NHTSA Complaint #10958778 — 2004 TOYOTA SEQUOIA

I BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE NEW AND HAVE MAINTAINED IT IN ACCORDANCE WITH MANUFACTURER SPECIFICATIONS. ADDITIONALLY, THIS PARTICULAR VEHICLE IS GARAGE KEPT SO IT IS NOT SUBJECT TO WEATHER ROUTINELY. THE REAR LIFT GATE LATCHING MECHANISM HAS FAILED ON MY VEHICLE 4 TIMES. THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH TOYOTA SEQUOIA VEHICLES. BOTH OF MY LOCAL DEALERS STATE IT IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM. THIS TIME THE CABLE JUST "SNAPPED". IT FAILED WHILE I WAS AT A GAS STATION AND NEEDED TO OPEN THE HATCH. IT HAS BEEN REPAIRED/REPLACED TWICE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, BUT CONTINUES TO FAIL. A SIMPLE SEARCH ON GOOGLE WILL SHOW TENS OF THOUSANDS OF THESE VEHICLES WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. IT IS A SAFETY PROBLEM BECAUSE IT FAILS WITHOUT NOTICE AND WHEN IT DOES IT ELIMINATES A MEANS OF EGRESS FROM THE VEHICLE IN THE CASE OF AN ACCIDENT. TOYOTA MOTOR SALES HAS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS BEEN IN THE MEDIA MULTIPLE TIMES FOR "NOT DOING THE RIGHT THING" WHEN THEIR VEHICLES HAVE DESIGN FLAWS. THIS IS JUST ONE MORE CASE. THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE DOCUMENTS MANY OWNERS PROBLEM WITH THE SAME PROBLEM OF THE LIFT GATE LATCH FAILING. HTTP://PROBLEMTOYOTA.COM/TAG/LATCHES-LOCKS-LINKAGES/PAGE/6/ THIS IS NOT AN ITEM THAT SHOULD FAIL AS OFTEN AS IT DOES. SIMPLE FAILURES OF BEARINGS, BRAKES... CAN BE EXPECTED BUT THIS IS A DESIGN FLAW AND IT IS DANGEROUS. TOYOTA SHOULD ISSUE A RECALL AND FIX THIS ITEM.