What We Learned After Testing a Hybrid Toyota Sienna Over 40,000 Miles | Car and Driver

Would you ever believe that this green—literally, not figuratively—hybrid was the most popular car in our long-term fleet during its 12-month tenure? "No way," you say. Well, despite that we have a parking lot filled with the likes of a BMW M3, a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0, a Chevrolet Corvette, and a Ram 1500 TRX, a mini­van—the terminally underappreciated automotive breed that new dads fear and cool moms look down on—was in fact the most popular. Our 40,000-mile test took 350 days. Why was that? Simple: The Toyota Sienna is one highly evolved minivan.

Shot and edited by Alexander Malburg.

00:00 Intro
00:54 What we got and why
02:14 The interior, cargo and seating configurations and comfort
04:42 The driving experience
06:17 Fuel economy
07:42 Winter
08:22 Service
09:16 Roof tent
10:22 Conclusion

[alexnutcasio]

❤as a car enthusiast, I can state unequivocally that having a minivan is one if the most positive and useful experiences I’ve had. A good minivan can do it all .

[seikocitizenwatches]

I love my 2005 Toyota Sienna. I bought it because I have 4 toddlers needed to be hauled around to schools to daycares and soccer practice/games. The Sienna delivered first class seatings, good fuel economy and vehicle long range up 500+ miles and never give me any issues except maintenance due to mileage (timing belt, brakes, light bulbs, alternator, starter, filters etc
Besides being everyday shuttling duty, the Toyota Sienna is the main family tour bus taking kids to one national park to another all over the US and Canada driving to the East Coast, Midwest, the South, North East and Canada and never broke down.
The Toyota Sienna is still running excellent with iced cold AC and smooth ride with original shock absorbers, struts, engine mounts, AC compressor, electric windows, upholstery, paint, fuel pump.
The 2095 Sienna still runs great and strong at 322, 390 miles and is still main vehicle for long road trips except now just two of us because kids have graduated, have jobs and their own cars 😂. I definitely buy Sienna again next time when I need a new vehicle. The Sienna is so cool, so reliable and so cheap to keep, parts and insurance.
Today I couldn’t move the gear selector out of P. I traced it to the blown 10 mini fuse but after replacing the fuse, it blew again when I applied brake. I traced to the shorted out brake light bulbs. I replaced both brake light bulbs for $6 plus a 10A fuse. The stuck gear selector at P problem resolved for around $7. 😅

[defghi]

I've owned a 2021 hybrid for a year and a half. You're right: the engine sounds like CRAP under load. Also, the third row seats will flop up when you go over bumps. Outside of that, this car has been AWESOME and we're pulling 33 MPG without even trying and usually have a range of around 500 miles per tank. It's the ultimate long-haul road tripper. We've driven coast to coast and lots of one-day there and one-day back trips. Zero regrets.

[stevehofer]

A few weeks ago, I went to my local Toyota dealer to check these out. The salesperson said actual availability of the Sienna has been a problem all year. There was a production shut down due to a supplier, and said there was about a year backlog in orders. There was one used one that just sold for $10k more than its new price. I'm glad I don't "need" a new vehicle right now. The market is still a mess.

[Samlol_drrich]

I can't give you anything close to what this video provided, however that won't stop me. Just returned from a two-week trip out west with my family of five. Rented a 2022 XLE hybrid. We put on about 3000 miles. We own a 19 Honda Odyssey touring and have put 100k on the odometer.
I would buy a Sienna in a heartbeat. We got over 30mpg average driving 85mph plus for hours. The van was comfortable, drove very well and had all the bells and whistles. I also really like the all-electric startup mode. Again just my two cents

[Noypi]

I'm not even a mini-van type but a week long rental with a 2021 Sienna Hybrid in Arizona proved me wrong. Loaded up with family and gear with AWD in Sport mode and full blast AC, speeds reaching triple digits on sections where speed limit was 75, it still returned 30.3 MPG. I'm impressed this is the top minivan.

[DaleDriven]

the intro statement is pure facts. I have a 2017 Toyota Sienna and it's honestly the best car I use! I love my old 70s, 80s, and 90s cars and drive so many unique cars from a 77 porsche 911, a 75 VW bus or a Subaru brat. It's reassuring for me to know that if any of them break down, I have a good trusty toyota minivan I can use to haul people, inventory for my restaurants, or take it to long distances across the US as a camper. It's so comfortable and it has enough power to comfortably cruise around 80-90mph while still giving me around 20-25 mpg. My sports cars can only haul 2 to 3 girls at a time but the sienna lets me comfortably seat 7 more female friends around too. It's secretly my favorite modern car of all time.

[juanplus]

13 years of owning an Odyssey. Best bang for your buck. I used it comfortably on road trips & camping. I used it a lot as my Home Depot hauler. It can do it all!
I might get this Sienna for our next one.

[sidneybeard]

I got a 2013 XLE. 500, 000 miles. No problems so far! Just regular things. Brakes, shocks, struts, front end things. No weird stuff. No engine or transmission issues. It’s a taxi. Sometimes I sleep in the back. I’m 6”1” very comfortable, roomy. I could go on.. got to get another one someday

[mrjomaled]

thanks for the very thoughtful and thorough review. I've owned minivans since the original Dodge Caravan came out in the 80s. They're the most useful vehicle one can ever own. For my mid age crisis era I had 2 doors like a 911 and a TT. You are right though, for what it was designed to do, the minivan is unbeatable!

[kjburns]

My understanding is that hybrids like the Sienna don't get the rated MPG in colder climates. I'm in AZ and have only seen 33.5 on the worst tank. Typically, I see well above the EPA rating on every tank, with the last tank at 28, 000 miles coming in at 39.5 calculated. Range is generally well over 600 miles. I have the FWD Limited and that gets the second row ottomans, which was a huge selling point for my wife!

[corystansbury]

In a world of never ending supply chain issues with batteries, and increased focus on their environmental and supply chain (human cost) issues, Toyota "hybrid all the things" approach seems well considered for the average person.

[jlp-mtb]

I love my 2012 Sienna. Runs and shifts amazing. It has never given me any problems at 130k now. I have 3 other SUV’s as well and if I had to keep only 1 car…it would be the Sienna. It’s practical, comfortable, reliable, roomy, and wife and kids love it.

[vmfan]

We did quite a bit of camping and traveling in our 2011 Sienna over its lifetime. We have a hitch just like shown in this video and can attest that the rear departure angle being low and gets even lower with the hitch and loaded with people and gear. However, after installing an Air Lift 1000 system on the back springs it improved the sag issue considerably and also stiffened up the rear for a more stable ride when under load. My wife loves driving the van daily and I am blown away how well it still rides after 12 years.

[MosheKatz]

I just hit 13 months (and 16k miles) with my 2022 Sienna XLE (8 seats), and I have only two complaints: the "chip shortage" caused them to leave out the "Driver Easy Speak" feature, and the dealer refused to order me the version that includes a spare tire. Yes, the engine is a bit buzzy under high load, but I don't care about this. I've been getting 33-34 MPG, fully loaded with four kids and all their stuff.

[brandonfriesen]

I work for Toyota and have been for 5 years now. Absolutely love this brand

[hereigoagain]

Great review. Love minivans for all the reasons in the review. After owning two for 19 years, it almost makes me want to have kids again :) But they cost less than $25K each back then! (The minivans, not the kids. Kids are more like $250K each!)

[VS]

damn this YT algorithm is getting really specific now...
i bought a green XLE sienna late December last year and am coming up on 40k miles as well. it's a work van for my funeral home and its been hands down the most reliable and most comfortable vehicle i've ever owned in my life, and for the record this is like the 27th vehicle ive owned to this day. MPG is incredible, 12+ hour days are comfortable, and hasn't skipped a beat. my only issue was a bluetooth problem for a couple months, then just plugging holes in my tires but theyre still over 50% tread. i cant ever see myself getting rid of this van

[HEMIPOWER]

Have mine 21 limited AWD right from first badge, replaced 15 limited Awd and never regretted its an amazing van specialy with 3 kids over old generation and fuel economy is amazing

[doggyppants]

Great review! It would also be nice to add the safety evaluation part of this review to the end: emergency stopping distance, emergency avoidance maneuver, mention its IIHS results.