One sweet Sienna! But I have to ask, didn't you like the Honda Odessey?

Yeah Ody is very nice, but ride is not as smooth and significantly noisier than Sienna.

I have 3 kids. My 8- and 7- year olds sit in the 2nd row lounge captain chairs with leg support extended...and their seats are pushed all the way to rear! My 4 year old sits in middle of 3rd row. So, all 3 sit way back and they all watch movies together or play iPads. The new Blu-Ray/DVD player with the ultra-wide screen is pretty sweet! And the one good thing about the JBL system is that the bass is quite thunderous with the movie!

Mini vans are actually great vehicles, a lot of people seem to hate them but they're the most practical vehicle a family can own. I just don't see the point of having such a nice one, if the kids are anything like I was, they'll tear it up..

My parent's 2004 sienna with the 3.3 V6 has seen more abuse than a car should ever experience. 250,000 miles, and one rebuilt tranny so far. Not just interior abuse; after I got my license it saw quite a bit of full throttle & squeeling tire sliding around west Virginia mountain roads for hours at a time best road trip vehicles you can get, in my opinion. Surprisingly fast and well-balanced when not loaded down.

It is my daily driver as well. So, there are certain requirements...such as memory seats (wife also drives), leather (for spills), blind spot monitoring (safety), and HIDs (i drive at night often). (The higher-end Sienna is also quieter because of acoustics windshield.)

We also drive long distances because airfare for 5 people can be hefty!

Nice. My uncle had a 2007 until all the kids left for college. Then he got himself a money pit Range Rover.

His main love though was his 1994 Previa that had the supercharger on it. I think the transmission died at about 440,000 miles so he ultimately gave it to his plumber. His only beef beside having to get the blades from the dealer was the shaft between the engine and the drive components cracked twice.

My sister has one. It is a great van. I love to drive it. I borrowed it all the time because there were times I took my kids, nieces and nephews out but my car didn't have enough seat. I wished that she got the AWD so I can borrow it to the mountain in the winter. The 4runner only can take 5 max. The "lower end" model can take one more person than the limited one due to the middle bench

Sure thanks! what flavor do you have? All kidding aside, you do have a nice mini van. Enjoy it with your family.

I am very impress with Sienna after one month. Really smooth and quiet road cruiser. Solid feeling.


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This is the way my kids sit. Two captain/lounge chairs (2nd row) pushed all the way to the back with leg support up. The 3 kids are pretty much next to each other playing iPads or watching movie on the Blu-ray player. In future, i am thinking of installing PS4 player to make use of that huge Blu-ray player.


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OK, i figure that i should give an update. After 2.5 years of ownership and 80k miles, here are the good and bad:

Good: space, practicality, reliability (nothing mechanical wrong), easy to drive around town or on highway, good gas mileage (getting factory stated MPGs), good headlights (HIDs), versatile seating, sliding doors, and my kids approve! Oh yeah, did i say space and practicality already?

Bad: rattles, rattles, rattles, rattles, and rattles...all of the rattles are behind the driver. No dash rattles! I think that i am at around 5 different rattles inside the cabin when driving. Of course, when i showed Toyota dealership, they did not find anything wrong. Transmission still is caught thinking too much occasionally...and you get a dead gas pedal. Did i mention the annoying rattles?!

Overall, i am OK with the minivan...can’t say anything bad about it mechanically (transmission is OK). But the rattles kill the experience somewhat. I am disappointed in Toyota quality...my 2008 was better built. Remember, the 2017 model i got is not a new redesign...it is an aged platform and i expected that it would age more gracefully.

If I ever have kids one day, I will get a minivan. I can confidently say I won't be one of those delusional, image conscious parents that get a useless crossover just to avoid the stigma of owning a van.

I really think the quality issues you are seeing is a two prong issue:

1. They are built in the U.S.
Quality standards are far lower here than in Japan. They just have cheap feeling in comparison to a Japanese made car.

2. Hard plastics and generally lower end interior materials are becoming more used.

Sounds like it's been a solid van for you so far, though.

i have a 2016 Sienna XLE.
wife love sit.
turning it in on aug.

I've noticed the same thing with my 2016 4Runner vs my 2011, or any of the earlier models I have owned. Feels like build quality isn't what it used to be, even comparing the same platform and body style.

Well that is why I picked the GX over the newer SUVs. Hope I made the right choice.