@@DadDoingStuff Definitely looking forward to the review after the new year. I want to buy this Sienna (2023), but they are asking above MSRP, so I appreciate all reviews, especially consumer, real-life reviews like yours. Presumably the price will go down sometime during 2023...hopefully.
We got a '22 Platinum back in February, and it doesn't have a DVD player. Not that bothered because the kids are grown, but it would have been nice. The car is a lot more comfortable than our Pacifica was, although i do miss the seats folding into the floor! Gas mileage is averaging 34 mpg right now. Loving the car. One fault was the gas gauge sticking - full dropping down to half. Dealer couldn;t find anything wrong, but it seems to have sorted itself out now.
Great video and not one of those "Wow, you can sure read the brochure!" types of things. This is what I like to look for, people with actual experience and ownership rather than just shitting out selling points on what's cool that you don't even own. Been doing a bit of research before I get rid of my 14 SE for the 22 XSE FWD Tech pack which seems to check the marks on what you have as well. Ever tried using the digital rear view mirror or does the limited not get this? And how much of a struggle is going uphill with the new hybrid engine? I'm assuming it'll only be in petrol mode rather than EV for this operation, would love to hear your experience with that as well. Great warning about the rear seal too, when I do get it, I'll definitely be extremely careful of that
Hi Jacky. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I should have mentioned the digital mirror. We do have the digital mirror on the Limited trim and I quite like it. That said, my wife really hates the digital mirror. Something about it gives her a sense of motion sickness, so she just flips the lever to the "regular" mirror. The one other area that the digital mirror doesn't work well is when you have something on the back, like a bike rack. The bikes will block the camera and the digital mirror is basically worthless at that point. But outside of that, I'm a fan. When it comes to uphill/acceleration, I think the van does really well. It for sure uses the gas motor, but usually combined with the electric to get up to speed. We just finished a big road trip and did a lot of passing on rural 2-lane hwys. I like to get around quickly so I punch it when it comes to passing. I had the van up to 106mph and it got there in a hurry. Keep in mind, you definitely want to be "sport" mode for any uphill or quick accelerations. But the acceleration of this van has been surprisingly great. Check out my drag race video. Thx for watching!
I agree, wireless chargers are useless. My phone case is too thick. We don’t use them in either of my 2 cars. I have 24k miles on my 2021 Pacifica Pinnacle Hybrid plug-in. No issues. We love it. I go months without buying gas.
Hi Paul. Overall, yes we do like it better. There are a few things that we liked better on the old van, but for the most part, this new one is great. So far they only change oil every 10k miles. We have until Nov 2022 and then our free service period is over. After that, I’ll be doing my own oil changes. Thanks for watching!
Curious how you are getting 31 mpgs? We have the 2022 woodland edition and averaging 27 mpgs. Are you doing mostly freeways vs stop and go around town? Or are you frequently flipping on the EV mode?
Hi Nathan. 27 is extremely low for that van. We are getting 33’s and that’s with roof racks. Most of the driving is honestly around town. Taking kids to/from school, running errands etc. We leave the drive mode in Eco 99% of the time. In that mode, the EV will kick in whenever available. We never use the button to engage EV mode. What I have noticed is that if you are light on the pedal, it will stay in EV mode more often. Driving habits contribute more than most realize. My wife drives the van WAY more than I do. She’s a mild driver, never in a hurry, and never puts the pedal to the floor. That’s one big reason we are getting good mileage. (I have other viewers reporting 38mpg) If I was driving all the time, we could be sub-30. I’m substantially more aggressive with the gas pedal. Hope that helps!!
Great review! Thank you for your feedback, is this a limited trim? I have close to 20k and is exactly 1 year old and do the same with a moving blanket but didn’t cut to size & had used in my prior gen sienna too! 👍, also gave have the RES and used 0% too , and digital review mirror and this is great! Wished it came with DVD player instead.
Yes, this is the Limited Trim. I’ve heard newer ones (2022) might come with an SD card slot in the flip down screen. That allows you to play movies straight from a SD card, which would be awesome. But I’ve yet to actually see that.
Hi Brian. This happened only about 1200 miles into owning the van. The main symptom was a giant error on the dash that said something like “Hybrid system failure. Contact dealership.” They described it as the main harness having a bad connector. That connector was constantly jiggling and creating an inconsistent connection. We got ours in November 2020, so by January 2021 when this happened, this model van was still barely hitting the streets. I think we had one of the very first ones. As such, Toyota didn’t have any spare wiring harnesses. I think we were waiting for them to literally manufacture the part we needed. The dealership had the van for 2 months. During that time they had us in a rental 2020 model. I was pretty bent with Toyota at the time, but since it was put back together, it’s been totally solid. Hope that helps.
How's the drive , like clearence, daily use when picking up kids and groceries , does it stop nice? Thinking of getting rid of the ram 1500 to swap to this. How's the height for driving ? It's hard to find comfortable vehicles for me being over 6'6
Hi Chuy. For all that stuff it’s great. Hauling kids, groceries, all that is awesome. Brakes have been fantastic. No issues there. Where I think you might have a challenge, however, is on the head clearance. Just be sure, I made sure the driver seat was as low as it could go, which is where I have it when I drive. At that setting, from the lowest point in the seat to the ceiling is exactly 38”. For a comparison, I’m 5’10” and I only have about 2.5” above my head. If you are 6’6”, I could see head room being a real problem in this van. I would highly recommend you physically find one to sit in so you can test for yourself. Hope that helps!
Thanks for this great video as we are considering this vehicle! Do the side mirrors move inwards with a button? Would be useful when entering and exiting our tight garage door...
Yes, you can do that. So long as the car is running, you can fold/unfold them with the button. If the car is off, you can't. But for what you are looking for, 100%. I just tested it.
Great review! I am in North Carolina close to the mountains and able to get only FWD. Do you have any idea how that would perform compared to your AWD ?
Hi Vijay. For most driving, FWD is probably gonna be fine and will probably get even better gas mileage. That said, my biggest concern is snow. If you have to drive in snow or icy conditions even 10% of the time, I can only recommend trying to find the AWD. We’ve had an AWD sienna for over 11 yrs now and NEVER had to use chains on it. Chains are a pain in the butt, however they are a reality for a FWD vehicle. That aside, I’m sure the FWD would be great. Hope that helps!
Hi nice review..me and my wife is planning to buy this van i wonder hows this van handle in cold weather like -30°?i leave in northern alberta canada kinda doubt about the heater of the van.is this come with remote start too as well?hope you reply
Hi Jude, We don’t get quite that cold here. Last winter we had the van in single digit weather, but nothing near -30. That said, we’ve had zero issues with cold weather so far. Heater works great, and the seat heaters are pretty darn warm. As far as remote start, there is an option to use the Toyota app, but it requires a subscription. Toyota gave us 1yr free, but For us it was more trouble to use than it was worth. I guess with the app you could remote start from far away, which could be beneficial, but we just never used it. So after our free year, we didn’t subscribe and pay to continue using it. So for now, no remote start on ours. I may look at an aftermarket remote starter later. I installed a Fortin brand one on my Tundra. It uses the factory key fob and works perfectly. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the review, i am kind of in process of making a call either to go with old gen or with the new one, can you share if you feel any difference driving sienna with an automatic vs with CVT transmission, any issues with the floor carpets? and any issues having non metal tail gate?
100% I would recommend getting the newer gen4 hybrid. The gas mileage alone should be enough to sway you, (especially with current gas prices) but it definitely drives better overall. Despite a few nuances with the new model, it’s overall better than the gen3 In my opinion.
I definitely would have a minivan. I do not havet children and I am 65 y/o. I do have a few grandchildren, but it will be rare when they all will be with me in the minivan. Still, I love the space, the sliding doors. The mpg's are quite desirable. Also, I had a 2016 Sienna and it was great. No leaks, no repairs needed, except for weather stripping around the drivers window. The weather stripping would come out of it's place when lowering the window (sometimes). I definitely want this minivan. Just waiting/hoping for a little reprieve from the sky-high, above MSRP price.
I love your review but I have a question, I want to know how you feel about this two problems I have with my 2021 sienna 1. When I don’t have anything on the cargo area it is annoying the bouncing up and down of the seat when they are down. 2. In a few occasions we locked the van with one of the doors open and didn’t realize until someone came and told us, This last one I’m not sure if it is a defective model for Bill like that. How do you feel about those situation
Hi Jose. So that back cargo area......yeah those seats when folded down definitely have a little spring to them. They just don't stay down as flat or firmly as the last gen van. That said, it really hasn't been a problem for us. I think this is just one of the nuisances of this van and you'll probably have to deal with it. For item 2, I know this is possible depending on how you lock the van. There are 2 ways you can lock the van while the side door is still open. 1. You can just hit the manual lock button on driver/passenger door, which will work while the side door is still open. (I would discourage using this method) 2. You can get out and (witch key fob in pocket or close proximity) just touch the little lines on top of the outside door handle. If you do that while the side door is still open, the van will go into what I consider is a "ready to lock" mode. Basically, as soon as that side door closes, the van will lock. But if that side door doesn't close, the van remains unlocked. The most certain way to lock the van AND ensure all doors are closed is to always lock it with the button on the key fob. If you try to do that and a door is open, it will just beep at you. That said, we most always use lock method 2 (touching the lines on the outside driver/passenger door handle). BUT the way I verify that the van actually locked, it by watching the mirrors. If you leave the mirrors in the "A" position, they will automatically fold (like I show in this video). If you tried to use this method and a side door was open, those mirrors will stay open. They don't fold until the van actually locks, which would mean your side door is also closed. So you touch that spot on the handle, and see the mirrors fold. If they don't, you know to check the doors. Sorry for the long-winded answer, but I hope that helps.
It does really well even when loaded up. And if you need to, drop it into Sport mode. It has tons of juice in sport mode. We live in the mountains and I have no issues with it being under powered. Hope that helps!
Excellent review! Very helpful! Has anyone found the softex seats to get slippery over time like leather does) I like cloth seats (on LE) because they’re not slippery. but I also want the four-way lumbar. (We dont have kids)
Yeah it’s definitely hard to get some of the advanced features and still keep the cloth seats. Seems every trim level that includes the tech you want is going to also come with leather or Softex. And yeah, cloth is perfectly acceptable without kids. Most kids will completely destroy cloth seats! (at least mine would) Thx for the comment!
No, but you are the second person to comment in the past couple of days about that exact problem. Other person said they can only get about 3 weeks before they get dirty and fail. I’ll do an update if that starts happening to ours. Thanks for the info!
Get some gorilla glue and fix the back seal. That stuff fixes everything. The handle on our microwave came off 2 months ago, and gorilla glue still holding. How old are your kids? I a no go for the limited or platinum because of the perforated leather, also i had the same thoughts on the tv screen, but my kids are 2 and 5, so my wife thought it was imperative we get the screen. Every time we give my daughter an ipad she will inevitably touch the screen lose the movie and freak out. We only let her watch tv for long trips, and maybe we do movie night once a month. If my kids were 7 and 10 i would get the same build you did, and preferably without the entertainment center. By that age, and ipad is way better, and i can buy 2 high capacity ones for the price of that screen. Great car. Glad to see you are mostly happy with it.
Ours are 10 and 12. I just had another viewer suggest using a Lightning to HDMI cable, then just stream from the iPad to the screen. That sounds like a good idea so I’m gonna give that a shot. But yeah, little ones are tricky with the touchscreen!
According to the build tool on Toyotas site, the XLE does come with power side mirrors standard. The mirrors on the limited and platinum also have “puddle lights” that shine at the ground when you walk up to the car. Those lights are not available on the XLE. But from what I see, XLE standard has power mirrors. Hope that helps!
Ok update…..I got feedback from another viewer that has a 2022 XLE. Seems when Toyota says “power mirrors” they don’t mean folding mirrors. They are just power adjustable. So….you need to get the Limited or Platinum to get the FOLDING mirrors. We have the limited trim. Hope this helps.
@@DadDoingStuff Thanks and Yes you are correct. Two days back I got My XLE. I compromised with the Vehicle even though it dont have power folding mirrors. Every day I have to Park my Car out side my Gurage OR manually fold these two mirrors and park in side the garage. I am finding out ways to replace them with 3rd party mirrors to overcome the issue. Toyota must think about few features which are useful in every day life. Pacifica Base Mode is having few more extra Features than XLE& XSC but I went with Toyota because In my town Pacifica delivery is taking 5 to 6 months which wont helps in my situation.
@@mohanpasupula1588 Something's are worth waiting for. I doubt that Detroit will ever meet Toyota's records of durability. Short term they are more equal . . .
Hi Vijay. Ultimately, no. I was expecting there to be, but I've not heard about this being widespread, so maybe it was just our van. You should be fine!
It’s totally fine in the mountains. If you want to pass or accelerate quickly, just drop it into sport mode and it will take off. We live in and drive in the mountains a lot. This van does great! Thanks for watching.
I want to know where you got those seat covers! I'm getting an XLE in 2 weeks! Can't wait! I was wondering about those cup holders. Thanks for the review!
OMG! Those things are a huge debate between my wife and I. She loves them, but I think it looks like we murdered king kong and made seat covers out of him. LOL!
Great question. No, not specific winter tires. I do make sure I always run M+S rated tires, which have always worked well for me in the snow. With AWD l,I’ve never had an issue that justified going to full blown winter tires. Hope that helps!!
Yeah the 4 banger definitely sounds different than the the V6. Not even sure it’s louder, but it’s higher pitched for sure. It kicks butt in the mountains. I have no issues with that at all!
I've heard and read such comment a lot. Of course, the I4 sounds louder than the V6 during acceleration. What I struggle to understand is that people automatically associate loud acceleration with under-power and problematic engine - which isn't always the case at all.
@@DadDoingStuff ok, then it's a glorified gas generator. Probably less efficient than a gas generator. Maybe in the future the plugin model can make it more efficient
Hi Lam, mostly because I don't have any Android devices. But secondly because we usually want the kids to have their own audio in the back while we listen to something else up front. Only on occasion do we like to listen to a movie in the entire car.
@@DadDoingStuff I am still waiting for my Sienna so can't comment on its RES. In my old Acura MDX 2011 which had rear DVD player, when we played the DVD and the kids switched to wireless headphones, we could still be listening to the music from the front speakers.
@@LamNguyen-sr1sy I recently figured out how to use the HDMI to play iPhone/iPad movies on the flip down screen, and works with wireless headphones. I recently posted a video on that. Thanks!
@@ozarkliving7263 Dude, that would be awesome, but wasn't an option on the 2021 Sienna....pretty sure that goes for all of the trim levels. I would LOVED a built-in SD option. They should just make that default.
It's what I would call water resistant, more than waterproof. It will absorb water from stuff like snow melting off of ski boots and such. I haven't had any problems with water leaking all the way through and getting onto the van floor itself. It's also pretty easy to toss in the washing machine once in a while to get clean. While I cut down a larger blanket, they also make those moving blankets in a 40" wide version that would work pretty well. Here's a link to one on Amazon. amzn.to/3rKaEic Cheers!
All, that I've spoken with.. If you don't go through carwash's or experience heavy rain it can go unnoticed. In a good rain with the visor open, look around the sunroof opening and you'll almost certainly see water dripping. In one heavy rain there were water drops on the console, so in looking in the sunroof area (w/the light on my phone) there were/are multiple drops of water steadily dripping. In the carwash, you see the soap and all coming in.. I've shared several video's with the dealer, first they attempt to say that they couldn't reproduce the problem, (as they always do) that's their get out jail free card... They claim that it is by design. Yet they attempted to make it seat, seal better with some kind of suction cup mechanism but denied any attempts to correct what they claimed not to see... When I confronted them about the suction cup imprints on the glass, they lied saying that was probably caused at the factory when they installed the sunroof... LOL!! Firstly, a robotic mechanism most likely installed it so the imprints should have been on the exterior of the glass, right? Secondly, I cleaned the glass upon delivery, how'd could it still have the imprints, suction cup and finger prints?
The HVAC control's as well, it started in just cold wheater at first, now it's just sporadic. When you get in, remote start, etc the control's aren't where or how they were. The rear control's are on, it's out of auto mode, etc..
@@WIN4GMinistries Interesting. So far we've not experienced that. We don't have a remote start, but the controls have always seemed to be on the same settings we left them on when we last turned the car off.
@@WIN4GMinistries We have for sure taken ours through the carwash many times and driven in some pretty big downpours. So far, we've not had a leak. Maybe we are just lucky. That dealer you have sounds sketchy. If they can't fix the leak after X number of attempts, I believe your van would qualify to be replaced under a lemon law. It varies from state to state, but might be worth researching.
I just checked the title of the video….turns out I didn’t call it “best 1080p video ever”. I’m glad you have enough time to troll CZcams and find stuff to bitch about.
@@DadDoingStuff wow.....don't take it so personally. I was just saying that the quality of this video being an 1080p is the worst, but you detailed info on the Sienna is awsome
@@Kxlwvss I appreciate you saying that. There are a LOT of people that do nothing but nit pick. I’m a far cry from being a professional videographer, and doing my best with what I have to work with. I do put a lot of effort into my work, so I take it all personally. But thanks for taking the time to reply again. Appreciate it.
This is what I would say a real car review. The other well known CZcamsrs are more like paid advertisers.
Appreciate you saying that! Should be doing a 40k review right after new year!
@@DadDoingStuff Definitely looking forward to the review after the new year. I want to buy this Sienna (2023), but they are asking above MSRP, so I appreciate all reviews, especially consumer, real-life reviews like yours. Presumably the price will go down sometime during 2023...hopefully.
Thanks for the update. I enjoyed your video. It got more details that people didn't know. Shoppers for a Sienna should watch this video.
Thanks! I appreciate the comment!
We got a '22 Platinum back in February, and it doesn't have a DVD player. Not that bothered because the kids are grown, but it would have been nice. The car is a lot more comfortable than our Pacifica was, although i do miss the seats folding into the floor! Gas mileage is averaging 34 mpg right now. Loving the car. One fault was the gas gauge sticking - full dropping down to half. Dealer couldn;t find anything wrong, but it seems to have sorted itself out now.
Thx for the comment John. Glad to hear it’s working out well overall. We are close to you on mileage now. Sitting about 33.8 after 26k miles. Cheers!
Great video and not one of those "Wow, you can sure read the brochure!" types of things. This is what I like to look for, people with actual experience and ownership rather than just shitting out selling points on what's cool that you don't even own. Been doing a bit of research before I get rid of my 14 SE for the 22 XSE FWD Tech pack which seems to check the marks on what you have as well. Ever tried using the digital rear view mirror or does the limited not get this?
And how much of a struggle is going uphill with the new hybrid engine? I'm assuming it'll only be in petrol mode rather than EV for this operation, would love to hear your experience with that as well.
Great warning about the rear seal too, when I do get it, I'll definitely be extremely careful of that
Hi Jacky. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I should have mentioned the digital mirror. We do have the digital mirror on the Limited trim and I quite like it. That said, my wife really hates the digital mirror. Something about it gives her a sense of motion sickness, so she just flips the lever to the "regular" mirror. The one other area that the digital mirror doesn't work well is when you have something on the back, like a bike rack. The bikes will block the camera and the digital mirror is basically worthless at that point. But outside of that, I'm a fan. When it comes to uphill/acceleration, I think the van does really well. It for sure uses the gas motor, but usually combined with the electric to get up to speed. We just finished a big road trip and did a lot of passing on rural 2-lane hwys. I like to get around quickly so I punch it when it comes to passing. I had the van up to 106mph and it got there in a hurry. Keep in mind, you definitely want to be "sport" mode for any uphill or quick accelerations. But the acceleration of this van has been surprisingly great. Check out my drag race video. Thx for watching!
I just ordered a 2022 on faith. Sight unseen, and no test drives before ordering it. Hopefully it meets my expectations.
I think you will like it. I have a few small gripes, but overall it’s been a great van. Thanks for watching!
I agree, wireless chargers are useless. My phone case is too thick. We don’t use them in either of my 2 cars.
I have 24k miles on my 2021 Pacifica Pinnacle Hybrid plug-in. No issues. We love it. I go months without buying gas.
That’s a good thing these days considering the gas prices!
It's a good vehicle if you don't need awd and you drive short distances!
I’ve heard horror stories when deadlerships need to fix something. Hopefully won’t happen to you
1x(20/24/22)…..Excellent points….it’s 2022/2023 and I never heard of any DVD player option…done thank you
I'm currently enjoying a rented 2022 LE Sienna. Its doing constant 40mpg in Seattle, city (with PNW hilly terrain) AND highway.
That is great mileage! Curious is that AWD or FWD?
@@DadDoingStuff After filling up before returning the van I calculated 36.5 Mpg. Loos like the MPG gauge is a bit optimistic. It was a FWD.
You should just hook up a Roku player for the rear entertainment. Works great.
Appreciate the idea!
Didn't realize the cupholders were such a step backwards.
Seriously....
Thanks for the realistic review!
Of course. Thanks for taking time to comment!
Do you like the new Sienna better than your old one? How often do you get oil changes? Keep up the awesome content.
Hi Paul. Overall, yes we do like it better. There are a few things that we liked better on the old van, but for the most part, this new one is great. So far they only change oil every 10k miles. We have until Nov 2022 and then our free service period is over. After that, I’ll be doing my own oil changes. Thanks for watching!
Curious how you are getting 31 mpgs? We have the 2022 woodland edition and averaging 27 mpgs. Are you doing mostly freeways vs stop and go around town? Or are you frequently flipping on the EV mode?
Hi Nathan. 27 is extremely low for that van. We are getting 33’s and that’s with roof racks. Most of the driving is honestly around town. Taking kids to/from school, running errands etc. We leave the drive mode in Eco 99% of the time. In that mode, the EV will kick in whenever available. We never use the button to engage EV mode. What I have noticed is that if you are light on the pedal, it will stay in EV mode more often. Driving habits contribute more than most realize. My wife drives the van WAY more than I do. She’s a mild driver, never in a hurry, and never puts the pedal to the floor. That’s one big reason we are getting good mileage. (I have other viewers reporting 38mpg) If I was driving all the time, we could be sub-30. I’m substantially more aggressive with the gas pedal. Hope that helps!!
Other owners are reporting 36-38mpg
Great review! Thank you for your feedback, is this a limited trim? I have close to 20k and is exactly 1 year old and do the same with a moving blanket but didn’t cut to size & had used in my prior gen sienna too! 👍, also gave have the RES and used 0% too , and digital review mirror and this is great! Wished it came with DVD player instead.
Yes, this is the Limited Trim. I’ve heard newer ones (2022) might come with an SD card slot in the flip down screen. That allows you to play movies straight from a SD card, which would be awesome. But I’ve yet to actually see that.
You have me curious as to what symptoms or problems you were having to need to change the wiring harness?
Hi Brian. This happened only about 1200 miles into owning the van. The main symptom was a giant error on the dash that said something like “Hybrid system failure. Contact dealership.” They described it as the main harness having a bad connector. That connector was constantly jiggling and creating an inconsistent connection. We got ours in November 2020, so by January 2021 when this happened, this model van was still barely hitting the streets. I think we had one of the very first ones. As such, Toyota didn’t have any spare wiring harnesses. I think we were waiting for them to literally manufacture the part we needed. The dealership had the van for 2 months. During that time they had us in a rental 2020 model. I was pretty bent with Toyota at the time, but since it was put back together, it’s been totally solid. Hope that helps.
How's the drive ,
like clearence,
daily use when picking up kids and groceries ,
does it stop nice?
Thinking of getting rid of the ram 1500 to swap to this. How's the height for driving ? It's hard to find comfortable vehicles for me being over 6'6
Hi Chuy. For all that stuff it’s great. Hauling kids, groceries, all that is awesome. Brakes have been fantastic. No issues there. Where I think you might have a challenge, however, is on the head clearance. Just be sure, I made sure the driver seat was as low as it could go, which is where I have it when I drive. At that setting, from the lowest point in the seat to the ceiling is exactly 38”. For a comparison, I’m 5’10” and I only have about 2.5” above my head. If you are 6’6”, I could see head room being a real problem in this van. I would highly recommend you physically find one to sit in so you can test for yourself. Hope that helps!
Thanks for this great video as we are considering this vehicle! Do the side mirrors move inwards with a button? Would be useful when entering and exiting our tight garage door...
Yes, you can do that. So long as the car is running, you can fold/unfold them with the button. If the car is off, you can't. But for what you are looking for, 100%. I just tested it.
@@DadDoingStuff TYSM this is actually a really important feature for us!
Great review! I am in North Carolina close to the mountains and able to get only FWD. Do you have any idea how that would perform compared to your AWD ?
Hi Vijay. For most driving, FWD is probably gonna be fine and will probably get even better gas mileage. That said, my biggest concern is snow. If you have to drive in snow or icy conditions even 10% of the time, I can only recommend trying to find the AWD. We’ve had an AWD sienna for over 11 yrs now and NEVER had to use chains on it. Chains are a pain in the butt, however they are a reality for a FWD vehicle. That aside, I’m sure the FWD would be great. Hope that helps!
Hi nice review..me and my wife is planning to buy this van i wonder hows this van handle in cold weather like -30°?i leave in northern alberta canada kinda doubt about the heater of the van.is this come with remote start too as well?hope you reply
Hi Jude,
We don’t get quite that cold here. Last winter we had the van in single digit weather, but nothing near -30. That said, we’ve had zero issues with cold weather so far. Heater works great, and the seat heaters are pretty darn warm. As far as remote start, there is an option to use the Toyota app, but it requires a subscription. Toyota gave us 1yr free, but For us it was more trouble to use than it was worth. I guess with the app you could remote start from far away, which could be beneficial, but we just never used it. So after our free year, we didn’t subscribe and pay to continue using it. So for now, no remote start on ours. I may look at an aftermarket remote starter later. I installed a Fortin brand one on my Tundra. It uses the factory key fob and works perfectly. Hope that helps!
You're awesome please do rewive like this with your Tundra
Is that dirt on the rear bumper or did someone take a belt sander to the bumper cover?
🤣🤣🤣 Just dirty!
Thank you for the review, i am kind of in process of making a call either to go with old gen or with the new one, can you share if you feel any difference driving sienna with an automatic vs with CVT transmission, any issues with the floor carpets? and any issues having non metal tail gate?
100% I would recommend getting the newer gen4 hybrid. The gas mileage alone should be enough to sway you, (especially with current gas prices) but it definitely drives better overall. Despite a few nuances with the new model, it’s overall better than the gen3 In my opinion.
If you only had one child, would you still be driving a minivan?
Most likely yes. We love the space and the sliding doors!
I have zero children and looking to get one just for the cargo space and the gas mileage.
@@PWCDN TOTALLY agree with you!
I would get a large SUV but planning to have a 3rd kid, so, only a minivan works when the family going out together, including grandparents.
I definitely would have a minivan. I do not havet children and I am 65 y/o. I do have a few grandchildren, but it will be rare when they all will be with me in the minivan. Still, I love the space, the sliding doors. The mpg's are quite desirable. Also, I had a 2016 Sienna and it was great. No leaks, no repairs needed, except for weather stripping around the drivers window. The weather stripping would come out of it's place when lowering the window (sometimes). I definitely want this minivan. Just waiting/hoping for a little reprieve from the sky-high, above MSRP price.
I love your review but I have a question, I want to know how you feel about this two problems I have with my 2021 sienna 1. When I don’t have anything on the cargo area it is annoying the bouncing up and down of the seat when they are down. 2. In a few occasions we locked the van with one of the doors open and didn’t realize until someone came and told us, This last one I’m not sure if it is a defective model for Bill like that. How do you feel about those situation
Hi Jose. So that back cargo area......yeah those seats when folded down definitely have a little spring to them. They just don't stay down as flat or firmly as the last gen van. That said, it really hasn't been a problem for us. I think this is just one of the nuisances of this van and you'll probably have to deal with it. For item 2, I know this is possible depending on how you lock the van. There are 2 ways you can lock the van while the side door is still open.
1. You can just hit the manual lock button on driver/passenger door, which will work while the side door is still open. (I would discourage using this method)
2. You can get out and (witch key fob in pocket or close proximity) just touch the little lines on top of the outside door handle. If you do that while the side door is still open, the van will go into what I consider is a "ready to lock" mode. Basically, as soon as that side door closes, the van will lock. But if that side door doesn't close, the van remains unlocked.
The most certain way to lock the van AND ensure all doors are closed is to always lock it with the button on the key fob. If you try to do that and a door is open, it will just beep at you.
That said, we most always use lock method 2 (touching the lines on the outside driver/passenger door handle). BUT the way I verify that the van actually locked, it by watching the mirrors. If you leave the mirrors in the "A" position, they will automatically fold (like I show in this video). If you tried to use this method and a side door was open, those mirrors will stay open. They don't fold until the van actually locks, which would mean your side door is also closed. So you touch that spot on the handle, and see the mirrors fold. If they don't, you know to check the doors.
Sorry for the long-winded answer, but I hope that helps.
How is the drive train while it's loaded in the mountains? Does it feel under powered with that 4 banger?
It does really well even when loaded up. And if you need to, drop it into Sport mode. It has tons of juice in sport mode. We live in the mountains and I have no issues with it being under powered. Hope that helps!
Excellent review! Very helpful! Has anyone found the softex seats to get slippery over time like leather does) I like cloth seats (on LE) because they’re not slippery. but I also want the four-way lumbar. (We dont have kids)
Yeah it’s definitely hard to get some of the advanced features and still keep the cloth seats. Seems every trim level that includes the tech you want is going to also come with leather or Softex. And yeah, cloth is perfectly acceptable without kids. Most kids will completely destroy cloth seats! (at least mine would) Thx for the comment!
My 2022 XLE gets mud *inside* the rear bumper causing the RCTA and BSM sensors to fail. Have you had this problem yet?
No, but you are the second person to comment in the past couple of days about that exact problem. Other person said they can only get about 3 weeks before they get dirty and fail. I’ll do an update if that starts happening to ours. Thanks for the info!
Get some gorilla glue and fix the back seal. That stuff fixes everything. The handle on our microwave came off 2 months ago, and gorilla glue still holding.
How old are your kids? I a no go for the limited or platinum because of the perforated leather, also i had the same thoughts on the tv screen, but my kids are 2 and 5, so my wife thought it was imperative we get the screen. Every time we give my daughter an ipad she will inevitably touch the screen lose the movie and freak out. We only let her watch tv for long trips, and maybe we do movie night once a month.
If my kids were 7 and 10 i would get the same build you did, and preferably without the entertainment center. By that age, and ipad is way better, and i can buy 2 high capacity ones for the price of that screen.
Great car. Glad to see you are mostly happy with it.
Ours are 10 and 12. I just had another viewer suggest using a Lightning to HDMI cable, then just stream from the iPad to the screen. That sounds like a good idea so I’m gonna give that a shot. But yeah, little ones are tricky with the touchscreen!
What was the Trim Level? I see that In 2022 XLE Trim level don't have Power Folding Side Mirrors? Is there any way we can add this?
According to the build tool on Toyotas site, the XLE does come with power side mirrors standard. The mirrors on the limited and platinum also have “puddle lights” that shine at the ground when you walk up to the car. Those lights are not available on the XLE. But from what I see, XLE standard has power mirrors. Hope that helps!
Ok update…..I got feedback from another viewer that has a 2022 XLE. Seems when Toyota says “power mirrors” they don’t mean folding mirrors. They are just power adjustable. So….you need to get the Limited or Platinum to get the FOLDING mirrors. We have the limited trim. Hope this helps.
@@DadDoingStuff Thanks and Yes you are correct. Two days back I got My XLE. I compromised with the Vehicle even though it dont have power folding mirrors. Every day I have to Park my Car out side my Gurage OR manually fold these two mirrors and park in side the garage. I am finding out ways to replace them with 3rd party mirrors to overcome the issue.
Toyota must think about few features which are useful in every day life. Pacifica Base Mode is having few more extra Features than XLE& XSC but I went with Toyota because In my town Pacifica delivery is taking 5 to 6 months which wont helps in my situation.
@@mohanpasupula1588 Something's are worth waiting for. I doubt that Detroit will ever meet Toyota's records of durability. Short term they are more equal . . .
With regards to the mechanical issue you faced, was there a recall? I am planning to get a 2022 but little concerned.
Hi Vijay. Ultimately, no. I was expecting there to be, but I've not heard about this being widespread, so maybe it was just our van. You should be fine!
@@DadDoingStuff thanks for the clarification!
How do you find the power when loaded up going over mtn passes?
It’s totally fine in the mountains. If you want to pass or accelerate quickly, just drop it into sport mode and it will take off. We live in and drive in the mountains a lot. This van does great! Thanks for watching.
I have a 2022 Sienna and no disc player in $1,400 rear entertainment option. Love the car other than that waste on money.
Damn! Yeah that’s totally messed up!
I want to know where you got those seat covers! I'm getting an XLE in 2 weeks! Can't wait! I was wondering about those cup holders. Thanks for the review!
OMG! Those things are a huge debate between my wife and I. She loves them, but I think it looks like we murdered king kong and made seat covers out of him. LOL!
@@DadDoingStuff I'm on her team on that one! I love them!
Well if you love them…. amzn.to/3IuyZih
Do you put winter tires on it?
Great question. No, not specific winter tires. I do make sure I always run M+S rated tires, which have always worked well for me in the snow. With AWD l,I’ve never had an issue that justified going to full blown winter tires. Hope that helps!!
You didn't say anything about the noisy four celender engine or how well it does interesting mountainous areas
Yeah the 4 banger definitely sounds different than the the V6. Not even sure it’s louder, but it’s higher pitched for sure. It kicks butt in the mountains. I have no issues with that at all!
I've heard and read such comment a lot. Of course, the I4 sounds louder than the V6 during acceleration. What I struggle to understand is that people automatically associate loud acceleration with under-power and problematic engine - which isn't always the case at all.
Live in Canada. Just called a Toyota dealer and he said its a 9+ month wait for this vehicle.
Sounds like par for the course right now. Better get your name in now. There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight unfortunately. Thx for watching!
Talked to a salesperson in the US today and the time frame I was told was 5-9 months. 😐
Doesn’t the 1500w outlet eat your battery- unless you keep the engine on?
It only works with the engine on.
@@DadDoingStuff does 1500w draw from the 12v system?
@@DadDoingStuff I thought about use it for heated blanket. If it only works when engine is on, it will waste lots of energy
@@walkingconifer The engine needs to be running for the 1500W outlet to function. I don't see any way that would be sustainable on the battery alone.
@@DadDoingStuff ok, then it's a glorified gas generator. Probably less efficient than a gas generator. Maybe in the future the plugin model can make it more efficient
Why don't you cast your Android device wirelessly to the big screen and use the car audio for sound? That way, all rear passengers can be entertained.
Hi Lam, mostly because I don't have any Android devices. But secondly because we usually want the kids to have their own audio in the back while we listen to something else up front. Only on occasion do we like to listen to a movie in the entire car.
@@DadDoingStuff I am still waiting for my Sienna so can't comment on its RES. In my old Acura MDX 2011 which had rear DVD player, when we played the DVD and the kids switched to wireless headphones, we could still be listening to the music from the front speakers.
@@LamNguyen-sr1sy I recently figured out how to use the HDMI to play iPhone/iPad movies on the flip down screen, and works with wireless headphones. I recently posted a video on that. Thanks!
impossible to get one right now!
I’m sure it is….sucks. So many people waiting insanely long times for vehicles.
Is this limited Awd with graphite leather?
Yessir.
Thanks for vid. You just saved me $1400
Do you worry about someone stealing the catalytic converter?????
I haven’t been too worried, but it’s definitely a possibility
Is there a slot for microSD in the screen?
Nope. No SD slot.
@@DadDoingStuff bummer, my 2021 Sequoia Platinum has the SD slot and blue ray. SD slot works great with a 1 TB card chocked full
@@ozarkliving7263 Dude, that would be awesome, but wasn't an option on the 2021 Sienna....pretty sure that goes for all of the trim levels. I would LOVED a built-in SD option. They should just make that default.
My brakes creeks loud in traffic 2021 sennia an getting worse! Dealer refuses to fix
That’s definitely warranty worthy. I would start researching how to escalate above the dealership to Toyota directly. That’s unacceptable.
Is that blanket water proof? Thanks.
It's what I would call water resistant, more than waterproof. It will absorb water from stuff like snow melting off of ski boots and such. I haven't had any problems with water leaking all the way through and getting onto the van floor itself. It's also pretty easy to toss in the washing machine once in a while to get clean. While I cut down a larger blanket, they also make those moving blankets in a 40" wide version that would work pretty well. Here's a link to one on Amazon. amzn.to/3rKaEic Cheers!
@@DadDoingStuff I do the same with a moving blanket from U-Haul in sunny Florida. 2013 Venza . . .
What about the leaking sunroof?? That's been my greatest dislike.
This one is new to me. I’ve not heard of anyone so far having that issue. Total bummer though. I know a leaky sunroof can be a total nightmare!
All, that I've spoken with.. If you don't go through carwash's or experience heavy rain it can go unnoticed. In a good rain with the visor open, look around the sunroof opening and you'll almost certainly see water dripping. In one heavy rain there were water drops on the console, so in looking in the sunroof area (w/the light on my phone) there were/are multiple drops of water steadily dripping. In the carwash, you see the soap and all coming in.. I've shared several video's with the dealer, first they attempt to say that they couldn't reproduce the problem, (as they always do) that's their get out jail free card... They claim that it is by design. Yet they attempted to make it seat, seal better with some kind of suction cup mechanism but denied any attempts to correct what they claimed not to see... When I confronted them about the suction cup imprints on the glass, they lied saying that was probably caused at the factory when they installed the sunroof... LOL!! Firstly, a robotic mechanism most likely installed it so the imprints should have been on the exterior of the glass, right? Secondly, I cleaned the glass upon delivery, how'd could it still have the imprints, suction cup and finger prints?
The HVAC control's as well, it started in just cold wheater at first, now it's just sporadic. When you get in, remote start, etc the control's aren't where or how they were. The rear control's are on, it's out of auto mode, etc..
@@WIN4GMinistries Interesting. So far we've not experienced that. We don't have a remote start, but the controls have always seemed to be on the same settings we left them on when we last turned the car off.
@@WIN4GMinistries We have for sure taken ours through the carwash many times and driven in some pretty big downpours. So far, we've not had a leak. Maybe we are just lucky. That dealer you have sounds sketchy. If they can't fix the leak after X number of attempts, I believe your van would qualify to be replaced under a lemon law. It varies from state to state, but might be worth researching.
What? no wireless apple car play ?
Negative. The 2021 uses wired CarPlay, not wireless. Kind of a bummer.
@@DadDoingStuff you can get an adapter for 50 bucks from Amazon to make it wireless
@@shaozepan7676 wireless CarPlay for $50 ?!? I’m in. I’ll totally check that out. Thanks!
This still has the old Toyota infotainment system. All Toyotas are getting wireless AppleCarPlay and Android Auto.
this has to be the worst 1080p video ever
I just checked the title of the video….turns out I didn’t call it “best 1080p video ever”. I’m glad you have enough time to troll CZcams and find stuff to bitch about.
@@DadDoingStuff wow.....don't take it so personally. I was just saying that the quality of this video being an 1080p is the worst, but you detailed info on the Sienna is awsome
@@Kxlwvss I appreciate you saying that. There are a LOT of people that do nothing but nit pick. I’m a far cry from being a professional videographer, and doing my best with what I have to work with. I do put a lot of effort into my work, so I take it all personally. But thanks for taking the time to reply again. Appreciate it.