The Toyota Sienna is one of the most popular minivans built and sold for the American market. For the most part the Sienna has managed to avoid reliability and quality problems affecting some competing models, but owners have voiced their complaints about the vehicle's automatic sliding doors, which have been known not to function properly.
Among the problems reported by owners regarding their Toyota Sienna automatic sliding doors which, incidentally, are passenger doors and can be worrisome for families with small children, are the following:
Sliding door fails to open. Owners report that sliding doors won't open. Check door for obstructions to rule out anything that might be wedged up against the door to prevent it from being opened. Examine the cable and motor powering the door, replace defective parts. In addition, if your Toyota Sienna is still under warranty, have your dealer's repair shop make the repair.
Sliding door will not close completely. Check the Sienna's battery to make sure all connections are tight and clean; remove any corrosion present. If battery is old, replace it. The battery may not have enough current to close the door, but if the battery is fine, the motor powering the door may be worn out or a cable could be broken. Replace defective parts.
To date, Toyota has not issued a recall for the Sienna, although some owners have reported that the automaker has issued technical service bulletins (TSB) for the automatic sliding doors. A TSB is effectively a hidden recall, meaning that Toyota is attempting to handle the problem in-house. Contact your Toyota dealer for assistance. Check the NHTSA website for current recall information.
If the problem persists, consider converting your automatic sliding doors to manual doors as repair bills range from $1,000 to $2,000. Or, visit a salvage yard and remove the appropriate parts from a junked Toyota Sienna to save money.
