Sending another letter to Toyota:

Last evening, December 26, 2025, the cable in the driver-side power sliding door on our 2018 Toyota Sienna SE broke off. We were able to close the door manually, but now it can’t be opened. We are on our ski trip to Vermont, which is about 500 miles away from home. We are deeply concerned with our family safety. We are a family of 6: my wife and I with 4 small children.

We also own a 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE. One cable broke off last year and another cable broke off about six months ago. Both of our sliding doors broke, but they can still be used manually.

The cost for replacing the cable is around $2,500. For 3 doors, that will cost us $7,500. Once the passenger door on our 2018 Toyota Sienna SE snaps off as well, that will cost us $10,000. But the more pressing issue is that we cannot open the driver-side sliding door on our 2018 Toyota Sienna SE.

We are in the process of looking for a new minivan. We almost went with the 2026 Toyota Sienna Woodland, but the sliding door issues have made us change our mind. We loved Toyota and had been loyal customers. Is there anything you can do for us?

Thanks,
Donny Truong

On December 29, 2025, two days after I sent a letter to Toyota Brand Engagement Center, they responded:

Dear Donny Truong,

Thank you for contacting us at Toyota. We are sorry to hear you are experiencing inoperative sliding doors on your 2018 Sienna. We appreciate the description you provided regarding the door and cable assembly. Based on your description it is possible you are experiencing an issue that might be covered under a Customer Support Program.

We have researched your [2018 Sienna SE] and have determined your vehicle is involved in Customer Support Program ZKD provides an extension of warranty for Certain 2011 – 2018 Model Year Sienna Vehicles Coverage for the Power Sliding Door Cable Sub-Assembly. We would recommend contacting your local Toyota dealer for an inspection of your vehicle to determine if your vehicle qualifies under the customer support program based on an inspection. If you are currently on a trip, it may be best to schedule an inspection with a dealer near your residence.

Each Toyota dealer has a Customer Relations Manager who oversees operations and addresses customers’ concerns. We’d like to refer you to the Customer Relations Manager, at Priority Toyota Springfield, so they can address your sliding door concern.

If you’d like us to contact Priority Toyota Springfield on your behalf and have a member of the dealer’s management team follow up with you directly, please reply to this comment.

Please know, we have documented your experience here at Toyota National Headquarters under reference #***********. If you have any other questions, please contact us.

Sincerely,
Matt
Toyota Brand Engagement Center

On Monday, after we came back from our ski trip in Vermont, I took our Sienna 2018 SE to Ourisman Toyota, which is closer to our home than Priority Toyota Springfield. With the authorization from Toyota National Headquarters, the dealer went ahead and fixed the sliding door on the driver side with no additional charge.

After our Sienna 2018 SE, I brought in our 2011 Sienna XLE to see if they would fix both sliding doors since they were broken. Ourisman Toyota informed me that they can’t replace them because the Customer Support Program ZKD had expired on my vehicle. Once again, I wrote to Toyota Brand Engagement Center on January 7, 2026:

Dear Brand Management Advocate,

Several years ago, both of the cable sliding doors on our 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE broke off. We only recently learned about the Customer Support Program ZKD provides an extension of warranty for Certain 2011 – 2018 Model Year Sienna Vehicles Coverage for the Power Sliding Door Cable Sub-Assembly.

We took our minivan to Ourisman Toyota to replace them, but they declined because the warranty had expired. We took our minivan to Ourisman for oil change every 10,000 miles for many years and they never told us about the cable recall. Furthermore, we never received any notice about the recall from Toyota Corporation. We found out about the recall because our 2018 Toyota Sienna SE had the same issue and had been replaced.

Is there anything you can do to help us resolve this issue? We have been loyal customers of Toyota for many years. We own two Siennas and in the process of buying a 2026 Sienna Woodland edition.

Again, we would appreciate your help. Here’s the dealership contact info:

Ourisman Fairfax Toyota
(703) 359-1010
10441 Fairfax Blvd.
Fairfax, VA 22030

Sincerely yours,
Donny Truong

On January 8, 2026 at 1:48 pm, I received a respond from a Brand Management Advocate:

Thank you for contacting the Toyota Brand Engagement Center.

We are sorry to learn your 2011 Toyota Sienna is experiencing concerns with the sliding doors.

Toyota strives to produce long-lasting, trouble-free vehicles and parts, and while we can’t predict an average life expectancy for any specific part or component, we do provide our Toyota limited factory warranty, which reflects our confidence in the products we offer.

According to your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), ************, the warranty for the sliding doors is 3 years, or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first starting from the vehicle’s in-service date: 12/13/2010. In addition, Toyota initiated a Customer Support Program for the sliding doors cables for your VIN. This was not a recall and was dependent on a Toyota dealer inspection during the warranty period. This program expired: 12/13/20. We have confirmed there are no current recalls or customer support programs related to your sliding door cable concerns. Once a vehicle is outside of the manufacturer’s warranty, repairs become the owner’s responsibility.

We aren’t able to offer any assistance in this instance due to the age of your vehicle. If we were to initiate any type of Safety Recall Campaign in the future relating to your vehicle, we will notify you directly via first class mail.

We truly appreciate your feedback. Through communication like yours, we learn about our guests’ dealership interactions as well as guest’s expectations to help improve the customer service experience.

Please know, we have documented your experience here at Toyota National Headquarters. If you have any other questions, please contact us.

Sincerely,
Michael M.
Toyota Brand Engagement Center

On January 10, 2026, I responded to Michael M.:

Dear Michael M.,

Thank you for your prompt response. In your reply, you wrote, “Toyota initiated a Customer Support Program for the sliding doors cables for your VIN.” And yet, neither Toyota Corporate or Toyota Dealers notified about the Customer Support Program. I even raised this question with the Parts & Service Director at Ourisman Toyota and he informed me that neither Toyota Corporate nor Toyota Dealers notified any of the customers about the program. I was shocked to hear that.

Toyota only provided free replacement in response to a class action settlement and only if customers approached them about the issues. I wouldn’t have known about the Customer Support Program if I didn’t reach out to the Toyota Brand Engagement Center about the sliding door issue with my 2018 Sienna SE. Again, I take our car to Ourisman Toyota every 10,000 miles for oil change and multi-point inspection, but they never informed me about the sliding door issues with my 2011 Sienna XLE.

I am disappointed with Toyota’s shady business practice on this issue as well as the lack of transparency on customer support. Toyota has been our family’s trusted brand for over 20 years. Please do better.

Regards,
Donny Truong

An hour before I received the respond from Toyota Brand Engagement Center, Parts & Service Director at Ourisman Toyota called me to let me know that Toyota won’t cover the sliding doors. Again, the reason was that the Customer Support Program ZKD had expired. I argued it was expired because I didn’t know about it. I took my car in for oil change every 10,000 miles since I purchased our car in 2011. The technicians always gave me a list of issues that would cost thousands and thousands of dollars to fix, but they never mentioned about Customer Support Program ZKD for the sliding doors. The only way I found out about it was because I contacted the Toyota Brand Engagement Center. He informed me that Ourisman Toyota as well as Toyota Corporation didn’t tell any customers about the issue unless customers come to them, like I did, to tell them about the issue.

I was horrified to hear about their shady business practice. Toyota Sienna is a family car and they are willing to put our family members at risk. When the cable on our 2018 Sienna SE sliding door snapped, the sliding door was completely shut. If we were in an accident and the car were caught on fire, the kids wouldn’t be able to escape. Both of the sliding doors in our 2011 Sienna XLE are now being used manually. If we park the car on the hill the doors would slide really fast because they don’t have the cables to hold them. I have to make sure that my kids’ arms and fingers were all clear from the sliding doors so no body parts get jammed for cut off.

We had always loved Toyota, especially the Sienna model for our family, but I am disappointed with their shady business practice—with safety issue in particular. They need to do better.

If you own a Toyota Sienna from 2016 to now and your sliding door cable snapped, bring your car to the dealer to get them fixed with no charge.

I replaced four brand new tires (Firestone Destination LE3 BL 235/50R19 99H 70,000 Mile) last year and they were already worn out badly after just 20,000 miles. They warranted 70,000. What a joke.

As we’re heading into skiing season, I need good tires to be safe on the road when we drive to Vermont. Last year, I also bought road hazard protection for $138 for 4 tires; therefore, I took my 2018 Toyota Sienna SE back to Firestone to see if they were going to replace them.

The technician agrees that they were worn out, but then Firestone only covers about 50%. For the safety of my family, I paid $615 to get four brand new tires—the same Destination model. I am disappointed with Firestone. After this set, I will go back to Michelin at Costco. The Firestone Destination tires didn’t hold up well.

To meet the warranty, I have to schedule for rotations every 5,000 miles and alignments every 10,000 miles. My car is now 95,000 miles. We’ll see how long these tires will last. It’s such a pain now that I have to keep track of all of these things. I hate dealing with car issues.

Our 2011 Toyota Sienna is crumbling one thing at a time. Both the sliding doors are broken and they are too expensive to replace. The struts hadn’t been supporting the liftgate for a while,
but I didn’t think they would be easy to replace. Fortunately, this YouTube clip shows how easy it is to replace them. The struts were purchased from Amazon for $23.

I woke up early this morning this morning to do some work. Kids didn’t have school this morning, but they had dentist checkup appointments at 11:00 am. After they finished, I took them to lunch. They wanted soul food; therefore, we went to Milk & Honey. After lunch, we went to the park until around 3:30 pm.

I decided to go back home so I could replace the flush and fill valves in the master bedroom, which I had been putting off for a few weeks. The entire job took about half an hour. Then I also changed the shower head. Even though the tasks were trivial, they made me feel good. For someone who is not that great at doing handyman work, I had accomplished something.

I don’t want to ask people to help me all the time. I am sure handymen wouldn’t do these kinds of job; therefore; I try to do as many as I can on my own.

The nice thing about this blog is that I can document these kinds of trivial things that no one else cared but me. Whenever I needed to know what I had done in the past, I just have to refer back to this blog. This is why I love blogging all these years. OK, enough rambling.

Only after 2 years of replacement, the heating surface element on our Whirlpool’s stove burnt out. The issue was that one of the female disconnects burned out. I replaced it with Utilitech Fully Insulated Female Disconnects (16-14). The heating surface element also needed to be replaced. It cost $107 (tax and shipped included). Let’s hope this will last for a while. This YouTube video was a refresher to open up the top.

I used to change oil in high school, which was more than 20 years ago. Today, I changed oil for our 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE at 210,000 miles. The last time I took it to the dealership, they charged me almost $150. When did oil change had become so expansive?

Of course I watched some YouTube videos to refresh myself. Here are the parts:

• Oil Filter Wrench for Toyota: $30 (It’s a great tool for removing the oil filter)
• Toyota OE Engine Oil Filter 04152-YZZA1: $8
• Kirkland Signature 0W-20 Full Synthetic Motor Oil 5-quart, 2-pack: $30 (Only 6.5 quartz are needed)

Without the oil filter wrench, the parts cost less than $40. It saved $100 and 3 hours waiting time. I spent about an hour on it, but it will be faster the next time because I will know exactly what to do.

Nowadays, I have to do as many things as I can. Everything is so damn expensive.

Last night, my wife broke the chain when she tried to turn off the ceiling fan. We bought a new switch at Lowe’s for about $7. The replacement process takes 10 to 15 minutes. We use these fans in our bedrooms a lot because our second floor is always hot. Our AC unit doesn’t work too well. I am not sure how long we can ride it out before we have to spend about $15k. I just don’t want to think about it. Being a homeowner comes with too many responsibilities and I have very little skills to fix them. Oh well!

As I was debating whether I should spent over $50K to buy a new Toyota Sienna or fixing our 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE, I chose the latter. This time I chose the Auto Team in Manassas. One of the co-owners is a friend’s uncle. Even though it was my first time, I could trust him. He’s an honest mechanic. He replaced the front struts and sway bar links.

Parts

• Struts: $190 (2x)
• Sway bar links: $48 (2x)

Labors: $400

Total with discounts: $850

The AC is still not working. The sliding doors are still not fixed. Nevertheless, I can still use in in the winter to drive to Whitetail for work.

Last night, the second automatic sliding door from our 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE broke. The first one broke about six months ago, but I hadn’t fixed it. One auto shop quoted about $2,000 to replace. That would cost $4,000 for both. Obviously, I am not going to replace them. I have no problem with using the manual sliding doors. My only concern is that the kids my get their fingers jam or their face smashed since the doors would slide very fast with the cables to hold them.

In addition, the back lift gate has no hydraulic. It keeps falling down and hit my head. The interiors are falling apart. The shock front driver side is gone. The steering post makes clicking noise every time I made a turn. The AC is out. The milage is about 210,000 miles. The only thing that still works well is the engine—for now.

Since I will be driving an hour and a half each Saturday and Sunday this winter to work, I will need a reliable car. I am not sure if it is worth it to fix the issues and keep it or buy a brand new Sienna. The price tag for 2025 hybrid Sienna XLE is around $50,000. I don’t want to spend that much money on a car. I want to see how much it will cost to fix the shock and the steering post. If it costs too much then I might need to get a new car.

First world problem, I know. Nevertheless, I still hate owning a car, but I need it.

The front holes in the toilet on the first floor kept leaking water. I decided to replace the old one with Everbilt’s 2 in. Universal Complete Toilet Flush Valve Repair Kit. It was a quick job even though I had to remove the tank. For my future self, unscrew the two nuts from the bottom of the tank first in order to remove the tank.

Even with a brand new flush valve, the holes were still leaking water, not as much as before. I am just going to leave it like that for now. I’ll deal with it later.

Update: no more leaking. Yay!