2021 Toyota Redundant Sienna Interior & seats Problems

I purchased a 2021 Toyota Sienna from United Access Mobility in Sacramento. The vehicle was sold and delivered with multiple serious pre-existing safety defects. The exhaust system was unsafe. The catalytic converter had been stolen prior to sale and replaced with a non-OEM catalytic converter that was improperly welded and mounted too low. This caused exhaust leaks, loud exhaust noise, poor acceleration, and safety concerns including potential exhaust exposure. Multiple professional repair facilities confirmed the exhaust system defect. The electrical system was defective. The vehicle was sold with the wrong size battery that was not properly secured. This caused electrical instability, warning lights, and vehicle failure. The battery was not adequately supporting the vehicle’s electrical system. The airbag and restraint system showed warnings caused by third-party wiring, indicating potential airbag or seatbelt malfunction. The fuel system was defective. The gas cap was broken and required tools to refuel the vehicle. Structural and body components were unsafe. A bumper bracket was loose and flapped while driving, and the passenger seat was unstable. Accessibility systems were also defective, including lift and door malfunctions affecting safe operation. United Access was notified immediately but did not correct these safety defects. Instead, they attempted to have the vehicle repaired using an extended warranty for pre-existing conditions. The vehicle was not safe to operate at the time of sale.

NHTSA ID

11711719

Incident

Jul 29, 2024

2nd row passenger seat recline does not work. My seat is very reclined now causing the 2nd row passenger to not be in the optimal position for SRS airbag performance that may result in possible death due to head impact during a side collision. Toyota likely has enough data to issue a TSB to resolve this issue preventing serious injury or death to one of my children.

NHTSA ID

11687905

Incident

Jun 11, 2025

I purchased a 2021 Toyota Sienna (VIN: [XXX] ) from an authorized Toyota dealer in June 2024. At the time of sale, I was assured that the open safety recall (23TA15) would be repaired soon. More than a year later, no remedy has been offered, leaving me and my family driving an unsafe vehicle. Toyota’s own phase schedule indicates repairs should already be available in Washington State, yet I have been repeatedly told no repair exists. This has caused serious safety concerns, financial hardship, and loss of trust. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11681746

Incident

Jun 4, 2024

My van been giving me some weird issues lately. When I’m going downhill, my brakes don’t seem to work well! I have to push it all the way down, like a spongy. It doesn’t break until I put on the emergency brake. the seat broke only weighed 185 pounds! the wiper blades don’t do a great job cleaning the driver’s side after I bought new ones. Dealership wipers

NHTSA ID

11658450

Incident

Apr 27, 2025

I am writing to report a significant safety concern involving the second-row seat in the 2021 Toyota Sienna. The issue involves the seat base not locking securely into the floor. As a result, the seat remains unstable and sits at approximately a 45-degree angle, rendering it unsafe and unusable. This malfunction poses a serious risk to passengers, especially during braking or a collision, as the seat is not properly anchored. It also prevents the safe installation of a child car seat or booster. Despite this being a clear safety issue, there has been no recall issued by Toyota, and customer reports online suggest this is not an isolated incident. The inability of a seat to lock into its designated position is a fundamental failure in vehicle safety design. The vehicle has not been inspected and no warning of the issue was given.

NHTSA ID

11650424

Incident

Nov 6, 2022

Toyota Sienna has 3rd row seats recall already. While I was at dealership I explained that second seats are also rattling when they were fixing the 3rd row recall. My concern is that since they have safety concerns on that they should investigate all the seats for safety.because I’m experiencing second row issues with my vehicle. Terrible dealership! Called corporate office Toyota they were also no help! Please! please!. My request please have Toyota investigate the second row seats as well..

NHTSA ID

11647760

Incident

Jan 6, 2021

the bottom/floor of the center console between the 2 front seats getting warm or hot everytime I drive the car for a while

NHTSA ID

11598548

Incident

Apr 1, 2024

The contact's client owns a 2021 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that she was unable to place a car seat in either of the outboard third row positions due to the angle of the seat edge. There was more than twenty percent of the car seat hanging off the edge. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ID

11570491

Incident

Dec 12, 2023

The sliding door on the passenger side opened while I was driving the vehicle. The door started out as closed. This is unsafe because I had a 6 yr old in the middle row of seats. I have not yet contacted the dealer or service center. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone. There was no warning prior to the failure.

NHTSA ID

11554564

Incident

Nov 10, 2023

Third Row Seats does not stay stowed and while driving over a hump the seats ended up moving away from the potential stowed position and locked itself in the upright position. the noise was so loud that we thought something had banged on the car, but then we realized that the seat had just moved to the upright position. a little bit of research indicated other drivers reporting the same issue without any fix until date. The risk is if the seat decides to move and there is somethin on the seat in stowed position that can become a projectile. Also if the middle seats are reclined at the farthest position, it will cause an impact. Toyota dealership does not have any solutions for this issue and currently the third row seats are held down with a bungee cord.

NHTSA ID

11543420

Incident

Aug 12, 2023

None

NHTSA ID

11488448

Incident

Oct 8, 2022

3rd row seat components in 2021 Toyota Sienna 60/40 configuration. Both portions of the seats do not stay in the stowed position. Initially I assumed it was user error such as not pushing them down all the way or something not latching. After evaluation, the 2021 Sienna 3rd row seats do not have a way to latch down. When stowed and in motion the back portion of the seats begin to lift and when breaks are engaged, the car turns or slows down each section of the seats will thrust forward and lock into the seated position. The back being loose and starting to rise seems to give the bottom portion momentum to pop up quickly. This has caused multiple objects flying if they are not heavy enough and are resting on the seat stowed. Additionally, the reason to bring real awareness is that my son was sitting in the single seat and the other side had been placed in the stowed position, while driving the seat lunged and caught my son’s elbow. The dealership evaluated and stated they do not see a definitive cause, they are replacing all parts related under warranty to trouble shoot and hopefully find an issue. The fact that there is no latching mechanism to hold them down is a hazard altogether. This needs to be addressed for the safety of passengers. All that went through my head when my son was hit was “what if his arm was down, it would have gotten his fingers or caused serious damage

NHTSA ID

11464997

Incident

May 1, 2022

I was in a major traffic accident on 2/14/22. I was rear ended in traffic by a car going high speeds. The headrest on the driver seat popped off and ended up in the second row on the floor. Because the headrest came off during the accident my head and neck were not supported and I am still recovering at this time. Although I'm thankful to have survived this is likely a safety issue. I do have a picture and a police report if needed.

NHTSA ID

11455284

Incident

Feb 14, 2022

The rear 3rd row single seat does not stay folded down in the compartment. It constantly pops up and if you put anything on it to weigh it down, that object can be a potential death threat. Toyota needs to be responsible to resolve this issue. They have offered to replace the spring on the seat, but then said the same thing would happen. Upon researching online, I have found several 2021 Sienna owners are having the same issue. This is not normal. We've had 4 previous Siennas and NONE of them have ever had a problem with the seat folding down, so I don't know where the design flaw is.

NHTSA ID

11445245

Incident

Jul 9, 2021

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the third-row seat would slide up whenever the vehicle went over a bump. The third-row seat latches were not installed properly to secure the seat to the base. The contact was concerned that the seat could injure his pet dog when it was in the seat. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the dealer could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and acknowledged the failure but informed the contact that there was no fix currently available. The failure mileage was 2,296.

NHTSA ID

11438939

Incident

Jul 17, 2021

Mileage

2,296 mi

When driving over speed bumps or sometimes bumps in the road the 2 3rd row seats will fly up. There is no locking mechanism. This causes the seats to sometimes go from the stowed position into the seating position. There have been times when using one of the two 3rd row seats the stowed one has flown up into a seating position from stowed. Hitting the arm of the 3rd row passenger. I have the vehicle looked at by the dealer and was told there is no issue with the seat. I contacted Toyota Corporate and was referred back to the dealer. The dealer contacted me and acknowledged the seats do not stay down. Toyota Corporate has nothing to offer as far as a solution.

NHTSA ID

11437101

Incident

Oct 6, 2021

The adjustable middle seats of this new Sienna have a severe safety issue! As someone who has owned 6 prior Siennas I am very familiar with this vehicle. In past years the middle seats had two levers- -one for adjusting the back of the seat and one for moving the seat forward or back. This changed with the 2021 model that I just bought to one handle that does both functions. And here is the safety issue--when you lift the handle to move the seat forward or back the back of the seat rockets forward with way too much force and speed. When i tried to do this for the first time yesterday, I was standing outside of the car but had my head inside over the seat when I lifted the seat handle. The back rocketed forward and the hard plastic on the edge hit my head cutting me and almost knocked me out! I was left with a goose egg sized lump and cut. If this is not recalled and fixed by Toyota some adult or child is going to get severely injured or killed. The spring that powers the seats movement is just way way too strong. If a person like myself, who has owned multiple Toyota Mini Vans and is very familiar with them can get hurt by these seats you can only imagine what a new owner is going to experience. I took pictures of my injuries and debated going to the ER but my headache from this blow eventually went away so I did not. Please look into this before someone ends up with a closed head injury or worse. Thank you so much.

NHTSA ID

11430719

Incident

Aug 26, 2021

The third row seats in the new Sienna, like most minivans, fold flat into the floor. However, there is no latch to hold the seats in place when folded. I noticed this immediately after taking delivery of the van in April because when the seats are folded, they bounce a bit over bumps. On web forums for the car, other owners mention this as well. However, twice in the last two weeks while I was driving the car, the seats popped up out of the rear well and latched violently into place. The first time this occurred was driving over a pothole at about 40 mph, and the second over a speed bump at about 25 mph. I was terrified the first time it occurred - there was a very loud metal on metal noise and impact at the rear of the van. I thought I had hit something, but when I checked after I got home, the seats were out of the well with the bottom cushions latched into place as they would be if the seats were unfolded for use (the backrests remained folded on the bottom cushions). This is a major safety issue. The third row is split into two independent sides, so if anyone was sitting in one side of the seat, they could easily be injured if the other side suddenly sprang from the well. A pet in the rear of the car could easily be killed. Depending on weight, cargo in the rear could be thrown around the car. Finally, as it was for me, this could be a major distraction for the driver. I checked online, and many others 2021 sienna owners have reported issues with the third row and some have reported the same issue with the seats springing out if the well and latching in place.

NHTSA ID

11423175

Incident

Jun 28, 2021

When the 3rd-row folding seats are down and stored and the breaks are applied suddenly the seat will release and attempt to return a nonstored position. I had a box of water on top of the seat to keep it from moving. Unfortunately when I breaked the box moved and the seat left the stored position and crushed the water bottles. If I had had a pet back there they would have been injured.

NHTSA ID

11418037

Incident

May 14, 2021