NHTSA Complaint #10442361 — 2011 TOYOTA SIENNA

AFTER PULLING OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY AND DRIVING FORWARD LESS THAN 100 YDS, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO PULL LEFT AND RIGHT AS IF VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL WERE TAKING OVER. VERY SHORTLY AFTER, THE VEHICLE CAME TO AN ABRUPT STOP WITH BRAKES SEEMINGLY APPLIED ON THEIR OWN (POWER BRAKE ASSIST?). THE SCREEN LIT UP WITH THE FOLLOWING WARNINGS, "CHECK ABS," "CHECK VSC," AND "CHECK BRAKE SYSTEM," FOLLOWED BY "HAVE YOUR VEHICLE CHECKED BY DEALER." THE ABS, VSC, EMERGENCY BRAKE, AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS ON THE DASH CAME ON AS WELL. UPON TAKING A LOOK UNDER THE HOOD, WE ALSO DISCOVERED WHAT APPEARED TO BE AN OIL LEAK AT THE HEAD GASKET. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND A TOYOTA ENGINEER WAS FLOWN IN TO HELP DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. THE RESULT WAS THEY CLEARED THE CODES, WIPED UP THE OIL, AND SAID THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. ABOUT A DAY AND A HALF LATER, THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN WITH THE VEHICLE PULLING, WARNING LIGHTS, ETC. THIS TIME, THE DEALERSHIP SAID THAT THEY FOUND "HARD" CODES AND THAT THE FLOOR WIRE HARNESS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE HAS NOW BEEN OUT OF SERVICE FOR 16 DAYS. WE SHALL SEE WHETHER THE WIRE HARNESS FIXES THE PROBLEM. THE DEALER SAID THEY PUT DYE IN THE ENGINE OIL TO TRY TO DETECT A LEAK. NOT SURE WHY THEY DIDN'T INVESTIGATE THE PROBLEM WHILE THE OIL WAS SITTING THERE. IT WAS VERY OBVIOUS WHERE THE LEAK WAS. *TR