Published: October 18, 2017, 10:30 PM
Updated: October 23, 2017, 5:22 AM
Toyota is recalling its Sienna minivan to deal with an issue that could allow the automatic transmission to slip out of Park and the minivan to roll away.
The recall affects 347,120 Siennas from model years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, with 24,000 of those reportedly in Canada.
The issue arises from grease inside the shift lever assembly that could transfer to other internal components, causing them to malfunction. In such a case, the automatic transmission’s shift lever could be moved out of the “Park” position without having the brake pedal depressed — a fail-safe that has been in place industry-wide for several decades to prevent a vehicle from rolling away when the transmission is put into gear, after starting the engine.
Naturally, if the lever is able to move out of Park without the driver’s foot on the pedal, and if the parking brake is also not engaged, the Sienna could roll away, and potentially crash, which could cause harm to people and property. Toyota, though, is not aware of any incident or injury.
Owners of potentially affected minivans will be contacted by mail in mid-December, asking them to return their Siennas to a Toyota dealership, where the shift-lock solenoid will be replaced, and an appropriate amount of grease will be reapplied.
Customers can find out about the status of their minivans by visiting Toyota.com/recall or by calling Toyota Customer Service at (800) 331-4331.
2008 Toyota Sienna
2006-10 Toyota Sienna
Canadians like – love, actually – minivans. And why not? They can haul seven or eight people in comfort without drawing heavily on Mother Earth’s finite oil reserves. The most reliable of the bunch is Toyota’s Sienna, which works as a popular taxi in New York’s cratered streets. We like the athletic engine introduced for 2007, but the basic van remained the same: a stiff unibody yielded a quiet, squeak-free ride, the third-row bench offered room for thee and folded flat into the floor, and optional all-wheel drive made the Sienna especially sure-footed.
A 266-horsepower 3.5-litre DOHC V-6 was the lone engine choice, mated to a smooth five-speed automatic. The Sienna AWD came with mandatory run-flat tires, which many owners disliked because the tires don’t last long, are horrendously expensive to replace, and can leave you stranded since not all tire shops stock them. Reported mechanical weaknesses include broken power sliding doors, leaky radiators and gas tanks (both recall items), faulty air conditioners, weak tailgate struts and short-lived batteries.
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