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Why my 3rd Sienna is a disappointment (long rant)

12 messages,  Last post on May 14, 2012 at 11:00 AM

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#8 of 12 Re: Why my 3rd Sienna is a disappointment (long rant) [indydriver] by tom_in_pa1

May 12, 2012 (11:04 pm)

Replying to: indydriver (May 12, 2012 7:30 pm)
The positive experiences and the "bitch threads" are about two different generations of the Sienna. The point is that, for me at last, the positive experience with the '05 does NOT carry over to the '12. It's a different van, and not in a good way.
 
Also, once again, auto mag reviews were also somewhat negative on the latest generation Sienna: I don't believe that I read any reviews that concluded that it was an improvement.

#9 of 12 Re: Why my 3rd Sienna is a disappointment (long rant) [tom_in_pa1] by indydriver

May 13, 2012 (6:01 am)

Replying to: tom_in_pa1 (May 12, 2012 11:04 pm)
Having never driven the 2nd Gen Sienna, I can only conclude it must be one of the best vehicles ever built. As I mentioned earlier, we spent the last 22 years in Mopar minivans which were also generally pretty good vehicles. Of course, they had their weaknesses and weren't perfect. So, while my 2012 Sienna is my first Toyota, I know a thing or two about essential minivan goodness. I will admit that my priorities start with driving dynamics which, IMNSHO, Toyota has nailed in the 3rd G. All the other detail stuff is nit picking to a great extent and personal preferences to some extent. No vehicle is perfect but the current Sienna is a very capable vehicle for it's intended market.
 
Car reviews? Well, as a subscriber to four auto monthlies, I think I understand them pretty well. Like me, they preference driving dynamics but often overdue it expecting everything to be a sports car. You must not be widely read if you didn't find any good reviews of the new Sienna. To help get you started, here's a good compendium of the reviewer's universe:
 
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Toyota_Sienna/
 
The 3rd

#10 of 12 Re: Why my 3rd Sienna is a disappointment (long rant) [indydriver] by fibber2

May 14, 2012 (5:29 am)

Replying to: indydriver (May 13, 2012 6:01 am)
Having never driven the 2nd Gen Sienna
 
The crux of the issue, and why you don't understand!
 
This is our 4th minivan, having owned a Grand Caravan Sport, Honda Odyssey EX, Ford Windstar SE and now a CPO '08 Sienna LE. We are traditionally new vehicle buyers, but having driven several back to back over the course of a week last year, we concluded that both the 11 Ody EXL and several versions of the Sienna were major steps backwards in both driving dynamics, interior quality, and the functionality of basic creature comforts. The things that several of the car magazines and Consumer Reports sited as obvious cost cutting moves that severely hurt these new offerings were spot on, and quite apparent to those of us 'in the know.'
 
Coming from a Mopar? Yep, the new Sienna probably seems like nirvana to you. But had you ventured into a dealer demo 2010 as we did, the differences would have been very apparent. And when we stumbled upon a 2008 with 20k miles and a sticker of less than half the price of new, well, the choice was obvious. We broke a tradition of 9 successive new vehicle purchases when it became quite obvious to us that new in this case clearly did not mean better...
 
Will the Sienna improve to recapture past glory? I'm sure Toyota is hard at work on a 2014 mid run facelift that will address the numerous shortcomings. The incredibly long list of recalls and service campaign bulletins for a first year product has to be quite shocking to their product planners who thought they could save a dime and nobody would notice.

#11 of 12 Then take a look at the CX-9 by indydriver

May 14, 2012 (11:00 am)

If you want three row seating and can live without sliding doors, you might take a look at the Mazda CX-9. This was my first choice but she wouldn't get out of a minivan. It's a great driver and if you want AWD, Mazda provides it with a spare and without RFTs.

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