Complaint 1700786

2012 TOYOTA SIENNA • POWER TRAIN • incident Sep 1, 2020

Crash
No
Fire
No
Injuries
0
Deaths
0
Complaint ID
1700786
Make
TOYOTA
Model
SIENNA
Model Year
2012
Component
POWER TRAIN
Incident Date
Sep 1, 2020
Date Received
Oct 19, 2020
Data As Of
Sep 1, 2026

Complaint Summary

POWER TRAIN

Owner Narrative

MY 2012 TOYOTA SIENNA RECENTLY BEGAN MAKING A LOUD WHINING NOISE FROM THE REAR AXLE AREA. UPON INSPECTION, WE WERE INFORMED THAT THE DIFFERENTIAL UNIT WAS FAILING AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THIS WOULD COST US BETWEEN $2,500-$3,000. AFTER SOME RESEARCH, I DISCOVERED THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE SIENNA, LIKELY CAUSED BY A DESIGN FLAW. THE SAME UNIT WAS USED ON THE RAV-4, AND AFTER SIMILAR PROBLEMS SURFACED IT WAS RECALLED AND FIXED BY TOYOTA. GIVEN THE DANGER POSED BY FAILURE OF THIS PART TO A FAMILY VEHICLE, AND THE KNOWN EXISTENCE OF THE PROBLEM BY TOYOTA, IT SEEMS OBVIOUS THAT IT SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY RECALLED AND FIXED BY THE MANUFACTURER.

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.