CTC Review: 2007 Toyota Sienna XLE

[CD_Editor]

Picture Gallery:  2007 Toyota Sienna XLE AWD LTD


Day 1:

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Though this is the first minivan I have had the chance to review,  my parents own minivans and I have been inside minivans for various events, so I do have some context.  The all-wheel drive, Limited Edition Toyota Sienna that I have this week is pretty much fully loaded. More ...

[G0dspd]

Yeessshhh! ... $51,375 for a minivan (even more for the Honda).  I know that when you need a minivan (very few will admit it  ) there's no substitute, but at that price range, it's hard not to get distracted by what else you could buy. 

*cough* 2007 335i Sedan MRSP: $ 49,900 *cough* 

[dave 2]

WOW!  Steep price but the LE AWD or even CE AWD is more reasonably priced. 

CE AWD is on my current short list...

[tpl]

Yeessshhh! ... $51,375 for a minivan (even more for the Honda).  I know that when you need a minivan (very few will admit it  ) there's no substitute, but at that price range, it's hard not to get distracted by what else you could buy. 

*cough* 2007 335i Sedan MRSP: $ 49,900 *cough* 

I have only driven one minivan in my whole life and it was an Odyssey.   If BMW went out of business and I was forced to buy a minivan it would be either an Odyssey or a Sienna.  And yes I can quite see that one of those may well cost as much as a 335i.   I was really impressed by the Odyssey, a 7 year old one at that and I am prepared to believe that the Sienna is as good.

[johngenx]

Current dollar CAN to USD is about $1.18.

Sienna Ltd, USD = $35,600 or $42,800CDN.

Save over $10K including taxes.  Anyone wonder why Canucks are flocking south for Toyota products?  Toyota supposedly cutting off the warranty, but not sure if that has happened yet.

[Julie]

Current dollar CAN to USD is about $1.18.

Sienna Ltd, USD = $35,600 or $42,800CDN.

Save over $10K including taxes.  Anyone wonder why Canucks are flocking south for Toyota products?  Toyota supposedly cutting off the warranty, but not sure if that has happened yet.

I had heard that too, but in the last episode of Driving Television, they reported that Toyota answered them saying they would honor the warranty of a US bought car. And that they were the only car manufacturer that answered them back.

[JSCC]

Yeessshhh! ... $51,375 for a minivan (even more for the Honda).  I know that when you need a minivan (very few will admit it  ) there's no substitute, but at that price range, it's hard not to get distracted by what else you could buy. 

*cough* 2007 335i Sedan MRSP: $ 49,900 *cough* 

I have only driven one minivan in my whole life and it was an Odyssey.   If BMW went out of business and I was forced to buy a minivan it would be either an Odyssey or a Sienna.  And yes I can quite see that one of those may well cost as much as a 335i.   I was really impressed by the Odyssey, a 7 year old one at that and I am prepared to believe that the Sienna is as good.

No fear BMW should be bringing out a MB R-class competitor, V5 I guess.
Just be prepared to shell our $60,000+ for it. 

[Trainman]

We have a base 2004 Sienna (CE 7 passenger) and it has all we want or need in a van (tough to call it a "mini" van, it is much bigger than our Pathfinder  ).  It gets good fuel economy, is comfortable and is a good driver.  No major problems to date.  We plan on keeping it for many years and do not regret our decision to buy it or to buy the base model.

[yvr]

Honday Odyssey Touring is cheaper than the fully loaded Sienna.

[Snowman]

Base Toyota vehicles are much better values than the cult pricing they demand for the limited models…. Insane.

[Blueprint]

To put things in perspective, you can get the nicely equipped Sienna CE AND a Matrix for the price of the as-tested XLE Limited.

That being said, I test drove an awd LE and a fwd CE prior to buying the Odyssey, and as Car and Driver said back in their '04 comparo, the Sienna and Odyssey are the best vans out there.  If you lean Lexus, go Toyota, and if you lean BMW, go Honda.

I also had the chance to tag along on that 2004 Car and Driver comparo, as guest editor and sidebar writer, and did drive extensively a 2004 Sienna LE fwd.  If you take a look at their website, you'll see me in the sidebar, and at the wheel on the Sienna's page.  The support vehicle for the camera crew was, by coincidence, an XLE Limited.

Like Wing said, the Sienna is very user-friendly, stunningly so when you jump in it after a stint in the artsy Quest (pre-dash rehab).

I expect the new V-6 to give the Sienna, umm, wings  , and the previous one scooted along pretty well.  In the Quest, I was pretty aware of my speed (it gets twitchy above 90 mph), but the Toyota had me in triple digits with no fuss as I followed the mag's regular leadfoots.

The Sienna's shifter is at the right spot, and will allow some manumatic control.  One detail Wing might notice is that the left 2nd row seat has a body-mounted shoulder belt, while the right one is seat-mounted.  This is a very clever feature, leaving an aisle to the 3rd row free of dangling seatbelts when using the alternate inboard seat position for that bucket.

Wing, a source of many discussions with the 3.3 litre Sienna was recommended fuel : premium was recommended, but most owners (if not all) run the vans on regular, as allowed by the owner's manual.  The premium fuel situation was so shoved under the carpet by Toyota that I made sure the comparo highlited that spec (it was right up there in the "cons" column).

With the new 3.5, what is the fuel situation ?

[Trainman]

Base Toyota vehicles are much better values than the cult pricing they demand for the limited models…. Insane.

That was our thoughts as well.  And the base is very nicely equipped.

[UmroAyyar]

Base Toyota vehicles are much better values than the cult pricing they demand for the limited models…. Insane.

  100% , I've the base 2007 Camry LE. Nicely equipped.

[Snowman]

I know when we leased our 2002 Highlander V6 we were extremely disappointed with the lack of options. The Limited was another 10k at the time with none of the packages available now.

Heather explained to the sales manager there was no way in hell she was paying $36k MSRP for a vehicle with no centre console. They put one in for her a no cost.

[Alex MacLean]

OK, I admit it, I already hate Toyota, not the product, but the image that you don't even need to test it to know it's perfect. But regardless.

I looked at one of these loaded vans and it was a gorgeous vehicle, very nice, I loved the seats. But when I looked at the sticker of $50,955 I about had a heart attack. It was a very nice vehicle, but at 51 thousand dollars...absolutely insane. That's $4300 more than I make in a year. For a minivan? I'm sorry, I went next door and bought a nicely equipped Odyssey for $44,000 and I think we got a nicer looking and much better handling vehicle.

To be honest I think it's ridiculous that any minivan could even be loaded to over $40,000, but over $50,000 is just pushing it too far. But on the other hand both vehicles are equipped like luxury cars, so if you have to carry a lot of people but don't want to drive something boring and slow, I guess that sort of justifies some of the price...some...

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Well, the price certainly is stiff. But, really, when I think about it that's a lot of vehicle: it casts a huge footprint, lots of glass, lots of powered do-dads, lots of leather clad seats and luxury frills (HIDs), rear HVAC, big engine with AWD, slick packaging with the low floor and folding seats.

Honda and Toyota (and now Hyundai/Kia) are selling these things into the $30's, $40's, 50's while the domestics are selling more vans, but likely with no profit in the $10's, $20's, and low $30's... which still are huge vehicles similar in size to their SUVs, which they flog successfully for $10's of thousands more. It's no wonder they're re-evaluating their priorities for profit.

In any case, it's a nice van. I think I prefer the Honda as well, but appreciate the affordable AWD trim lines and 8-passenger seating Toyota offers on the Sienna.

Noticed the Limited also has amber turn signals on the outside rear view mirrors built into the glass. I'm used to seeing these signals being red, so struck me. I like them. Does your vehicle have this Wing?

[wing]

yup

[Snowman]

A V6 7 passenger Highlander “B” package is just as functional and $10k less.

[dave 2]

A V6 7 passenger Highlander “B” package is just as functional and $10k less

As long as those extra two passengers are under 12yrs old...

[jww]

A V6 7 passenger Highlander “B” package is just as functional and $10k less

As long as those extra two passengers are under 12yrs old...

Well under 12 years old.