From pristine Corollas to a Dodge Avenger, Bring A Trailer is known to throw out wild cards every now and then, but none of them have hit in quite the same way as this. See, I’ve done thousands of miles inside a facelifted first-generation Toyota Sienna. Tens of thousands of miles. We had one, and now this one’s on a fancy car auction site and I don’t quite know how I feel.
Don’t get me wrong, this 2003 Toyota Sienna CE deserves to be on Bring A Trailer. Minivans are often used hard until they’re used up, so this 65,000-mile example must be nigh-on top of the market, even with a big old ding on the front passenger door. Could someone potentially have a nicer Sienna cached away in climate-controlled storage? Perhaps, but this is damn close, even if its $12,500 hammer price seems wild.
I suspect living in Colorado and Montana helped preserve its underbody at least somewhat, because despite some corrosion on the exhaust system, the rest of the situation down there looks quite good. You know how it is in the rust belt; the sills go, the arches go, and the rest of the car follows suit. Even the steel spare wheel seems dandy, making for quite the curiosity.
This particular 2003 Toyota Sienna CE is bathed in Denim Blue, an unusual color for a Sienna and yet one that fits perfectly. Want to match the blue instrument cluster dials? This does the trick. Those dials give you an inkling of what the 200-horsepower three-liter quad-cam 1MZ-FE V6 and four-speed automatic transmission are doing under the hood. Oh boy, the interior’s up next. This could get a bit…uncomfortable.
Not by any vice of the Sienna’s design, mind you. Those thrones might not fold into the floor, but that just means they’re supple, clad in a textile that feels like checked velour. A lot of fights happened in the back of these Siennas. Maybe not this one in particular, because the carpet doesn’t look like a Jackson Pollock painting, but still.
Virtually planting myself inside this Sienna brings back odd feelings. I remember the removable seat operation, the weird bank of blank buttons on the lower dashboard, the handles for the pop-out vent windows, the double cream purr of the 1MZ-FE V6, and the view out through that massive windscreen, but most of all, I remember how much of a colossal piece of crap our Sienna was. Sure, the first few years were great, but it was always at the shop after that for unbelievably annoying and repetitive emissions system issues. Well, those and a few knock sensors.
The weird bit about nostalgia is that you can’t pick and choose what sticks with you. The good, the bad, it’s all there just waiting for a familiar cue to blow the dust off. It’s personally peculiar to see this facelifted first-generation Toyota Sienna on Bring A Trailer, but I bet it’ll bring someone a whole lot of joy. At the end of the day, that’s what this hobby is all about. Sure, you might not understand why someone likes a particular facet of it, but so long as nobody’s getting hurt, who cares? Let people have fun, because the memories you carry aren’t necessarily shared with strangers.
(Photo credits: Bring A Trailer)
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I grew up in an 1998 LE in silverspruce (kid me couldn’t comprehend that colors could mix) and drove it through college.
My parents got rid of it in 2020 when the exhaust rusted out since nobody really had regular need for a van anymore but I miss it sometimes. But traction control and side airbags are also things I want out of a vehicle these days.
The rest was perfectly fine at around 190k miles save for a rust sliver the length of a quarter showing up on a sliding door. And it was overdue for a transmission fluid change but I’m sure it’s still trucking somewhere out there. New valve cover gaskets and spark plugs just went in.
That was my favorite seat in a vehicle so far too – not that others since have been uncomfortable; the column shifter is nostalgic for me albeit I overshot gears often. 24 MPG at 80 MPH. I still remember the smell, turning the key, that green dash backlighting and ignition lighting, how dust would kick up and be visible in the sun when my sister whacked the seat and called them “fishies”, spreading out my legs on drives with upright seating and no center console – lot of memories there.
I bought a ‘16 Sorento a couple years ago with the base 2.4 engine (yea that garbage) and it was virtually identical in dimensions to the ol Sienna, similar 0-60 too. So I’m a little sad that minivans have grown to full-size width but of course creature comforts like fold-flat third rows are quite handy. The plastic hatch release liked to snap though so the switch to buttons I don’t mind these days.
I got a 4Runner now and I know it’s completely different but I’m happy I get to relive that familiar V6 sound. And funnily enough, very familiar power mirror controls.
If anyone misses not having a center console, I believe it was an uncommon option in the last gen Sienna.
I was driving behind one of these yesterday. They don’t have the same nostalgia for me as say a Previa, but they definitely were a big step forward in some ways for vans.
Agreed Andrew. I’ve always been enamored of Previas, and have spent more than a few happy hours lightly buzzed in the back row of one. I like the size and shape of this Sienna too, though IIRC I’ve never been in one, let alone driven one. Those early minivans were rightsized IMO.
We were a windstar family but man this brings back memories
Too bad the Taurus wagons of my childhood have all succumbed to the rust monster.
A hero emerges…the Taurus wagons were AWESOME.
I daily this exact van except mine is a 2001 LE with about three times the miles. I paid next to nothing for it and it’s been an absolutely quality unit. It’s great for tailgating and hauling my dogs.
What a coincidence, I just saw one on Craigslist that has a lot more miles but is extraordinarily clean. It’s also a loaded XLE with leather!
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/d/milwaukee-2001-toyota-sienna/7779252172.html
And it’s the BEST RUNNING 2001 TOYOTA SIENNA XLE ON THE PLANET!!!
The seller is practicing for a political career. Note the CAPS!
The real kick in the arse is when you see vehicles from your childhood showing up in antique car museums. That hurts.
The first time I heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on the local classic rock station I was aghast.
I saw an iPod in a museum *cue Matt Damon aging.gif*
Early Nissan Murano, Infiniti G35s, BMW E60s and X3s, third generation Acura TLs, and second-generation Lexus RX and Toyota Siennas now qualify for “classic” plates in Connecticut. I know their cutoff is 20 years instead of the usual 25. Still, it makes me uncomfortable even to see, let’s say an NB Miata or BMW E46 with classic plates.
Since my childhood (well, teenage) memories are of family road-tripping in a Chevy Express conversion van, I don’t need to look to BaT for nostalgia, I can find it on a Chevy dealer’s lot to this day.
I have similar memories but also some PTSD because my mom feel asleep at the wheel, went into the median and flipped our Express onto it’s side on I94 at 3am. What was supposed to be a week vacation in Florida turned into a week in a Madison hotel room. Thankfully all 8 of us survived with the worst injuries being road rash and cuts from broken glass. Two hours before the crash I was unbuckled because *dumb teenager* but my parents yelled at me to buckle up. Seatbelts save lives.
Bring a Trailer question: can you really not filter live auctions at all except by Category?
I love the first gen Sienna. First, I like the two tone blue over gray. And second, these vans while still a bit large, were back from a time where minivans were the right size. It’s a full 10″ shorter than a modern Sienna.
And I’ll say it again, I miss being able to get a car (or van) with decently comfortable cloth seats. Not the “we’re punishing you for buying the base model” scratchy garbage of today.
I’m on the lookout for an exceptional Astro or Safari. Had one in the teens and just loved it.
I used to drive a Safari also. Objectively there’s nothing really special about it, but it’s strangely loveable in its quiet, understated capability.
The Astro was easy to love, especially if you had a 4.3L V-6 in it. It wasn’t fast, but it pulled hard no matter what the load. It was an especially great tow rig for small boats and campers. It seems designed for that job.
I liked the funky first generation better than the more traditional second generation, but would take either in an instant if I found a good one priced right.
That happened to me too. A Mercury Sable station wagon very similar to the one I grew up with sold on BaT: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-mercury-sable/
If I’d never driven the car I might have been nostalgic enough to want to bid for it. But my frugal parents kept the Sable long enough that I also learned to drive on that car, and it remains the worst car I’ve ever driven (its age and state of disrepair once I started driving might have also been a factor). I’m happy enough with the fond memories, I don’t need to memorialize them by trying to keep a 35-year-old Ford on the road.
Buyer bought it for his son.
A guy who has the time and money to buy things on BAT used both to deliver his teenager son a 20 year old minivan as a first car.
Winner has bid on a bunch of old off-road Toyotas, a Ferrari, a Morgan. He’s listed a Ferrari 458 for sale on the site. He buys his son a minivan from a time before TSA could inspect your genitalia through your clothing.
I don’t understand.
Maybe a lesson? Not a particularly hard one, but a lesson. Probably could have bought him a BMW, an IS, a big pickup truck, but went with an old minivan as a way of saying “you need to earn something nicer”. Which would be weird, because most of us would probably get a kick out of dailying that thing. Maybe they’re gonna put a lift kit and mud tires on it. Maybe it will end up in a terrible YouTube video where they destroy it somehow for the clicks. Regardless of the motive, it’s not my money so I hope they enjoy it.
We had a ’94 Caravan, so the only thing this particular van makes me nostalgic for is a time when Toyota didn’t build the ugliest cars in the industry.
When I got my Mustang back in the early ’00s, I sold my then-current car (a Chevy Beretta) to a friend who offered a very reasonable price. I later found it he bought it as a punishment for his wayward son; he had originally bought him a Neon SRT4 but then took it away b/c of son’s complete lack of interest in doing well in school.
We’re still good friends but ouch…I sometimes get nostalgic for that Beretta.
They make a bolt on Toyota supercharger for the 1MZFE engine.https://www.ebay.com/itm/145664610866?itmmeta=01J6A5GX5GEX1SX1X35HSM15FJ&hash=item21ea499232:g:GpIAAOSwreZl8lSY&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4IGlUAWZBx1gbu%2FRwYCIK9xewQKearEJXoo4k4aBxSbi%2F641MWgcU6X5b06y7ob2aEaoQhhOahzQSV01dOIcCwkH4aQCVOFdtq5oQdCPTQnAE41A3uQfbnesJtiIRoPpEvSWYLF2USXUk%2Bceb3pXhNQ%2FGeW3cJuWXvjolkz%2BGLmCk2%2F0EOidkE0Yt7JT1vWRO0WkmHWazdvMPnlJIX4Z8v3EWSlJ3N3zbW126LKvaISPa1gWhI2GsPGIZMbv56GUDwNj3f2AgHNA8Nhhu2ZaeJkC%2FZK40grxecXnpB7H%2Bw6p%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-TSw8WyZA
I remember when Toyota used to offer a bolt-on supercharger for everything in the early 00’s. Except for the IS300 – which a lot of my friends had and were waiting for the SC that never arrived. Soon after that, TRD became off-road only. Hey, maybe we’ll have another chance with Gazoo (until they just become a lift kit and skid plate brand).
I’m pretty sure this auction is already higher than the original price. Did these run on stock injectors and tune, or is this auction missing some parts you’d need?
There’s a bunch of reasons this might make sense, one of which being the intention of having said son be able to easily move himself back and forth to school. Sounds like the dad has plenty of fun cars the kid may have the opportunity to enjoy. This one is probably just for utilitarian purposes.
The irony of course, is that while a van might not seem interesting to a teenager on paper, it’s probably the vehicle most likely to result in a multitude of shenanigans. Socially, anyway.
Judging from my household growing up, the family van was involved in most of our teenage shenanigans thanks to the people moving ability of these things.
My mom intentionally removed all the rear seats but one from our first-gen Sienna since she didn’t want me driving people around like that. It worked out in that I used exactly that much space freed up moving but that’s what you reminded me of.
While I get buying a van for their first car, I wouldn’t spend $12.5k on my kid’s first car. Maybe the second car after they wreck the first one.