2005 Toyota Sienna

Toyota came out with this minivan bringing them into the world of the Soccer moms. For most people this is a vehicle that you either love or hate, not too many are in between. Made for the suburbs the Toyota Sienna seats 7 comfortable and 8 if you squish.

The style of this van is cookie cutter, there really isn’t much to distinguish this van, so I rate the style a 3 at best. Comfort wise the Sienna ranks a 4. There is adequate room for passengers though adults may not like long rides in the back seats. Plenty of headspace for tall people and everything is arranged nicely. There could be more cup holders and there are issues with the seat belts, some have even been recalled.

The Sienna’s performance and reliability call for a 4. It handles snow and rain well, there is little to no resistance while traveling steep inclines, but there is a tracking problem with the tires that the tire manufacturers and Toyota cannot decide who is responsible for, though Toyota has replaced the tires due to this problem once. The vehicle’s performance is good but Toyota’s customer service, I have to rate lower. They are uncooperative and argumentative, then try to push high priced “deals” to “fix” issues that should be covered.

Toyota talks itself up as being fairly priced. I give them a 3. The cost of living with this vehicle, which eats tires (expensive ones at that), costs up to $200 for regular scheduled maintenance, and falls short of the advertised mileage, is not in the moderate range. Luck is on your side to get 20 MPG and you must continuously check the fuel system for leaks and that means the tanks and hoses and the recall lists. There are also many issues with the engine cooling system that Toyota doesn’t seem to fix, ever. The structure has problems as well that can get costly to repair so look for things such as the doors, and the hatch back lift supports. Another issue is the automatic transmission. They had problems with the calibration, control modules and pre used unreliable parts.

Overall I give the Toyota Sienna a 3. Toyota’s service taints the outlook of all of their vehicles, but this one does have its issues and the gas mileage is not so good in comparison to the Freestar and the Caravan.