and am awaiting their prognosis of the problem. However, they seemed dubious of my explanation. After reading these posts, I'm not very confident of the outcome...
Read with great interest your experience today with your Sienna. Been there, done that! You have reason for concern of the dealership's probable explanation and/or action. They will sympathetically "go through the motions"; however, the outcome will be that their diagnostic testing is unable to pinpoint the cause of the sudden uncontrolled acceleration since the problem is apparently intermittent. They will inform you that they are unable to duplicate "on the spot" the exact phenomenon that you experienced; so, they have no way to determine its cause. If you continue to demand further action, they will contact their "team of experts" who will (in my case) fly from California to examine your car and reach the same conclusion as the dealership's "team of experts". You will proceed to document your experience with the NHTSA who, after receiving an acknowledgment of receipt of your complaint, will never be heard from again. From this day forward, you will FEAR getting behind the wheel of your beloved car again and, eventually, dispose of it rather than risk your life or other innocent lives whose path you may cross. You are fortunate! You, thankfully, did not injure or kill anyone today,and you were not even involved in a property accident in which the insurance company would have surely raised your rates because they would have determined that YOU, Sekots, was at fault.
Not a pretty prediction, I know, but you did ask what to expect from the dealership from today's harrowing experience. In my case, it was a Lexus. Weather was clear, no mat involved, shoes were flat, did not mistaken the accelerator for the brake, first accident in decades of driving, etc. It WAS the car, not me! Hopefully, the truth about the REAL cause of these problems will be revealed someday. Good Luck!
My name is Diana Motsenbocker and I would like to share my story. On June 30th 2010 I had a very scary thing happen to me. The accelerator on my van was stuck. No matter how hard I tried, the van wouldn't stop, until it plowed into our garage and house. I have contacted Toyota and they have informed me that there is no recall on any of the 2007 Toyota Siennas. This really upsets me to think that there are many families that are driving these vehicles whose very life could be in great danger. This problem came on suddenly and without any warning. Please review my story so that no other family has to go through this terrible trauma. I do have pictures of the damage and the vehicle is still crammed into the house and garage. Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to come out and take a look at all the damage the van did to our house. I am not looking for any publicity for myself or my family. I just want other family’s to be aware of the situation.
Thank you,
Diana Motsenbocker
I know the feeling. My 2006 Sienna wound up crashing me into a concrete wall, totaled the van, and I feel lucky to be alive. I have posted the entire story on this site already, about a year ago, so I won't go over it all again, but I also contacted Toyota, they said nothing was wrong with my vehicle when their inspector looked at it. The really scary thing is, a lot of people purchase these vans because they have families, small children, and that is the market they aim for in their advertising. I also reported it right away to the National Traffic Safety, can't remember all the proper initials right now, but I can't imagine why the Sienna didn't get on the recall list. I'm sure other people also reported similar incidents. Good luck with getting something done about it. Be sure and report it to, I think it's NTSA. Maybe if enough people report it, it will finally make the recall list as it should have a long time ago.
Did Toyota take any responsability for this? I have made a report to NHTSA. I am really scared to drive the van again if it is not totaled and Toyota keeps saying that there is no recall on my van. I am just very frustrated at this point.
But, when I read what happened to you, and the Toyota position that their electronics is NOT at fault and won't cause any sudden unintended acceleration, I still have the same concern that you now just experienced. We drove back east with the "shift into neutral" and "press the brakes" message engraved into our minds, just in case, even though it didn't happen.
I also believe that you didn't hit the gas by mistake, though neither of us can prove it. If you did hit the gas by mistake, why is it that it seems only Toyota vehicles have this happening, no other makes of vehicles seem to have this as a problem? GM, Ford, Chrysler, and all the other makes seem to never have anyone accidentally pressing the gas for the brake? I don't think so. The "untold" story continues.
Just wanted you to know that others still do share your concern in this matter.
Anyway, I'm interested how you resolved your issue. Like you, I have 3 kids and need my car for transportation. But now I'm hesitant to drive it anywhere. From all of the posts, I'd be surprised if they find anything if I take it to the dealer.
I ask because I went camping in my Sienna a while ago, and we got tons of rain. The interior was damp and two people inside added to the condensation.
Any how, on the way home, one of the dome lights inside would come on and off, as if there was an electrical short or something.
Once the van dried that never happened again. It was very odd, though.
I just sold a Honda Odyssey due to transmission issues Honda has had for what appears to be a decade and they refuse to address their transmission problems. Looks like the 2 supposedly premier vans out on the market (Siennas and Odysseys) are flops.
What's left?
What you really mean to say is that YOU think its another case of UA.
Nothing like an objective opinion....
Possible driver error?
NAH.... No way!
I'll never understand why some people feel the need to incite fear in others...
"Williams said Scott was traveling westbound in his Toyota minivan near the New Lisbon exit when he reportedly rear-ended the truck. When Williams arrived on the scene around 9:21 p.m., he observed the van's dashboard was smashed completely under the rear of the semi."link title
>Although it will never be known for sure, this appears to be another case of unexpected acceleration.
And you are exactly right, unless there's more investigation going on by the police looking at the data recorder (which toyota probably doesn't have a reader for, grin) and other witnesses. No witnesses were mentioned in the article.
Of course no one knows it was NOT uncontrolled acceleration.
To analyze what ifs: the speed limit is 70 mph on that part of the road. Most trucks are going 70 and above. So to impact the rear of a truck thus the car would have been going 15 or more mph about 70-75, i.e., 90 mph. Not a likely speed for the auto to crash with that much damage.
Furthermore, if it were uncontrolled acceleration the driver might have had an option to go around on the shoulder. But there was likely snow on the shoulder or part of it. The driver possibly could have passed on the left (assuming the truck is in the right hand lane).
If the driver were going at an unusually high rate for a period of time, a witness should have stopped to tell the authorities that the driver had been driving excessively fast. However, if SUA just started, that might not have been the case of having a witness.
Another possibility is that the truck taillights were not illuminated, so the driver hit it without realizing he was approaching it.
In other words, no one knows, but it certainly is suspicious.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Agreed.
There simply isn't enough information available to come to a conclusion, one way or the other. There are far too many variables in play.
So, to imply UA is certainly unwarranted. To do so is simply a type of "scare tactic".
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/traffic/west-palm-beach-man-dies-in-violent-bm- w-1205635.html
I wonder if anyone thinks that accident was UA. Also, I wonder how many would think it was UA if it had been a Toyota product .vs. a BMW.
Even if the van was doing 100, I can't imagine there would be that much damage if the truck was doing 80. The 20mph difference is not enough to cause that much damage.
More likely the truck was stopping or slowing when the van rear ended him, inattentive driver didn't notice, perhaps?
In other words, it's more likely the truck's slow speed vs. the van's high speed. The Sienna has the aerodynamics of a barn door.
OK, just read the full article. That's a serious collision. Massive amounts of energy to absorb.
We know from the IIHS 40mph front offset collision, the passenger area stays intact.
So for that much damage to occur, it's safe to assume there was MUCH more than 40mph difference in speed.
Time for some detective work...
OK, from C&D's last minivan comparo, the top speed of that Sienna is 110mph. So even if the truck was doing the speed limit, and not over like they always do, the difference in speed, worst case scenario, would be:
Top Speed of 110 - Truck at Speed Limit of 70 mph = 40 mph difference.
So the crash would have been similar to the IIHS test, which is done at exactly the same speed!
So now let's look at those:
Frontal offset test results Frontal offset test results
Good 2011 models
Good 2004-10 models
Good 1998-2003 models
So SUA can be ruled out - it had to be that the truck was going MUCH, MUCH less than 70mph, else the driver would have had Good protection, and that was clearly not the case.
That pretty much proves this was NOT a case of SUA.
>So for that much damage to occur, it's safe to assume there was MUCH more than 40mph difference in speed.
Many trailers don't have very good bars that extend lower to keep cars from going under. Some of the bars I see look like welded angle iron which wouldn't stop a SmartForTwo let alone a van like Odyssey or Sienna.
I wonder if the bars that are supposed to keep cars from going under didn't absorb or resist and the back of the higher trailer ledge hit higher on the Sienna's front end. That would explain the heavy crushing into the passenger compartment.
I didn't find a picture of the vehicle.
Also the possibility that the trucker was slowing down would explain a driver on the that stretch of straight road not realizing it unless the emergency lights were flashing.
Nothing was said about the driver claiming a high speed on the van's part.
Nothing was said in the article about any witnesses of higher speeds than typical.
Doesn't look like a pattern for SUA.
Only odd thing for forensics on this with the given information is that the truck driver was upset. Perhaps he had slowed down without proper lights and felt some responsibility, but I'm just guessing on his reason for concern.
Also he didn't say the car came up on him at high speed, nor did any other truck drivers. At 9 pm that road has a good density of traffic and probably lots of truckers who would have noticed.
Nothing here in the report suggests SUA. Maybe hypnotized van driver after miles of boring mostly straight I-70.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
URL if you cannot see the image:
http://medinagazette.northcoastnow.com/files/2010/10/semismashweb.jpg
In this case, though, they did mention the dash was destroyed, so a lot of energy was absorbed. Not enough, sadly.
Toyota added brake overrides to the throttle in 2010 for Siennas, and ironically it's the competition that has yet to add that feature. Nissan has on the Quest, an exception.
Luckily, when the TRUCK crossed the grating between bridge and highway,
everything came into perspective as the two "cars" jumped several feet into the air and I realized just in time, the two "cars" were pairs of tail lights mounted on either side of the TRUCK so I cooled it, slowed down.
Truck bumped up a few INCHES where as cars it seemed like it was FEET.
so that CLUE told me to back off, something's amiss in my visual perception
Perhaps some unusual lighting initiated a similar optical illusion for driver
Lastly, which is also common, the accelerator uses a crap code.. Which in English means that when you push the pedal the Toyota will have a 1/2 second delay before you accelerate, which can cause a lurching motion.. Bad code is the reason for this, it is also an issue in the new honda's, which in 2006 was so slow you could floor it and release the pedal before it even registered it was pushed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRN1CnKrc84&feature=related
I cannot tell you how relieved I am to find this forum on the topic of uncontrolled acceleration in the Toyota Sienna! My 2005 Sienna gave me the scare of a lifetime a few days ago and I've been researching this topic ever since! I was following a slower driver doing 40 mph on a rural road and decided to pass when it was safe. As soon as I pressed the accelerator down further to gain enough speed to pass, I knew there was something wrong. It felt like there was an invisible force taking over the accelerator as I was no longer pressing on it but the van continued to gain speed. I pressed on the brakes even before I entered back into my lane because something was drastically wrong. I moved back over into my lane but the van continued to go faster and by now, I'm stepping on the brakes with both feet but the van wasn't slowing down! In my panic, I was able to shift it into neutral, continued standing on the brakes but nothing was helping! The engine revved faster and faster and the van kept going. I knew there were curves coming up in the road and I was faced with putting the van in the ditch if I couldn't get it stopped. Instead, I was able to get the van turned into a farm field where I almost opened the door to jump out! I stayed in the van though and was ready to do donuts with it until I could get it stopped. Looking back, I was running on sheer adrenalin and I honestly don't know how I was able to stop the van, but it did stop, finally! The smell of burnt tires/brakes was so strong! It was by the grace of God I didn't hit someone! I sat there shaking uncontrollably until I could gather myself enough to call 911. I then called AAA to have the van towed to the dealership where we purchased it and have had it serviced for the past 9 yeas. This incident scared me so bad I will never drive that van again! I filed a report with Toyota and the NHTSA and we're waiting to hear from the dealership as to what they find. From reading other posts on here though, it doesn't sound like I should get my hopes up that Toyota will make this right. We'll wait and see!
Mommakline,
Sorry about your bad experience, but you should be aware there is a glaring discontinuity in your story. I'm not saying you didn't experience it. I'm saying that there is something in the story that investigators are going to be troubled with and that part may result in an inconclusive result.
The part of the story that is inconsistent? Where you shifted the car into neutral and it kept accelerating. Again, I'm not saying that didn't happen, I'm saying that portion of the story is going to require an explanation above and beyond the unintended acceleration issue - or it has to be part of the big picture that links both events.
It's possible that both NHTSA and Toyota will not be able to explain what happened. let alone make changes to prevent reoccurrence.
Then yesterday, as I was pulling into a driveway, the same thing happened. I am quite sure I was braking when the car sped up and hit a low wall, I pressed much harder on the braked and it stopped. My bumper is severely cracked. I called the NJ dealership where I bought the car and they seemed uninterested. The Toyota dealership in Greenwich, CT where I now live will look at the van tomorrow.
Your post has reassured me that I did nothing wrong in both these incidents.