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SiennaGeneral discussion forum for the Toyota Sienna.
This is a discussion thread titled "Should I buy a Sienna?", within the Sienna forum, part of the Cars & Vans Forums category.
It's from TMMKentucky, I think it's off Camry.
We have a 2000 Sienna, I still love it, great minivan. I towed a uhaul trailer and a honda civic on another occasion, pulled fine going up and down Grapevine, CA. (with towing package- transmission oil cooler).
We were going to buy a Honda Odyssey but they want $2k over MSRP, I don't even pay MSRP.
If I'm going to get another minivan I'll still try to get an Odyssey if the price is right.
Now I'm going to check the price at carsdirect, just out of curiosity.
Hey, try the sienna
__________________ Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, or fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
The only thing I regret about the Sienna after 2,500 miles are the seats. I have yet to find a seating position in the Sienna which does not result in my shoulders and/or neck hurting, and the solid (vs perforated) leather is very hot.
I cancelled my order for a 2005 Tacoma quad cab with Sport&tow, side air bags, and upgraded sound system and bought the Sienna XLE Limited for the smoother ride and fancy features, but that may have been a mistake.
Just bought a 05 LE AWD Sienna Yes it rides rougher then the Montana SV6 we drove also.. But I figured it was the runflats ..I mean think about it! how do you think you can run on a flat without some kind of support,,I think when these are finish I'll just put on a good set of std. tires and use my AAA that I pay for every year..if I have a flat
My wife's 2005 w/ 11,000 miles Sienna XLE is plagued by numerous creaks and rattles coming from the following:
~Dash - behind the CD player bezel
~Left and right sliding doors - just not a tight closure when to the doors are retracted shut - It's a poor design
~Inside the driver and passanger B-pillars where the seatbely retractors are located - there's something in there the mechanic found flopping around hitting the plastic panel on one side, the other side he had know idea
~Driver-side seatbelt squeaks when you move forward and backwards in your seat as you travel down the road (In fact it got so bad that it did it when you simply breathed in and out)
~Middle-row seats click/tick as it moves from side to side while in motion I know this because when I remove them the noises cease)
All these noises are affected by heat and humidity. Somedays are worse than others.
The front seats are for small/women operators. They are not deep and do not support enough of your legs in my opinion.
...that's about it. Other than that, it a nice vehicle.
Why haven't the dealer fixed the noises after 6 visits???? Beats me!!!!!!! I can't stand Toyota dealerships. I'll be honest and state I HATE to go to MOST dealerships I despise because of their incompetance. I just told my wife to live with it - or sell it. What a waste of money. They won't touch my Tundra unless I blow my engine or transmission. That's all I'll allow them to do if I desparatly need something fixed...then I'll sell it/trade it in.
Maybe just bad luck, a Monday/Friday car, whatever. Just my 2 cents...don'y bother unless you have excellent dealer support and I guess that goes with any vehicle.
Man I'm a cry baby.
P.S. Any of you know of a good place to order clips and small parts for this van? Some of the panels they pulled off are now missing clips that hold them on. I really need a website that offers an online parts catalog so that I can idendify part numbers. That's one thing going for Honda...their internet support is numerous (e.g. Manchester Honda).
I sold this piece of junk by the way. Tired of the dealer's incompetence. What a waste of time and money. Got a Lexus ES330 instead...ahhhhhh...much better!
Sienna to ES330. Wow, that's a jump. Totally different vehicles, can't really compare the two can you. I rode in an ES330 a few months ago and was also really impressed, very nice quiet car. For what it's worth, I can tell you our 2005 Sienna has less creaks than our 2002 Sequoia did. Finally sold that and felt the way you do about your now gone Sienna, waste of money.
I may start another thread, but figured there isn't much activity in the Sienna forum so I'll ask here as a start. What did you think about the Sienna's transmission. I swear every time I drive it I can feel it hunt for the right gear quite often. I wouldn't mind so much, but even on a flat freeway I seems to stutter sometimes, as if it downshifts momentarily. Wife hasn't mentioned it though so not sure if I'm imagining it, but it definitely doesn't feel right.
/Mike
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2001 2WD Silver Tundra: 4x4 TRD springs, Daystar 1", Carson AAL, red/blue Bilsteins, 265/75 Revo's, IS kit(minus bumper) and rims(hand polished), RF851X amp, Alpine HU, JL 6.5"XR comps, Qlogic with JL 8W3V2 subs. 176k miles and counting......
2005 Silver Sienna LE with 12" Overhead DVD
I sold this piece of junk by the way. Tired of the dealer's incompetence. What a waste of time and money. Got a Lexus ES330 instead...ahhhhhh...much better!
What did you think about the Sienna's transmission. I swear every time I drive it I can feel it hunt for the right gear quite often. I wouldn't mind so much, but even on a flat freeway I seems to stutter sometimes, as if it downshifts momentarily. Wife hasn't mentioned it though so not sure if I'm imagining it, but it definitely doesn't feel right.
/Mike
I have an 04 Sienna LE and haven't had a single problem with it. The only time my transmission hunts is going up a large grade and trying to maintain 70mph. I usually shift into 4th for that and the hunting stops. Other than that it's been a great vehicle.
Pain! I determined the cause of the upper back / neck pain I mentioned previously. Besides the top of the seat back curving forward, the Sienna is made with a steering wheel slanted to one side (the left side is closer to the front of the vehicle). I had no choice but to sell the Sienna after 4,500 miles at a $8,440 loss.
The Sienna had more seats than I needed, but the storage space was very convenient, and I thought it would get good gas mileage. Even though it was rated way higher than my Mountaineer V8, the real mileage (on the same roads and same speeds) was just slightly better. That was also a disappointment.
I should have bought the Tacoma.
However, since Toyota's poor design (and the dealer's not wanting to allow test drives over a few miles, not long enough to detect the problem) cost me $8,440, I did not want to do business with them again.
I considered an SUV, but with gas prices going way up and SUV resale values going way down, instead bought a completely loaded Chevrolet Malibu Maxx hatchback for $24,003. It even has three features missing from the $33,000 Sienna XLE Limited - OnStar, which is wonderful for safe hands free phone service, XM radio which is a real treat for the excellent sound and variety, and a DVD player for the rear seat passengers. I still didn't escape seat problems, even thought the Chevy dealer didn't complain about a 30 - 40 mile test drive. The bottom cushion and back of the Malibu's seats are way too soft / cheap to provide good support (I average 150 miles per day in southern CA traffic), so I am trying to fix that, but the steering column is straight and true, and it gets excellent fuel mileage on regular. I just wish that it had the Tacoma sport seats.
Well, I'm taking the plunge into happiness. Some friends of ours has a 2005 with only 5000 miles. It is an LE 8 PAX with the full curtain airbags. It has the rear audio, Trac control and other features. They are selling it for 23,500. I am guessing this is a good price. Would be just as if I bought it but don't have the negative equity! I am sure we will be happy with it!
2005 Sienna LE 8 PAX, White, Full Curtain airbags, Tow prep package, VSC, Rear Disk brakes, rear audio, aftermarket entertainment center(will be bought soon)
I'm a proud Toyota Bigot!!!
Midwesterners checkout the midwest forum!Click here
Well, I'm taking the plunge into happiness. Some friends of ours has a 2005 with only 5000 miles. It is an LE 8 PAX with the full curtain airbags. It has the rear audio, Trac control and other features. They are selling it for 23,500. I am guessing this is a good price. Would be just as if I bought it but don't have the negative equity! I am sure we will be happy with it!
Enjoy.... We have ~20k on ours already and so far have enjoyed it quite a bit. I did away with the RearSeatAudio when I put in the DVD player, but we never used the RSA anyway so no big deal. And man, that auto rear door is a life saver with young kids.
On the seats, I have never really had a complaint on the front seats. But recently rode in the second row and was tired so wanted to lay back a little. But when I layed the seat back I couldn't lay comfortably, it's like the lumbar is so far out that you have to arch your back like a gymnast. /Mike
__________________
2001 2WD Silver Tundra: 4x4 TRD springs, Daystar 1", Carson AAL, red/blue Bilsteins, 265/75 Revo's, IS kit(minus bumper) and rims(hand polished), RF851X amp, Alpine HU, JL 6.5"XR comps, Qlogic with JL 8W3V2 subs. 176k miles and counting......
2005 Silver Sienna LE with 12" Overhead DVD
You will enjoy the van. I have an 06 Sienna LE with 7500 miles on it. It drives nice and I don't think the seats are uncomfortable at all, but about the only time I drive it is when we go somewhere as a family. Otherwise I am much happier in the Tundra. We just had a good round of ice with a little snow and the Sienna did real well on slippery roads according to my wife.
What has been said about the tranny hunting for gears on grade is true. Compared with our previous van (2000 Odyssey LX), the Sienna wants to upshift sooner and may shift back and forth once or twice on a long grade. The Tundra does the same thing. May not be as many of those long grades in Nebraska (I grew up in Bellevue). The Odyssey had the best transmission logic/computer. It never once, in the five years of ownership ever hunted between gears, even on long mountain grades, once it downshifted, it held the gear until the top.
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I am sure we will be happy with it!
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