Toyota Sienna Class Action Claims Power Sliding Doors are Defective

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Two owners of Toyota Sienna vehicles are taking the manufacturer to task for allegedly failing to fix the vehicles’ defective sliding doors.

Plaintiffs Dillen Steeby and Paula McMillin claim there is a defect in the power sliding doors in Toyota Sienna vehicles that prevents the doors from latching shut. Because of this defect, they claim, the doors may open on their own – sometimes while the vehicle is in motion, exposing vehicle occupants to a risk of injury and possibly death.

Steeby says the defect manifested in his 2015 Toyota Sienna, which he bought in April 2015 from a dealer in Missouri. In November of that year, he received a Safety Recall Interim Notice advising him about the sliding door defect. After an attempted repair at his dealership, Steeby had to disable the power sliding door mechanism and is still unable to use it.

McMillin reports a similar experience with her 2013 Toyota Sienna, which she bought in Oregon. Both plaintiffs say the power sliding doors were a significant factor in their decisions to purchase these particular vehicles. They both say that had they known about the defect, they would not have purchased these vehicles or would have paid substantially less for them.

The plaintiffs are apparently not the only Toyota Sienna drivers to be affected by the alleged sliding door defect. They quote several complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration by other Toyota Sienna owners describing similar experiences.

Several of these owners report the rear passenger doors on their Toyota Sienna vehicles sliding open on their own. Some say they were told by Toyota that the parts needed to fix the problem were simply unavailable.

One complainant reported the sliding door failed with only 100 miles on the vehicle’s odometer. Another was allegedly told that Toyota would not recognize the problem unless enough people complained about it.

Steeby and McMillin say that Toyota has been aware of the sliding door defect since before 2013. They claim Toyota was privy to the complaints filed with the NHTSA as far back as 2011.

Still, Toyota continued to sell the affected Toyota Siennas without taking steps to fix the defect or notify its customers, the plaintiffs say. The company did not issue a recall for the problem until November 2016.

Even so, the plaintiffs say the recall does not offer a fix for the Toyota Sienna sliding door defect. In an FAQ released as an update to the recall, Toyota says it is “currently preparing the remedy for this condition.”

The update reportedly advises vehicle owners to disable the power sliding door system, a fix the plaintiffs say deprives customers of the functionality they paid for and have a right to expect.

Steeby and McMillin propose to represent two plaintiff Classes that would cover persons who owned or leased an affected Toyota Sienna in Missouri and Oregon, respectively. Both Classes would include all persons who owned or leased a Toyota Sienna from model years 2011 to 2016 within the two Class states.

They seek a court order requiring Toyota to adequately disclose and repair the Toyota Sienna sliding door defect. They are also asking the court to award damages, restitution and disgorgement, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation, all with pre- and post-judgment interest.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys are Eric L. Dirks and Matthew L. Dameron of Williams Dirks Dameron LLC.

The Toyota Sienna Sliding Door Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Dillen Steeby and Paula McMillin v. Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., Case No. 4:17-cv-00486, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

UPDATE: March 2019, the Toyota Sienna sliding door defect class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.