The axiom’s still true — if you want to experience the most effective form of family car, buy a minivan. They’re spacious, they’re practical, and they offer packaging crossover utility vehicles could only dream of. Look, here’s one now. For decades, the Toyota Sienna has been a go-to for family transportation in North America, and this latest 2025 model adds even more toys to keep you sane and your kids entertained.
On paper, this minivan has the stats of a first-round draft pick. A hybrid powertrain gifts the Sienna fuel economy figures most minivans can only dream of achieving, and headline gadgets like a fridge and a vacuum are things you’d brag about to other parents in a display of school run one-upmanship. However, all that luxury and economy comes at a cost.
This 2025 Toyota Sienna Platinum with all-wheel-drive, a 1,500-watt inverter, and rear seat entertainment stickers for an astonishing $60,270 including freight, or $72,608 in Canada. That’s a lot of dosh for a people-hauler, yet this top-trim minivan makes a remarkably good case for itself.
Why Does This Car Exist?   
Like cheese or gravity, an absence of the Toyota Sienna would make the world weirder than the presence of it. After the false starts of the Van and Previa, Toyota lined up a conventional front-wheel-drive minivan with dual sliding doors, let North America have it, and started a dynasty. Admittedly, the original Sienna had its shortcomings: the third row didn’t fold into the floor, the overall footprint wasn’t quite as commodious as the long-wheelbase domestic minivans of the time, and in-cabin storage was weirdly light, but it was successful enough to build off of.
Indeed, the fourth-generation Sienna is now virtually unrecognizable compared to the original model, featuring hybrid power and toys the families of Y2K could only dream of having. It’s also now in the middle of its lifecycle and still enjoying strong demand. As a result, Toyota hasn’t needed to change a whole lot for this facelift. New wheels, adoption of Toyota’s new infotainment system, an interior radar system for your kids, and a new top trim level with a vacuum and a fridge is about the extent of changes, as those in the know still recognize that a minivan is still the ultimate form of family transportation.
Does It Do Minivan Things Well?
As anyone who’s lived with a minivan knows, this genre of vehicle is less about what it looks like on the outside, although the Sienna’s blend of Vellfire and Shinkansen is certainly nothing to sneeze at, and more about what’s going on in the cabin. Let’s start up front. Right off the rip, the dominant fixture of the Sienna’s front row is a high center console with twin armrests right at elbow height. In addition to offering two cupholders for caffeine and two more for hydration, Toyota’s been able to fit in a well-placed, totally conventional T-handle shifter, and a cavernous storage space below the console’s deck for bags and stuff. Where’s the wireless phone charger? It’s in a shelf that runs basically the entire width of the dashboard, a sensible and stylish touch. Like in most current Toyotas, you also get plenty of physical controls for your HVAC and seat conditioning, a pleasing mixture of soft-touch and stitched materials, and a sensible infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Overall, I reckon it’s a job well done for front-seaters.
Any good minivan should be full of convenient features, and Toyota certainly hasn’t scrimped in that department. For instance, on this top trim, there are four different ways to open each sliding door, with the most convenient for external hands-full access being rubber touchpads on the rear door handles and surprisingly reliable, if a bit slow, foot-operated opening thanks to subtly labeled kick sensors in the sills. Once those rear sliding doors are open, not only is the floor nice and low, but there are two nearly full-height grab handles to make easing into and out of the Sienna easier.
Once you’re inside, long-slide second-row seats offer a choice of gargantuan second-row legroom and usable space for seven adults, albeit not both at the same time. The third row folds into the floor swiftly, USB-C ports are absolutely everywhere, and every seat is full-sized-adult comfortable. Speaking of seats, the one big coup the Chrysler Pacifica pulls over the Sienna is the ability to fold its second-row seats below deck, although you only get this magic trick on V6 models and not the plug-in hybrid. Oh yeah, the plug-in hybrid. It’d be nice if Toyota offered a plug-in Sienna, but considering I saw fuel economy as ridiculous as 43 mpg on one stretch before the temperatures took a dump, it’s hard to complain much.
Indeed, the hybrid powertrain is one of the biggest advantages of the Sienna over its counterparts. It’s proven tech, having been on the market in this configuration for several years, it requires zero changes to your driving habits, and it just works to provide excellent gas mileage. Even with just 245 horsepower on tap, it doesn’t feel as labored as you might expect compared to more powerful V6 vans, and extensive sound-deadening keeps the din of the 2.5-liter four-banger reasonable, even if the note under wide-open-throttle acceleration does somewhat resemble that of a Cuisinart pulverizing a whole coconut. For most shoppers, the fuel economy figures matter more than anything else, which makes the powertrain perfectly fit for purpose.
What About Luxury?
Let’s circle back to that asking price for a second. There’s no way around the fact that $60,270 as-tested is an enormous amount of money, the price bracket that machines like the Acura MDX, Lincoln Aviator, and Cadillac XT6 sit in. To compete with those sorts of vehicles, the Sienna Platinum needs to offer all manner of creature comforts, and boy, does it ever deliver. The indisputable highlight of high-trim Sienna minivans is the presence of second-row captain’s chairs with their own retractable footrests, just like you’d get in a Maybach. Okay, so they aren’t powered like you’d get in a Maybach, but no Maybach offers a third row, so it washes. What’s more, these thrones are also heated. Sure, they aren’t ventilated like you’d get in a Kia Telluride, but Kia’s largest crossover doesn’t give you footrests, so that’s also a tie.
As for other toys, the fridge-freezer genuinely gets cold enough for icy treats, and the integrated vacuum is a surprisingly convenient novelty. It’s no secret that humans are messy, so being able to clean up after kids and in-laws alike without hauling the Dyson all the way out to the garage is a certified boon. Just use some common sense and don’t try to Hoover up the predictable results of all-you-can eat shrimp. Oh, and then there’s the JBL sound system. With plenty of punch and decent enough clarity, it offers better staging and sound reproduction than say, the Cadillac Escalade’s lower-tier AKG system, or the Infiniti QX80’s Klipsch system. Strange, but true.
One of the big luxuries in the Sienna that you won’t notice on a spec sheet is ease. From the panoramic view out to light yet accurate steering to a classic driving position immediately letting the driver know where the edges of the van are, you can whip the Sienna around town in a way that’s shocking for something the same length as a BMW X7. However, it’s not just nimble, it’s also comfortable, with suspension that soaks up groundhog-sized potholes and a structure that only transmits the occasional judder inherent to essentially driving a box on wheels with a flat floor. The Sienna just feels effortless, and at the end of the day, isn’t that a luxurious trait?
Add it all up, including the roller blinds for rear seat passengers, heated and ventilated leather front seats, surprisingly fair-quality rear seat entertainment screen, and extensive veneers that give the cabin more wood than Barry Bonds, and the result is a minivan that can genuinely go toe-to-toe with $60,000 luxury SUVs while beating them on rear-seat comfort.
Would I Buy This One?
There’s no getting around the fact that $60,270 is an enormous amount of money for a minivan, but even still, the Sienna Platinum would be at the top of my shortlist. Sure, the Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle has matching pillows for your kids to beat each other senseless with, the Kia Carnival offers similarly luxurious second-row seating, and the Honda Odyssey doles out surprising pace and VTEC dort noises in equal measure, but when it comes to posh minivans that your kids can grow from toddlers to teenagers in, the top-shelf Sienna is the one to go for. Not only is it shockingly economical for a living room on wheels, the fridge and vacuum are genuinely useful, and the resale value is nothing short of outlandish.
However, thanks to incredibly strong resale value, high demand, and limited supply, getting your hands on a high-spec Sienna can be difficult. Across America, you can still find monster markups on these minivans despite us being years past the peak of the COVID car shortage. The biggest flaw of the Sienna is that Toyota simply isn’t building enough of them. From a manufacturer’s perspective, this isn’t a bad problem to have. From a consumer’s perspective, a Kia Carnival might be a seriously tempting alternative. However, if you can find one of these loaded Siennas at a price you’re happy to pay, it absolutely deserves your consideration against a litany of luxury crossovers.
(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)
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I think we’re missing the most important factor here, the Sienna is the only minivan you can still get in GREEN. and not a neon green either, a nice dark green.
This is true and may be the Sienna’s best feature.
If people are paying 60k for a Sienna, or a Carnival, 60k for a Kia, then people will pay 70-80k for a Mercedes or Lexus van.
MB made a big mistake by not selling the V-Class/Viano here, with seats that actually fold and a nicer interior. While MB sold a passenger version of the Metris, it’s nowhere near as nice as the actual V-Class, and the Metris seats didn’t even fold at ALL.
The Alphard/Vellfire/LM should be sold here. The Lexus LM would sell just fine.
Even GM has an awesome minivan not sold here. The Buick GL8 is quite nice, especially, but not only, the Avenir.
Bring over the LM, the V-Class, and the GL8, and reinvigorate the minivan segment 😀
100%
I still maintain that if there were an opportunity for a luxury-badged van, Toyota would have long ago tried it. The buyer focused on the form factor of a van is probably less brand conscious. A few might spring for the Lexus, but the image issue minivans have won’t be fixed with a badge.
JDM vans definitely won’t help. American buyers never took to the formats of other van styles around the globe. Even if we look past the styling, which would make them a non-starter (you see plenty of comments in this section alone about the Sienna styling which is tame and conventional by comparison) their narrower width would compromise some of the interior space, and I don’t believe they have fold-in-floor 3rd rows which is basically a requisite.
There’s nothing that would make the effort to certify and set up production for a US-spec Alphard/etc would be more cost effective for Toyota than just building more of the van the already designed for American tastes.
My god that styling on the rear flanks is terrible. Like somebody with a Natty Ice budget was trying to make a spaceship out of a Caravan. Just embarrassing.
Agreed, it looks like it is trying to suck in its cheeks. Other than the unnecessary overdone side wrinkle (and the grille that still has a way to go to look acceptable), it’s not bad looking.
A subtle side style crease would be OK, but this, while distinctive, is too much.
The cost difference between this and the base Sienna is comical, literally the cost of a new Corolla. $20k for some leather seats and a built in vacuum.
LOL the Sienna is nowhere near the only car with a wide spread between the price of the base model and the price of the top model
What car do you think has the widest spread base to fully loaded? Porsche 911?
Maybe in the luxury segment?
The Ford F-150 (not “car” but since most people use it as one…) right now is $38k for barebones work truck and a loaded Platinum one is north of $95k. And that’s only if you ignore the Raptor R, which is included in the same product page on the website, which starts around $113k.
So that’s a pretty big spread…albeit I’m sure some luxury vehicles would knock my socks off if you want, I don’t know, carbon-fiber-everything or something.
Granted that’s about what it’s always been…20 years ago a Sienna started around $23k and topped out just at/over $40k. Which makes the $40k starting MSRP of a new LE seem even wilder now, but an XLE in the mid-40s comes with about everything a loaded Sienna could back then and then some. Plus a smidge quicker on top of the better fuel economy.
The Toyota Sienna is a great minivan. The best part is if you ordered your 2025 Platinum through you friendly local Toyota dealer today, your new van may arrive as soon as next Thanksgiving.
I HATE our ’17 Sienna… but it works. Its AWD for our area and fits the whole family + 2 great danes.
Why do you hate it? I have a 2018 and freakin love it.
I don’t have the AWD though.
Please elaborate! I’m also dying to hear why (for any reasons other than “non-removable middle row”).
Am I the only one who thinks this thing is hideous inside and especially out?
Probably.
Nope. My wife HATES it and she loves Toyotas. She wants to keep our old Sienna driving until Toyota updates this thing to looks like it doesn’t deserve to be on a cheap Star Wars rip-off.
As for the inside, it’s the way a lot of vehicles are today. I personally don’t like the swoppy thing between the driver and passenger. On my van, there’s a simple tray that can be lowered if needed and has space under it to shove things like 10 foot boards. The tray is sturdy enough for a 125 lb dog to sit on.
Interior is OK, but typical recent Toyota exterior design is completely overdone and hideous from pretty much every angle. It’s as if the designers got paid by the extraneous crease and angle.
Not at all. I generally dislike minivans and this one looks hideous. I can’t find anything about the exterior styling that is attractive. I generally don’t like the looks of most of the stuff from Toyota the last several years, and this fits right in: Big black lower gill, ugly wheels that are too large and look like flowers, rear that looks like a cheap sci-fi space ship, and side that looks like the expected bloated looking minivan and modern Toyota with over-worked exagerated styling. Ugly, just really ugly.
Just a reminder, second row is not removable thanks to integrated airbags. Just put them in the headliner and pillars, ya dingus!
I want that sweet fuel economy and longevity (and awesome green color), but a non-removable second row and insane pricing/lack of availability kills it for me. I shouldn’t have to pledge my first-born to the dealer to buy a minivan, hell the reason for owning the van is to transport that first-born!
I have a 2020 Voyager, and if I were shopping again I would be looking at a Pacifica again, or an Odyssey.
Also, I don’t much care for transporting my kids or really anyone with that level of luxury in the second row. Who am I trying to raise, Richie Rich?
(lots of editing done here)
There is a way to remove those seats. It’s a pain in the rear and you need a special dongle to fool the computer into thinking there are still airbags there, but it is possible.
(I got to type Dongle today, which makes it a good day).
PS, I own a Sienna, have for years, I would be shopping Odyssey today if I had tor replace it because of those seats. I’ve owned a Dodge once. That was enough. Although that being said, I’ve had Pacificas for rentals (including a PHEV version) and they drive a LOT like my old Sienna and that’s a good thing.
Agreed. No removable second row is a hard pass. It makes big jobs in my Odyssey so easy in cargo van mode.
Just cannot abide a fixed middle row of seats in a van.
It doesn’t have to fold into the floor like the regular Pacifica – the Kia, Ody, and the Pacifica Hybrid all let you pop out the middle row without drama.
Not just needed for hauling stuff, either, though that’s big reason.
Many an adventure with the kids, we will pop out the middle row and have a nice big useable area to warm up/picknick/get out of the wind/etc.
Not being able to remove the middle row is an instant no-buy from me. The #1 strength of vans is versatility. It functions as a commuter, road tripper, hauler, and sometimes even camper. I’m not paying 45k+ to have a feature removed from the form factor I’m buying.
the Carnival’s second row is also fixed, if you get the VIP seats
Just from reading the title:
Because SUVs are minivans with shitty rear doors.
I wish Toyota made a work van variant of this. Get one with a bare floor, no middle seats and vinyl seats up front. I would be all over it, given my needs.
Nobody makes a mid-sized work van. They are all giant things or left over worn out small things like the NV200 with nearly 400k miles on this site.
A minivan in work configuration is awesome. Fit 5 people, if you flip the seats up, a 4×8 sheet of plywood with the seats down and lots of other home improvement stuff, or 15 dogs having a party in the back. Whatever you need/want, it can do it.
But unfortunately, to get there with a minivan today, you have to spend money. The middle seats can be removed with some deactivation of the airbags. The carpet can be replaced for a price. Etc. Adding custom work to an already expensive vehicle makes it better to just look at a giant work van that gets a lot worse gas mileage and is harder to park.
I will never understand how a nation of this size cannot sustain a smaller commercial van. And thanks to the Chicken Tax, we can’t have anyone else’s either.
This x1000
Thing is that Siennas are made in America. It wouldn’t take much to do body on white with gutted interiors. Only they make so much more money on the Platinum Uber Black Super Poopers and they sell every van they make, there isn’t really a financial reason for them to make a CAE (Cheap Ass Edition) van.
Good point. But it’s essentially an own-goal, because they are capacity-constrained in making Siennas (or in making the hybrid powertrains that go in them). The reason they are gouging is because the supply is so limited. I have to assume that if Toyota could build enough to satisfy demand, they would make even more money than they currently are from gouging.
Battery capacity is a limiting factor not just for EVs but PHEVs and HEVs. Same with rare earth elements and the like. I think Toyota’s plan is that now that the battery and magnet capacity is coming up is to hybrid all the things (which they are close to doing). Once battery capacity comes up, I think their next step is to Prime all the things, which is likely their plan for their next generation of vehicles. I don’t see them taking EVs seriously for another generation or two when their line up is almost all PHEVs.
Toyota is interested in volume and spreading development costs around as many vehicles as possible. They are very production oriented and have planned for years to do a slow transition to match the slow build up in battery supply capabilities. I think it will work out for them, but without the big splashes of companies that jump into the EV world with both feet and find a way to match production targets.
Had a Sienna. It was great. But I’ll take a nice wagon any day. Not that we have many of those to choose from here.
Do we have any to choose from? Apart from the V60 what else is there?
It totally depends on phase of life and situation. We had three kids, all of them active in stuff like travel sports and the like. With the gear and normally a dog or a couple team-mates along for the ride, we needed the extra room of a minivan.
Now my wife and I do animal rescue. We drive all over hill and high water to get dogs. A minivan is perfect for a pile of dogs because it is very easy to get them to climb into, even if they aren’t feeling well or too cool about going for a ride with strangers. With the middle seats out, they have plenty of room.
My wife (and I sometimes) also do home improvement projects. I’ve had (2) 4×8 sheets of plywood and 144 fence pickets in the van at the same time. (Home Depot hates us because we did free curbside on that order.)
Finally, there is stage of life. After years of abuse, my back went out last year and I started losing strength in my right leg. I’ve had surgery to correct this. I drive a car, and it’s significantly harder for me to get in and out of it right now. Hopefully that will all be corrected and working right in a couple months, but right now the minivan is much easier with “butt height” seats. I can absolutely see a minivan being a better choice for an older person with mobility problems.
But with all that said, if there were back roads with curves here, I absolutely would want a wagon. My van doesn’t handle bad.. for a van, but basic physics says that a car will carve curves much better if setup right. And if your life doesn’t require a pack of Great Pyrenees or worse, a pack of 11 year olds and your back bends more than 2 degrees, then a wagon is likely a better fit for you.
If only you could buy one without dealing with Toyota’s awful allocation process and dealers salivating at having you over the barrel.
I had to search out to 250 miles of my major metro area to find 3 that are being built that are in the color combo I’d want. Two of the three are listed with markup.
The third probably is too if you actually reach out to buy it. But I need to test drive one first, which is also impossible to do when every one sells before it hits the lot.
Carmax was getting former rental car versions for a while. I used them for a test drive to compare to the Honda and Kia. The Honda and Kia were better vehicles, but not better enough to overcome the mpg and expected longevity.
Thanks, I am working on that angle. The used ones aren’t on the lot very long either, so need to have free time to go snag a drive when it is there.
These things hold value to a mind blowing degree, much to my dismay
Those that paid the 3-10k above MSRP would like you to please also pay an exorbitant amount more than it’s really worth
Dude, I was looking at used Siennas, and an AWD hybrid with ~70k miles was asking for $45k. I just can’t everything about life right now
Hear me out, Toyota… Design a new front clip for this in the current Lexus design language, and sell it at Lexus stores. $60k for a Toyota minivan seems a little bit ouchy, but a $60k Lexus minivan feels like a bargain.
Yes, this. $60k is within a couple grand of the ’22 RX350L we bought. Having Lexus branding would have been helpful in getting my wife over the mental block of SUV vs. minivan … this thing is more useful and generally configured to do the exact same thing as the RX with the same general features, materials, and build quality … but does it functionally better than the RX.
Counterpoint: just sell the Vellfire here as Lexus. I’d be all over it.
The name alone is worth extra money. Finally, a cool name for a minivan.
Somebody somewhere will put flames on the sides and replace the V with an H.
A friend of mine waited over a year to get the one he wanted, and he paid a markup. I went with the Pacifica PHEV, got the tax credit, added a warranty just in case, same day delivered. Comparing them back to back, the Pacifica rides very quiet and feels more luxurious in general. The Sienna gets better mpg on gas and has AWD available, the Pacifica only on the regular gas model.
Back then, remote start was something you had to pay on a monthly basis for the Sienna, something that is standard on the Pacifica. That’s a huge deal specially in places like Michigan.
The Sienna will survive while the Pacifica will be ok as long you have a warranty.
Plus, the discounts on Pacifica Hybrids are ridiculous. At least in my parts, it’s easy to find $7k+ off at a minimum, then add in another $7.5k in the tax credit. I get that the Sienna is going to be substantially more reliable, but I do question the actual cost of ownership differences if you look at actual purchase price vs resale differences considering the MASSIVE discounts Pacificas can have.
This is why I keep coming back to the idea of a Pacifica + 8/100k Mopar warranty.
I’d probably get the AWD gas Pacifica for Stow N Go rather than the PHEV. Yes, the gas will cost more, but this thing will be at least $10k cheaper to start with. That is a Pacifica AWD Limited + Extended Warranty versus the Sienna Limited or Platinum. I can buy that Pacifica tomorrow if I want. Or you could actually order one if you felt the need to.
Question is whether I trust the local dealer to actually be good if I need the warranty.
Personally, I wouldn’t be too worried about that so long as you skip the PHEV. It’s a bread and butter product that doesn’t have any truly new or substantially unique technology from any other Stellantis product. I mean, maybe your local dealer does have a super shitty service department, but in my experience most dealers service departments are all fairly similar. If they really sucked the most profitable part of the business would suffer. Everything in a non-hybrid Pacifica has been around for a while and is pretty much used on a bunch of other Stellantis products.
I’d be more worried about oddball products that are incredibly different from any other product that normally goes in and out of the shop. Maybe I’m crazy, but I’d be equally as nervous taking in a bZ4x to the local Toyota dealer as I would a Pacifica Hybrid to the Chrysler dealer.
Logical, but man I have heard some horror stories from Pacifica owners (oddly, the two PHEV owners I know have had flawless experiences).
Even if the dealer is good, a vehicle like this has very expensive downtime, especially for people with multiple young kids. The logistic of that — even with a loaner — really suck.
Yes, I would greatly prefer the car to be in our possession 99% of the time, not sitting outside the dealership waiting for another repair…even if it is “free”.
The only reason I am looking around is because buying a Sienna is not easy. Our car is getting older and if I got into a “I need a car now” mode, I can’t just go buy a Sienna. I could buy a Pacifica, Odyssey, Pilot, CX90. So I’ve looked at those.
Waiting for the Lexus MV250h so I can spend $75k for the same thing
Or come to Canada where this exact model is 69k!
The interior materials look like trash for a new car in 2025. I’ve never been in this generation Sienna, but are the materials as hard as they look?
They’re even worse in the lower trims, can confirm
You want durable over fancy. My kids are destroying our 2013 Sienna, even if we don’t count the various bohazard incidents we’ve had over the years. Truth be told, I’d be happier if I could pressure-wash the interior.
Durable doesn’t mean it has to look cheap.
True. But when fancy soft touch materials start to go, what looks worse?
That’s not the only other choice. A freakin’ low-trim pick-up truck from Ford, GM or Ram all have pretty utilitarian interiors, and the materials look nicer than this. These materials look bad compared to other minivans as well. While the Pacific has some reliability issues, I’m not sure there are many (any) complaints about their nicer interior not holding up as well as the Toyota’s.
This. My youngest once had blowout so fierce it came UP through his shirt collar. In the back seat of our brand new Volvo V70. Britax car seats are expensive but thankfully do a good job containing toddlehrrea.
Yep, I did car detailing as a side job for about 14 years. Did a lot of minivans, especially in the late 2000s/early 2010s when it seemed like every family in our neighborhood had a Honda Odyssey. Durability should be the priority over luxury in a van every time. Based on the things I saw, I’m still convinced that manufacturers should be offering rubber floors in place of carpet on their vans.
Can confirm. When we were looking at these last year my wife hated the interior quality. The “wood” in the center console dominates the front seats and looks terrible.
I could probably look past it for the powertrain, but once we heard the OTD price and wait time we were happy to walk away.
Some friends bought one of these last year. Boy is it nice, and with the AWD we considered it to replace our old Honda Odyssey. HOWEVER, they are unobtainable still. Dealers in my area are selling all their allocations before the van even departs the factory, and when I inquired a few months ago the dealer I called said I could jump up in line if I was willing to pay over sticker. While I like what the Sienna offers, that was all I needed to hear to skip it.
Yeah, my wife inquired at the local dealer a few years ago, and the salesman showed her their excel wait list with 60+ people on it. We went with the Odyssey, lol.
Our friend that bought one got on the list the day they announced that they would be hybrid and offer AWD. They still ended up waiting like six months for one. Call me spoiled, but I’m not paying extra to wait on something like a minivan – an exotic car perhaps, but not a regular vehicle.
We rented one of these for a trek from Houston to California a few years ago. I was amazed at how much room there was inside, how economical it was, and how nice the ride was. On those long, long (did I mention long?) stretches of highway in west Texas it was like having our own Greyhound SceniCruiser. Except we didn’t have to share the ride with that guy sneaking sips out of a bottle of Mad Dog hidden in a brown paper sack.
I’m a Land Cruiser guy (have 2) and we just added a Sienna Platinum to the fleet. My gf traded in her Rav4 for it, so it’s hers. We love it. She wanted the bells and whistles and got them all. The mpg was the big sell and the luxury was the clincher. We are DINK, 3 dogs and do a fair bit of roadtrips. Fit the bill pretty perfectly.
Why yes, I would love to spend $60,000 to drive my kids around like little CEOs with their opulent heated reclining seats and leg rests. Surprised there isn’t a privacy screen like a limousine.
Gone are the days when you could toss your surplus children into the seatbeltless, cup holder less cargo area of a full sized station wagon and put them to sleep with a combination of unconditioned air, cigarette smoke, dehydration, AM talk radio, leaded exhaust fumes and the drone of the differential humming away.
My childhood! (With the exception of the ciggys; no smokers in the family.)
Lucky you!
Don’t forget spilled coffee and farts.
So. many. farts!
The wife and I often fight over who gets to sit in the second row. This is the only “everyday class” of vehicle where the back is so much nicer than the front. The key here is waiting til the kids are 16+ and then letting them drive you around. I’m a couple years away…
$60k looks like a lot, but 10 years ago I was balking at the top-trim Odyssey breaking $45k. For the post-Covid world a decade on, $60k is very much in line with all other car inflation.
I will once again repeat my call for a van with S-class grade chairs in front and hose-it-out vinyl in the back.
My wife and I want to be comfortable, but I have no desire to clean, repair, or pay for niceties for the sub 8 year old crowd.
The dog people would love that option also. We go to dog events and see squadrons of minivans full of dogs every weekend.
As someone shopping a dog minivan, it really need auxiliary power to run HVAC while parked. That would be the game changer. If the Pacifica PHEV used its big battery for that, it’d be an instant buy.
We use the auto start for that. It does burn some gas but in summer we go with 1/2 doz ryobi 18v fans, and reflective mesh sun shields over the whole van. We do ok.
There are ir blocking window tint films that help keep the heat down too. I think it’s available fully clear for the windshield too.
Our Pacifica has side window blinds from the factory. I will look at the heat film though.
Yeah when it is 100 degrees out, the “don’t run your motor in the parking lot” rule gets relaxed. Also have the sun shield tarp and Ryobi fans.
That is exactly what I want. Comfy, luxury seating for the spouse and I, and then ease of cleaning out all the spills from the kids in the back. That would also make it easier to clean out the dirt and plant spills from when we end up doing a bunch of landscaping or camping.
Pretty sure that’s called a “pick up truck”.
The back seats of my truck are nicer than my kids deserve too.
Fair point. I remember when Crew Cab meant, “Be grateful you guys don’t have to ride to the job site in the bed anymore.”
The heat and AC do not get into the back of a pick up though. Kids are one thing but the dogs need heat and AC.
It does when you put a shell on the bed and open the sliding window.
not enough and not when it is -20 or 110 degrees.
Weird how what was perfectly acceptable for us 70’s and 80’s kids is apparently abuse for a dog now…
True, but where are the 30+mpg city pickups?
Well there’s the Maverick hybrid…
your kids are your CEO’s though, when you think about it.
It looks like the Sienna started taking Ozempic and upgraded from a barber to a stylist.
Second row doesn’t remove, so it’s still nope.
I felt that way at first too, and I have a third gen that I can remove the seats from. The thing is though, I have done it 3x total in 6 years of ownership. Yes it’s a nice feature to have, and one I don’t understand why they did away with especially in the 8 passenger version, it’s also not something I use enough for it to be a big factor in my eyes anymore.
I am on my second Odyssey, and with the new one that’s just under a year old, I’ve already had some or all of the seats out at least 5 times. It depends on how you need to use it for sure.
Fair enough. Yeah when I had my Odyssey (2015-19) we were finishing a basement and I had all the seats out a lot, but I haven’t had any such projects since so it’s not been an issue on the Sienna that we have had ever since.
We had our Odyssey for just shy of a decade and the first few years it was our truck – I had all the seats out for drywall and plywood runs pretty frequently. I eventually picked up a cheap cargo trailer, but the Honda could swallow a lot of stuff with ease and rode comfy while doing so.
I mean, that depends on how easily you want it to be to remove them. If you don’t mind undoing a couple bolts and cables, they come right out. I would personally take them out and put them in the garage until I go to re-sell it, since I’d use this as a one or two person roadtrip/camping vehicle with a bed in the back.
No, you literally cannot remove the 2nd row seats in the new Sienna because they have airbags in them and there’s a wire harness that you can’t disconnect.
There have been a few people who have covered how to do it online. It’s not difficult. You just disconnect the airbags and plug in a resistor. A bit of a pain, but not that big a deal.
As an Ody owner, it would take some getting used to, for sure. I see this van as more of the “grandparent van” or for people who are all-in on passengers and pay other people to deliver everything.
It’s a hard sell for me. Not a year goes by that I don’t have the van loaded with lumber, plywood, couches, fridges…or some combo of luggage or moving boxes that require the entire rear to be free.
It’s a price you pay for those fancy second-row seats, just like how the Pacifica PHEV can’t do stow & go (neither could the old VW Routan because the seats were too nice).
OTOH, they SAY the seats aren’t removable, but anything is possible with the right tools. Just maybe not practical.
We went with a Pacifica for the AWD autostart and most importantly the stow and go seating. We keep the second and third rows down all the time with a 42×42 dog kennel over the back row and we can pop up either back seat from the floor at a moment’s notice. We may not have gone with a pacific if it were not for the seating.
I cannot wait until Toyota applies it’s most recent styling trends to the Sienna… It’s a little hard to look at currently.
I also miss the V6.