Owners have filed 7,050 complaints on the Toyota Sienna, covering 1996–2020. The system named most often is Structure (891 reports). Worst years by volume: 2004, 2005, 2006; cleanest: 1996, 2020, 2019. 351 reports describe a crash, 69 a fire, 7 a death. On average the car was 5.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Toyota Sienna
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 7,050 Sienna complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Structure 891 Read
On august 27, 2016 I was driving our 2012 toyota sienna on an interstate highway. Traffic was terrible and I rear-ended another vehicle in stop-and-go traffic. The impact was minor, but the engine caught fire and burnt the car to the frame. My wife and I were able to exit the car before it burned. When I exited the…
I was driving on the interstate at approximately 65 miles per hour. My 'check all wheel drive system' warning alarm came on shortly followed by the: check engine, battery alarm, collision breaking system, etc. I'm certain there were more alerts going off; however I was trying to steer a car, that had lost power off…
I met an accident when a car (at speed around 65 mph) crossing the red light coming from my right hit my car at my right front and none of the SRS bags did not deploy. We were 4 passengers at the time of the accident and we all had minor injuries. All the SRS bags for other car has been deployed that hit my car. I am…
Air Bags 657 Read
The contact owns a 2007 toyota sienna. The contact stated that while driving 15 mph, another vehicle crashed into contact's vehicle from the rear and the air bag failed to deploy. The vehicle also caught on fire and was later deemed as destroyed. A police report was filed and no injuries were sustained. The…
My van was struck directly in the driver side rear sliding door while sitting still at a stop sign. The other driver collided straight into the passenger compartment door at an approximate speed of 30 mph crushing the door, exploding the window and neither the driver side airbags nor the side curtain airbags deployed.…
Takata recall (?) we purchased this van on 4/18/2019, previously the van was a rental. The next evening, going to dinner on a friday night about 9 p.m. I was on a 2 lane road in a rural area, traveling at 60 mph and a dog walked in front of me. I had no time to react. The front end of the van was laying in the road,…
Electrical System 373 Read
Traveling on east bond hwy 66 around 07:00 am with a speed around 20 mph the fire started to come from engine driver side. Stopped the car & took children out and watch the whole car burned until fire engine showed up
Takata recall(?) my husband bought me a 2017 toyota sienna in february 2019, it was previously a rental. The van was immaculate and only had about 20,000 miles at time of purchase. On or about march 8, 2019 we were on our way to dinner at about 9 p.m. I was approaching a red light, foot on the brake, maybe 15 mph and…
On October 15, 2021 at 2 pm I drove into the driveway of a friend. I turned to the right of the driveway on her grass so I could backup and face the road. I’ve done this many times in the past. On this day as I put my foot on the break the van accelerated at a very very high speed. The van was out of my control at…
Power Train 277 Read
Parked the car on an incline (our driveway) like we have a 100 times before. Went inside to unload groceries. Came back to the car and from the passenger seat reached over to press the auto-off button. When that was pressed the car started to roll down our driveway with our daughter in the back seat. It rolled across…
My husband parked our minivan and came in to pick up the kids. While he was inside the library, the van went out of park and hit a fire truck in the parking lot. It seems this has been an issue with Toyota siennas in the past but I do not see it reported yet for its year 2015. Our van had damage to the front fender,…
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, and the shifter lever was turned off, it unexpectedly fell down, causing the vehicle to shift into drive and roll down the street, where it crashed into a house. At the time of the incident, the vehicle was occupied by one…
Steering 236 Read
Lost steering ability from some cause after a lane change, on a highway, vehicle continued into the shoulder and would not allow correction into the lane. Possible cause in my opinion may have been a l. Front tire blow out or a steering linkage issue or possibly the stability control system. The vehicle was new. If…
The contact owned a 2016 toyota sienna. While driving 65 mph, the steering wheel seized and the vehicle crashed into a cement barrier on the driver side without warning. The air bags deployed. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot where it was deemed a total loss. The…
The contact owned a 2016 toyota sienna. The contact stated that while driving at 60 mph, the steering wheel stiffened, which resulted in her crashing the vehicle into the highway side barrier and a fence stopped the vehicle from going into the water. The contact did not seek medical attention and a police report was…
Vehicle Speed Control 183 Read
The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the front end of the vehicle would lunge downward towards the road surface when depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, the contact stated while reversing in a parking lot of the Doctor's offices, the vehicle accelerated at high speed independently. The…
Unintended acceleration while reversing vehicle. Van went full throttle and sped up in reverse while backing up from my drive way at home
Tonight around 1950 hrs., while attempting to park my vehicle in a parking cover, I lost control over my toyota sienna 2013 due to unexpected acceleration. The vehicle accelerated suddenly and as a result I hit and run over the curb. I tried to apply the brake paddle with all of my strength without any success. Two of…
Service Brakes 148 Read
The contact owns a 2017 toyota sienna. While driving approximately 40 mph and attempting to stop the vehicle, the brakes failed. As a result, the vehicle rear ended the preceding vehicle. There was no warning indicator illuminated. The air bag did not deploy. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The…
When going down a parking ramp exit, my foot has slipped off the brake 3 time. When looking at the brake pedal it is smaller than most brake pedals. I don't know if anyone else has had this problem, but mandating a minimal size for brake pedal might help
On 8/2/18, while driving my 2014 toyota sienna van, bought new from a local dealer with appr. 89,000 miles and meticulously maintained for all service, I was driving on a city street when the brakes failed after pumping them three times. The brake failure caused my vehicle to rear-end the vehicle I was following. No…
Tires 136 Read
Told by toyota dealer at 15000k that I needed to replace the tires on my 2011 toyota sienna van. I do not abuse my vehicle and never had a new vehicle that needed new tires at 15000k
Dt: had a new 2005 toyota sienna with 3,000 miles on the vehicle that had run flat tires, and the back right passenger tire that went flat. Then smoked and reached a flash point and caught fire. Was driving on highway at a speed of about 60 mph and noticed a jumpiness in the vehicle. Drove this way for an unknown…
I own toyota sienna 2004. I was driving from connecticut to washington dc. The front left tyre of the car bursted in maryland & it hit the left divider on I-95 . The mileage of the car at the time of accident was 2963. I called up dealer saying how can a tyre burst when it is a new car ? He said we cannot say anything…
Sienna years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Air Bags,unknown Or Other | — | 1 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 13 | 3 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 5 | 1 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 12 | 6 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 7 | 1 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 10 | 4 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 30 | 7 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 13 | 2 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 12 | 3 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 33 | 3 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 27 | 6 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 35 | 2 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 34 | 7 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 38 | 7 | |
| 2003 | Child Seat | 8 | 2 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 14 | 4 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 10 | — | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 12 | 2 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 9 | 3 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 17 | 3 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 1,074 |
| Average complaints per series | 6.6 |
| Worst single series | 76 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.5 years |
A model average of 6.6 hides a worst series at 76. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Sienna?
By complaint volume, 2004, 2005, 2006 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Sienna years are the cleanest?
1996, 2020, 2019 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Toyota Sienna have?
7,050 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1996–2020. Of those, 351 describe a crash and 69 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.