Got 3000 miles on a new Toyota Sienna Limited van. Paid almost $50k for it and it has front end noise like a popping or binding from the driver's side when backing into driveway with the wheel turned. Also from a stop sign, turning right or left was making a different noise, from the right front, but a little further back like around the bottom of the front pass seat.

Get it to the dealer and they say they cannot duplicate the problem. Probably told to deny all first time claims on steering/suspension issues unless they are driving in a straight line and can detect an issue. I'm steamed!

Told them to keep it there and have another tech drive it, but I'm not getting my hopes up as the service manager said that probably wouldn't be happening and that I would need to come in and drive it for them to duplicate the problem.

Could be they just don't want to deal with it and hope that I take it to the dealer closer to me.

 

Why not go down there and ride with a tech or the Service Mgr and show them the noise can be duplicated. They are in business to make repairs and they charge it back through the manufacturer. They get paid either way.

 

I will do that if necessary, but it generally doesn't take a genius to figure these things out especially when I described the problem to them in detail. The place is an hour+ round trip and although a bit inconvenient I decided it should go back there since they were the original selling dealer and we might get better service to try to make the problem right. I have another Toyota dealer about 10 min down the road from me. Guess I'll use them if it comes down to it.

Backing up into driveway does it every single time. Stop sign turns are intermittent.

 

edit: Meant to say, it doesn't take a genius to replicate the problem. Yes, it does sometimes take a genius to figure the problem out. No doubt about that.

 

You may have gotten a shaft with a bad CV joint. Or, one of the bushings in the suspension could be bad. The dealership can get all the torque data from the Indiana plant on the car on all the fasteners. We put the bushings into the H frames and lower arms on site. The drive shafts come to us from a supplier. If I were plantside TMMI, I could get you the data, but I work for the larger company over the plants, so I don't have their database.

Don't let the dealership act like, just because they couldn't replicate it, that it's not a problem. If they persist in giving you crap, Toyota Motor Sales Customer Care hotline is 1 (800) 331-4331. Allow the dealership a chance to make it right, but, if they dick you around, light them up. Most of the dealerships are franchises, and report to TMS direct. If you're in the south, I think the franchises report to a corporation called South East Toyota, then to TMS.

Have someone stand next to the car and video you doing the driveway thing. I think you got a CV problem. Show the video to the tech support.

I don't know your dealer. I do know there is no corporate policy to routinely deny claims,, but the dealer may suck. The hotline is our quality control on dealers. Use it when you need to and light a fire.

 

Oh, and there is no excuse for this sort of poor quality control. It's on the dealer who sold it and TMS to make it right. Accept no baloney.

 

Work with the dealer to help them figure it out. Contrary to popular belief there is no conspiracy afoot to not fix yours or anybody else's vehicle. Sometimes it's tricky duplicating the driving conditions that cause a concern. Maybe your driveway has a different pitch than the one they are using. Maybe the tech backs up at a different speed than you do. Also what you tell the service advisor doesn't alway survive the translation back to the tech. These guys just want to repair your vehicle and make you happy, that's their business and if they consistently don't accomplish that they don't stay in business.

 

Thanks for the detailed and helpful reply Koda! I posted this problem not expecting anyone affiliated with Toyota would ever be on here, but you have definitely given me some good info.

 

I just looked at a few of the pics I snapped when it was getting dark last night. Does this look right to everyone? Sorry for the blur.

 

I can't tell. Can you take a better picture? Is that a hole? There should not be a hole in the H frame there.

 

Make sure the service writer wrote your issue correctly. Then go for a drive with the tech or service writer to show them the issue. Trust me their fix it right and fix it the first time scores matter to the dealership. If that doesn't get you any results do as Koda says. Another good solution is ask for the new car manager and the dealership manager or owner. But do the drive with someone to prove it.

 

Yes, it is a hole. That seemed strange to me, but I'm not a welding expert by any means. I would have figured it would have been a closed weld for the whole unit.

 

X2 Koda.You may have to climb the dealer-Zone Rep staircase to make someone understand

 

Tried to zoom in and show a little better. See pic.

 

Ok that hole is normal, here's one of the other side of the same frame from a bushing press project I was on.

 

Whew! Koda I owe you one if I ever see you at a car event or you make it to Charlotte! Soda or a beer. Thanks. I tried searching Google for a good pic of it, but had no luck.

 

There is more of a rough look to the one on mine though. Along with some bare metal. Wondering if something got kicked up in there and broke a little (highly doubtful), or if something structural is going on.

Wish I had a better pic. Guess I'll have that opportunity soon.

 

We get weld slag on the H frames all the time. If it's under the black paint, it's factory.

 

Let them hang onto it over the weekend. Was hoping one of the other mechanics would take it out for a spin. I'm going to meet with the service manager either tomorrow or Tuesday.

 

I 'm pretty sure that if the mechanic can't figure it out in reasonable amount of time they just say the problem dose not exist. After it goes completely and becomes obvious then they can fix it.
I do stairs and handrails for a living. If someone shows me their stair system and says that it's perfect I can find at least one thing wrong with it. I can't see how a car owner can see a problem that the expert can't.
Railguy

 

You got that right Railguy. I'll let everyone know how it all turns out. Strange that when we had a Dodge minivan, they came out and towed it on a flatbed when it had a dead battery. Mention a steering/suspension problem to Toyota (*who should be taking safety extremely seriously at this point, after all the recalls) and I have to drive it to them.

 

I will be interested to know what it is. I have an interest in the drive shaft installation process due to a project, so it'd be interesting if it were a bad cv joint. I'm going for that as the cause, maybe a motor mount (they have goo in them for dampening, it's possible yours got popped on install.)

 

Not much to report. Picked up the van last Thursday. Said their best suspension guy has it. Noticed about 8 miles on it since drop off. Could not duplicate problem. Told them it is going from their dealership to the one closer to me and made sure documented problems were in system. Going to the other dealer this week.

 

I had this exact same noise problem with my wife's car after replacing the entire strut suspension. Turns out the noise was a brand new replacement kwik strut from Monroe. Replaced it and the noise was gone. The original symptoms were exactly what you're describing, just not on a brand new car. If they do end up replacing the strut you'll need a wheel align which should also be covered as part of the repair. Good luck.

 

The Strut bearing will sometimes cause that type of noise but you can usually feel it if you place your hand on top of strut and have someone turn the steering wheel.

Stay on top of it the SQUEEGEE WHEEL GET THE GREASE, Don' get nasty be calm and FIRM.

 

These have McPherson struts. The two bearings are on the wheel hub and on the knuckle. I think you mean the knuckle joint, and it's good advice. Also an engine stethoscope helps too.

Bud, my advice is to video the problem in your driveway, then call the customer care number I gave above. Sounds like that dealership needs a little Toyota Motor Sales boot in their ***. Be like, here's the problem, I can email you a video, but these schmoes can't find it.

 

Yes, that's what I replaced on all four corners of my wife's car too. The RF kwik strut had a noisy upper bearing and the spring actually rotated a bit when dry cranking the car. It caused the same kind of noise as the OP's concern. That's why I suggested having a look at it. It may or may not be the problem, just a suggestion based on what I ran into. BTW, just because a part is new doesn't mean it's going to work perfectly. We all know that, although I'm surprised that Yota has that problem in their production. Even good old Made in USA parts fail....

 

I like your style Koda. I'm gonna try to do what you said. It is consistent, although I've not backed into the driveway and heard the noise only to pull back out on the road and retry. Whatever the issue is might need a "reset" by putting some regular driving on. I'll see if I can get it to do some back to back noise. If that works and I get it on video, that will be my best chance.

 

The reply from the service manager at the dealer also included: "We have never had any issues with the new models and suspension noise." My thoughts were basically what you said (and I bolded) above. There is a first time for everything. Every once in a while you get a bad batch of parts or it could be a one time incident. Defective is defective, there is no quantity requirement.

But we'll see if it comes down to this or not. In doing some reading on the Sienna forum (yes, this actually exists...strange....) there were a few complaining of a similar issue and they said that the dealer found lodged gravel under the vehicle. So who knows.

 

Sounds like a plan 70442.

Allan, I THINK the struts on the Sienna are US made. The Sienna is only made in US, and exported to a bunch of places, and the Japanese content in them is usually limited to very small things like piston rings and some sensors that are common to a lot of Toyotas, or something that is put in Japan-made cars that we just don't make over here. For instance, the four cylinder Tacoma engine is Japanese entirely, but the six cylinder engine is 95% or so US content and cast, machined, and assembled over here. I think the 4 cylinder engine Sienna (now discontinued) had its transmission (U760) made in Japan. The 6 cylinder model has its trans (U660) made in WV at our trans plant 6 speed line (which I had the dubious honor of installing in 07). I don't know what they do with the old five speed line there, they may make the U760 domestically now. Most of the Japanese stuff in the cars is used both there and here, so it's simpler to ship it. The lesser sold cars are still Japanese entirely, but, at least we're making a Lexus here now, thanks to the great example of the Ontarioans with the RX plant.

 

Sort of like my Sonata being made in Montgomery Alabama? I understand your point. I'm really curious to hear what the resolve on this is. A $50k van should not have problems like this, but when it does it should be taken seriously by the dealer principle.

 

Dodge did this same BS a few years ago on the Dakota. Eventually they had to settle up with everyone that had one. Toyota is already a scum bag covering up company so I'm not surprised.