2004 Toyota Sienna LE review from North America

I bought a 2004 Sienna LE All Wheel Drive in Feb. 2005. I noticed when I was rotating the tires at 5000 miles, that the two front tires were worn on the outside really bad.

I went back to the dealer and they said it was an alignment problem. I took it to an alignment shop that had a computerized alignment machine. They said the alignment was fine.

At 10,000 miles the tires that were on the front now were worn just like the ones on the back. I took it back to the dealer again, they said have the alignment checked again. I took it back to the same alignment shop, and again they said the alignment was fine. They rotated the tires again at 10,000 miles.

At 16,000 miles all tires were shot. These tires were Dunlop 4000 run flat ($300.00 a tire) and I had checked the air pressure every two weeks, and always made sure they had 38 lbs. in them. The alignment shop told me to keep 38 lbs. in them even though the manual says 35 lbs. They said it would help keep the front tires from wearing so bad on the outside edges. It says on the tire maximum 44 lbs.psi. So 38 lbs. isn't going to hurt the tire.

I put Bridgestone 380 run flats ($200.00) a tire on it this time. Toyota would not pay for these tires. At 16,000 miles I took it to another alignment shop and they said the alignment was fine. At 19,000 miles these Bridgestone tires are wearing just like the original Dunlop tires did.

I called the Toyota customer care center about one week ago. They told me that they will reimburse me for the new tires that I bought, if I send them all the paperwork on the new tires. This is great, but what do I do when these tires are shot, which will be at 32,000 miles at the rate that they are wearing. I don't want to go with regular tires because of losing the space that a spare tire will take.

I have talked to Dunlop customer service, they say that they know of no problems with this tire. I find this hard to believe. I have also talked to Bridgestone customer service and they said that they made this tire to Toyota specifications. And Toyota knows that they have a real problem. Bridgestone won't warranty this tire on mileage because it is not made to last more than 15 to 20 thousand miles.

In the past I have owned 3 other Toyota vehicles and liked all of them. At the present time I own a 2004 Sienna Van, a 2005 Tacoma, and a 2005 Corolla, so you can see that I like a Toyota vehicle. But this tire issue has just about turned me against Toyota.

I talked to an individual at Toyota to see if they have done anything to rectify this serious problem about the tires. They said they have educated the buyer by putting stickers on the vehicle telling them to rotate the tires regularly, and to keep the air pressure up on the tires. I have done this and more, and it didn't help one bit.

So in my opinion, Toyota has done nothing to rectify this serious problem. If Toyota doesn't come up with a better plan to help out all the people who have bought Sienna All Wheel Drive Vans with run flat tires, I will be trading my van in when the tires wear out, which won't be long. Needless to say I won't be buying a Toyota. They are going to lose a great customer.