Review: 2010 Toyota Sienna

For most people, myself included, purchasing a minivan equates to throwing in a towel into your game of life.  The minivan has taken up the stigma of station wagons from decades past and it may be the vehicle most responsible for influencing the SUV trend, which gives young parents hopes of freedom they have once known.

For 2010 Toyota strives to change this unfavorable image with the all-new Sienna. It is marketed it with a comedic rap song performed by suburban parents who are clearly living the dream, in hopes that Generation-X will relate and accept the Swagger-Wagon as the family vehicle to have.

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Understanding the Sienna:

My test vehicle was a heavily optioned XLE AWD model. Since I was not sure exactly what that meant I went over to Toyota.com to find out. And then my head exploded. The is Sienna is available in twelve different configurations, including two engine choices, two drive-line choices, two handicapped-accessible versions, and five trim levels! In order to provide a proper review, I have spent twelve days and nights attempting to interpret Toyota’s model strategy – here are the results:

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Options and Features:

Below is an abbreviated options and features list, which maybe of significance to the buyer.

FEATURE	SIENNA	LE	SE	XLE	LIMITED
Fog lamps			S	S	S
“Sport” trim (on a minivan!)			S
Power sliding side doors		S	S	S	S
Power tailgate				O	S
Sunroof			O	S	S
HUGE Sunroof					O
Privacy glass		S	S	S	S
Roof rack rails		S	O	S	S
17″ Wheels	S	S
18″ Wheels				S	S
19″ Wheels			S
Steering wheel controls		S	S	S	S
Back-up Camera + Small Screen		S	S	S	S
Back-up Camera + Big Screen (nav)				O	O
AM/FM/CD/XM/MP3/Aux, 4-spks	S		S
CD/XM/MP3/Aux/USB/iPod,6-spks		S	O	S
JBL Audio, all above, 6CD 10-spkr					S
Nav, JBL, Big Screen, Kitchen Sink				O	O
HomeLink					S
Dual-View Rear DVD Screen				O	O
Heated front seats				S	S
Power rear quarter windows				S	S
Smart Key System				O	S
Lazy-Boy 2nd Row Seats				S	S
Second- and third-row sunshades		S	O	S	S

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The Drive:

There is nothing mini about the Sienna, but its size is only noticeable when maneuvering in a tight parking lot, where the back-up camera and large mirrors are your friends. Overall visibility is great in all directions and folding headrests on the rear seat are a nice touch rendering those maneuvers easy.

Credit has to be given to the chassis engineers; smooth sailing on the highway, pot-hole ridden city streets are just about isolated and yet when the road gets twisty something magical happens. It is almost impossible to fathom, but the 4500-pound minivan becomes actually entertaining to drive! No one will ever confuse it with a Boxster, but it is much more enjoyable than many smaller car-based cross-over SUVs.

What if I tell you that the entertaining handling was matched to an equally entertaining engine? Yes, it is crazy but this thing boogies! The V6 offers plenty of highway passing power and license-revoking speeds can be easily attained… in a minivan!

In four-cylinder guise, the Sienna offers the same kind of power-train setup as the Venza. I could not complain about that engine; decently powerful and smooth. With Sinna’s extra weight it may be more stressed but it won’t hamper you too much on the way to soccer practice.

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Interior:

Driver and front passenger will love the Sienna. I simply have nothing bad to say about the sitting position, ergonomics, visibility or dash layout. Everything is thoughtfully designed and of relatively high quality.

The middle row consists of two business-class-like reclining seats which are very comfortable. On XLS and Limited models these seats have extendable footrests, but unfortunately anyone much taller than five feet won’t have the room to fully appreciate them. Notable fact is that when fully reclined, the middle row renders the third row seat useless. It’s a nice idea but much more room would be required for proper execution, however, kids old enough to be out of booster seats will love them.

The third row seat is pretty much a couch, comfortable for adults as long as the two middle seats are not moved or reclined all the way back. When accessed from the tailgate, the 60/40-split third row folds and drops easily and neatly into the floor exposing acres of free space. The whole operation is easily accomplished with one hand but power control is available on the Limited for the truly lazy.

With the third row up, the amount of space behind it is almost deceiving. The deep well will swallow up duffle bags by the dozens and unless carrying items such as skis or bikes, there should be no reason to fold the rear seat. If carrying said large objects and more than four people, I would suggest a trailer hitch and an appropriate attachment. Roof rack is another option but it may be a bit difficult to reach.

Overall, the interior is extremely spacious and very well executed. Each passenger has at least one cup-holder and storage bin of some kind. Ventilation system throughout the vehicle is excellent with rear controls and numerous vents. Passenger comfort and convenience was Toyota’s intension and they have greatly succeeded at it.

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Conclusion:

I was really amazed by this vehicle. Frankly, aside from its external dimensions (which are required in order to achieve those internal dimensions) and that fact that it after all is a minivan, I couldn’t find any faults with it. It is comfortable, drives really well and looks pretty good too.

Originally I had a bit of an issue with the $45,000 price of my AWD XLE which was loaded with the navigational system and rear-seat entertainment system. Quick research shows Toyota’s clever and practical pricing; there is a minivan for every budget. Skip on features such as a DVD player and nav, and that sticker price becomes very reasonable.

No Toyota review would be complete without mentioning of the recalls. In terms of the unintended acceleration, I have yet to hear an explanation which shows that it was anything more than a driver error or a poorly designed floor mat. Toyota is having some rust issues but they are not much greater than any other manufacturer. I still believe that over its useful life, any Toyota will provide a much more dependable and reliable service than most other cars and I would feel comfortable recommending it to anyone.