2016 Toyota Sienna Problems

What owners report

Owners of the 2016 Sienna most often write about the power sliding doors, either opening or closing on their own or refusing to latch, close or open at all. Many complaints in the sample were filed after the sliding-door recall notice went out, and several of those say the parts needed to complete the repair were not available. Premature tire wear at low mileage and intermittent electrical dropouts, such as dash lights and headlamps dimming, come up repeatedly as well.

1. 1
   Body and structure

   Power sliding door opens or closes on its own

   • 13 complaints (17%)
   • median 35,000 mi at 0.7 yrs old (7 state mileage, few)
   • 3 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2016–2026

   Owners describe a sliding door that opens by itself while the van is parked or moving, or one that closes on its own onto someone getting in or out. Complaints mention a click from the door and door-open warnings appearing on the dash. Several say the dealer could not reproduce the behaviour, and others report the door acting up again years after the sliding-door campaign repair was done. Reported across a very wide mileage range, from vans with delivery miles to one past 190,000 miles, in some cases years after the recall work.

   Recall 16V858000

   What to check: Cycle both power sliding doors several times and watch for a door that moves without a command or fails to latch. Ask whether campaign 16V858000 was performed on both doors and whether either door has misbehaved since.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Right side passenger door, opened by itself while driving. My jids were seated on the back with grandma. Door also, closes by itself hurting the passenger who is trying to get into. It hurt several times my 8yr old daughter, my 11 yr old boy and grandma. Even closes when you are putting stuff in the passenger side.”

   NHTSA complaint #11000200, filed 2017-06, 10 miles

   “The rear sliding power door on the passenger side closed on my six year old child. He was trapped in the door and could not move until I opened the door. He has pain and visible injuries on his back from the door. This happened on 2.10.23. There have not been any incidents with the van leading up to this incident. This happened when the van was parked in the garage and the engine was off. We have not tried to replicate the incident because it caused an injury. The vehicle is available for inspection.”

   NHTSA complaint #11506720, filed 2023-02
2. 2
   Body and structure

   Sliding door latch or cable failure (door will not shut)

   • 11 complaints (14%)
   • median 61,000 mi at 2.7 yrs old (6 state mileage, few)
   • filed 2016–2026

   Owners report a sliding door that will not latch or seal, sometimes failing to close fully after several attempts, and in other cases a snapped power door cable that leaves the door stuck open or shut. Complaints describe cutting the remaining cable to close the door by hand or pulling out the interior button to work the door manually. Some say a part was replaced but the fault came back. Mostly reported from about 50,000 miles upward, with several vans between roughly 50,000 and 90,000 miles.

   What to check: Open and close both sliding doors through their full travel, listen for grinding or clicking from the cable track, and confirm each door latches flush without being pushed.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Toyota Sienna faulty power sliding doors. The vehicle was parked. When we tried to open the door, the cable snapped. Then we won't be able to close it. We had to cut the remaining cable behind the sliding wheel to manually close the door.”

   NHTSA complaint #10992966, filed 2017-06

   “Power sliding door cable snapped. It happened to both door (right and left) about 6 months apart. Had the car for about 2 years not not even excessive use. The first time was at a dealership for vehicle service and they fix it for free since it happened there even though they said warranty does not cover. The second time was over this weekend and when I search online, many people experience the same problem. Poor quality cable (linkage) for the powered sliding door.”

   NHTSA complaint #11145293, filed 2018-11, 50,000 miles
3. 3
   Wheels

   Tires worn out at low mileage

   • 7 complaints (9%)
   • median 12,500 mi at 3.0 yrs old (5 state mileage, few)
   • filed 2017–2025

   Owners report uneven or premature tire wear, often on the outer edges of the front tires, with a full set needed far earlier than expected on what they describe as normal city and highway driving with regular rotations. Some report sidewall failures or blowouts on the original tires, and one links the wear to suspension geometry. In these complaints the dealer and the tire maker generally did not cover the tires. Most reports arrive under about 25,000 miles, with several owners replacing all four tires around 10,000 to 20,000 miles.

   What to check: Inspect the inner and outer shoulders of all four tires for uneven wear, note tread depth and the tires' build date, and ask whether rotations and an alignment have been done.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Wheels/ tires: needed to replace tires after 10,000 miles on normal highway driving conditions electrical: vehicle continues to blow/pop fuses when an electronic device is plugged into the 12v dc power supply port located under the radio”

   NHTSA complaint #11173021, filed 2019-01, 10,000 miles

   “3 run flat bridgestone tires blown up while driving for no reason or road hazards in less than 21,000 miles and within 4 weeks. First tire in chicago highway, traveling about 40 to 50 MPH, second in arkansas/oklahoma highway about 60 to 70 MPH and 3rd in boston/revere area traveling 3 to 7 MPH while parking. No other damage to tires. 2 sidewalls blown and one cracked in the middle. Same brand tires, two different models. Bridgestone dueler and bridgestone turanza.”

   NHTSA complaint #11011559, filed 2017-07, 12,500 miles
4. 4
   Electrical system

   Dash lights and headlamps cut out intermittently

   • 5 complaints (7%)
   • median 13,500 mi at 1.3 yrs old (4 state mileage, few)
   • filed 2017–2019

   Owners describe the instrument cluster and interior lights going dark and the headlamps dimming while driving, sometimes coming back only after the van is shut off and restarted. Complaints say the dealer could not test the fault because it was not present at the time, and in one case a radio head unit was replaced without curing it. Another owner reports the 12-volt outlet under the radio blowing fuses when a device is plugged in. Mostly reported under about 20,000 miles, and usually described as intermittent rather than constant.

   What to check: Ask whether the cluster or lighting has ever dropped out, test the 12-volt outlet under the radio with a charger, and ask what repairs, if any, were already attempted for it.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Dash lights and gauges all go out and head lamps go dim. Took it to dealer who could not do anything as the problem was not happening at that time. Started with about 8500 miles on car and I would say it happens about twice a week or more.”

   NHTSA complaint #10944480, filed 2017-01, 8,500 miles

   “The dash board lights and all interior lights continue to go out with out warning. It requires stopping the van shutting it off and restarting it. The headlamp dim themselves and then brighten while driving. Took it to dealership twice now for issue. Dealer stated since problem was not occurring at that moment there is no test they could do. Service manager also stated that Toyota doesn't like the dealerships trying to guess at what maybe wrong. This is a major safety issue when driving at night.”

   NHTSA complaint #10955462, filed 2017-02, 19,000 miles
5. 5
   Air bags

   Airbag warning light on, or bags not deploying in a crash

   Mentioned in 4 of 60 sampled complaints

   Owners report the airbag warning light staying on without a clear explanation, and in several complaints the front airbags did not deploy in a collision that left substantial damage. Complaints describe being quoted a diagnostic fee or a repair estimate for the airbag system, and one owner says the manufacturer would not identify which airbag supplier was used. Reported from under 10,000 miles to over 100,000 miles, with the deployment complaints coming after front-end collisions.

   What to check: Confirm the airbag light comes on at startup and then goes out, and ask for any scan-tool or diagnostic records covering the airbag system.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I had car accident today and got hi my left front wnd really good and the police seen my car's air bag did not go off-it didn't shows up.my face got hitted by steering wheel.I was driving on city of puyallup washington running 25-35miles an hour when the vehicle behind me took over in front of me to change lane to the left.it was a big impact to make me turned and bounced away to right side.”

   NHTSA complaint #11156694, filed 2018-12, 28,000 miles

   “Airbag light came on. Toyota says a recall has not been issued and needs a diagnostic that they will charge for. I am seeing many complaints on line for exact issue and costs of fixing issue costing 1500-3000 and more!”

   NHTSA complaint #11033823, filed 2017-10, 116,700 miles

Buying note. The sliding doors are where to spend your time: operate both repeatedly, confirm the 16V858000 campaign was completed on each door, and ask for any door repair history. On a low-mileage example, also look closely at tire shoulder wear and treat intermittent dash and headlamp dropouts as something worth diagnosing before you buy.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.