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Honda Odyssey vs. Toyota Sienna

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Comments

  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    Yes, I would think so! My daily driver is a Nissan Maxima - hardly a Miata, but still, makes me feel like I'm driving a truck when I get in the Ody. And the flip side is when I've driven the Ody for any period of time, getting into the Maxima feels like I'm sort of falling into a car. Comfortable, though, once I'm in the seat.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I actually measured the hip point, i.e. the lowest portion of the seat bottom..

    On my Miata, the seat is 13" off the ground.

    The Sienna is 26" off the ground! Twice as high.
  • hansiennahansienna Member Posts: 2,312
    Sienna 26 inches-Miata 13 inches. EXACTLY the reason I love a minivan.

    After owning 1971 and 1977 VW Busses, my wife and I prefer the higher seating. Since we are not aggressive drivers, visibility and comfort are more important than sports car handling.

    We also had many years driving sedans and pickups with bench seats and prefer the flatter seating surface.

    As written by many others, seat comfort is a very individual preference. For me, I have not found any currently produced vehicle that has all seats as comfortable as the Odyssey. Our 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser was 2nd best.
  • panmaxpanmax Member Posts: 24
    "Honda issued a voluntary recall to add a second cooling line to the transmission for all '99 and later Odyssey's, and that fixed the problem."

    Actually, the voluntary recall did almost nothing to reduce transmission problems. That recall added a cooling line which is an oil tube which puts oil into the fill bolt hole on to the 2nd gear on the 5 speed 2002-2004 Odyssey, some Pilots, some Accords, some MDX's, some Acura CL's, TL's. The second gear would overheat and break and lock up the transmission if run at one speed for a long time on a freeway. Oil dripping on 2nd gear helped. This failure was rather rare. From NHTSA's site is the service bulletin about the recall.

    http://nhthqnwws111.odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/docservlet/Artemis/Public/Recalls/2004/V/RCRIT-04V176-2519.PDF

    This did not solve the much more common problem which was clutches wearing rapidly which caused clutch dust clogging oil passages, clutch dust clogging oil screens, clutches slipping and not engaging. The oil jet did nothing to help the clutches. Usually the third gear clutch would wear out and fail first.

    Too many have failed at a young age, some before the first scheduled transmission service. Many before normal trade in time. Because of the number of failures, if Honda did not pay to fix after the warranty, their reputation for quality would be gone in a flash. It already has taken a hit.
  • dudleyrdudleyr Member Posts: 3,469
    Try the front seats of a Volvo. They set the standard.
  • mikebalmikebal Member Posts: 8
    Thanks Ateixeira. Your picture pretty well sums it up for us. The 8th seat in the Sienna was available in a basic LE model as opposed to the Ody which required us to buy 5k of other upgrades to get the 8th seat. All of our three kids are in carseats (and will remain so for years) so second row seat comfort is a nonstarter. The seatbelt configuration you see in the picture makes for a safer booster seat installation in the center seat because the belt is less likely to slip off the kid's shoulder. We are able to seat a family of 5 in the first and second row. We fold down the third row seats and have enormous storage (for all that kid stuff). When we bought our Sienna in 2005, we had two kids aged 1 and 3, and a third on the way. We felt that Toyota's design was clearly superior (and less expensive) for a family with 3 small children. Along with a minor rebate, Toyota won over a lifelong Honda buyer with this package.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Yeah, FWIW I paid $25,347 (with fees) for my Sienna equipped more or less like the Ody EX, and the best price qoute I had for the Honda was $26,883 (also with fees).

    Oddly enough at the high end I was seeing better prices from Honda.

    Lesson I learned: shop around, no doubt.
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    Great clarification, thanks for the info. I was aware of the problem when I bought my Ody, but since I was told the recall fixed it, I gambled and bought one anyway. It's just one more reason for me to look forward to to replacing it with an '07 Sienna in a couple weeks (if I can find the one I really want through all the confusing "option packages"). If I want an 8 passenger LE with the upgraded sound system, I have to buy a $5.2K option package? :confuse: And the way the radio is packaged makes it appear to be not very upgradeable...
  • mikebalmikebal Member Posts: 8
    When we were buying in 2005, Toyota offered a small rebate and Honda offered none. Also, we would have had to buy options we didn't want to get the 8th seat from Honda. However, the deciding factor was what we see in your photo. I would suggest that anyone with an infant in a rear facing carseat have their competing dealers set up the second row center seat using their carseat and see for themselves if they like it. In our case, the salesman at the hi-volume dealer we went to was so dense that he didn't even know that the center seat could be moved forward to a position butting against the from seatbacks. We figured this out from the Toyota website. I guess a demonstration didn't come with our deal.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    You need a PhD in option packages to understand the Sienna's packages.

    Even Toyota's own brochure is wrong. The brochure says my package 3 model does not have power seats, someone please tell the marketing department that it sure does! Even power lumbar! :shades:

    Sounds like you want the JBL sound system.

    My first response is that the base LE sound system is actually pretty good, it includes a 6CD changer plus controls on the steering wheel. It also plays MP3 and WMA files, I know because I tried. Finally, it includes an aux input on top of it all, for your iPod or MP3-capable phone.

    The JBL upgraded sound system is coupled with the rear-seat DVD entertainment system. Not sure why you have to get to get the other, but that's how they package it.

    The JBL does get you one bit of freedom, though - you can fit the in-dash GPS system from the Solara and it's plug-and-play. You can find the 06 Solara's GPS for about $1300 and have that installed, or get the brand new 07 model's GPS for about $1700 and the install is a cinch because the harnesses are the same.

    It doesn't cost $5200 in the real world, either. The package ends up adding about $2300 to the invoice price, so that was the difference when I shopped.

    So, if you're handy, you could get that JBL+DVD RES and the new Solara's GPS NAV for about $4 grand ($2300+1700).

    Had I known that when I was shopping I might have upgraded to the package 5, I think it's called.

    Let's see, I paid $25,247. So add the JBL and the DVD movie screen and it would have put me around $27.5k. Add the cost of the OE Toyota GPS from the Solara and it would have been $29.2k.

    No power tailgate or leather at that price level, but you would have NAV and DVD under $30 grand, not bad. I probably would have ended up adding a backup cam, but we're still under $30k.

    If you prefer cloth, especially, that simply opens up a lot of options for you. I don't really like leather, so I may have done that if I could do it all over again.
  • mikebalmikebal Member Posts: 8
    I'm jealous. Today you get a 6-cd changer that also plays mp3's for the same price I paid 2 years ago. So much for inflation.
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    ateixeira, thank you for the information and for the very thoughtful reply. I appreciate your insight as a Sienna owner. I've listened to the sound system in a CE model (that was all the dealer had at the time) and even though it was bad, it paled in comparison to the system in our Ody, which to be fair, is the premium system so it wasn't really a fair comparison. The Ody's premium system is always clear and distortion free at the levels we like to listen to on occasion,(aside from the previously noted rattling interior panels!) and even though it's not as good as say, a Nakamichi car system, it's pretty darn good for a factory radio. To be honest, I think the sound system is the only thing we would miss going from the Ody to a new Sienna, if the Sienna's system isn't comparable. Do you know if there's a difference between the CE stereo and the base stereo in the LE? One would assume so, but they look the same. I know the CE doesn't have the changer, but is it the same otherwise, or no?? I guess I have to reserve judgement until I can listen to the base LE system. The DVD player is a must have, but I could always add that. Navi would be nice, too... If I can find one with option package #5 it's nice to know there's some room for negotiation. There are some rebates and incentives right now, too, so I should be able to get a good deal. Where did you find the invoice prices?
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    "I've listened to the sound system in a CE model (that was all the dealer had at the time) and even though it was bad, it paled in comparison..."

    Ooops, I meant to say "even though it wasn't bad..."
  • mikebalmikebal Member Posts: 8
    Gotoy, Car prices are slipperier than a bar of soap in a bathtub. carsdirect.com can provide a lot of info to get you started
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    Thanks, I will definately check it out!
  • bobber1bobber1 Member Posts: 217
    Call me silly, but why do you want to seat 3 kids across in the second row? That's not much different then being in a car? We have two kids in the second row and the third kid is in the third row. My wife can then walk back to the third row and feed the baby in relative privacy. We still have a ton of space in the trunk of the Odyssey with out having to fold any seats down. We took a 1,500 mile trip that way and had luggage, strollers, and a couple garbage bags of clothes.

    Comfort wise I don't recall the seats being much different in the Toyota vs Honda, but we loved the Honda's seat relative to the Dodge minivans which were lousy.

    Question for you Toyota buyers? What package does the stability control safety system come in? It's a very important safety feature that comes standard on all the Honda models, but I don't recall it being an option on the less expensive Toyotas?

    We bought a 2007 Odyssey EX and absolutely love it. Handles like a car and zero problems. :)
  • mikebalmikebal Member Posts: 8
    My wife likes the three kids in a row so she can see what they are doing and hand stuff back and forth from the front seat. I think it looks cute but I could go either way on kid convenience with all three in forward facing carseats. Regarding hauling capacity, a car with a 5 cubic yard trunk would also work fine. My buddy drives a Ford Expedition and after their third kid, he has to drive two vehicles to the beach because he can't fit all his stuff in his truck with the third seat in use and he can only put two carseats in the second row. Beach chairs, umbrellas, bikes, trikes, inflatable toys, sand toys, coolers, the list goes on. Large items from warehouse stores, lumber, landscaping supplies, appliances, tools, equipment, materials. No end to the stuff you might need to carry.
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    The 2007 Sienna has VSC optional as part of an option package (with traction control included) on CE and LE models - I think it's option package 2 on the CE and option package 3 on the LE, and standard on the XLE/Limited models. Those option packages... :confuse: Still, very nice van with a great engine.
  • bobber1bobber1 Member Posts: 217
    No disagreement on this end on that. The Toyota was a strong second choice for us. We liked the ergonomics of the Honda a bit more and it seemed to corner better and was snappier off the line. However, that was last fall before Toyota had the new van with the 3.5 engine. Still I tend to stay away from first year models as they tend to have more problems.

    When we were looking it seemed that price wise they were very similar particularly if you threw the stability control system into the mix.

    You can't go wrong with either van in my opinion. :D
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    I drove an '04 when they came out and thought the handling was squishy. The '07 seems to have been tightened up - the ride is a lot more like my 04 Ody, except that it feels much more solid going over bumps. Could just be that my perception is different now for whatever reason, but the '07 Sienna doesn't feel spongy like the way I remember the '04 Sienna. Also, the 3.5L Sienna isn't really a new model, by definition. It's the same as the '04 except for a couple of coscmetic changes in '06 and the 3.5L engine has been in production since 2005 when the new Avalon arrived. I agree that it is hard to go wrong with either vehicle, it just comes down to what matters most to you. I really think the Honda has the advantage when it comes to style, or presence - whatever you want to call it, and I wish Toyota would have made the Sienna's styling a little more formal. However, I am a long time Toyota fan and thus feel more at home in the Sienna, plus I think the new engine has a stronger low end than the Honda 3.5L, and I like that. Honda tends to design their engines for strong high rpm power, Toyota tends to tune their engines for more grunt down low. Again, a matter of preference... I do hope to get better mileage from the Sienna - we only average about 13-14 around town, 17 on the freeway in our Ody and I swear you can watch the needle move. Way under the claimed 18/25 rating. If we weren't expecting baby #5 (we have 7 yr old twin girls, a 4 yr old boy and a 2 yr old girl - yes, we're crazy) we would probably keep the Ody a little longer.... But I always wished I had purchased a Sienna anyway, and now I guess there's just enough of a reason to get one. :shades:
  • bobber1bobber1 Member Posts: 217
    Wow that's lousy mileage. Ours has been quite good. We've pushed 27 MPG on the Hwy and the engine isn't broken in yet.

    I thought our house was crazy with 3 kids under 4, but your's must be absolutely nuts. :sick:
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    Yes - it IS nuts! This is our last one, not that we don't enjoy every minute of the mayhem. Three kids under 4 is quite the handful, too. I remember those days!

    And Yes - it really is lousy mileage. Can't figure out why as my brothers 2002 Ody seems to get closer to the claimed mpg. I have looked at the figures reported by other owners of '04 Ody's (truedelta.com) and they seem to agree that 17 is about what to expect for the '04. We made a 200 mile trip last month and averaged 17.2 mpg - nearly all freeway, and I was ver easy on the gas because I was trying to get the best mpg possible to convince myself I was only imagining poor fuel economy.
  • bobber1bobber1 Member Posts: 217
    Hey have you ever had the timing belt checked? I saw a recent post where guy(who was a pretty good mechanic) changed his and found that the original one was not lined up right. After he made the change the van ran a lot better with better mileage. It seems to me his van was about the same vintage as yours.
  • thegraduatethegraduate Member Posts: 9,731
    We had a 2000 Odyssey (the 210 hp version of the 3.5L, not the 240 hp version), and it delivered about 17-19 MPG in town, with 26 MPG on the highway when keeping under 75 MPH.

    Not sure why yall's Odysseys are getting such pathetic mileage.
  • jchan2jchan2 Member Posts: 4,956
    the MPG numbers on the 04s are appalling- 17 MPG highway?!

    I average 20 MPG in mixed City/Highway driving; when I'm out on the freeway I can easily hit 25-26 MPG.

    I drive an 02 though...
  • thegraduatethegraduate Member Posts: 9,731
    A 2002 should be mechanically identical to a 2004 model.
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    I haven't had the timing looked at because I never thought of that, but now I'm really curious. It's still under the extended warranty - I wonder if the poor mileage would be justification for the dealer to check it out? Hmmm... It really sounds like there is something amiss.
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    I copied this from a website that shows what owners report from their vehicles. Look at the last line, the far right number. The 2004 average is actually 12.2 mpg - even worse than I thought! All the other years are closer to between 18-21 mpg. Whatever happened to the '04's is a mystery, but after seeing this, I definately think Honda should address this. Something is definately wrong with the '04's. Some owners report 9 mpg. Not all the numbers are here because I couldn't remember my login so I had access the report as a guest which only shows a few of the responses.

    2004 240-horsepower 3.5L V6
    5-spd automatic FWD flat light light 0 33 33 33 60 22.0
    flat v.lt light 5 20 55 20 60 9.0
    flat v.lt none 5 20 40 35 60 10.0
    flat v.lt none 5 25 25 45 60 9.0
    flat v.lt none 2 40 40 18 60 11.0
    Averages => 0 1 2 3 28 39 30 60 12.2

    I have heard about some owners of the 2005+ reporting similar results, but it definately isn't as widespread as with the '04.
  • jchan2jchan2 Member Posts: 4,956
    Apparently for some unknown reason some of the '04 drivers are getting far less miles per gallon than their '03 and their '02 counterparts, even though the design of the van for all 3 years was identical...
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Do you know if there's a difference between the CE stereo and the base stereo in the LE?

    Yes, they are completely different. The CE gets a single CD, very basic stereo. The LE gets a 6CD changer standard.

    why do you want to seat 3 kids across in the second row?

    This way if the kids bring one friend they can all sit together, and have front row seats to the full feature film, too. :shades:

    Also, our nanny can sit between the kids. Some times even mom will hop back there to watch a movie with the kids, and again all 3 have front row seats to the movies.

    have you ever had the timing belt checked?

    I believe both 3.5l engines use timing chains, not belts.
  • bobber1bobber1 Member Posts: 217
    Can't speak for the Toyota, but I know for a fact the Honda's use timing belt. While you have to change them, they do run quieter then a timing chain.
  • hansiennahansienna Member Posts: 2,312
    I was STUPID when I got my 2006 Sienna LE. I did not realize until I took delivery that the 2006 no longer had the Cassette player but instead has a 6 cd changer with mp3 connection. :sick:

    BEWARE: The dash controls on the Sienna do NOT control the mp3 player. True, an mp3 can connect to the Sienna stereo but the Sienna system will only control volume.

    I would be much happier with the single CD player with cassette player. :shades:
  • dudleyrdudleyr Member Posts: 3,469
    We just burn the mp3's onto a CD. The dash does control the CD quite well and displays all the song info etc. We fit about 160-180 songs on a CD. It holds 6 so that is quite a bit of music.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    MP3s work great. You see the name of the song, the artist, album name, etc. Plus I fit 180 songs on one single CD. With a 6CD changer that means you can fit over 1000 songs, more than I have in my entire song library. :shades:

    Oh, and it also plays WMAs, which is convenient because I had some of those, too.

    Who needs an iPod? 6 blank CDs cost less than $5. An iPod costs a few hundred. You do the math. ;)

    Timing chains are indeed noisier but they are maintenance-free and will save you money in the long run.

    For 2007 Toyota added extra sound deadening in the firewall and in the cowls to compensate, so it's still extremely quiet.

    Here is a diagram of the new insulation layers for 2007 models, from a PDF from the Toyota media site.
  • michael327michael327 Member Posts: 3
    I am deciding between buying a Toyota Sienna XLE AWD and Honda Odyssey EX-L. I am concerned about driving the Odyssey, which only comes with front wheel drive, in bad winter weather (I live in NJ). Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated.
  • bobber1bobber1 Member Posts: 217
    I live in Iowa and have driven in a lot of snow with front wheel drive with no problems. Yeah it's nice to have AWD, but you give up some mileage and how often are you really going to need it? If you live in the Rocky Mountains or a rural area where roads aren't cleared quickly, you can perhaps make a good case for it, but otherwise FWD will be enough.

    With the weight on the front wheels and the multitude of stability and traction controls systems available today's FWD vehicles are loads safer then vehicles made just 10 or 15 years ago.
  • charlieliucharlieliu Member Posts: 80
    I am in exactly the same situation as you and live in NJ too (Hunterdon County). Since we live on a small hill, we prefer AWD. Had Honda comes with AWD, I'd bought them already.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    It's a tough call, I love AWD but chose FWD for this vehicle.

    Several reasons:

    * our other car is a Subaru, so we can take that if it's snowing
    * run-flat tires are mandatory, no space for a spare
    * you can't get the 8 passenger model

    The 3rd item was the deal-killer, we really wanted those 3 comfortable seats in the middle row.

    We'll just drive our Legacy if it's snowing.
  • charlieliucharlieliu Member Posts: 80
    I just came back from a Toyota dealer. They have 1 XLE AWD in Red (not our color, but we're open for any color if price is right) with sticker price of 39K+. When I asked if there is room for negotiation, the manager said NO. They sell it for that price. That basically killed our choice for Toyota. So we're probably going to buy a Ody with a couple of days.
    BTW, the dealer is Crystal Mall in Green brook, NJ. My advice is STAY AWAY from them.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That dealer is being totally unrealistic, and you were 100% correct to have walked.

    Check out fitzmall.com for a price reference. Loaded models are in demand but there is a $1500 rebate plus they sell *way* below retail.

    Shop around. You can do several thousand better than that. $39k minus 1500 rebate, minus about 5-10% off list, and you should be closer to $34-36k street price.
  • user777user777 Member Posts: 3,341
    first, i wouldn't ask if there is room for negotiation, and i wouldn't be open for any color.

    i supposed i'd start by reading the material at www.carbuyingtips.com

    i'd research TMV at www.edmunds.com

    i'd purchase a pricing report at www.consumerreports.com

    i'd even consider looking at the pricing through www.carsdirect.com

    then i'd go in and tell them what i wanted and how much i wanted to pay for it, based on the knowlege i had acquired, and i'd walk if they couldn't recognize a good deal.
  • hansiennahansienna Member Posts: 2,312
    Do NOT pay anything to buy a pricing report from CR. You can get better data FREE at Edmunds. ;)
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    This place has been pretty quiet lately, but I thought I'd post a comment since we are finally ready to trade in our "old" 2004 Ody for a new mini. Went out shopping today. First stop was the Toyota dealer, where we found a salsa red pearl LE with option pkg 3. With the rebates and some dickering, got the price down to about 26K USD. The only problem was that my wife has grown to like all the luxury features in the Ody, like leather (not offered on LE 8 passenger) and the sweet premium stereo with DVD. The base stereo in the LE isn't bad necessarily, but not quite as crisp as I'd like, and my wife seems to have developed more discriminating tastes as well... So, we deliberated for a while and decided to try the '07 Odyssey. I have been pretty critical of the Odyssey because of the problems we've had with ours, but I am prepared to eat my words - at least some of them, because I really liked the '07 we drove today. Driving these two vans back to back, the virtues of both became very clear. The Ody we drove was an EXL-RES with sunroof. Loved the way it drove, with its sporty handling and ride, thought the interior was gorgeous, even the hard plastic is growing on me somewhat... however, both my wife and I had to agree that it did not have quite the same kind of bank vault feeling that the Sienna had. And the 8th seat is a joke - very much like a thong, as axteira put it. My 2 year old just barely fits in it when the armrests are down on the other two seats, and she's fairly petite. The Siennas seat was quite comfortable in contrast. In a way, it really made me kind of mad. I want the Odyssey's style with the Sienna's functionality, and I can't have both, apparently. Can't get the Sienna XLE with 8 passenger seating. But we decided that if we get the Sienna we can't live without the JBL system, or the backup sensors, which we have grown to appreciate on our '04 Ody. As far as the engines go, the Sienna is hands down the dragstrip champion. Hit the gas and that thing just takes off like a sports car. The Ody suffers from low RPM sleepiness, but is refined and still probably powerful enough. Basically felt pretty much identical to our '04. I wish someone would tell me why Toyota can't, or won't, put some richer colors inside the Sienna, like the black on tan treatment in the deep burgandy Ody we drove, and why they have to make the options so confusing, and why I can't find a single LE with option package 5 ANYWHERE. One dealer did say they had one on the way in, if it's not sold yet. If I thought there was a chance of getting better interior colors on the '08 I'd wait, but can't seem to find any info about that. So for now I guess we're going to try to find an 8p LE #5, hopefully we can find one. If not, I might be back at the Honda dealer.... :confuse:
  • hansiennahansienna Member Posts: 2,312
    GET the ODY EX-L. I think the 2nd row middle seat of the Ody is MORE comfortable than the 2nd row middle seat of the 8 passenger Sienna. ALL Ody seats but the driver's seat are MORE comfortable than the Sienna seats.

    WHY compare the Ody 8 passenger 2nd row seat with armrests DOWN? The Sienna 8 passenger 2nd row seats have NO armrests even when 2 people are sitting in the 2nd row.

    My wife likes the padded front door armrests of the Sienna with the little container inside better than the Ody front door armrests BUT I HATE the shiny circles around the gauges of my 2006 Sienna LE and also HATE the shiny surfaces on both sides of the stereo-HVAC controls. The Ody has a much nicer dash than the Sienna. ;)
  • bblachabblacha Member Posts: 160
    juice -- can you post a link to the site of the "2007 improvements" pdf? Interesting technical tidbits.

    by the way, thanks for extensively posting on your decision process. I'm in a similar boat, long-time a Subaru fan but my family is growing and Subarus are not ;-) I still have a few months to decide, but the value/reliability/size equation of the Sienna just seems unbeatable, soft handling notwithstanding.
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    Yes, I completely agree about the Ody dash - much nicer and richer looking, especially with the leather interior, but I don't think the decision is that simple although I wish it was.... I would be persuaded to buy the Ody in a heartbeat, if not for my own disappointing experience with our '04EXL-RES (very bad fuel economy, electrical issues galore, low quality paint and body panels, etc.) and for that reason, I hesitate to love it as much as I want to. We tried the Ody with the armrests up and down; I was just illustrating how tiny and "thongish" it is. I totally disagree with you about the 2nd row middle seats in both vans - the Sienna was clearly better in this regard. Everyone in my family liked the seat comfort better in the Sienna, except for my wife who thought the driver seat in the Ody was more supportive even though she thought the passenger seats were better... but at the end of the day, the kids and I were talking about how NICE the Ody was, and my wife was pulling for the Sienna because she now feels that Hondas quality is sub-par, and Consumer Reports seems to agree with her as it has only an "average" reliability rating. I'd like to think I would be happier with the Ody because I love the styling and the handling, but with our current Ody, I feel like it's deteriorating faster than it should. And I'd love to think the Sienna looks as pretty.... it just doesn't. So in the end, like most of us here, I'll probably get the one my wife wants, which is the Sienna 8 passenger with leather and the high end audio and the RES - if I'm lucky enough to find one. Forget the leather, because then you have to get the XLE and you can only get that in 7 passenger seating. You seem really disenchanted with your Sienna. Do you really dislike it that much?
  • caravan2caravan2 Member Posts: 198
    One of things that bother me in 2007 Sienna is that arm rests on the front seats use to be adjustable (I'm not sure if rear seat arm rests were adjustable in the previous models). Toyoya went backward in this feature by removing this ability :mad:
  • gotoyotagotoyota Member Posts: 280
    Yes, as much as I admire Toyota, sometimes it seems they succeed in spite of their marketing folks. I don't know why they don't build the features people want... it's like they say "we're going to build it the way WE want it, not the way YOU want it." :confuse: Probably a function of the highly efficient lean manufacturing model they are so famous for, but I can't find one with option package 4 or 5 anywhere. I had the dealer do a nationwide search and he called back apologizing - no luck. I can special order one, but then I have to wait like three months. No thanks. I keep trying to convince myself the 07 Ody would be better than our 04, but I keep reading about failed transmissions at 10K and other problems. So it appears my choice is to go for looks or sensibility. I think we're going to end up buying the salsa red pearl LE 8 passenger with option package three, even though the stereo isn't as good as our 04 Ody EXL-RES stereo, and it doesn't have the leather. I may just have the leather added on aftermarket, but I have to see it first.
  • dudleyrdudleyr Member Posts: 3,469
    Front and rear armrests are adjustable in the 06. Hard to believe they changed that for 07 - maybe there is a defect.
  • hansiennahansienna Member Posts: 2,312
    VERY DISAPPOINTED would better describe my feelings toward our 2006 Sienna LE. First of all, the right side 2nd row seat had been installed WRONG at the factory and could not be moved or folded for access to the 3rd row. :sick:

    After reading Edmunds and CR, I expected it to be better than our 2002 T&C LX....but sadly, it is not. The 02 T&C was just as quiet, just as smooth riding, had a superior radio/stereo, had separately controlled temperature for the driver and front passenger. The 2nd row Quad seats and front passenger seat of the T&C were more comfortable than those of the Sienna.

    However, the Sienna has a MUCH more comfortable driver's seat and twice the cargo area behind the 3rd row seat which is very nice when 6 of us go on long trips (680 miles one way). The 60/40 split "fold into the floor" 3rd row seat of the Sienna has been very convenient. The Toyota dealer has a VERY convenient facility for Oil and Oil Filter change. I do not dislike the Sienna sufficiently to trade it in for the low trade in value it now has and I like it better now that I have taken out the fold down tray between driver and front passenger. :shades:
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