Toyota Recalls Sienna Vans With Sticky Sliding Doors

By Chris Chase

Nov 25, 2016

Summary

Failure could allow door to open while van is in motion

Toyota and Transport Canada has announced a recall of more than 60,000 Sienna minivans whose power-operated sliding side doors could get stuck.

The automaker says that in situations where the electric door mechanism is activated but the door is prevented from moving -- say it's caked in ice from freezing rain -- the motor will continue to try to move the door until the electric fuse blows.

And in a situation like that freezing rain example, if the door has already unlatched it could open while the van is being driven.

Toyota says it hasn't yet come up with a fix, but we suspect it will involve a reprogramming of the doors' auto-stop function, which is usually engaged when something or someone gets in the way of the moving door.

Meet the Author

As a child, Chris spent most of his time playing with toy cars in his parents’ basement or making car sounds while riding his bicycle. Now he's an award-winning Algonquin College Journalism grad who has been playing with real cars that make their own noises since the early 2000s.