2021 Toyota Sienna: problems, recalls and reliability
3 recalls and 37 owner complaints on record; the weakest area is air bags (34% of complaints); the 2022 model year looks more trouble-free.
Data updated weekly · 7 new complaints in the last 90 days · latest recall Feb 2025
All counts are reports filed with NHTSA in the United States - US market only, not worldwide totals.
Common problems
Computed from 37 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for this exact model year.
“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.”Owner report · Unknown Or Other · Jul 2026
“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.”Owner report · Service Brakes · Jul 2026
“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.”Owner report · Fuel/Propulsion System · Jun 2026
Show 7 more owner reports
“SRS light has been showing up on the dashboard, off and on for 3 weeks. Diagnostic reader completed by the dealership states it is an airbag module malfunction of the 2nd row left passenger seat. The seat has never been removed, there have been zero accidents and no damage to the seat or wiring.”Owner report · Air Bags · May 2026
“Both front struts of the vehicle have failed and are leaking. There is only 36,000 miles on this vehicle when they should last 200,000 miles per Toyota's service department. Toyota refuses to acknowledge this is their problem and that it's a "wear and tear' part. However clearly these parts should not fail after so little usage.”Owner report · Suspension · May 2026
“Unknown, I got the SRS Airbag system malfunction in my vehicle, I got the same error in my vehicle dashboard a few times in the past but it would go away and since yesterday I have the message in my dashboard”Owner report · Air Bags · May 2026
“The car jerks when coming to a stop. Like when the regenerative system is disengaged it jerks. For the Adaptive cruise control the car will accelerate instead of braking when another car merges in front of you.”Owner report · Power Train · Oct 2025
“The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Sienna Hybrid. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags). Upon contacting the local dealer, the contact was informed that the parts for the recall repair were on backorder. The contact had not experienced a failure related to the recall. The manufacturer had not been contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair.”Owner report · Air Bags · Aug 2025
“The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Sienna Hybrid. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.”Owner report · Air Bags · Oct 2024
“The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Sienna Hybrid. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.”Owner report · Air Bags · Jul 2024
When filing, owners marked a crash in 0 of these complaints and injuries in 1 - self-reported to NHTSA, not verified accident statistics.
Recalls - 3 campaigns
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."
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 (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.
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 Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2022 Lexus LX 600, Lexus NX 350h, Lexus NX 450h+, Toytoa RAV4 Hybrid, 2021-2022 Lexus LS 500h, Toyota Mirai, RAV4 PRIME, Sienna, Venza, and 2020-2022 Toyota Highlander Hybrid vehicles. The Skid Control ECU software may not turn on the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system when the vehicle is restarted after the driver has disabled the VSC system. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 126, "Electronic Stability Control Systems."
Remedy: Dealers will update the Skid Control ECU software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 27, 2022. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 22TA03. Lexus' number for this recall is 22LA01.
Specifications
Factory options offered for the 2021 model year, decoded from the NHTSA vPIC database. Individual vehicles have one of each.
How other years compare
Check your exact Sienna by VIN
Recalls and equipment differ between individual vehicles. Decode your VIN to see what applies to yours.
Open VIN decoderFrequently asked questions
Is the 2021 Toyota Sienna reliable?
NHTSA has 37 owner complaints and 3 recall campaigns on record for the 2021 Toyota Sienna. The most complained-about area is air bags (34% of complaints).
At what mileage do 2021 Toyota Sienna problems usually appear?
Half of the complaints that mention mileage were filed at 43,650 miles or less.
Does the 2021 Toyota Sienna have open recalls?
3 recall campaigns have been issued, the latest concerning seats:mid/rear assembly:recliner. Check your specific vehicle by VIN - recall repairs are free at franchised dealers.
Source: NHTSA recall campaigns and owner complaints (public domain). Counts reflect reports on file and are not a defect rate.