Toyota's Sienna offers strong power, a silky smooth transmission, and a nice ride quality. Comfortable and practical, the Sienna has been called the Toyota Camry of minivans. That's not surprising because the Toyota Sienna shares the popular Camry's chassis and smooth V6 engine. The Sienna is available with all the best features available in the minivan market: a power sliding door, modular seats, V6 engine, car-like ride and handling. Its just-right size fits in between the Chrysler Town & Country and Voyager. And the Sienna is a top performer in terms of crashworthiness.
Three trim levels are available: CE, LE and XLE. Retail prices: CE 4-Door ($21,968); CE 5-Door ($22,858); LE ($24,898); XLE ($26,934). All Siennas use Toyota's V6 to power the front wheels through a four-speed automatic transmission. All are the same length. An optional power sliding door on the right is available for LE and XLE models ($395).
Of the three trim levels, the CE is basic: Air conditioning, cruise control, cassette player, and power windows, locks and mirrors are all optional. The CE is available as a four-door model - there's just one sliding door, on the right side. (The rear hatch counts as a door.)
Mid-line LE comes with all the popular features. It comes standard with dual-temperature air conditioning with separate controls for the rear, power windows, locks and mirrors, cruise control, privacy glass and better quality cloth. It also offers most of the available options, including the captain's chairs, six-speaker audio system and power sliding door.
XLE adds body-colored trim, remote keyless entry, heated mirrors, upgraded stereo, anti-theft alarm, multi-adjustable driver's seat, second-row captain's chairs, wider tires, alloy wheels and a roof rack. The XLE Upgrade Package #1 ($1,610) provides leather trim and a premium six-speaker audio system with radio, cassette and CD changer. Also available for Sienna is a huge power moonroof and a towing package.
With its clean, conventional looks, the Sienna is a classic minivan with subtle touches of sport-utility styling. The long, sloping nose is unmistakably minivan, but square lines elsewhere -- particularly when viewed from the rear -- recall a sport-utility vehicle. Where many minivans display vast sweeps of metal, the Sienna has a relatively even proportion of glass to metal, another SUV characteristic.
Sienna uses a stretched version of the Camry platform. It is built on the same Georgetown, Kentucky, assembly line as the Camry. Basing the Sienna on the Camry results in nice road manners. It also makes it less expensive to design and build -- a win-win situation for carmaker and buyer. These savings allow Toyota to bring the price of the Sienna closer to the norm for the class.
Sitting in the driveway, the Sienna looks neat and compact. Its length (193 inches) puts it about halfway between the short and long Chrysler minivans. It's 3 inches narrower than the Chrysler minivans and 1 inch lower in height.
Despite its moderate length, the inside of the Sienna is roomy. Three-row seating is standard, and the rear cargo area is an accommodating 18 inches deep from hatch opening to seatback. The flip-and-fold seats make it simple to expand the cargo area as needed.
If you need to remove the seats entirely, they can be lifted out individually. The seats can be removed with the seat backs folded flat, which makes them easier to handle. The seat latches are superbly executed; they release easily and are simple to re-install.
Getting in and out of the Sienna is easy. Dual sliding doors ensure passengers get in and out in a hurry and minimize running around to the far side of the vehicle to grab a kid. Child-safety door locks defeat the inside door handles on all sliding doors. At the full-open position, an interlock stopper prevents sliding doors from sliding closed when parked on a downhill grade. A half-door stopper prevents the left-side sliding door from fully opening when the fuel lid is opened to prevent the door from making contact with the fueling area.
