NHTSA Complaint #11244561 — 2011 TOYOTA SIENNA

OIL COOLER HOSE: FROM MY EXPERIENCE, AND FROM WHAT I'VE READ FROM OTHERS, THIS IS A CONSIDERABLE SAFETY ISSUE. A RECALL WOULD BE VERY APPROPRIATE FOR BOTH ROAD SAFETY AND FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION. A SUSPECTED BLOWN COOLER LINE JUST HAPPENED TO ME LAST NIGHT, AND I WAS VERY DISTRACTED WHEN I REALIZED MY 2011 TOYOTA SIENNA (ABOUT 125K MILES) WENT FROM PROVIDING NORMAL RESPONSIVENESS TO GIVING INCOMPREHENSIBLE FEEDBACK WITHIN SECONDS. A "LOW OIL" MESSAGE FLASHED ONCE ON THE CENTER CONSOLE AS I WAS PULLING OUT OF A GAS STATION INTO TRAFFIC. THIS LIGHT DID NOT RETURN. NO OTHER LIGHTS LIT UP AT ANY TIME. IMMEDIATELY, HOWEVER, I NOTICED HESITATION WHEN TRYING TO ACCELERATE. I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM AT THAT POINT, PERHAPS IT WAS AFFECTING THE FUEL INJECTORS. THEN I NOTICED A CLICKING NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE. AT THAT POINT, I PULLED OVER AT THE NEXT SAFEST OPPORTUNITY AND TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE. I POPPED THE HOOD AND NOTICED OIL EVERYWHERE TOWARD THE BOTTOM OF THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT/UNDERSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. THE DIP STICK WAS DRY. THIS ALL HAPPENED WITHIN 0.75 MILES ON A TWO LANE STATE HIGHWAY (ONE LANE IN EACH DIRECTION) WITH A 55 MPH SPEED LIMIT. I CERTAINLY WASN'T DRIVING DEFENSIVELY DURING THIS TIME, AND I HAD VERY MINIMAL AWARENESS OF ANY VEHICLES AROUND ME. THE ACCELERATION ISSUE COULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC IF I HAD TRIED TO BEAT TRAFFIC THAT WAS FAR ENOUGH AWAY TO PROCEED, YET CLOSE ENOUGH TO THINK TWICE. FORTUNATELY, I'M NOT AN AGGRESSIVE DRIVER, AND I WAITED. THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE HAS BAFFLED ME AS I'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED SUCH A COMPLETE AND SUDDEN FAILURE WHILE DRIVING A VEHICLE. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS REPORT AND REVIEW THE NUMEROUS ONLINE REPORTS FROM DRIVERS WHO ALSO EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN, MASSIVE OIL LEAK WHILE DRIVING THEIR 2007-2011 TOYOTA SIENNAS. TOYOTA IS WELL AWARE OF THIS RECURRING ISSUE. A SAFETY RECALL WOULD SEEM APPROPRIATE.