That's right, this is Grassroots Motorsports reviewing a minivan. You know, it really wasn't long ago that owning a minivan meant handing in your man card. And many of us still cling onto that perception. But recently, they've grown larger and have become much more practical. In fact, we have a few secret minivan fans here on the Grassroots Motorsports …
If you have a handicapped passenger needing an Auto Access Seat, the Sienna LE or XLE is the best choice. No other minivan manufacturer offers this factory-installed option. It adds about $5750 to the cost of the vehicle. I shopped other brands, the proposal for all of them being a retrofit reusing the original right rear second row set, costing about $9300. With the factory installation comes full integration with the vehicle and a seat that looks good in the vehicle and carries the 36 month Toyota warranty.
Wait...is it the new off road sienna?
The sienna is currently the only minivan available with optional AWD.
This is a picture I took of the rear diff, with a skid plate...
Buying new and spending your own money, I agree, you need to want a Toyota.
These guys love the new siennas.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vankulture/
Will there ever be a point in time when we stop calling these 'mini'vans?
I think the correct term now is "loser cruiser"
Esoteric Nixon wrote: Will there ever be a point in time when we stop calling these 'mini'vans?
MAXI-vans.
Maxi vans are 15 passenger vans.
failboat wrote: Maxi vans are 15 passenger vans.
AKA "illegal immigrant killers".
Mommybox.
In reply to Woody:
That is something else entirely.
Minivans are a very economical (i.e. operating cost) alternative to a full-size van for hauling lots of stuff if you can fold-down or remove the seats. Unfortunately, in this latest iteration of the Sienna, when the middle seats are removed (the rear seats fold into the floor), two seat carriages (over an inch high) remain attached to the tracks mounted in the floor. This is a serious deficiency, which is the reason I recently bought a Honda Odyssey.
I like the concept of mini vans but they have just gotten so darn gigantic these days. The Transit Connect and Ram Pro Master City appeal to me more.
This isn't a review. It's someone trying to convince themselves they made the right move by buying a Chrysler product. As a previous poster mentioned, if you want AWD, it's the only game in town. Can't swallow spending 40 large on a minivan, buy a certified one. It'll still outlast the Chrysler and be worth more when you're done with it.
My review: It's a van. It's a Toyota. The nav/entertainment system sucks monkey balls. That is all.
My wife drives a 2014 Sienna. For us there were only two choices- the Sienna and the Odyssey. We didn't even look at the Caravan for one simple reason. As much as I like the Stow N Go, it only has 7 seats. While more flexible in theory, in practice with 3 kids, the 8 seater is more useful. Not only can it haul one more person, but if needed, I can fold down the rear seats and still fit the three kids in the middle.
How do you like the tail lamps? I worked on that project :)
:(
daytonaer wrote: The sienna is currently the only minivan available with optional AWD.
Only if one defines a mini-van as a box with a sliding door.
The Ford Econoline was a Full Sized van in the 1960's. The Sienna is 15" longer, 3" wider and on a wheelbase that is almost 20" longer.
Compared to the only traditional domestic van still on sale (Sorry Nissan) the Siennas wheelbase is 16" shorter, but only 24" shorter overall and only an inch narrower. Only 4" shorter too. Not too mini indeed!
Duke wrote:failboat wrote: Maxi vans are 15 passenger vans.AKA "illegal immigrant killers".
That rolls off the tongue unlike "undocumented worker killer".
Agreed there is nothing "mini" about minivans today. But these vans, and even their "full sized" predecessors are arguably the most versatile all around use type of vehicle design ever. The ultimate motorized appliance.
I work at a Toyota dealer and see these constantly, they're good vans the only issue I've had with them that was a real pain in the butt was on some of the ones a couple years old the parking brake which is a drum in disc design. The pins break essentially jamming the rotor on the hub and it's a pain to remove. Most of the time the designed way of getting the rotor off doesn't work when this has happened so it's time to bring out the 3 lb toyota fine adjustment tool to get the rotor off
Just back from North Carolina where the family and I spent a week and a tad over 1000 miles in a 2015 Toyota Sienna. Yes, it's big. It's also very comfy, quiet, and big. It's big, but it still manages about 25 mpg in mostly interstate driving. Try as we might, all of our stuff for a week, three sets of golf clubs, tackle box, fishing poles, big cooler--we could not fill up the back. Not nearly as easy to park as my MPV, but in it's defense, the turning circle seems impressively small for a vehicle as long as this. Straight-line go is certainly adequate, as were the brakes when called upon. I'm in no hurry to replace the MPV, but the Sienna is one of only two vehicles that I would consider at this point. The other being the Odyssey, natch.
For kid hauling I don't ever see myself paying thirty five thousand dollars for a nice loaded Sienna. Kids just trash cars, they don't mean to it just happens, like vomiting up spaghetti on the way home from school.
In reply to Pbw:
I get that, but stuff cleans up pretty well. I got my MPV brand new in '05 when my kids were 2 months old and 2 years old. They hit it pretty hard, but today, if I give it a good vacuuming and pull the Legos out of the seats, it still looks pretty darn okay after ten years of abuse. The interior has held up very well.
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