2005 Toyota Sienna problems
Owners have filed 1,418 complaints with NHTSA about the 2005 Toyota Sienna. Body & structure is the most reported problem area, at 36% of complaints. Next are latches & locks (10%) and seat belts (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,418 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Body & structure 36% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 47 and 13
- Injuries and deaths
- 82 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 70,000 miles 1,161 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 | 129 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 123 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 226 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 196 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 160 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 134 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 66 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 44 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 45 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 16 |
| 200k+ miles | 22 |
What the data shows
Of the 1,161 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 70,000 miles. For body & structure specifically, the median reported mileage is about 65,000 miles (439 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 47 complaints mention a crash; 13 complaints mention a fire; 82 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2005 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 23 model years of the Toyota Sienna with enough data (725 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 12 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.
On or about october 31, 2008, a 2005 toyota sienna XLE accelerated suddenly and unexpectedly. The driver steered the vehicle around cars, curbs and other obstructions while the vehicle continued to accelerate through a parking lot. Attempts to brake the vehicle were futile. The vehicle eventually hit a curb which deflated a tire, then continued through a chain-link fence and a field and into a portable building, finally coming to a stop. The driver was injured in the unintended acceleration incident and died.
Consumer's vehicle was sitting at a stop light when it was rear ended, causing it to rear end the vehicle in front. Upon impact, no air bags deployed.
I pulled into a parking lot and made a right turn to pull into a parking space. I was halfway into the space, my foot was on the brake pedal, when I felt the van jerk-it then suddenly accelerated, went over the raised curb in front,onto the exit lane of the shopping center,turned around back into the parking lot(the wheel was turned to the right still),hit the building breaking a couple of windows, and then came to a stop after hitting a barricaded dumpster along the way.
On my 2005 toyota XLE limited, the traction control system engaged on its own while driving about 50 MPH on a flat road in dry conditions, as a result the brakes engaged on its own and the car shook profusely for a couple of seconds. I had to hold onto the steering wheel to maintain control and avoid going into the neighboring lane. My 2005 toyota sienna has 84,000 miles on it. There have been two other incidences when the traction control engaged but the brakes did not.
Dashboard was replaced in a recall and after the service was performed the airbag inflated light remained on. The dealer said that it was something to do with a sensor and was not related to the work they had performed, yet said it needed to have a diagnostic performed and they wanted to charge for that and for any other work done as a result of it. How could they possibly know it's unrelated to the work they performed if they had not done the diagnostic and it had never had this problem before they worked on it?.