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They said they only would have covered up to $500 of the weld, but since it is the door, so sorry no help at all.
It seems there are two major issues:
Driver door weld popping
Sliding doors quit working
Please, I am ready for a class action, because I have been battling with Toyota USA about this issue and they said the would pay for half, as long as it was determined that it was not our fault. That would make us pay almost $1,000 just for our half alone - not good enough in my estimation if it's a known factory defect!
Toyota will be sending out letters on Nov. 2nd to owners of said Siennas explaining the problem and offering to fix it. To do so, Toyota will offer what it calls a "warranty enhancement" to these vehicles, covering the cost of these door repairs on Siennas up to five years old with 100,000 miles or less. Though a bad spot weld on the door check mounting panel would normally be covered by the Sienna's standard warranty, that only lasts 3 years or 36,000 miles. Toyota has also said that it will reimburse owners who have already had the doors repaired on their own, in some cases at the cost of thousands of dollars.
Curiously, Toyota is not calling this a recall. Of course, what automaker wants to refer to a problem with one of its vehicles as a recall if it doesn't have to? As long as Toyota takes care of the Sienna door problem to the satisfaction of its customers, they can call it a Happy Happy, Joy Joy Service Encouragement Bulletin.
HEY, why didn't I get that letter?????
The State Attorney's office wrote back the next day that they're looking into this and to that they are seeing if other people are experiencing the same issue so that they can see if there is cause to take further action. They also stated that they are contacting the company. I sent them links to the forum discussions, youtube videos and hope that they see this is a big issue. I've heard that there are over 3,000 complaints regarding this issue.
Toyota USA has agreed to pay half and the service manager thought they were 'generous.' What's generous with leaving us with over $1,000? Generous would be replacing our van with a new van of equal model number - XLE Limited. Can't believe we invested this much money for a poorly made car. Doing the right thing by fully covering the costs, providing a rental car, paying for our hotel expense (we live 75 miles away) would only be doing the right thing - paying only half is actually stealing from our livliehood, when it's a known factory defect issue.
Yes, they are attempting to make it seem like they are being 'generous' as in our case by paying half. What's generous with leaving us with over $1000 for our half when it's something that was not our fault and beyond our control?
Class Action Suit anyone???
Please, anyone know anything about beginning a class action suit? I've contacted Oregon's State General Attorney, as suggested by one website on steps to take to get this fixed. If one person has success, because of these steps, that's good but what about the rest of us who are stuck with a huge bill and/or a temporary fix at a lower cost? The state attorney's office wrote back that they would investigate this and if it seemed that there were enough consumers affected by this, they might take action. My suggestion is that everyone should write to their own State Attorney General's office, reference as many sites concerning this as you can---these discussion forums, this site: http://sites.google.com/site/toyotasiennadefects/ etc.
Let your attorney general's office know that there are many, many consumers affected by this and that it has been determined that this is a factory defect, and that the defect often doesn't show up in some cars until after the extended warranty ends. Toyota should have offered us 5 years or 100,000 and honored those cars that are under 100,000 miles. Are we being penalized and punished for not driving our cars hard enough for the problem to have shown up within fives years, it would seem.
Does anyone on here know an attorney or is an attorney who might be able to see about creating a class action suit?
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toyota-Sienna-Van-Door-Weld-Issue/101820339938012- ?skip_nax_wizard=true
For anyone interested.
I posted this earlier but here's the link for the created facebook page about this issue:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toyota-Sienna-Van-Door-Weld-Issue/101820339938012- ?sk=wall
There are three dealerships - two are 75 miles away and 1 is 150 miles away. All three were supposed to call me back with information and not one of them returns my call, unless I call them again - and even then, they say they will call me back and haven't. I'm not being rude with them, at all, and have actually had good conversations with them. Total neglect, which seems to have been the problem in the first place, that got us to this point.
Will Toyota redeem themselves?
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toyota-Sienna-Van-Door-Weld-Issue/101820339938012-
I will post something as soon as I make some headway with this Company. San Diego,CA
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toyota-Sienna-Van-Door-Weld-Issue-Creating-Poppin- - g-noise/101820339938012?sk=wall
you might have to copy and paste the web address - it looks likes the hyperlink might be cut off by the text-wrap.
This is in case we are able to get a class action suit for Toyota to repair the defect at their cost or reimburse those who have had to pay for it themselves.
Thank you for taking the time to post about your repair with the details.
Igathered my facts, printed out the recall article about the faulty door welds in the front and let Toyota know I was aware of this recall. Now although my Toyota had passed the time limit for the recall 5 yr. or 100,000 miles from original owner purchase. I bought extended EasyCare warranty with the car and it covered everything! (minus my $100 deductable)
The problem with the sliding doors was that they were freezing up due to cold weather (we live in Rochester, NY). I left my car there for the day and Toyota put silicone spray on the sliding doors top stop them from freezing, washed my car for free, gave me a free can os silicone spray, replaced both my driver & pass. door welds, and fixed my trunk. Apparantly there was a recall for a part on that also. My warranty covered $1100 worth of work! Toyota took care of the legwork for me, made me feel valued, and had my car up & running in a day. My advice is to go directly to a Toyota dealership, even if you didn't buy your car there originally, they work with these problems all the time and know what to do. I love my Sienna and Toyota hasn't screwed me yet, so stay positive.
The spot weld failed and if you look at the metal - the metal actually has TORN!!!!
The Side power sliding doors have failed - was told it would cost $1900 to fix. Was told the motor died but you can actually hear the motor run. My husband took the door apart to make it a manual one (Toyota wanted $300 to do this) and it is a $100 cable part that has a plastic covered cable that stripped.
The Sonar goes on and off - no rhyme or reason - just all the time.
The rear hatch door will come back forcefully on your head (it IS run by a motor) when the weather is cold.
I can NOT believe Toyota put out such a bad product. NEVER, NEVER had this sort of thing happen with my Toyotas before!!!!
Dealerships in Albuquerque do NOT want to fix anything under recall or service bulletin!!!
Gary Anderson 650 678 1634
This van is costing me more than it's worth lately and I am thinking a new vehicle with monthly payments might cost less over the next few years!
ARGHHH
I had my passenger side window quit working on me (only went down like 2 inches and not back up) and I had that replaced last summer, it was expensive. But I suspect my boys whacked it hard with a frisbe (?) and cracked some plastic clips inside, but who knows...Good luck!
First thing I did.... snoop around the net. Lo and behold, tons of information pops up. This info triggered a memory of receiving a similar notice. I rifled through my glovebox for the owners manual/warranty package and discovered a notification title "2004 through 2007 Model Year Sienna Front Door Check Mounting Panel Warranty Enhancement Notification" (with no date of publication). This defined that Toyota will offer a "5 year/100k mile OR whichever comes first" coverage. Ironically, just below that it states, "If you have not experienced this condition, please insert this letter into your Toyota Warranty Information booklet for future reference". Now that the failure has occurred just outside of the coverage period, I had reason to go and look for it. :mad:
So I contacted my local Toy dealer only to be told they can do nothing for me since I'm outside of the 5yr/100k mile "enhanced warranty" period. So, I contact Toyota Corporate @ (800)331-4331, who are very empathetic but inform me they cannot do nothing to help since my vehicle falls outside of the specified "enhanced warranty" period. Please pass the facebook link along as we need momentum for further action. There's 4 Toyota's in our family, which will be out last if this is how they choose to treat their customers related to manufacturing flaws. The Sienna currently has a second "warranty enhancement" (Rear Liftgate Strut) notice, and recall (Spare Tire Hoist) associated with it. :sick:
Please announce the Facebook and Google site to everyone you know with a Toyota. This topic needs momentum if it is to gain recognition and remediation!!
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toyota-Sienna-Van-Door-Weld-Issue/101820339938012- - - - - - - - - - ?skip_nax_wizard=true
Google:
http://sites.google.com/site/toyotasiennadefects/
I've sprained my leg, trying to get in and out.
I've dealt with Toyota corporate - no assistance. TOTAL RIP-OFF!!!
2004 Sienna with only 56,000 miles.
Recommendation: Call Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA, 1-888-327-4236
and report this safety problem. THE MORE REPORTS THEY GET, THE BETTER CHANCES THEY'LL GET TOYOTA TO ISSUE A RECALL!!!
Check out www.nhtsa.gov
We should get media attention to this problem, obviously it's a manufacturing defect, as someone said, it's a matter of WHEN the weld will break, not IF it will break.
I've sprained my leg, trying to get in and out.
I've dealt with Toyota corporate - no assistance. TOTAL RIP-OFF!!!
2004 Sienna with only 56,000 miles.
Recommendation: Call Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA, 1-888-327-4236
and report this safety problem. THE MORE REPORTS THEY GET, THE BETTER CHANCES THEY'LL GET TOYOTA TO ISSUE A RECALL!!!
Check out www.nhtsa.gov
We should get media attention to this problem, obviously it's a manufacturing defect, as someone said, it's a matter of WHEN the weld will break, not IF it will break.
Just google "Toyota sienna broken welds", many people are having this problem and out of warranty. If all of us report this problem to NHTSA, hopefully, it will gain momentum.
These reported complaints help car owners prove that a safety failure is the automaker’s responsibility because it is a recurring problem. SO, THE MANUFACTURER MUST ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY AND PAY FOR THE REPAIR!!!
Had another weird thing happen, the heat shield (whatever that is) came loose and it sounded like my tail pipe was ready to fall off. Drove into Toyota and they removed it (said it was old and the bolts couldn't be tightened) for FREE! Said I didn't need it for now. Well, I feel like I hit the lottery, twice...waiting for the next big expense though...
PS - I do seem to recall this should be fixed early, the longer you wait the worse it gets and if it is bad enough they may not be able to save it with welding...
So.. moral of the story: It's a simple fix. Don't weld. Just drill a hole and fill it with a steel bolt.
Contact:
Toyota North America
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
19001 S. Western Ave.
Torrance, CA 90501 USA
Toyota USA Phone Number: 1-310-468-4000
Fax Number: 1-310-468-7800
1) Failing hinge welds on driver door. Dealer did "Toyota-approved" / temporizing repair job under 'warranty enhancement' in 2008, which is now failing. Dealer now telling me I will have to eat the price of replacing door or go somewhere else (i.e., a body shop) to try my luck on another repair.
2) Driver's side sliding door failing: won't open when it gets cold and needs major manual help when it is warm, will not open on its own. Dealer is fixing something on that today for $400 (details to follow). Apparently, Toyota is just now issuing an 'enhanced warranty' for rear latch assembly and cable assembly issues for 2004-2010 Sienna's, so I am hoping my repair will be covered under that. Make sure you ask your dealer if this is your issue. I did not get any letter about said issue (nor the door hinge issue for that matter).
3) Rear hatch closes randomly after opening: This occurs most often when it is cold. No help on this from dealer or Corporate HQ.
Called NHSTA (888-327-4236) to report all three today. Felt good, but doubt it will amount to anything.
Called Toyota HQ (800-331-4331) they told me about the 3 enhanced warranties (front door weld, sliding rear door latch and cable assemblies and said they had nothing on the hatch door). Offered me a $1000 'customer loyalty assistance' towards the purchase of a new Sienna. This essentially gave me the message that I should cut my losses on this lemon and take my chances with a new Sienna. Bravo Toyota! Way to dodge the issues. While we have loved the Sienna( despite all the door issues), I am not sure I will be staying a "loyal" customer.
A weld breaking on the inside of the door is not a normal wear issue. This is a Toyota after all - I might have expected this on our Chrysler products - but even those didn't have weld problems. We're the original owner of this Sienna and have had 7 other Toyotas in our family! Never have we had any problems with welds on any of the cars and this one has less than 100K - barley broken in by Toyota standards.
After visiting my dealer to find out that 1) it's a weld break inside the door and not just a silicone fix, 2) When I asked why a weld wouldn't be a safety recall or a TSB at the very least, he mentioned that there was a notice sent (though I didn't get one) but it only extended the warranty to 5 years.
After getting a $500 estimate I looked it up on the internet with LOTS of details about similar issues. I called and reported the safety defect to NHSTA. I also called Toyota corporate at the number listed before my post. They opened a case and offered to have a customer relations manager call me next week. The local dealer did mention that they fix many of these and the Sienna is the only car they have seen with this issue. We'll see what they offer, if anything. Their future with us is riding on it.
Why they can't just do the weld to make the repair isn't clear.
But we're stuck between Toyota who say this small weld will fix the problem and the dealer's contractor, who says it won't. We're going to complain as per this board and try to make something happen.
They refused to help citing a lawsuit settlement agreement that prohibits them to assist in anyway (after extended warranty).
Toyota Consumer Affairs is terribly bureaucratic. They don't return phone calls, no emails, don't get to work after 9:30am, always on vacations, etc..
This is my first time using them. I own 3 Toyotas as recently as a new Camry this September - I am totally appalled by their treatment to loyal customer. Probably no Toyota for my next car since they don't standby their quality and customers.
Has anyone heard about this lawsuit?
Any suggestion on the next step?
Should I just go to local body shop and fix it myself?
Thanks for your advice!
Thanks,
Jamie