30th Sep 2004, 22:38

I also have 2004 Sienna XLE. Purchased in August 2003.

By March 2004, at about 11000 miles, the front left (inside) brake pad completely consumed and resulted damaged rotor. The dealer replaced both front rotors and pads.

Last week, September 23, at 21000 miles exactly the exact same thing happened again. The same front left inside pad completely consumed. I took it to the same dealer, they gave me the excuses that the way the car was driven caused the problem. After a intense negotiation, the dealer agreed to fix it again one more time without charge to me. The front rotors and pads again were replaced.

I have never had any car that consumed front brake pads at this rate. I had 1999 Honda Odyssey and driven on the same street by the same driver never needed brake work at this rate.

Something must be wrong with the design. Toyota must investigate this problem and fix the problem once and for all. Otherwise I am going back to Odyssey. Honda has come out with the 2005 Odyssey.

6th Oct 2004, 00:40

Toyota has a Technical Service Bulletin dealing with the rear drum brake noise of the 2003 siennas.

I just had my rear drums replaced free from toyota.

The brakes were not worn out, but there was a slight howl from the rear brakes on occasion when stopping at low speeds.

The front rotors are grooving quite a bit, but the brakes still function perfectly and make no noise. They are not nearly worn out a 53,000km. When they do wear out, I am installing a set of cross-drilled and vented performance rotors along with matching performance pads.

26th Jan 2006, 17:31

I have a 2004 Sienna that I have to replace brakes on about every 10000-12000 miles. The dealer keeps telling me it's normal. I keep saying I've never had a vehicle where this occurred.

31st Mar 2006, 20:28

I bought a 2004 Sienna at the end of the 04 model season. I had to replace the front pads and rotors at the 20,000 mile checkup. My mechanic replaced the pads with Toyota heavy duty pads. I'm now at 41,000 miles and was just told I have 10% left on my front pads.!! The back brakes are fine.!!??

I spoke with the Toyota Service Manger at the 20,000 mile mark in regards to the brake pads. He said the Sienna is known for poor brake wear.

15th Apr 2006, 16:05

That's nothing! My brother consumes the brake pads on our Sienna LE every 5000 miles. 8)

He tends to drive very fast and doesn't engine brake much, but you're right: the brakes should at least be a match for the engine.

27th Oct 2006, 23:04

I just replaced the brake pads and rotors of my 2006 Sienna LE after 26k. The rotors were gone before I even knew there was a problem. The dealer said that was 10k better than normal. That's absurdly bad, especially for Toyota. I've never had less than 40k on breaks and my SUV had 75k.

3rd Nov 2006, 12:14

I just want to know so for us few that have to replace the brakes every 10000 miles what can we do to save a little cash. My van payment is more than half of my rent. I can't afford this expense and it all seems very shady that brake pads can be allowed to waste at that rate. The same thing with the tires folks. They will wear out at a crazy speed to.

I only owned my van for 7 months. At 12000 miles my brakes died and luckily my rotors were salvageable. But I still had to pay for the brakes to be replaced. It cost me $200. I went to the dealership expecting a little support for the quick wearing of my brake pads and they said it was normal wear and tear.

Anyone with any info that can help us at least get a little more backup the next time our brakes die before 15,000 miles would be greatly appreciated.

25th Jun 2007, 10:37

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna and just got off the phone with the dealership service department. I have about 64,000 miles on the vehicle and am now going to have to have my 3rd set of brake pads on. I need all new brakes is what they tell me. This is getting very expensive and annoying as they still tell me it's wear and tear. This is my 3rd mini-van, I don't drive any different and never had to replace those pads. I'm very disappointed with them and hope Toyota will do something about this soon. They will be hearing from me.

10th Jul 2007, 13:52

I have a 2004 Sienna with 23K and was just told that I need new brakes and rotors. The price I was given was about $350. That seems outrageous. Has anyone replaced just the pads themselves, and left the rotors until the second set of pads?

Neal.

24th Jul 2007, 15:40

I found this site while searching for the price of new rotors for my 2003 Sienna. We are at 73,000 miles and are getting ready to replace the rotors for a SECOND time.

One thing I wanted to note here, is that when our rotors needed replacing the first time at 35,000 miles (after already going through one set of pads at about 20,000 miles). They were replaced free under warranty at our Toyota dealer. Not sure if pads only would have been covered, but at least the rotors were, because it was still less than 36,000 miles.

This van has been a headache since day 1. We had a 2000 Sienna (old model) before this, and never had a single problem. We had 60,000 miles on it when we traded it, and I don't think that we ever needed to replace brakes (definitely not rotors). This one had a story much like the one I was reading above, where there was something wrong from day 1, and it cost us a lot. I think that the alignment was off when we bought it, the tires wore through and needed replacing within 20,000 miles, due to edge wear. And then the brakes.

Next time around, we are looking at something else!

30th Jul 2007, 21:47

I have a 2004 Sienna XLE with 62000 miles. I just checked the front pads and it appears that I have about 1/4 inch of pad remaining? These are the original pads. Does anyone have a suggestion re. material for replacement pads. I see I can obtain semi-metallic, ceramic, or standard pads. Any suggestions?

Thanks.