2004 Sliding Door Cable, Too much $$ to repair Options

[mingo21]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I have 2004 sienna with 120K miles. My sliding door cable jammed. Dealer said to repair it would cost 1700.00 (wow !!!). He said that although the motor works fine, the cable and motor are one unit.
What gives - Does that sound true?
I have the door on manual mode and may just leave that way. I can't see paying that much for a cable repair. Does anyone know of another source to get the motor/cable assembly?


thanks

DM

[humanoid]

It may well be true that the cable and motor only come as one unit. I tried to buy just the intake tube, but I had to buy the tube and the airbox. You can try trdparts4u.com or toyotaworld.com. They're both dealerships, but they have much lower prices than your local one. Both have great customer service as well. I guess you can buy the parts and have a mechanic install the components.

[AmyPS]

Our power sliding door just broke too. The cable is just hanging there and the door won't open or close. The dealer told us it would cost over $3000 to fix it because they would have to replace the motor HELP!!! What can we do?!?!? It looks like this is a common problem, so why won't Toyota take care of it?

[yotafam]

Judging by the number of sliding door problems posted on the web it looks like Toyota engineers messed this one up! Our driver side sliding door just stopped working as well. It feels like the cable in the center of the door is stuck or off the track. The motor still works but there's too much resistance from the cable or whatever is sticking. ANyone dug in and found root cause on these yet?

[haskett]

Same problem here. Our local dealership wanted $1000 for the part and $300 for labor. We just paid them ~$50 to disconnect the motor and now we use the door manually.

[rbmattila]

Wow.......I have the same problems

Last year my drivers side slider cable broke and they wanted 1500....I didn't fix it.

Now the other side won't open or close...it must be a cable problem again....I have to take it in tomorrow and see what happens...

Does anyone know what I can do? Can I call Toyota or a Regional Manager...

Please let me know.

Thank You

[yotafam]

The right door of my 2004 Sienna FELL OFF today! Scratched the paint. The left door hasn't worked for months now so I was waiting for this one to quit. Another lady was on Click and Clack when her 2004 Sienna doors fell off.

link to Click Clack article

We need a group effort to get a response from Toyota! The more people that call and complain the better.

Customer Care Hotline: 1-800-331-4331
Feel free to reference my case # 200806060609 and tell them to build a file on this.

I'll let you know how the repair goes. 2 doors! Shouldn't the doors on a car OPEN even if it is out of warranty? Toyota is not willing to do anything... the dealers say they can't either. Meanwhile my kids have to crawl over the front seats to exit our van. Nice.

Time to shop for a better brand.

[B. Goldberg]

I had a similiar issue on my Sienna 04. The sliding door did not latch/or close and the dealer told me the mechanism in the door was shot (also related to the cable). The service rep told me it would cost about 1300 (parts + labor) to fix. I told him I was extremely dissapointed with Toyota, and that the quality is complete garbage. I told him I would never purchase another toyota again.

The guy called me back 30 minutes later and told me they would fix it for under 400. I had the work done.

I also had a problem with the driver side door coming apart. That's a whole other story for another time..

Bob G.

[stephmd]

I also have an 04 Sienna, and both my sliding doors don't work, I call the dealer and there is a bulletin out for the electronic door which covers up to 150,000km's. So if your having problems call your dealer they should fix it for you. I however bought my van used with 149,000, and now have 171,000km's on it. So I'm sure I'm out of luck on this unless I make an awful stink when I bring it in to have it looked at.

Two weeks ago I had to get it inspected and you wouldn't believe the repairs I had to make in order for it to pass inspection.
My drive shaft was about to fall out, I need the back brakes replaced, the emergecy brake shoes needed replacing and the cables for this were siezed, and they need to put new seals in the struts or something like that.

Alot of problems for 20,000 km's of driving and I am the only driver of this vehicle, I am a mother of 4 boys and really regret buying this vehicle!!

[jamietepper]

Hi,
My sienna 2004 power sliding door cable snapped in half and the door does not work, Do you have to info on the service bulletin that you mentioned in your post
Jamie

[CMitch]

Hello, my name is Chris Mitchell,

We own a Toyota Sienna XLE 2004. Back in November 2008, the driver sliding door cable snapped, making the door jam and unusable in "power" mode. Cable dangling out of its socket, we drove to our dealership to have it serviced. The repair came to over $1800!!!

After researching this issue on the internet, I'm finding that MANY people are experiencing the same problem!! I'm thinking that it doesn't necessarily have to do with mileage but perhaps more with age of vehicle ie: 4-5ish years old.

The PROBLEM:

The cable which drives the sliding door is completely exposed to elements. (you'll find it within the groove located under the rear side windows) This cable is made of some kind of metal (steel? who knows.) then coated with a black plastic/acrylic/rubber casing (such as an electrical wire). With time, the casing begins to dry and be brittle, causing it to crack and fall off the wire, leaving the wires completely vulnerable to getting wet, rust, freeze, etc, also rubbing extensively unprotected against the gears. Within a few months or even weeks, the metal cable wires snap thus getting caught in the mechanism. One thing leads to another and the whole cable snaps, making the door jam altogether.

The FIX:

Per my own experience at the dealership, and subsequently reading and researching many blog sites, the ONLY way to fix this issue is as follows: remove the entire door, remove and CHANGE the entire mechanism. Extremely costly, there's just no way around this. Asked if there was a way to simply change the cable, I was informed that the cable is part of the motor and that it is not a part that can be purchased OR repaired separately.

Any “RECALL” in sight? We can only hope!! But here’s where we need your help.

After speaking with Toyota’s Customer Service Relation (Headquarters), she explained that “recalls” happen when “enough” people call in and bring up issues (complaints) with their vehicles. Local Service Managers can also help petition to HQ on your behalf if they see a problem that may be a repetitive pattern. Service managers can relay this information to a factory representative and such.

What can you do?

First off, call this number: 1(800) 331-4331 (Customer Service Relations… they were VERY pleasant and helpful!) and tell them about your experience with the sliding door defect. They will give you a case number and send your issue higher up. Who know how many complaints they need before they consider recalls, but at least we’ll have done our best.


Second: If you haven’t already fixed your door, DO call your Service Manager in your area to set up an appointment to have the door fixed, AND open the lines for discussion for him to petition on your behalf about this problem which SO many people are having issues with.

Third: If you’ve already had the door fixed, DO NOT throw away your receipts!!! Cust. Serv. Rel. told me that if down the line Toyota comes out with a recall, YOU WILL BE RETROACTIVELY ENTITLED TO A FULL REFUND OF YOUR REPAIRS WITH PROOF OF PAYMENT!!! (aparently that goes for any problems which arise with Toyota vehicles! Good to know!) If by chance you’ve misplaced/lost/thrown out your receipt, I suggest you call your dealership ASAP and ask them to reprint one for you… they should be able to as long as you’re still in the system.

BOTTOM LINE:

You are NOT alone! If Toyota can see fit to recall a “clip” which is used to hold carpets, they SHOULD deal with this bigger issue too.

Our voice must be heard, force in numbers people!!!

Thank you so much for your help and attention!

Chris Mitchell (nazalys@attglobal.net)

[reefboy]

I have a 2003 XLE in which the passenger side door cable broke 2 years ago. It was taken care of under warranty although it would have cost us in excess of $1800. It took them two times to fix it. Also, I have small kids and noticed that if we parked on a hill facing down the door would close with tremendous force if we the parents were not careful. To not fix it would be outright dangerous for kids if not even deadly! I wish I was exagerating but those doors are heavy and w/o the cable to slow them down they have tremendous energy. The warranty for the doors is now up. I hate the idea of the doors breaking and needing to decide to fix it for in excess of $1800 or use the car with out the automatic doors and a potential safety risk to my kids if the doors slam shut. I love our Toyota Sienna but they blew it on the doors... this is the very reason I did not want automatic doors. I now try to tell my wife and kids not to open and close the doors if there is not a reason. I'm all in favor of Toyota stepping up and taking care of their customers. I will be calling regularly for sure!

[PRABAKARAN]

Hellow All!
I have a Sienna XLE AWD,also had a problem with Left Sliding door.The cable was broken,when I went to my dealer they said that it will cost me $1700 + $300 in labour.What I did was ,I search around the web and found a salvage place that tey had a motor & cable.So I ordered from them for $500 CDN ,and I just got the parts today,will take it to my local mechanic to put it on.My mechanic told me about $100 in labour,dealers still $300.But I made an complaint with Toyota canada,they said that if they receive enough complaint,then they will issue a recall and reimburse the whole amount who ever already fixed the sliding door problem.According to Toyota Canada,every week they get complaints from customers regarding the sliding door motor or cable snaped.

[rageroid]

I have a 2002 Toytoa Sienna XLE. Early this year, the passenger side door lock stopped responding to the remote and car's automated system. When the Sienna was up for its 5K maintenance I asked how much it would cost to fix the problem. To my surprise, the representative told me it would cost $100 just to look at the problem. So I decided to hold off the repair until we had the funds to fix the lock and just deal with the fact that we just had to manually lock and unlock the passenger side door. About a week later the right side sliding door just closed on its own and trapped one of our passengers (a senior citizen) fingers while she was trying to sit down. The sliding door would not respond at all electronically, so my wife had to open the door from the outside to free the passenger's fingers.

Yesterday I needed to use the van to run some errands and to my dismay the right side passenger door would not function via remote or electronically. The lock is just completely jammed. What a complete let down! I've been a loyal Toyota customer for over 15 years and did not expect these issues to come up. Just started doing research on this problem and it seems that it is a very common problem with the Siennas. I'm surprised Toyota hasn't taken this issue seriously.

[fiveparty]

I too had the cable snap on my 2004 Sienna. I could swear that my van was made with leftover scrap parts because although we take care of it - something goes wrong.