| Issue ID | 769997 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10314001 |
| Manufacurer | TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION |
| Brand | TOYOTA |
| Model | SIENNA |
| Model Year | 2004 |
| File date | 04/08/03 |
| Component | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | Our family purchased a brand new 2004 toyota sienna awd and had countless issues with it . The most serious issue was - random unpredictable acceleration responses. We contacted toyota canada & japan in 2003. There is absolutely 100% no doubt in my mind, or my wife's mind, that the toyota product line has something wrong electronically in their accelerator pedal or transmission sensors - or the software that interfaces with them. We did not have sticky gas pedals or floor mat issues - we had a vehicle that didn't operate the way we were asking it to. The vehicle never consistently responded to the actual pressure being placed on the accelerator pedal. A light press in parking lot driving would sometimes result in what felt like full throttle acceleration and when trying to turn across traffic at an intersection, or during merging - the vehicle would hesitate and then move the vehicle when it was no longer safe to do so.. Toyota said " they did not consider this behavior a safety issue " it was only " a nuisance problem " . First our dealership ignored the problem. Then they said " my wife didn't teach the vehicle to drive properly - it had a smart learning transmission you know " . They finally admitted there was a problem after we continued to voice our concern over several near miss incidents with the vehicle . In one incidence , while on the highway using cruise control - the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated full throttle into a corner at over 140 kph forcing us onto the shoulder and almost off the road . It was a nerve shattering experience. Our toyota dealer finally admitted a similar acceleration problem existed in the camry / corolla lines and that it was transmission software related . After several months of the run around from toyota with no fix in sight - being told by the owner of the dealership to drive the vehicle in 3rd gear to minimize the surges until a software fix was created - we walked away from the vehicle. |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 30 |
| Number of Occurences | 1 |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | CALGARY , 00 |
| VIN pattern | XXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | |
| No. of fatalities | |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | |
| Drive train type | AWD |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 2 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |