2003 TOYOTA SEQUOIA SR5 — Complaint #1557951
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION filed April 15, 2019
NHTSA complaint #1557951 (ODI reference 11196223) concerns a 2003 TOYOTA SEQUOIA SR5 and was filed on April 15, 2019. The owner reports the failure occurred on April 15, 2019. The vehicle had 210,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Michigan based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: yes, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TOYOTA SEQUOIA SR5 cohort independently describe similar suspension failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2003 TOYOTA SEQUOIA SR5 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
"BALL JOINT FAILURE" WHILE TRAVELLING DOWN FREEWAY AT 35-40 MPH THE PASSENGER FRONT TIRE HAD COME OFF AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO DROP. LOST STEERING, BRAKES AND ANY CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AT THIS TIME. THE VEHICLE SKID INTO THE GUARD RAIL SPINNING IT AROUND AND SLIDING UNTIL IT CAME TO A STOP. THE ARM CAME DIRECTLY OFF THE VEHICLE AND IS STILL ATTACHED TO THE WHEEL.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1557951 |
| ODI Number | 11196223 |
| Date Filed | April 15, 2019 |
| Failure Date | April 15, 2019 |
| VIN | 5TDZT34AX3S |
Similar SUSPENSION Complaints for 2003 TOYOTA SEQUOIA SR5
THE CHASSIS IS VERY RUSTY AND I WANT TO CHANGE THE SHOCKS BUT I DON'T WANT TO DAMAGE THE CAR BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT CHASSIS HAVE TO BE FIXED FIRST AND I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THAT COST OR WHERE TO GO T
FRAME IS RUSTING AWAY AT ONLY 40K. HOLES IN FRAME.
THE 2003 SEQUIOA FRAME IS RUST IS EATING AWAY THE FRAME. WE PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR THIS VECHICLE. WOULD TOYOTA STANDBY THERE VECHICLE AND REPLACE THIS FRAME OR WE HAVE PAY FOR REPLACEMENT .
I NOTICED OIL LEAKING FROM REAR AXLE HOUSING. WHEN I TOOK THE VEHICLE IN FOR SERVICE I WAS TOLD THAT THE AXLE HOUSING IS LEAKING DUE TO DEFECTIVE WELDS AND MUST BE REPLACED, IT CANNOT BE REPAIRED. A
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.