Talk me into a sienna?

P1ally

New member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #1

For as long as I could remember, I've wanted an odyssey. I've been looking at them, and they're just not in my price range. It looks like I'll be able to get a 2007 or 2008 Sienna. I love the reliability, but I don't like how they look. :duck:

So tell me sienna lovers, what do you love about yours?

 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Staff member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #2

Bullet proof reliability in our experience with our '05 8-passenger LE so far at 38K miles and counting. We've had nothing done to it except regular maintenance things such as oil changes and replacing the OEM tires last year at ~30K miles. I don't care so much how a car looks (as evidenced by our other car, lol, a Scion xB aka a box on wheels, and my first car was a hand me down '81 Escort wagon, and not the last "uncool" station wagon I owned in my 20s), although I used to say ''death before I'd own a minivan'' when we had only 1 child. I ate those words eventually before DD2 was born, lol. The seating flexibility/versatility for hauling us and grandparents around, sliding rear doors, and cargo room won me over.

 

Mags462

New member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #3

The biggest difference between the two i found is the driving/handling. The Sienna just floats and drives like a car. Seriously smooth driving with quick response and handling. The Oddy was like driving a truck, which i seriously dislike. A rougher ride, slightly more pep, but not much. I actually found a better deal on an Oddy when we were shopping and i just couldn't do it - i hated the Oddy handling THAT much.

I have a 2005 XLE with 96K miles and that baby will make it to 200K easily. I it.....

My DH found the 3rd row of the Sienna much more comfy than the 3rd row of the Oddy, but i didn't climb back there so i don't have a personal comment to add.

 

P1ally

New member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #4

Awesome! The car I drive now drives like a truck, and I don't like it. If I wanted a truck, I'd buy a truck.

Thoughts on power sliding doors? Will I survive without them?

 

Aurezalia

Well-known member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #5

P1ally said:

Awesome! The car I drive now drives like a truck, and I don't like it. If I wanted a truck, I'd buy a truck.

Thoughts on power sliding doors? Will I survive without them?

Click to expand...

Yes, you will. They're fun to have, but it SUCKS when they break. Trust me.

 

NannyMom

Well-known member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #6

P1ally said:

Awesome! The car I drive now drives like a truck, and I don't like it. If I wanted a truck, I'd buy a truck.

Thoughts on power sliding doors? Will I survive without them?

Click to expand...

I really like having them. But I only have 1 (because of the trim level I got). You've lived this long without them, haven't you? I wish I had all the doors power, but not enough to pay the extra each month

ETA: The kids were always fighting over who got to push the button to open/close the door. I had to institute a strict rule of only I am allowed to do the door. It really got ridiculous, but I was afraid of someone getting caught in the door

 

TXDani

Senior Community Member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #7

What model are you looking at?

I had a limited and I LOVED the parking sensors in the front bumper because the little display would tell me which one was going off. Huge help to know where you are too close and to have them on the front.

I liked the drive of it. It was plush and quiet and EASY to drive.

Oh it also has the best turning radius I have ever seen. Makes 3 points and parking super easy.

 

M

misstj9

New member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #8

yes, love the turn radius....i surprise myself sometimes where i can make a u-turn!

love the 8-seat model and that 2nd row middle seat is big enough for a britax or me and it's comfy for an hour + drive.

i like the sliding doors, but as someone else said, i hate that the kids fight over them, and i worry that someone will get caught in them (most likely DD!) so not having them will remove that issue for you! i wish i had the power hatch but wasn't an optioni with the 8-seater so oh well!

drives great, doesn't feel like a truck.

 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Staff member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #9

Ooh yeah, liking the turning radius on ours. It has a surprisingly smaller turning radius than the shorter/smaller vehicle our Sienna replaced, a 2003 Saturn Vue. There's full LATCH in all second row seating positions and the third row passenger side and third row center spots for the 2004-2010 model year Siennas as well. The third row driver's side lacks a top tether anchor in the 2004-2010 models just in case you weren't aware of that - it's one of my few quibbles/beefs with ours. I was distrustful of the reliability of the power door on general principle but haven't had anything break on it so far, knock on wood. It does concern me somewhat that it takes a fair amount of oompf on my part to reverse it if it's closing toward someone or something when I've tested it out, though. That's probably the only other quibble I have with ours. We have a power sliding door on the passenger side and manual door on the driver's side and use both about equally.

 

Mags462

New member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #10

All of my doors are power - and i actually have the back hatch door turned "off" so it's completely manual. I just prefer to do the back hatch manually....

And really, it's not that huge of a deal. They slide closed so easily when not on the auto options it wouldn't bother me in the least to not have them automated.

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Aug 1, 2011

• #11

We just got an 08 LE8 in May. I absolutely LOVE it! We have 1 power slider and we also have the issue with the kids fighting over it. Or one will get out and the other will close it so he can open it again. I think I would have been fine without it!

The only issue I have with it is when we have all 8 seats in and we have either a tall ffing convertible or booster or have the headrest on the second row passenger side seat, I have a hard time seeing out the passenger side on the highway. It makes merging uncomfortable for me. But we have our 8 seater set up without that seat in most of the time, which fixes the issue.

ETA- we bought it in May with 43000 miles on it. We're at 47000 already. Instead of using DH's sedan all the time when we go out as a family, we use the van instead. (When we had the Buick, we usually took DH's more reliable car.) I also took it to PA with my parents a couple weeks ago and it was wonderful with 6 of us in it. We'll try it out with 4 adults and 3 kids in September on another trip to PA. We love all the space it offers for people and gear in the rear.

 

V

vtbecca

New member

• Aug 2, 2011

• #12

We love ours! We got an 06 in Nov. 2008. It had around 28,000 miles on it and now has almost 72,000. We live in a rural area but next week are moving closer in so we don't keep putting the miles on We've kept up with all routine maintenance and so far have not had issues with it. Our dodge at this point had steering issues, transmission leak, and other random things that kept popping up. The Sienna runs so smoothly, feels like a car, and is really roomy. I love the set up of everything, the cargo space, really everything. I don't think there is anything I don't like about my van!

Becca