2004 Toyota Sequoia problems
Owners have filed 581 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Toyota Sequoia. Brakes is the most reported problem area, at 18% of complaints. After that come stability control (17%) and body & structure (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 581 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 18% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 24 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 28 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 96,000 miles 456 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 23 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 32 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 60 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 62 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 62 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 61 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 42 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 44 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 34 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 7 |
| 200k+ miles | 29 |
What the data shows
Among the 456 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 96,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 75,000 miles (88 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 24 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 28 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the Toyota Sequoia with enough data (172 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Friday, december 22, 2006, while driving I experienced a swift pull to the driver's left, corrected it then seconds, later the vehicle gave a violent jerk, accompanied by a horrific sound of steel scraping with the smell of burning metal. The vehicle veered toward traffic in the opposite direction so I fought to hold the stirring from turning in to oncoming traffic or rolling off the road down the side of the freeway.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota sequoia which was purchased brand new. While driving at speeds of 60 MPH there was a popping noise in the vehicle. The vehicle then made an unintended 80 degree left turn in a swift jerking motion and proceeded to hit a cement pipe in a ditch. The driver's side front tire was knocked off the vehicle. Both the driver and passenger were knocked unconscious at the time. The passenger and driver awoke and the crash was still occurring.
Sporadically, on downhill with speed when applying brakes a crunching sound made, audible warning sound and warning light appear. Release and reapplying brakes reset warnings lights and sound. Last week, on a flat surface the same sound was made, the warning light sounded and lights (vsc trac and brake) appeared. Took vehicle to dealer as noted in owners manual. The skid control ECU is diagnosed as needing replaced. Dealer replaced computer module and I will see if this correct problem.
I have a '04 sequoia 4wd ltd, my vsc trac, vsc off and ABS lights come on and stay on, they never go off. The visit to a dealer ended with them stating that they could not read any codes, so the vsc computer needs to be replaced, about $1,500.00 total. The car is not experiencing any problems, but, the lights stay on.....sequoia has 83k miles. Anyone offer any advice or help to solve the problems?