2015 Toyota Sienna

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Currently we are shopping to replace our 02 Honda Odyssey, we want to get something new to us before winter and figured that we might be able to get a decent deal around Black Friday. Anyhow we typically buy cars that are a year or two old with low mileage, which is very hard to find when you are talking about minivans. Saturday, we drove both the Odyssey and Sienna and they both have their pros and cons.

Anyhow we are leaning toward the Sienna XLE, the dealer that we visited had a number of low mileage 2015 Sienna’s, both FWD and AWD with between 7-10,000 miles that were used as loaner/rentals. The only issue was the FWD vans were the L model and the AWD vans were the LE model. Since they were L/LE models they were missing some of the equipment that we wanted, mainly the leather, heated seats, and the power liftgate. My wife isn’t a big leather fan so that is not a big deal to her, but she really wanted the power liftgate, is this something that could be added? Are there any other big differences between the Sienna LE and XLE?

I see the AWD Sienna has Bridgestone Turanza’s RFT tires on it, I have regular Turanza’s on my 2012 Subaru Legacy and they are the worst tires I have ever used in the snow. How are the Turanza’s on the AWD Sienna in the snow?

Lastly, is there anything specific I should be looking out for when test driving Sienna’s? Any know problems/issues?

Thank you all for your insights, I posted the same questions on the Sienna forum on Saturday and had 61 views without 1 response???
 
Have you tried the Caravan? I'm not sure if you are price sensitive or not.

I don't know if a dealer can or will swap out run flat tires, but I'd think that whatever tire you want could be negotiated into the sale.

Although, I should put in the obligatory remark about just getting a set of snow tires on dedicated rims, and running those instead for the winter. Then burn off the OEM rubber in the summer, then get whatever decent all seasons you wanted. But I know CT does not have brutal winters, nor do I know what kind of winter driving you are planning on. But I do feel remiss if I didn't point out that you could just buy a set (on rims) from Tirerack (if not other places).
 
You are at a tough purchase point. Most used cars probably come from leases and those are typically at least 2-3 years, a typical lease might be at least 30 months which is 2.5 years. As 2016 models are out now, a realistic year would be 2013-2014. Usually loaners are pretty stripped. Had a Mercedes C300 as a rental once and it didn't even have navigation. I don't know about Toyota, but most car makers offer extended warranties you can buy if the original warranty is still in effect. You can usually buy them from any dealer in the country and some discount them and others don't. That's why getting one that's just one or two years with low mileage is tough. I'd rather buy an older vehicle with higher mileage if it came with more options. Having the options you want makes it much more enjoyable on a day to day basis.
 
The Sienna is a beautiful minivan; we had one and would have another. I don't think it's practical to add a power liftgate. if its any consolation, if you keep it long enough, you will likely have problems with power doors and lift gates. I used to be a big DC fan (check my sig) but our Grand Caravan was the largest pile of steaming garbage ever made. the A/C broke every two years, same with the power steering. there was always something electrical that did not work, and the power doors and liftgate all broke. there were multiple rust spots on the vehicle. I dont have any rust on any other vehicle - even ones that are much older.
 
In taxi service in LA and San Diego the Toyota is the only van that holds up. They can't get good purchase deals on Honda's and the Dodge/Chrysler vans that are cheaper to purchase can't be kept running. I know that taxi service is different from private ownership but on the Dodge/Chrysler it's the little things that kill it like the P/S, the A/C, brake hardware and controls, the doors, switches and controls, seat hardware and the control stalks on the steering wheel column. They also have problems with engine accessories, wiring and hoses. The Toyota's just keep running. They are not buying any more Dodge/Chrysler vans anymore and they still can't get good purchase deals from Honda. In large purchases they get really good deals from Toyota. I guess that's whey Muslims by Toyota pickups.
 
Without question buy the Sienna not the Odyssey. The Sienna has an engine without the miserable VCM system that Honda uses and an overall better drive train. That alone should be enough to send you running from the Honda dealer at any price.

Google Honda VCM problems, the problems are ongoing. The VCM system can cause them to go though engine mounts at an alarming rate depending on how much time is spent in "eco" mode and they are big money, $1200-1400 a set with no good aftermarkets available.
Every car s great when its new but wait till it gets some miles and years on it.
 
We are on our second Sienna. This one is a 2015 Limited Premium AWD. Our last Sienna was a 2012 XLE FWD model. We had no major problems with the 2012, even with heavy usage and the associated wear and tear of three young children using it every day. Only things we faced were rapid tire wear and warped brake rotors. Both of these problems seem to get mentioned frequently on the SiennaChat forums. Other than that, the only maintenance was regular oil changes and tire rotations.

The warped brake rotors were fixed under warranty per TSB. I'm told the 2014-2015 models already have the updated parts from the factory.

We encountered rapid tire wear with the factory 235/60/17 Michelin Primary MXV4 OEMs. Also tried Bridgestone Dueler Ecopia 422s, Firestone FR710s, and Cooper CS5 Grand Touring. Our best wear came from the Cooper CS5s, by a large margin.

Major differences between the LE and XLE:
1. Heated leather seats
2. Power moonroof
3. Smart key
4. Blind spot monitoring/rear cross traffic alert
5. Power liftgate

I've read miserable reviews of the Bridgestone Turanza RFTs that come with the AWD models, but we have no experience with them in snow yet. To be honest, I'm expecting about 20,000 miles out of them before they are worn out. They will likely be replaced with Michelin Defender LTXs and I'll add a spare tire like others have done on SiennaChat.

One item to check on -- dealers are really motivated to clear out the remaining 2015 Sienna's in stock. I would not be surprised if careful negotiations would make buying new cheaper than a 1 year old certified model.
 
One other comment - 2015 was the mid-generation refresh for the Sienna. Toyota added the obligatory LED daytime running lights on some models (SE, Limited), changed the tailight design slightly, added more body welds, and redesigned the interior (improved interior quality). The navigation system (if applicable) is more modern, even though a $150 Garmin runs corners around it.

Compared to the 2012, the 2015 drives significantly better. Steering feel is improved and does not feel as "loose" as the 2012.
 
Let me see if I can answer all of the questions at once.

- Drove a town & Country the fit and finish and 2nd row seats we not up to par

- Drove a bunch of different SUVs and for the money the minivan trumps them in so many ways!

- Drove the Honda as we have owned two Honda's in the past including our 02 Odyssey that we are looking to replace and I have to say the Honda drives a lot better than the Toyota and I think the interior is nicer but the drivers seat is a little cramed for my 6'4" frame. Also I can't get over that rear window and sloped rear end.

- Dealer will not let the car off the lot without RFT but this situation has actually turned into a decent negotiation point. He also told me that they could not add the power lift gate just wondering if their is an aftermarket solution.

- We have snows for our current Odyssey which will not fit on any of the cars we are looking at. However I am hoping the AWD on the Sienna will do the trick. My BIL has an AWD Sienna and lives in the Boston area and hasn't had an issue. Plus I have my Subie for really bad days.

- Yes leather and kids makes sense, but my wife is not a leather fan and we managed with cloth in our old Odyssey with any issues. Hoping now that my youngest is 13 we are beyond spilled juice boxes.
 
We have always been minivan owners and our current van is a 2011 Toyota Sienna SE. In the past we have owned mainly Dodge Caravans and GM vans. This was our first Toyota van.

While there are many things that I like about the Sienna, I am very frustrated with the poor and uneven tire wear. We are averaging only 20-25k miles on a set, and the tires are 19-inches in diameter and expensive. We had a four-wheel alignment done at the dealer and everything was within specs. Apparently bad tire wear is just the nature of the beast with this van, but I find it unacceptable.

Also, we have had intermittent problems with the power sliding doors, mostly with the one on the driver's side. The doors will occasionally stop working and require manual opening and closing, only to work again the next time they are used. The dealer has been unable to find anything wrong. We had power doors on our previous GM minivan and never had any trouble with them.

These two issues have me regretting buying a Sienna, and if I had to do it again I would buy a Chrysler minivan. I drive several Dodge minivans as part of my job, and most of them have over 100k miles on them with very few problems.
 
We looked at the sienna whe we bought our odyssey. Certain things, including the structure and quality of the rear seats, were obviously poorer as compared to the odyssey. We rated the sienna a third to the nearly tied Chrysler and Honda. It was a bit disappointing to me, since I loved our Toyota Previa so much. That said, all these vans are quite excellent, and you really can't go wrong, IMO.

Anyway, used deals in these vans, including the Chrysler, were horrible by us. We bought a NOS odyssey for a far better price than a used one on the neighboring lot. The prices used are just stupid,man did look very closely at the "deals".
 
We also briefly considered a 2015 Sienna XLE FWD or 2016 Odyssey EX-L. You don't get a spare tire with the Sienna AWD. Also, what's up with no 110V outlet anywhere?
 
Unless it's a special "rental package" I was under the impression AWD was only available on their top of the line XLE.
 
Originally Posted By: benjamming
We also briefly considered a 2015 Sienna XLE FWD or 2016 Odyssey EX-L. You don't get a spare tire with the Sienna AWD. Also, what's up with no 110V outlet anywhere?


Toyota packages the 110V outlets with the rear entertainment package. On our 2012, there were two outlets -- one in the console immediately behind the first row, and the second on the passenger side of the cargo area. I have not looked for them on the 2015 yet.


Originally Posted By: CKN
Unless it's a special "rental package" I was under the impression AWD was only available on their top of the line XLE.


AWD is available on the LE, XLE, and Limited trims.
 
Originally Posted By: BlastChamber
Also, we have had intermittent problems with the power sliding doors, mostly with the one on the driver's side. The doors will occasionally stop working and require manual opening and closing, only to work again the next time they are used. The dealer has been unable to find anything wrong. We had power doors on our previous GM minivan and never had any trouble with them.


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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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