Toyota Wants the Sienna’s Second Row Empty Until the Recall Fix Arrives

Toyota is telling dealers that nobody should ride in the second row of a recalled seven-seat Sienna Hybrid until the repair is done, and the repair does not exist yet.

The advice applies to 228,367 of the 2022-2026 minivans, recalled in October because their second-row seat backs can unlock in a crash. Owners will not hear from Toyota by mail until December, there are no warning signs of the condition, and dealers have no fix to offer in the meantime.

The wording appears in the dealer letter Toyota filed with NHTSA, in a list of questions dealers may get from customers. Asked whether there is anything an owner can do to avoid the condition, Toyota’s answer is that it "recommends no one sit in or use the second-row seats while the vehicle is moving until the remedy is performed." The next question asks whether there are any warnings that the condition exists, and the answer is "No." A Reddit user flagged the passage over the weekend, and the document is on NHTSA’s public recall page. The advice was not part of the recall summary we reported in October.

The same letter marks the remedy as not available and lists interim rental as available. Dealers can claim $42 a day for a loaner or alternative transportation through Rent a Toyota, and higher rates need approval from Toyota under its transportation assistance policy. The claim codes run in 30-day blocks out to 120 days. The letter does not say how an owner qualifies, so the practical first step is to ask a dealer or call Toyota’s Brand Engagement Center at 1-888-270-9371.

Toyota is still developing the updated restraint system software that will fix most of the vans, and it says that software will be free. About 200 vans with the Mobility as a Service package will get new second-row seat backs with a different recliner mechanism instead. The October 29 update to the letter says owners will be notified by December 18, by first class mail starting in mid-December, while Toyota’s filing gives December 21 as its outside date.

The letter also sets out what dealers can sell. About 88 new vans were in dealer stock on October 20, and those cannot be sold or leased until they are repaired. Used vans can be delivered as long as the buyer is told about the recall and the dealer completes a disclosure form, but none can be sold as Toyota Certified Used until the recall work is done, and dealers have been asked to pull affected loaners and Rent a Toyota vans from service.

The risk itself is narrow. Toyota’s defect report says the recliner can let go only under certain combinations of frontal crash pulse, seat back movement and pretensioner timing, and the letter describes these as certain high-speed frontal crashes. Toyota found the problem in its own sled testing for a future seat design, says it cannot estimate how many vans actually have the defect, and reported no field technical reports or warranty claims from US sources as of October 12. Eight-seat Siennas are not included, and the letter does not address the third row.

The Toyota Report Take

I understand why Toyota’s lawyers and engineers landed on this sentence, because a seat that might not hold in a bad crash is not something a company can shrug at. But a minivan’s second row is the reason the minivan exists, and telling a family with two car seats to leave it empty for weeks or months is a very big ask to leave buried on page 6 of a dealer letter.

If Toyota means it, it should say so directly to owners now rather than in a December mailing, and it should make the rental offer plain enough that nobody has to argue for it at a service desk. A real-world failure looks very unlikely on the evidence so far, but owners deserve to make that call with the same information the dealers have.

More on the Sienna

• Toyota Sienna Deals for November 2026: Leases From $389 a Month
• Sienna Nears 100,000 Sales With Two Months to Go