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Back In The Fold, Sienna Limited AWD

11K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  Gstom1 
#1 · (Edited)
We will be trading the 2011 Sienna Limited AWD for an Odyssey Elite after only 10 months of ownership that have been nothing but HELL. Had multiple electrical issues which we eventually all fixed but here are the letdowns, and BTW we are former 2005 Odyssey Touring owners.

Here is why the Sienna sucks:

1. Cheap plastics, fake wood, shag thin carpeting laying in clumps with
complicated layout and support that means the third row carpets constantly
slide under the second row captain seats.
2. Tiny door storage compartments.
3. No rubber at bottom of any storage space in dash or door.
4. Cheap ugly visibly hinged latches to the third row, half the time they don't hook properly and take an effort. Captain seat tracks jam often and a real
pain to dislodge.
5. Giant 3rd row headrests, not infinitely adjustable.
6. Faint window tint.
7. Cheap puny rattly sliding door hinges.
8. Cheap wiring hanging loosely in engine bay overlying
chassis with 1mm of insulation and 2-3 ft between retainers.
9. Video game steering 100%
10. Loosely secured roof liner, pushing a light button triggers
a 1-2" excursion of the entire liner section. Lights will stay on
all night as long as the sliding door is open, we always kept it
open in our A/Cd garage to avoid odors, not with the Sienna, even
with lights off the circuitry will stay on causing battery drain if door
open.

We are tired of the Toyota ownership experience too, when we had the
brake recall they ruined the panel retainer to the A-pillar, car leaves service
with scratch marks from sandy boots on the door sills.

Sienna Limited AWD our first and last Toyota!

We still regret having sold the 2005 Odyssey Touring after 5 years out of pure
boredom, but we quickly learned what a painful car ownership can mean.

We are getting our Elite within a month, they are hard to find too. It took me 3 hours with a Touring to understand what a huge mistake we did getting rid of the 2005 Ody just to get AWD.

Don't need to believe me, Honda wins all comparative reviews. Just like an athlete, she may be ugly but she performs

The Sienna flunks the safety test, with only 2 star lateral crashworthiness on gvnmt tests, and i just wonder how the giant second sunroof would protect given the already weakened frame by the sliding doors.

Keeping my fingers crossed that we don't get the dead battery issue.
 
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#5 ·
Aw, come on now. Toyota makes some damn fine cars! Just as Honda does! It's all in the eye of the beholder.

However, both manufacturers are prone to have their issues. Afterall, making a vehicle with hundreds of thousands of parts and so many moving pieces, and trying to make it all for a cost that someone's willing to pay for it, and compete with other manufacturers, and to do so such that'll leave you with a profit margin, you're bound to have issues. Both Toyota and Honda has proven that their problem per 100 cars ratio is a lot lower than other manufacturers. But there's just no way to bring that ratio to 0:100. There'll be defects and flaws.

Congrats on the OP's new Elite! Sorry to hear about your Sienna. Hope you have MUCH better luck with your Honda.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Some chilling statistics from the government, not the subsidized insurance company crash tests that fooled us into believing the Sienna was a very safe car:

2011 & Newer - Search Results | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

The Sienna gets 3, yes 3 stars frontal crashworthiness, Honda 5.

Xxxx you very much Toyota, you had us all fooled with your "5 Star" sponsored crash tests:(

I feel stupid and guilty for wasting my family's money on such an early trade-in but i believe that i am doing the right thing and plan on keeping the Honda for at least 10 years.
 
#8 ·
Since this is all about bashing the Sienna, moved to the Minivan Comparison forum.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Let's face it, the AWD on the Sienna is the same as on the Land Cruiser, and it is very good. We have 2 large hills to conquer and last winter was great with the Sienna.

STILL, just the AWD does not justify a cheaply made car, and unsafe too. Just watch as the news of the 3 star frontal crashworthiness spreads. That means that parents can die in it as city street cumulative impact speeds. Even the knee airbag (first in class) does little to protect the dummies.

The flipside of ASIMO technology in modern dummies:
 
#12 ·
krispykreme is going to be SOOO disappointed!!
 
#16 · (Edited)
Update:

Jim Jeffers at Hugh White Honda called me with an update about 3 weeks ago, he thought i should know, and i thought it is worth posting here.

Tech took Sienna up the road to Toyota dealer when suddenly brake pedal fell off, car plunged in the middle of busy intersection. He put it in neutral and used emergency brake to stop, and by a miracle nobody was hurt. Then slowly inched his way out of the intersection playing with the ebrake until the traffic was freed, then Sienna got trucked.

Apparently, the friendly techs who did the e-brake pedal recall (so poorly designed that the wires hanging under the ebrake from the brake pedal could be severed and shorted with permanent brake lights on) forgot to tighten the bolt back, that is after they broke off the doorsill cover retaining clips, and left permanent scratches with oily boots on it, also rubbed their boots into my sunglass cleaning cloth that they found in the overhead compartment:(

Xxxx Toyota, sorry people, never again, this only validates my opinion of them.
 
#17 ·
Glad nobody was injured. Scary but funny story...especially considering that the Toyota dealer is a whopping 200 yards away from Hugh White.
 
#18 ·
Ditto. Traded in our 2011 Sienna XLE AWD for an Odyssey Touring, yesterday. In our case, the Sienna took on water resulting in a wet, moldy interior. Toyota denied any problem with the van, and my insurance wound up paying $3000 for new carpeting and ozonation (sp?). Over 6 weeks later, retrieved the van, only to contend with a chemical smell having replaced the mold smell. And the proverbial straw... stopped by the dealership this past Saturday to pick up new wipers (crazy snow storm out here), only to learn that they didn't have that item in stock.

Good riddance on the Sienna. Good to be back in the Honda camp.
 
#19 ·
interjim, it's too bad you just got rid of Toyota Sienna. Apparently Toyota just released OEM all season floor mats for the Sienna, 1.5 years after the 2011's came out. Joking . . .

Welcome back to the Honda fold. What other Honda cars did you own before?

;)
 
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