Topic: Test Drive: 2015 Toyota Sienna SE

[Autos_Editor]

Cottage-tripping in a blaze of minivan usefulness, the sporty-looking Toyota Sienna SE flogs practicality along with style.
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[greengs]

This trim level is pretty cool looking.  We were debating getting a new minivan as our lease is up on the Odyssey in 2 months, but Sienna just lacks a lot of nice storage features Odyssey has especially in the front console area.  Will probably end up buying out the Odyssey and keeping it until kids are a bit older. 

[Noto]

roughly $3,000 higher than the similarly equipped front-wheel-drive LE model, though the higher priced LE AWD does come standard with 18-inch wheels versus 17s

Note that the 18"ers are run-flats, which have their trade-offs (especially at the time of purchasing winter tires).

My brother still loves his 2015 Sienna XLE AWD, but the low front end, coupled with my sister-in-law's crappy driving habits, has resulted in many a marring on the front fascia.

They would never go back to a CUV/SUV instead of a Minivan with two kids.  Having to "manage" just isn't worth it when they can have pretty much everything in their AWD Minivan.

[johngenx]

Mini van shopping I'd only have the Sienna on the list thanks to the AWD.  There's buckets of vans in my area and thanks to my Yuppies-from-hell neighbourhood, they're all almost all Sienna AWD models.

[Fobroader]

Meh.....I guess for me a van would be a Sprinter or the Chevy/GMC 1500 pass vans with the awd. The lack of ground clearance and lack of towing is really what kills it for me.

[johngenx]

The lack of ground clearance

That's what kept me out of the Sienna and in the Highlander.  Toyota!  Build it!!!

[Fobroader]

The lack of ground clearance

That's what kept me out of the Sienna and in the Highlander.  Toyota!  Build it!!!

Thats actually an interesting minivan.....never thought I would say that.

[Minou]

My department had a few AWD Sienna's with those dreaded runflats because of no space to put a proper spare wheel.  So we were left with carrying a spare wheel using a good chunk of the cargo space 6 months of the year when running regular winter tires.  Runflats shouldn't be on "ordinary" vehicles.

[johngenx]

I agree about those STUPID runflats.  I would have to...

[Fobroader]

My department had a few AWD Sienna's with those dreaded runflats because of no space to put a proper spare wheel.  So we were left with carrying a spare wheel using a good chunk of the cargo space 6 months of the year when running regular winter tires.  Runflats shouldn't be on "ordinary" any vehicles.

Fixed....there is no excuse for not having a real, full size spare tire with no limitations outside of a purebred race car.

[johngenx]

Fixed....there is no excuse for not having a real, full size spare tire with no limitations outside of a purebred race car.

Completely agree.  I don't want ANY car without a spare.  I HATED the inflating crap system my Porsches had - but at least it was a spare.

[Fobroader]

Fixed....there is no excuse for not having a real, full size spare tire with no limitations outside of a purebred race car.

Completely agree.  I don't want ANY car without a spare.  I HATED the inflating crap system my Porsches had - but at least it was a spare.

A neighbor had a BMW that had to be towed because of that, ran over a chunk of metal in Nisku and ripped out the sidewall. No amount of goo was going to seal a gash........

[dkaz]

Get the FWD, done. 

My old Sienna had a full size spare, at the back under the van. My Odyssey has a donut.

[Fobroader]

Get the FWD, done. 

My old Sienna had a full size spare, at the back under the van. My Odyssey has a donut.

Under the van.....man I hate that placement on any vehicle. Obviously whoever designed that has never had to do it while the bottom of the vehicle is covered in mud or frozen solid with ice and snow.

[johngenx]

No amount of goo was going to seal a gash........

No kidding. Way back when, Porsche didn't use goop - you had a spare tire that was flat - to save space.  They gave you a little compressor and you had to inflate it prior to swapping out the flat tire.  It wasn't horrible as at least you had a tire - but LOL - your flat didn't fit in the space left by the spare.  Anyone see the little "frunk" in the 911?  You better hope you had room to move your luggage to the back seat if you had a flat.  The rear tire on the Turbo BARELY fit.  I was scared to close the lid.  Compared to the beautiful five alloy wheels supplied by Mercedes it felt cheap and stupid.

[Firm]

My Mercedes has an inflatable spare and comes with a little compressor. Stupid, but I've never had to use it, and at least it's got a compressor.

My 30-year old T/A has an inflatable spare (wtf?? right?) and it comes with a small can of compressed air to inflate it...yeah, I bet that works great 30 years later. Caught me by surprise cuz I've owned a half dozen F-bodies and never seen this before. Apparently, the cars that have factory Posi-trac (this one does) will not tolerate a difference in wheel diameter on the rear axle, and since a full-size spare wouldn't fit this is how they got by.

I also had a blow out in a Prius last year on the 401. Sidewall was destroyed. Spent a few minutes looking for a spare and all I found was a can of goo...yeah, thanks Toyota. I called CAA.


...and back on topic. I have this Sienna booked for next week. I usually feel dumb commuting in a minivan, but I'll get by, and I've started to prepare myself for the inevitable jokes from my colleagues.

[Noto]

I also had a blow out in a Prius last year on the 401. Sidewall was destroyed. Spent a few minutes looking for a spare and all I found was a can of goo...yeah, thanks Toyota. I called CAA.

FWIW, that's how the Toyota dealership sold my brother on the AWD Sienna - "don't bother carrying around a spare in the trunk - just get CAA coverage."

It does, in some way, make sense - has nobody here ever had more than one flat at any given time?  I mean, I haven't, but a buddy of mine popped two tires trying to run me over once after I grabbed his gf's shoe and ran away with it in good fun.  Thankfully, it was a Suzuki Swift 1.3 and I could outrun it (and defintely out-maneouver it)

[revalations]

Did the unemployed stylists from Pontiac go to work designing this van? Way to boy racer and cartoonish, looks will date very quickly I think.

Styling wise I much prefer the Honda. Otherwise, the Sienna looks to be a well thought out unit.

[greengs]

My department had a few AWD Sienna's with those dreaded runflats because of no space to put a proper spare wheel.  So we were left with carrying a spare wheel using a good chunk of the cargo space 6 months of the year when running regular winter tires.  Runflats shouldn't be on "ordinary" any vehicles.

Fixed....there is no excuse for not having a real, full size spare tire with no limitations outside of a purebred race car.

I think it will become a trend. There are quite a few more cars with run flats now.  I can see why, I myself have changed 100s of tires around, changed flats but most people either don't feel comfortable or safe doing it.  The jacks that come stock look like death traps and I myself would never change a tire on a side of any road.  Not to mention most modern SUVs and sedans now come with 18-22" wheels and tires that weigh 60+lbs.

[Fobroader]

My department had a few AWD Sienna's with those dreaded runflats because of no space to put a proper spare wheel.  So we were left with carrying a spare wheel using a good chunk of the cargo space 6 months of the year when running regular winter tires.  Runflats shouldn't be on "ordinary" any vehicles.

Fixed....there is no excuse for not having a real, full size spare tire with no limitations outside of a purebred race car.

I think it will become a trend. There are quite a few more cars with run flats now.  I can see why, I myself have changed 100s of tires around, changed flats but most people either don't feel comfortable or safe doing it.  The jacks that come stock look like death traps and I myself would never change a tire on a side of any road.  Not to mention most modern SUVs and sedans now come with 18-22" wheels and tires that weigh 60+lbs.

Yeah because being stuck on the side of the highway for a few hours at -30 or lower is a better option than maybe 10 minutes of work. I have changed tons of tires as well, even though the jacks look like some chinese dollar store type of thing, never had one even remotely fail. Gimme a jack and a full size spare over anything, I would rather continue on in my journey rather than sit around on the side of the road becaue, "eeeewww, thats like so icky and stuff!!".