2015 Toyota Sienna

[stranger706]

We have 45,000 miles on our 2014 LE. No problems to report. Tires, filters and oil changes so far.

I wouldn't even bother with AWD. It doesn't help you stop or steer in the snow. You lose the spare and get [censored] tires. Get a FWD and a set of snow tires. Much more effective.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I think the Sienna is probably at the top of the minivan heap in terms of expected dependability. It has a conventional MPFI V-6 without any valvetrain trickery systems, it has a conventional 6-speed automatic by Aisin that has proven to be reliable, and it has a relatively simple strut front/beam rear suspension.

The Odyssey will likely be a better driver than the Sienna (and it apparently is, at least to the OP), but there may be some long-term unknown with its Active Cylinder Management system.

Have you looked at the new Kia Sedona? It looks like a good van as well, though I have no experience with it. I like the exterior and interior styling of the Kia the best of all of them.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
our 2011 bought brand new has been absolutely flawless. leather does help with kids, but after they grow up some its more of a annoyance to maintain.


In 11 years I did nothing to the leather in my VW, yet it looked just fine. ? Am guessing different kind of leather.

My current vehicles have cloth, and I kinda miss the leather. Especially whenever I look at the stains on the cloth where the kids sit. Then again, few more years and no one will care; rest of the car will show wear too, and a few stains will be par for the course.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I get leather every time, simply because it's not cloth. If more manufacturers offered the "leatherette" that some European makes used to offer (or still offer), then I'd buy that instead. Leather is so easy to take care of...with cloth, one spill of just about anything but water and it's pretty much stained. Even skin oils will stain cloth over time, whereas leather takes a quick wipe once a month or so, and it's good to go.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
We have 45,000 miles on our 2014 LE. No problems to report. Tires, filters and oil changes so far.

I wouldn't even bother with AWD. It doesn't help you stop or steer in the snow. You lose the spare and get [censored] tires. Get a FWD and a set of snow tires. Much more effective.


AWD helps you move in the snow, you don't really get stuck. With FWD, I was going up a hill once and wasn't going fast enough. Hit the brakes about 3/4 of the way up as I was losing traction and the front end swung around so I ended up point down the hill. Went back down and went up going faster. I don't think the same thing would have happened with AWD, better weight distribution plus when going up hill, all the traction shifts to the rear and you lose traction on your drive wheels with FWD.

Also I love leather, had it for the last several cars. Is getting electric shocks still a problem with cloth? Had one before and I'd always get shocked by static electricity all the time. Never happens with leather.

 

[FL-400S]

I have an 03 CE, pretty basic. Does seem to go through tires pretty quick. Michelin Defenders have 20k on them, noticeable wear on the front, never rotated yet. Heavy vehicle for car tires maybe. 116k miles total on vehicle, not bad for 12 years.

I'm looking at 2010 or 2011 Sienna or Odyssey. 8 passenger. Don't care about leather. No spill, no stain. I'd like at least one power door.

People love the Dodges but check out the crash tests on youtube. Caravan and Quest look pretty bad.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: eugenem
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Did AWD use up the space that a spare tire normally occupies?

If so, wouldn't it be easy to buy another wheel, mount a conventional tire to it, store it in a different location, rather than have new runflat tires installed?


On a FWD Sienna, the spare tire is stored under the passenger side 2nd row. The spare is accessed from underneath the vehicle. On AWD models, the driveshaft runs all the way to the back, so there's no room for the spare.

Many tire dealers will not replace a vehicle equipped with runflat tires with non-runflat ones. Same concept as speed rating/load rating.


Well then, shop around different tire dealers. You are bound to find one that doesn't bother to read the runflat label, and will install any tire, so long as only the tire size is the same.

 

[supton]

What kind of alloys does it have? Seems I've seen a number of painted alloys as "standard" level, and after a few years they peel. If I were to only own for say 5 years, I might be tempted to buy steelies, mount whatever tires I wanted, and store the alloys with RFT's. Then trade in with mint rims and mint tires when done.

 

[cptbarkey]

Originally Posted By: FL-400S
I have an 03 CE, pretty basic. Does seem to go through tires pretty quick. Michelin Defenders have 20k on them, noticeable wear on the front, never rotated yet.


uh, rotate your tires every 5-10k, and get an alignment.

 

[BlastChamber]

Originally Posted By: eugenem
BlastChamber, as you have a 2011 SE, did your dealer look into T-SB-0044-11: 2011 Sienna Power Slide Door Abnormal Operation

If you Google around, you should be able to find the full write up of that TSB online.


Thanks for the info, and we did look into that TSB in the past. I believe it deals with loud popping noises when using the outside door handles, which we don't have. Our door motor power completely shuts down altogether. At this point we are just living with the issues because the warranty has expired and continued troubleshooting would be cost prohibitive.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd

Have you looked at the new Kia Sedona? It looks like a good van as well, though I have no experience with it. I like the exterior and interior styling of the Kia the best of all of them.


We liked the look too, but sitting in one at the auto show, it was easy to see how it fared compared to the other vans... not well. Stuff like flattened seat padding and loss of color on the leather. Some design attributes were brilliant, while others were just way lacking.

It never made our list when considering MPGs, price, substance, etc.

 

[Andrew1972]

The AWD in Sienna is nothing to write home about. You get a drop of 2MPG. It helps on hills and such but is more like FWD+ instead of true AWD difference in a Subaru(full time) for example.

My experience is observing friends with these vehicles and visiting our ski house with tough driveway that separates men vs boys in terms of AWD. The observing typically results in using a Kubota 4wd tractor or my MDX/winters to give them a tug along.

 

[Picky1]

Ending up making a good deal on a CPO 2015 Toyota Sienna LE (FWD) on Black Friday. Van only has 6,635 miles on it, the person who bought it traded it in for a more upscale model...there loss is my gain! Now I am in the market for snows; hopefully, I can still find a decent deal.

This is our first Toyota, we have always been a Honda/Subaru family. Let's hope we experience the same number of trouble free miles with the Sienna as we have in the past with our Honda's & Subaru's.