WhiskeyCop
New member
As the thread title suggests, looking for Sienna owners. Thoughts, Problems, etc?
Any Sienna Owners Here in 5th Gen?
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WhiskeyCop
New member
My two brothers have Hondas and love them. One has two of the last gen and the other has the newest gen. I just picked up a 2015 XLE Premium and that thing is nice. Major interior and dash changes on the 2015 and the XLE Premium is on par with the 2014 Limited.
We've had a 2012 LE for 2+ years. Drives great. Haven't done anything to it except Alpine screens in the headrest which can play movies from iPhone, roku, or dvd. It's really a good driving vehicle. Oil changes are similar to the t4r....no skid, just a few screws to remove some plastic to access the filter housing.
Some come with michellins and some come with Firestone tires. Our firestone tires lasted about 24k... The michellins should last twice as long.
gshadow325
New member
I can give opinion from install stand pointand what I see cone thru the shop when they are new and after 30k of hard kid duty.
New both are built awesome. I like the styling of the sienna and the sport package. Inside the sienna holds up better. The doors for the cig 12v always seen to be missing on the Honda. I put in zipcar technology into 35 new 2013 Honda Odyssey in July of last year. Been recently removing the tech from a few since they are going to auction after rental duty. Rear seat belts seem to get stuck under the folding seats a lot. Driver seat doesn't hold up well.
We also did 10 2013 sienna and they hold up much better as rentals. Seat foam is better and no broken trim after 30k of use.
New both are built awesome. I like the styling of the sienna and the sport package. Inside the sienna holds up better. The doors for the cig 12v always seen to be missing on the Honda. I put in zipcar technology into 35 new 2013 Honda Odyssey in July of last year. Been recently removing the tech from a few since they are going to auction after rental duty. Rear seat belts seem to get stuck under the folding seats a lot. Driver seat doesn't hold up well.
We also did 10 2013 sienna and they hold up much better as rentals. Seat foam is better and no broken trim after 30k of use.
Ky4Runner1
New member
Stay away from Honda until they figure out what went wrong with the 6 cylinder VCM issues they are having.
VCM Arbitration - I won - Honda Pilot - Honda Pilot Forums
Misfire class action suit ? - Honda Pilot - Honda Pilot Forums
VCM Arbitration - I won - Honda Pilot - Honda Pilot Forums
Misfire class action suit ? - Honda Pilot - Honda Pilot Forums
gshadow325
New member
man if you put it like that,
then dont buy the toyota either because in the rav4 the control arms fall off and you can die. or the gas pedal getting stuck under the floormats.
chmura
New member
I see way more Honda Odyssey's than Sienna's in Southern California.
I actually like both of them, but it seems like the Odyssey is geared towards the younger folks.
I think the most important thing for a minivan is how the rear seats work with each other. With the Odyssey the 3rd row folds completely into the floorboard making it a flat surface. Also the 2nd row you can easily remove the seats.
My friend said he can install all 3 car seats in the 2nd row. He hardly uses the 3rd row and keeps it folded down which translates to a HUGE trunk.
I am not sure how the Sienna's seats work. I need to check it out.
I actually like both of them, but it seems like the Odyssey is geared towards the younger folks.
I think the most important thing for a minivan is how the rear seats work with each other. With the Odyssey the 3rd row folds completely into the floorboard making it a flat surface. Also the 2nd row you can easily remove the seats.
My friend said he can install all 3 car seats in the 2nd row. He hardly uses the 3rd row and keeps it folded down which translates to a HUGE trunk.
I am not sure how the Sienna's seats work. I need to check it out.
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Ky4Runner1
New member
Well, yes, if that's true than yes don't buy that.
When I buy a 42k vehicle, it's not acceptable to me to be told burning 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles is perfectly normal.
But by all means if you want to run out and go buy one than more power to you!
gshadow325
New member
I don't know what I hate more. ... mini vans or hybrids.
I had the dis pleasure of driving a dodge caravan for 1 week. I got no respect driving that. I got cut off, tail gated, and people pulled rushed to get in front of me if they saw me coming.
So I don't see me buying one in my lifetime anytime soon.
Burning oil problem is not limited to the odyssey v6, it happens across the board. 08+ accords do it too.
Ky4Runner1
New member
Yes, if the 08 Honda Accord has a V6 with VCM than yes, it is going to burn oil.
VCM is the issue.
2011 LE AWD.
Pros - Confident drive on highway, in snow. Plenty of power and room.
Cons:
- Hate the run flats and no spare. Have gone through 3 sets (total steel belt failures, at well over a grand each year due to excessive camber on rear wheels. NOT ADJUSTABLE and hub design with reduced surface and eccentric bolt pattern won't enable shims--- WTF!!!!!!! Regular shop can't change them either. Finally ditched the run flats in favor of standard tires (purchased at premium from dealer due to aforementioned demounting issue) which are more pliable and don't tear up so bad due to bad alignment. Once these are done (almost already, after only 10K) I will switch to cheapest tires I can find since longevity is not possible. Now I had to buy a spare rime and tire and ratchet strap in the trunk. I really do hate this van for this reason alone.
- Auto side doors constantly fail.
- Interior door control button panel fail.
- Strange shift points under uphill load
- A little Fugly
- Dent magnet with huge flat broadside look
- Wide turn radius. Hard to park in narrow-ish spaces, and wife traded some serious bollard paint at the bank drive through.
Pros - Confident drive on highway, in snow. Plenty of power and room.
Cons:
- Hate the run flats and no spare. Have gone through 3 sets (total steel belt failures, at well over a grand each year due to excessive camber on rear wheels. NOT ADJUSTABLE and hub design with reduced surface and eccentric bolt pattern won't enable shims--- WTF!!!!!!! Regular shop can't change them either. Finally ditched the run flats in favor of standard tires (purchased at premium from dealer due to aforementioned demounting issue) which are more pliable and don't tear up so bad due to bad alignment. Once these are done (almost already, after only 10K) I will switch to cheapest tires I can find since longevity is not possible. Now I had to buy a spare rime and tire and ratchet strap in the trunk. I really do hate this van for this reason alone.
- Auto side doors constantly fail.
- Interior door control button panel fail.
- Strange shift points under uphill load
- A little Fugly
- Dent magnet with huge flat broadside look
- Wide turn radius. Hard to park in narrow-ish spaces, and wife traded some serious bollard paint at the bank drive through.
shaneotool
New member
That's the first I've heard about that with Honda.
I got rid of a gmc sierra crew cab that used a couple of quarts between oil changes. Turns out it is pretty widespread problem with gm v8s that shut off half the cylinders while cruising.
My wife drives a 2011 Sienna. great for the kids and family travel. holds a ton of stuff too. We haven't had any trouble with it.
Correction! On a whim I decided to check once again on the rear camber and toe spacers for the 2011+ Sienna. SPC now offers the part, as up to 0.5 degree stackable spacers are finally available. $8+ from UltraRev. So for 50 bucks, I might be able to save myself almost a grand in excessive tire wear every other year! I might end up hating the van less after all.. then again, once my TE is parked next to it, I may hate it more than ever.
WhiskeyCop
New member
I like the Sport styling and wheels but I have yet to see a 2015 SE on a lot in my area so we went with the XLE premium. Of note, it appears that Toyota abandoned the leather/sport cloth insert seats on the 2015. The SE is also the only model available with black leather which I prefer.
The 8 passenger seating is very versatile. The middle portion of the 2nd row can be removed and stowed in the rear leaving a small floor level cup holder console. And, if you wish, you can removed the entire 2nd row very easily.
The 3rd row folds down and back into the deep rear storage well, leaving a flat floor.
Maybe it was because you were driving a Dodge?
WhiskeyCop
New member
The XLE premium comes with the 16" wide screen fold down monitor. BluRay player w/ SD card slot, RCAs and HDMI inputs. I was pleasantly surprised with all of the options. The screen will play a single source or split screen from a second source, each having their own wireless headphones.
I am very interested in adding Roku or ATV and would like to know more about your set up.
Ours rolls on the Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires with a 60k warranty. I will keep these rotated and see what I can get out of them.
PearlWhite4R
New member
The company I work for has three Honda Odyssey's with over 250k miles and they are still running like champs. We won't switch to Sienna's because of the fact that the Odyssey's are so damn reliable.
chmura
New member
Yesterday I went to the Orange County auto show and I happened to check out both sienna and odessey. I have to say the folding down of the 3rd seat into the floor board of the sienna was more complex than the odessey. Odessey's was super easy to fold compared to the sienna. We have a honda Crv and folding the rear seats is super easy too compared to yhe rav4. I think Hondas folding mechanisms are much better than Toyota's.
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