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Comments
The van is nice, love the back windshield wiper tucked under the rear spoiler. I still do not understand the MAST ANTENNA though, sales guy said better reception, I say what car in this day still uses mast. On the inside, the carpet was cocoa brown a nice touch with the bisque interior and will save from getting dirty.
The 5 mile test loop shared a nice ride. Van is quiet, rides well. The Information display in the center upper dash requires the utmost perfect seating position to be seen and with all there is to display its too darn small, the Nav will be nice.
The brakes were as I read from professional reviews mushy.
Hooked up the iPod to the USB.. cool.. BUT the radio buttons are not logical for easy use of the USB interface, infact in this instance without the Nav, I prefer the MP3 jack.. I can navigate my iPod faster (but that is my nitpick).
Biggest drawbacks- Sienna texture on dash is cheap plastic, similar to Venza BUT no padding. The third row seat folding operation is a real knee breaker, impossible to reach the lever to fold up for someone who is short, the prev gen Sienna and Honda Ody still are better.
The Ody still TRUMPS in cubby storage space!
There are no deals, it's MSRP ! MSRP ! At least for now.
Toyota has finally simplified its option packages (mats are still an option) BUT Toyota MUST compete with Honda Ody on a much broader scale.. with aggressive lease programs. My dealer guys laughed in agreement of me sharing this with them, as many know Odys are all over, The Sienna would be a fine choice.
If they choose to be less aggressive the Ody even in 3 yr old design is still the better choice for now.
Fitzmall (a no-haggle dealer in the Mid Atlantic) is discounting well below MSRP already, just print out their prices and show them to your dealer as a reality check.
Right now, the one I'm most interested in is the LE FWD/4 cylinder. Gotta wait.
I am wondering how the demand for the "11 Sienna is now based on Toyota's issues, even if the Sienna is a "clean" model with no impacts from recalls (yet).
Not if that includes F/awd, the 2011 has a very significant improvement in that area.
I was looking at the pictures of Limited and the wood trim there appears to be lighter than on XLE - more like Lexus-style. Is it possible to choose different wood trim options for the XLE?
I'm lost - LE for 28.5k vs XLE for 31.5 vs Limited for 38k - the only difference is in trims, extra sunroofs, lazer controlled cruise controls and other non essential toys - do you think those are worse the price?
XLE + 8 seats was not something you could get with the outgoing model, so that's a nice little bonus.
The warranty is probably worth $800 or so, so that sounds like a good deal to me, for such a brand new model.
Let us know your gas mileage and any other early impressions.
What did you own previously?
23 Civic Type-R / 22 MDX Type-S / 21 Tesla Y LR / 03 Montero Ltd
In any event, it is time for what we think will be our final van. Yesterday, we checked out a 2011 XLE (did not test drive). Our first impression was the style of the van is pretty decent and well done. However, the rest was downhill for us, and in summary we think our old 2004 is a bit more roomy and has better interior materials. The big negative issues for us: the second row does not have nearly as much leg room as our 2004, and the leg room of the front seats seems slighty less than our 2004. The visibility is less in the 2011, as the rear window has a bizarre black out border, combined with a slightly sloping down roofline, which also results in less headroom. In summary, the 2011 is noticeably smaller inside where it counts. And since I'm 6'4", this counts for a lot. In addition, while there are some nice technology adds (like the add of a 100W plug-in), the materials seems inferior, although the comfort of the seats remains intact and are comfortable.
We did not test drive, because we were not pleased with the new model, and did get a "wow" factor. In fact, it seemed like a step-down from our 2004, and we were left wondering what was the point of the new model. So at this point we will go explore other options, such as the Honda van and maybe go check out the Ford Flex. Maybe we will go back to the 2011 Sienna. Will keep you guys posted.
One dealer in Oakland is offering 2K under on the XLE. It seems to me that 2K under MSRP is "par" on an XLE, and anything better is a birdie or better.
Unless I've missed it, I haven't heard anyone speak of the ride quality for the 2011 model. How does it handle? Is the ride smooth and supple? How would you rate it against the previous model?
2010s are nearly a grand more now.
2011s are higher still. In the prices paid thread some got an LE V6 with only floor mats for $27 something. That was $24.8k back in 2007.
Make sure you deploy the arm rests, they help.
I am halfway through my first tank of gas on my new 2011 XLE. When I go to fill it up what grade of fuel should I use?
IIRC, the Sienna uses Rugular fuel.
There are higher output versions of the 2GR V6 (in a lot of Lexus models for instance) and those require premium, but not the Sienna.
There are some positives. It's a lot more utilitarian than the 2nd generation model.
Our car really felt a lot like driving a Lexus, albeit an entry level one. I wish Toyota took this generation one step further in that regard instead of one step back.
That's nuts. The previous-gen Sienna was not packaged this way--at one point, it was possible to even get it on the LE. The Odyssey made RES available on the EX-L--and made NAV a separate add-on.
There are a lot of families who want the DVD system. I have an 07 Odyssey EX-L with 30k miles. I've been generally happy with it but with two kids now, I wish it had integrated DVD (we have strap ons but its hard to operate). Given that my Ody is still worth a ton, I'd be interesting in trading...but not at those prices.
BTW; the mentioned package has 6 speakers Toyota's sound system that simply sounds better from JBL's 10 speakers! Good news it's coming without their GPS!!
(that's what we've got): with that you still get IPOD support and blue-tooth as standard! *just reminder: no HID (*that's for Limited), and not second moon-roof (another Limited)...
We like ours: has fantastic projector light (very bright, with white angle), and superb high beam! Also the very comfy leather seats!
Very intuitive blue-tooth programming for phone connectivity.
As mentioned earlier over 19mph in city like environment when you drive watching your little Eco green light, that is while very tender on accel. pedal.
Just remember; you'll not have a smart key, or 3rd row electrically folded as opposed to model you mentioned for 39K. I did not care about those toys especially that Toyota's 6 speakers sounds more 'with juice' than that legendary jbl 10 speakers, so for us that was a clear winner. Heaving Video-DVD with this system + all rest with no smart key, and electrically folded 3rd row (and rest all the same) did work.
That's the rub with Toyota--regions determine configurations. Its insanity.
With four kids, how could I possibly buy a car/van that I know will be stained with in two days?
If anyone at Toyota cares, let the Sienna have a darker interior, as it stands now, only the sport model SE can opt for this necessity.
I am replacing an 05 Sienna. Toyota had an easy sale in me. I'm waiting to see what Honda does now.
My 12" screen was $900 installed. I could spend the other $1500 on a laptop for my wife, iTouches for each of my kids, and still have a few hundred left. Maybe a Nintendo DSi for my boy.
That's a lot of dough.
Everything was great until I went to sit in the 2nd row. I am only 6ft tall, but as soon as I sat in that comfortable 2nd row seat my head hit the roof. I had my coworkers sit in both seats and they too had the same exact issue. When the Toyota sales rep finally came over and asked if I had any questions I asked mentioned that I hit my head when sitting in the 2nd row. He commented that he's 6ft 2in and he didn't have any problem. So I asked him to sit in the seat so I could see. Sure enough, his head was firmly planted on the roof. His suggestion was to recline the seat which is far from an acceptable solution.
When we returned back to my 2000 Honda Odyssey we carefully checked out the headroom and found that we had at least 5 inches between the tops of our heads and the roof. My Odyssey doesn't have a sunroof over the 2nd row, but this just made it more obvious to me that this could be a real issue for me.
Has anybody else tried the 2011 Sienna Limited and observed the headroom issues in the 2nd row? Unfortunately I was unable to sit in an XLE to compare. I would need to regain at least 3 inches of headroom before I would even consider the Sienna. I really wanted the Sienna, but it looks like my hopes are now going to be on the new Honda Odyssey. If they've cut the headroom on that model I am not sure where my next vehicle will come from. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.
This model has none of that; there is no real WOW factor, I have been a loyal Toyota customer, but the combination of the two issues (no wow factor and an issue with the foundation of the company) tell me to at best take a time out and not buy a 2011.
I'm hoping my 2004 Sienna will last one more year. Perhaps by then things will have gotten better with the company, we will also now about the quality of the 2011, and the new Honda will be out.
I have test drove the LE, XLE and Limited 2011 Sienna model... The base for the 8th seat is a really bad design... It is not removable at all and like me I have a 3 yr old who likes to walk between the two middle seats, she was tripping like crazy and leaving dirty foot prints. If I was to purchase the Sienna I will only go for the 7 seat model. It was a great concept to have the 8th seat removable and stow in the back, but the base was something toyota is covering when you view all the videos online. You got to go see it at the dealer to see how horrible the base is.
The passenger in the 3rd row can exit by pushing the 2nd row seats forward much like what the SUV with 3rd row must do.
Overall, I was seriously considering the Limited since it has front sonar and rear sonar (front sonar is not available on XLE ) But all these Toyota issues have gotten me wonder if I should wait till the Honda Odyssey 2011 or even the 2010 if I need it now. My family has had toyota only for the last 25 years from corolla, camry, Previa, Matrix, Prius, Tacoma... Now, I am just wondering if I should keep this toyota loyalty going with all these mess!!!! I need to see like a huge incentives before I would go with toyota again I think... Honda is in my mind the last few days.
All in all I think it depends on which model you compare.
23 Civic Type-R / 22 MDX Type-S / 21 Tesla Y LR / 03 Montero Ltd
Have you tried to sit on the Ody 2010EX? I sat on both cars and I felt the Sienna11 has much more room than the Ody. Only the third row on the Ody is better thougth.
The test drive went well. The van handles nicely and sure smoothed out the rough spots in the road, which we intentionally did not avoid. Power was plenty adequate. This was a front-wheel drive LE, and did not do too well starting on a steep, icy incline (we live in ND), but it's not AWD, so how much can you expect? The interior did seem kind of cheap and confirmed that I would probably want to go with an XLE. (The taupe Limited interior we looked at in the showroom had a much better appearance). As others have stated, the dash is hard plastic and in fact, feels worse than it looks. But, I don't drive around feeling the dash, so I could live with it. Maybe cheap would feel good in a crash.
The real problem for me was the 8-seat arrangement. We will soon have 3 kids in car seats, the oldest will be four years old. A 4-year old is not going to be able to tilt the middle seats and push them forward (besides, both middle seats will have car seats in them, there won't be any tilting going on). So the 4-year old is going to have to get to the back by going between the middle seats, and at least for a while, mom or dad is going to have to follow her to buckle her in. The tray left behind when the middle seat is removed is probably a deal breaker for us. It sticks up 4 inches or so, and someone is going to be constantly tripping over it.
You can get a 7-seat arrangement in the XLE only with AWD, or in a limited AWD or FWD (+$$$), or I think in an LE with AWD or FWD and a cheap interior. But no XLE FWD. We'll probably check out the '10 carryovers and then head on over to the Honda dealer. Wonder when the new Odysseys will be out.....................I know Toyota can't customize it for everyone, but I don't think we fit in their "slots".
No head restraint ratings, but given their slightly uncomfortable angle, I think they'll score well.
Wait for the new Ody if you can.
We went with a 2010 instead - good deals to be had right now if you can still find the color and options you want. Plus it just feels so much roomier than 2011 IMHO.
Good luck.