Before we get to reviewing the Toyota Sienna we need to address the elephant in the room: the unpopularity of the minivan.
What is a car for? Unless you’re one of those who feel cars are an extension of themselves and drive for pure enjoyment, cars are tools meant to move people and things around. The ultimate expression of that in terms of personal motor vehicles is still the minivan, since it moves arguably the most people and their things, at the same time. And that brings us to an interesting example of cognitive dissonance here in the 21st century: people who dislike minivans but want to buy a vehicle that does what it does. A minivan is what so many people buying big SUVs actually need; space, practicality, versatility, and capability. The SUV is what they want, but the minivan is what they need. The Toyota Sienna and rivals like the Chrysler Pacifica and Honda Odyssey still exist because there are enough people around who understand this.
The Sienna seats up to eight people, can hold a lot of cargo, and is only available with a reasonably fuel-efficient hybrid powertrain. However, that powertrain can be configured with front- or all-wheel drive. Because minivans aren’t popular, Toyota has created a value proposition with its minivan, which means it has a long standard feature list, and moving up the trims turns the Sienna into a surprisingly luxurious family vehicle.
Styling: What Can You Do?
To be as good of a minivan as possible, the Toyota Sienna has made very little compromise in terms of its shape: It has to be a box. Toyota has done its best to co-opt some SUV styling elements and give the illusion of a little brawn, but it’s still a minivan and doesn’t pull off what Kia has done with the Carnival.
The good news is that two power sliding doors on each side are standard (with hands-free activation made standard higher up in the range), as are LED headlights and taillights, and 17-inch alloy wheels. As you go up the trim ladder, 20-inch wheels become available, but then you have to pay 20-inch tire money each time they need replacing. You’ll have to step to the higher-mid tier XSE to get the hands-free liftgate, but a sunroof comes in closer to the start of the lineup.
Our test model here is the Limited trim with the all-wheel-drive powertrain – it sits just below the fully-loaded top Platinum trim in the lineup – and it comes configured with captain’s chairs for the second row with the “super-long slide feature” and ottoman.
Interior: The Good Bit
The interior is why you buy a minivan. The Sienna can seat up to eight people, depending on configuration; the second-row bench can be switched out for captain’s chairs which drops that count by one, and that’s the only configuration available for the Limited. The back row is what three-row SUVs aspire to, but never achieve – they’re perfectly useable and don’t completely murder the storage space behind.
Fold everything flat and you have enough cargo space to avoid needing to borrow a neighbor’s truck on a moving day. Upper trims gain leather-trimmed upholstery over fabric on what Toyota calls sports seats, and the second and third rows get sunshades. Driver Easy Speak is also added as standard from the XSE upward and is useful for when you need the kid’s attention.
The interior is wonderfully spacious and convenient for a family, and designed with that in mind when it comes to drink holders and storage cubby space. The center console is tall with storage underneath, and the upper trims have a two-tone interior to give a premium feel. The top two trims can even be optioned with an in-car vacuum cleaner – does it get any more practical than that?
The driving position is everything SUV drivers want but without the unnecessary ground clearance for those suburbanites who don’t want to wander off the tarmac. It’s a comfortable upright position for laying down the miles, and visibility is excellent due to all that glass.
Technology: Family Biased
For infotainment, the dash houses a nine-inch touchscreen, which falls in the not-too-small and not-too-big category and runs Toyota’s latest operating system that includes Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and Amazon Alexa compatibility. Six USB ports are spread throughout the cabin, so nobody should complain they can’t charge their devices – the Limited adds an additional USB port for media.
Only the base LE model doesn’t feature the option of a rear entertainment system, which features an 11.6-inch display and two wireless headphone sets. The Limited models get a 12-speaker JBL sound system upgrade over the six- or eight-speaker base systems, but it’s nothing special.
Another area where the Sienna rates highly is in terms of safety, both in crash testing results and standard equipment. Toyota’s Safety Sense 2.0 is standard on the range and includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-departure warning with steering assist, lane tracing assist, full-speed adaptive cruise control, and road sign assist. There’s also blind spot monitoring and ten airbags, with the Limited gaining front and rear parking assist. All of this resulted in a Top Safety Pick+ award from the IIHS.
Powertrain: Hybrid Only
The Toyota Sienna is only available as a hybrid, which is good news because Toyota’s hybrid systems are tried and tested. FWD is standard, and going to AWD adds a motor at the back for extra drive. The main drive comes from a 2.5-liter engine mated with the electric motor(s) and is good for 245 horsepower. Of course, acceleration is far from breathtaking, but there’s torque enough to get around. However, to get up to speed to join a freeway, expect 60 mph to come in almost eight seconds, so your foot needs to be heavy, and the engine will sound strained.
The upside of the powertrain is in terms of smoothness and fuel economy, although, as mentioned, the engine can sound harsh at times. The continuously variable transmission (CVT) helps with the smoothness and MPG rating, which is 36 mpg combined for the FWD and 35 mpg for the AWD model. Without watching how we drove, we averaged just under 35 mpg in our AWD tester, including some freeway driving and heading up into the mountains.
On The Road: Surprisingly Pleasent
While the powertrain isn’t exciting in any way, it does the job straightforwardly and efficiently but feels gutless when called on to overtake. But add its smoothness to a comfortable ride from the suspension, excellent visibility, light and easy steering, and it’s an easy vehicle to drive the rest of the time.
While pleasant, it’s not an entertaining car to drive, but you don’t buy a minivan to be entertained on a back road; you buy it to cart around the family in the most stress-free way possible. In that respect, the Sienna mostly delivers there.
Conclusion: An Easy Buy
Frankly, it’s hard to go wrong in the US minivan market as there are just four available, and to exist in such a small market, they all have to be on point. It’s hard to call the Toyota Sienna the best when they all have strengths that will appeal to different people. For example, the Honda Odyssey gets up to speed quicker or the Kia Carnival will appeal to those who want a minivan but don’t want others to know it’s a minivan.
On a fundamental level, the Toyota Sienna offers the best fuel economy by quite some margin and is excellently thought out, which makes it a solid default recommendation when matched with Toyota’s reputation for reliability and longevity. It also gets some updates for 2024. You’ll find more enthusiastic powertrains in rivals that are happy to sacrifice economy. There’s no wrong answer in the segment, though, and it’s worth driving all four.