TOYOTA SIENNA
If functional is more important than funky, a minivan is the ticket
Packs a few surprises,
Crossovers and SUVs have their place, but if you have to move a lot of people and their stuff (read: your typical family of four or more), you can’t do better than a minivan.
They’re not sexy, and sure, they have the “soccer mom” stigma. Get over it. If functional is more important than funky, a minivan is the ticket.
My chariot was Toyota’s Sienna, which starts at $31,040, while I had the SE trim, one level below the top-line Limited, and with a sticker of $37,845. Mine was also equipped with an optional Technology Package that brought it to $43,200.
It can also be ordered with allwheel drive, the only minivan on the market with it, and which starts at $41,730 and tops out at $49,050.
There are upgrades for 2015, and while the exterior doesn’t look much different, the body is stiffer and the steering is tweaked. The interior receives more soft-touch surfaces and new gauges, and new standard features on all models include a backup camera, Bluetooth, conversation mirror, and a front passenger seat cushion airbag, which helps prevent the occupant from sliding under the seatbelt in a crash.
Also new and optional is Easy Speak, borrowed from the Highlander, which amplifies your voice from the front seat and delivers it through the speakers to those in the second and third rows. The best part, of course, is that it’s only oneway (insert “I will turn this van around!” joke here).
All Sienna models use a 3.5-L V6 engine with six-speed automatic transmission, and it’s a well-done, smooth-running combination. It’s a big van and you never forget that, but the steering is surprisingly crisp and well-weighted. I’ve driven a couple of these on long road trips and was impressed with how comfortable they were after nine hours on the highway.
Depending on the model, seating is for seven or eight passengers, although the eighth position is a small seat that fits between the two middle-row chairs and is suitable only for children, or those with considerably slimmer butts than mine. It can be easily removed and stashed out of the way on the side of the cargo compartment when not needed.
The second-row seats have “long- slide” adjustments, which let you move them forwards or backwards a considerable distance to adjust the legroom. They’re removable but heavy, and it’s not a simple task. Chrysler/Dodge makes the only vans whose second-row seats can be folded down into the floor.
Folding the Sienna’s third row is a cinch, though, and you get a deep cargo well when the seats are up, along with six grocery bag hooks, or a flat floor when they’re down.
Up front, you get big, easy-to-use dials for the climate control, while my tester’s new-for-2015 touchscreen audio is intuitive and lets you swipe applications like on a tablet. There’s a lot of small-item storage, including two huge gloveboxes, but a cupholder that slides out from the centre stack is a little wobbly. Putting the gearshift lever on the dash frees up console space that Toyota uses for a floor-mounted cargo tray. Now you have a place to put your purse or pack, where you can just reach down for whatever you need out of it.
My tester’s optional Technology Package, at a hefty $5,355, added such items as a rear-seat dualscreen Blu-ray player with wireless headphones, navigation, blind spot monitor with cross-traffic alert and sunroof, on top of the SE trim’s leather seats, power liftgate and sliding doors, and LED taillights.
Eight airbags are standard on all models, and Sienna gets a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the U.S. Insurance for Highway Safety (IIHS) for crash performance (along with the higher Top Safety Pick Plus, but only when equipped with radarbased cruise control that isn’t currently offered in Canada). However, it also received a “Poor” rating for ease of use on its child seat tether anchors, with IIHS reporting that some anchors were hard to find or took too much effort. Take your child seat with you on your testdrive to see if you can easily do it.
The Sienna’s major issue is that it can get costly, and only the Chrysler Town & Country has a higher starting price. The Kia Sedona starts the pack at $27,495, followed by Dodge’s Grand Caravan at $27,995 (all prices MSRP before any incentives). The Honda Odyssey’s price range is closer to the Sienna but it’s still a tick below, starting at $30,350 to Sienna’s base $31,040.
Those are your current choices, since the Nissan Quest and Hyundai Entourage have been discontinued. Ford initially introduced its sevenpassenger commercial Transit Connect as a minivan alternative, but while it’s a great work van, I don’t really put it into this category.
I usually tag the Sienna and Odyssey as neck-and-neck competitors when it comes to performance and comfort, but really, it comes down to what features your family needs. Minivans aren’t sexy, but they’re the absolute best for the job.
Jil McIntosh is a regular contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. The vehicle for this story was provided by the manufacturer. For more Toronto Star automotive coverage, go to thestar.com/autos. To reach Wheels Editor Norris McDonald: nmcdonald@thestar.ca.