CSR

Toyota · NHTSA safety record

2021 Toyota Sienna Hybrid

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

37

Complaints

0

Crashes

1

Fires

1

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2021 Toyota Sienna Hybrid have filed 37 safety complaints with NHTSA between December 2020 and July 2026. The most complained-about system is the air bags, named in 12 of them (32%). The typical failure was reported at 30,800 miles, the median across the 13 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 2 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (2)

SEATS:MID/REAR ASSEMBLY:RECLINER

25V086000 · February 13, 2025

The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2021-2025 Sienna Hybrid vehicles. The bolts for the seatbacks on the third-row seat assemblies may not be tightened properly. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 202, "Head Restraints," 207, "Seating Systems," and 225, "Child Restraint Anchorage Systems."
The risk
An improperly tightened seatback may not adequately restrain the occupant during a crash, increasing their risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will tighten the seat assembly bolts, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 1, 2025. Owners may contact Toyota's customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 25TA05.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing · up to 167,802 vehicles across all model years covered

AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION

23V865000 · December 20, 2023

The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, Corolla, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, RAV4, RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES350, Lexus RX350, Lexus RX450H, 2021 Sienna Hybrid, Lexus ES250, 2020-2022 Camry, Camry Hybrid, and ES300H vehicles. A short circuit may develop in the Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensor, preventing the front passenger air bag from deploying.
The risk
An air bag that does not deploy during a crash increases the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the sensor as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed in February 2024. Some final remedy owner letters were mailed October 31, 2024. Letters will continue to be mailed in phases through January 2026. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 23TB15/23TA15 Lexus 23LB03/23LA03.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing · up to 999,901 vehicles across all model years covered

Defect investigations (1)

An investigation means NHTSA has decided a pattern is worth examining. A preliminary evaluation is often closed with no action; an engineering analysis is the stage that usually precedes a recall.

Pedestrian alert sounds

DP22005

Closed defect petition · opened January 27, 2023 · closed August 7, 2023 · led to recall 22V063000

the electrical system

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 37.

AIR BAGS 12 32%
SERVICE BRAKES 5 14%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 4 11%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 8%
ENGINE 3 8%
SEATS 3 8%
STRUCTURE 3 8%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 8%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 5%
POWER TRAIN 2 5%
SUSPENSION 2 5%
BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 3%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2026 at 13.

2020 2026
2020 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

STRUCTURE:BODY

1 injured · 2,000 miles

HEADLINER CUT TOO LARGE, DOESN'T HOLD REAR PASSENGER CLIMATE CONTROLS, CLIMATE CONTROLS FALL OUT AND HIT REAR PASSENGERS. THIS HAPPENS AT ANY SPEED.

NHTSA complaint 11416133. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

fire · towed · 80,000 miles

The contact owned a 2021 Toyota Sienna Hybrid. The vehicle was parked in the driveway when an explosion occurred; the vehicle burned down. The contact was inside the residence when a loud noise was heard, and the house "rocked." The contact ran to the front of the house to investigate and noticed that the vehicle was engulfed in flames. The fire damaged the driveway, melted the garage door, and melted a landscaping retaining wall. The fire damaged the post on the front porch. The contact and her family were unable to exit through the front door due to the fire and used the sliding kitchen door to exit the residence. The fire department was called to the scene. Per the contact, three fire

NHTSA complaint 11729036, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Vehicle safety SOS button is not functioning properly. When the SOS button is depressed in case of emergency, the vehicle notifies user at the emergency system is un operational. Toyota includes this for 10 years from the date purchase and my vehicle is a 2021 making this feature active till 2031. By having the SOS button nonfunctional occupants of the vehicle, which may rely on this feature may sustain injury or death by this feature not operating correctly in the event of an accident.

NHTSA complaint 11752014. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
FAILURE: Brake control system. Vehicle intermittently surges forward while braking at low speed, most often through a curve — the brakes momentarily release and the vehicle lurches before braking resumes. Appears to occur during the transition between regenerative and friction braking. Vehicle available for inspection. SAFETY RISK: Unpredictable momentary loss of braking at low speed, in parking lots, residential streets and curves where pedestrians and other vehicles are close. Driver cannot anticipate it. WARNING LAMPS: None. No lamp, no message, no stored trouble code. Present since early in ownership; purchased new September 2021. CONFIRMED BY DEALER: No. Reported to a Toyota dealer in

NHTSA complaint 11750094, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION
FAILURE: Blind spot monitor module failed due to a corroded internal electrical connector. The failure disabled both the Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA). Both remain inoperative. The failed component has not been replaced and is available for inspection. SAFETY RISK: Two active safety systems are disabled. The vehicle no longer warns of vehicles in the blind spot during lane changes, and no longer warns of cross traffic when backing out of parking spaces or driveways. WARNING LAMPS: Yes. Multiple warning lamps illuminated simultaneously in February 2026, including BSM and RCTA malfunction messages. No prior symptoms or gradual degradation. CONFIRMED BY DEALER:

NHTSA complaint 11750096, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
Car surged as brakes were applied when stopping. Very dangerous. Could have easily rear-ended another vehicle. Surge was immediate and occurred when brake was being applied. Not confirmed yet, but another driver of vehicle told me of having similar problems when braking this car. Very scary. No warnings or messsages.

NHTSA complaint 11747761. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Unexpected failure of the acceleration pedal to accelerate from a complete stop to a go at an intersection. The electric vehicle (EV) motor began accelerating up to about 3 mph than instantly had a failure to accelerate, even with the gas pedal continuously pushed to the floor. After about 4 to 5 seconds the engine kicked on and began accelerating. The failure seemed to occur during the EV motor swapping over to the gas powered engine. This has been the fourth occurrence and can be extremely dangerous at intersections with oncoming traffic. No fault codes or check engine lights came on.

NHTSA complaint 11746943. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
1. The rear underbody air conditioning (AC) lines and their supporting structural mounting brackets have failed due to severe corrosion. Specifically, a heavy steel mounting bracket has rusted excessively, causing localized galvanic corrosion at the point of contact with the adjacent aluminum AC lines. This structural and material failure caused the aluminum line to erode, crack, and leak high-pressure chemical refrigerant into the environment. The vehicle, failed components, and detailed photographic evidence of the galvanic corrosion and rusted bracket are fully available for inspection upon request. 2. The failure presents multiple safety and health hazards: •Environmental and Inhalation

NHTSA complaint 11745261, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Toyota Sienna Hybrid

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 263 4 1
2024 66 2
2023 65 1
2022 18 1

Other 2021 Toyota models

Every Toyota on this site — 272 vehicles, 370 recall campaigns and 3 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst