Flex vs. Sienna

Hello! We are looking at the Ford Flex and the Toyota Sienna though completely different we are having a hard time picking. What are your thoughts to those who have either one. We currently have one toddler using a Britax Boulevard car seat. We will only use the third row occasionally but like that we have the option or the extra cargo space when the third row is laying flat. We love the Flex however having automatic sliding passenger doors on a van is nice.

Thanks!

I'll bump this, as I'm having the same thoughts myself. wonder if they are just too different for good comparison sake?

I have a Flex, and I love it! We actually looked at a Sienna too, but I just wasn't ready to take the full on minivan plunge, so we went with the Flex. I have nothing bad to say about my car. Love the storage room in the back, the third row is comfortable enough for an adult, you can get three across in the middle row, it's easy to access the back row, gas mileage is decent, every car seat I've installed was super easy, it's really a great car. I also liked that it was way cheaper than a Sienna, since we were going the used route. I had my sisters kids last week, and every seat had a carseat in it, and we went to a fourth of July celebration deal. We managed to get chairs, a fold up tent/screen thing, ice chest, stroller and a big bag of snacks and stuff in with everybody comfortably. I was very impressed.

I love my Flex. I was coming from a van and thought I'd really miss the sliding doors, but found it wasn't that big of a deal. When I'm in a parking lot I hold the door and load everyone through one side. Anytime I'd appreciate the sliding door, like in a tight parking spot, I need to be right there with the kids anyway.

I've had a bunch of seats in all different spots and except for the 2nd row middle spot, they've all been easy installs. The 2nd row middle is a little quirky because it has plastic covers for the hinges. RF seats don't do well because they rest on the plastic and if it broke in a crash they might not be tight. FF seats are fine there.

I can't say enough good things about it. And if you're ok with 6 passenger seating it does come with 2nd row captains chairs.

How much cheaper is it? Do you travel a lot or buy/transport large items?

I still prefer the Sienna primarily because of the well in the trunk area where the 3rd row folds into. That and the sliding doors. I need ot be with my kids as well, and not having to hold that door lets me use all parts of my body to deal with my kids.

We have a 2011 Sienna and a 2010 Flex. Are there any specific areas you're concerned about that I can comment on?

In some ways, they're pretty close. For pampering the adults and to a lesser extent the kids, the Flex wins pretty easily. If we're taking 4 adults and 2 kids on a long trip we'll take the Flex if at all possible just due to it being so much quieter and in turn more comfortable for everyone.

For cargo space, the Flex is much better than some with the third row up... for instance you can carry 2 very large suitcases behind the third row standing up. However, it just can't compare to the interior size and flexibility of the Sienna. If we're only taking 6 in the Sienna we know you can fit virtually anything you pick up in the back.

One surprise between the two, is that even without the giant sliding doors the Flex is much easier to load up a kid FF in the third row. It has something do with the height, and actually the rear doors on the Flex are pretty gigantic too so perhaps that helps. If you put the Flex next to the Sienna surprisingly the distance between the front of the front door and the rear of the 2nd row doors is about the same.

So for us the Sienna is the anything is possible vehicle for that 1% of the time while the Flex is the vehicle both of us fight over for the 99% of the time. Neither of us minds the concept of a minivan, it's just that the Flex does some things so much better. The 1 foot thick doors and cutesy 3rd row folding mechanism of the Flex cause its cargo capacity to be out of line with its generous seating capacity otherwise the Sienna might "never" be needed for us.

Jason