Not even Toyota is immune to the occasional manufacturing mistake, and following a massive recall for trucks and SUVs earlier this month, the Japanese automaker has now found an issue with some of its minivans. The issue concerns the 2025 Toyota Sienna hybrid minivan, some of which may have second-row seats that pose a safety risk. According to the documentation issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 55,000 vehicles are estimated to be affected by substandard welding that could increase the risk of injury in a crash. This voluntary recall comes after an internal testing process that took place between July and August of this year, in which the seats failed to meet Toyota’s internal standards.
What Went Wrong With Toyota’s Seats
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The automaker’s statement reveals that the second-row seats in 54,361 affected vehicles are mounted on “seat rails that may have been improperly welded.” Specifically, the rails were produced “with weld machine settings that could lead to incomplete weld penetration.” While this is unlikely to be noticed by occupants and owners, the risk is that in the event of a crash, and if occupied, the seats “may lose structural integrity, increasing the risk of injury.” So while the seatbelt should still keep occupants in the seat, the seat itself may not stay in place, and that could be catastrophic.
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Fortunately, the issue was discovered during an internal Toyota investigation, and the recall documents make no mention of any injuries or warranty claims relating to the defect at the time of writing. The bad news is that both left-hand and right-hand seat rails may be affected, but fortunately, no other Toyota-produced models are impacted by this error.
Toyota’s Solution Only Arrives At The End Of The Year
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To fix the issue, Toyota will contact affected owners to bring their vehicles in and replace the second-row seat rails with ones that have been properly welded. As usual with a recall, this will be done at no cost to the owners. However, Toyota says it will only notify customers “by early December 2025,” with interim letters to be mailed from November 21 and additional letters coming once the remedy is available, which is expected to happen on December 6. Thus, owners still have a long wait ahead of them before they can place their full trust in the safety of their Siennas. On the plus side, Toyota has not recommended that drivers stop using their vehicles, indicating that the risk is relatively low. Still, it may be worth strapping your kids into the third row for the time being.
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