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I've embarked on the same sad journey that I read from several others on this forum.  My wife's 2004 Sienna AWD had it's first flat at 16K miles.  I was out of town on business and the dealer replaced two tires.  Now only 8 months and 14K miles later we are having severe uneven wear and need to replace all 4 tires!?  When I escalated this within the dealership management they threw up their hands and claimed that the tire dealer would not provide any warranty for these "high performance" tires and they would have to be special ordered (about 5 days lead time).   They claim that you can't just replace the tires with standard ones due to special rims - and if you replace both the rims and tires you will run into problems with the pressure monitoring system.  They acknowledged that the situation was unacceptable and the tires wear outckly but offer no real alternatives.  

As Paul Harvey used to say... "and now the rest of the story!"  After being faced with a bill of over $1000 from the dealer to replace four run flat tires for my Sienna (that they said was my only option), I contacted Toyota customer service to register my complaint and check the story.  Toyota got back to me and said that a conventional tire would work fine (that I did not need the run flats) and gave me the name of a customer relations person at the dealership to work with.  I contacted him and they admitted that they were wrong and that conventional tires would work fine.  The dealer called back to say they could put four Michelins on for nearly the same price as a single run flat tire!  That is what I have done.  I'd rather put my faith in my AAA membership and a can of emergency tire repair spray than these special order run flat tires - after all, if I was on a trip and had a flat, I'd be unlikely to find a shop that could replace them anyway!

By the way, it is possible to buy a spare tire, wheel and an aftermarket holder although it will rob some of your storage space.  

bills has said that 17" conventional tires can be used. Is this using the the run flat rims? Also where can I get the aftermarket spare set up? If I had read this forum beforehand I would have gotten a FWD Sienna. I have a situation living in Alaska that I want to use Blizzak tires, the 17" are Run Flats. My quesstion is can I use 16" rims and the 215/65/16 conventional Blizzaks?  

Hi-
Just got off the phone with local Toyota Dealer.  I am very interested in 05 Sienna LE AWD - but the run flat tires seemed to be a deal breaker.  Dealer said that I could replace all 4 runflats with Alleason tires and then store a spare (donut) under the passenger sliding door.  This would not infringe on interior space.  This sounds great - but am cautious as I have not seen this solution in all my research online.
Anyone have comments/ thoughts?
Thanks!  

Hi-
Just got off the phone with local Toyota Dealer. I am very interested in 05 Sienna LE AWD - but the run flat tires seemed to be a deal breaker. Dealer said that I could replace all 4 runflats with Alleason tires and then store a spare (donut) under the passenger sliding door. This would not infringe on interior space. This sounds great - but am cautious as I have not seen this solution in all my research online.
Anyone have comments/ thoughts?
Thanks!  

I think the drive shaft for the rear end will prevent the spare from being stored under the van. Ask the the dealer to do this for you and let us know if this can be done. The book that comes with the van says that the AWD has the donut behind the seat and the FWD has it stored under the van.  

This just in:

Lawsuit Alleges Run-Flat Failures
Toyota and Goodyear are being sued for what claimants say are "defective" run-flat tires on the Sienna minivan. A New York law firm filed the suit on behalf of one Stanley Monk and other owners, the AP reports, who charge that the run-flat tires wear out after just 10,000 miles of use. The tires were made by Goodyear but sold under the Dunlop imprint on the Toyota minivan. Run-flat tires are designed with stiff sidewalls that provide on-road capability even when a tread puncture deflates the tire. Lawyers allege in the suit that the tire wear effectively means the tires must be replaced yearly at a cost of $1300 or more.
 

Traded in 2004 limited all wheel because  in winter car was an accident waiting to happen.  SIMILAR TO OTHERS WE HAD OUR FIRST FLET AT ABOUT 19000 MILES.  we were so unhappy with the preformance and ride of the tires we decided to put on regular all weather michelins at over 100 per.  BIG MISTAKE.  We bobbed all over the place because the suspension  is  designed specifically for the run flats . Do not listen to anyone who tells you differently.  Had to trade car in or go back to run flats.  Traded car in for sequiora  Transmission was also a problem on car with delays {dangerous} when you tried to pass, was reprogrammed but preformance  still bad  

ka99705 wrote:

bills has said that 17" conventional tires can be used. Is this using the the run flat rims? Also where can I get the aftermarket spare set up? If I had read this forum beforehand I would have gotten a FWD Sienna. I have a situation living in Alaska that I want to use Blizzak tires, the 17" are Run Flats. My quesstion is can I use 16" rims and the 215/65/16 conventional Blizzaks?

ka99705 wrote:

I think the drive shaft for the rear end will prevent the spare from being stored under the van. Ask the the dealer to do this for you and let us know if this can be done. The book that comes with the van says that the AWD has the donut behind the seat and the FWD has it stored under the van.

bobryl315@aol.com wrote:

decided to put on regular all weather michelins at over 100 per. BIG MISTAKE. We bobbed all over the place because the suspension is designed specifically for the run flats . Do not listen to anyone who tells you differently. Had to trade car in or go back to run flats.  

Active Agent Zed wrote:

Two options: <br /><br />1. Ask you dealer about Warranty bulletin #WAB2029 - <font face="Arial" size="4">CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE POLICY – SIENNA AWD WITH DUNLOP TIRES.<br /><br /><font size="3">2.Ask about Parts and Service Bulletins - <font face="Arial" size="3">PSMB2004-24/PSMB2003-54  -<b><font face="Arial">SIENNA AWD SPARE TIRE<br /></b></font></font></font><br /><font size="3">These are Canadian bulletins, but should be the same or similar for the States as well. Your dealer should be able to locate them either way.</font><br /><br /><br /><br /></font>

Hi

I'm so frustrated with these tires! I asked the dealership if I could just have 4 regular tires put on the car. They said the Sienna was built so there is no room to store a spare tire- thus, the run flats. So if I wanted to switch tires, I would have to haul a regular tire around in my car. I don't know of a good way out of this mess.
Here's my story...
We bought a Toyota Sienna AWD in July of 2004. I have been very good about keeping up the maintenance and getting oil changes, etc done at the dealership that sold me the car. In September of 2005, I noticed that the car was sounding strange and wasn't driving smooth. I took it into the dealership, told them about my concerns, and they did their normal oil change routine as this time as well. Part of this appointment included checking my brakes ( so they would have handled the tires at this time). That was on Sept 27th 2005. They told me at that time, that there was nothing wrong, but that I needed new brakes. ( this was at about 24K miles, which I thought was strange).
SO, I went to Les Schwab Tires for a second opinion on the brakes. They told me the brakes were just fine- at 50% and 70% so I still had some time. BUT that my tire thread was down to a dangerous level and that I shouldn't drive on the tires.

SO then, I went back to the dealership immediately. I was extrememly angry- I had just seen them in the last month ( some time had passed- a few weeks before I went to les schwab) and they didn't notice anything about the tire thread at that time.

Instead, at this point, they said that I had 8lbs of pressure in my tires and that it was my fault that they were shredded because I had been driving on them flat. I debated this over and over with them. I don't think this was my fault and I question their motives here-

They ended up saying that they had been having problems with the run flats, they dont' know what to do, but that they had talked with their Toyota rep and TOYOTA had GENEROUSLY agreed to go in half with me on these 4 tires! They said I should accept the offer since I was the one that ruined them! I had only 26K miles on them, and I had just been in their shop less than a month prior.  My husband and I fought the charges. In the end, we ended up getting 4 new DUNLOP RUN FLAT TIRES for $330 our cost ( They had said the original total for 4 new run flat Bridgestone tires was $930- they of courses ended up not having them in stock- so the DUNLOPs were substituted because they could get them within 1-2 days)

When I bought the car, the Bridgestone tires came with a warranty. Somehow they have schemed to tell me that the warranty is void becuase the tires were running with low air pressure. ( Do you see how convenient this is? I wasn't there to double check the air pressure when they tested it)

I now have DUNLOP tires on, with a warranty that says 6years- so I'm hoping they will hold on to that when I have to show up again next year for new tires. The shop admitted most of their drivers with run flats are having problems with their tires, and the tires are so expensive to replace. I told them I'd be back in a year if the tires shredded and I expected to have the 4 tires replaced at no cost. The dealership keeps playing dumb like they don't know what is going on, and that its all Toyota's fault.

I would be very interested in joining any lawsuit against TOYOTA. I'm really frustrated with the product.

Thanks!

 I am under contract to buy a sienna awd with the run flat tires. I refused to take delivery, without a tire warranty neither toyota or dunlap would give it to me. I really like the car! Has anyone found a solution to the problem?

Thanks

Paul

I have a 2004 Toyota Sienna and had to put a new set of run flat tires on at less than 20,000 miles.  When ordering my van we were not told about the short life span of these tires.  When I went back to the dealership I was told I was lucky I hadn't needed them before then.  I asked about changing to regular tires and was told I would need all new rims to do so and that would cost about $2,000.00.  So I put a new set of run flats on for about $1,000.  I would like more information on this law suit if possible.

Thank you