NHTSA Complaint #10490301 — 2004 TOYOTA SIENNA

THE CABLES ON BOTH THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE AUTOMATED SLIDING PASSENGER DOORS HAVE SNAPPED WITHIN A 4 MONTHS OF ONE ANOTHER (RIGHT SIDE ON 8/24 AND THE LEFT SIDE ON 12/26) AND NOW I AM UNABLE TO OPEN EITHER DOOR. THE DOORS WILL NOT OPERATE EVEN MANUALLY SO THE ONLY WAY FOR A PASSENGER TO GET IN OUR OUT OF THE CAR IS THROUGH THE REAR LIFT TAILGATE OR THE FRONT DOORS OF THE VEHICLE. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY OR ACCIDENT. TOYOTA EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON THESE COMPONENTS TO 120K MILES BUT THIS WAS ANNOUNCED AFTER MY VEHICLE PASSED THAT MILEAGE. TOYOTA IS CHARGING CUSTOMERS TO ALLOW THE DOORS TO BE OPERATED MANUALLY EVEN WITH THIS BEING A CLEAR SAFETY ISSUE. TOYOTA NEEDS TO RECALL THESE VEHICLES FOR THIS CONDITION BASED ON THE SAFETY ISSUES THIS CREATES FOR PASSENGERS. TOYOTA SERVICE BULLETIN NUMBER (SB-0280-10) DATE OF BULLETIN : OCT 04, 2010 NHTSA ITEM NUMBER : 10036906 COMPONENT : STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR SUMMARY : TOYOTA: SOME VEHICLES MAY EXHIBIT A CONDITION WHERE ONE OR BOTH SLIDING DOORS DO NOT OPEN OR CLOSE SMOOTHLY. INSPECT THE SLIDING DOOR LOCK ASSEMBLIES AND REPLACE THE AFFECTED COMPONENTS AS NEEDED, ACCORDING TO THE LISTED INSTRUCTIONS. *PE *TR