2022 Toyota Sienna

Test Drive Notes Library

Pros
Practical. The minivan is one of the most practical, versatile vehicles known to man. It can be everything from a living room on wheels to a cargo van. It can be half and half, if that’s what you need. The Sienna is comfortable, reliable, easy to drive, and with Toyota’s hybrid drivetrain, gets over 30 mpg all day long.
Comfortable. The Sienna is designed to be a rolling living room. The only thing missing is the fireplace. The ride is excellent. It’s universally soft and supple. All kinds of bumps are absorbed well. The interior is designed so that you can have your entire life nearby… Your drinks (plural), your charging cords, your stuff, your own climate preferences. Accommodations have been made for all of those things. Seats are wide and comfortable. Underneath the center console, which holds the shifter and other driving necessities, there’s enough room for a case of wine (or a backpack or large bag). In our XSE trim model, the second row features two comfortable captain’s chairs that slide fore and aft, and leave a walkway to the rear seats. The third row seats, of course, are not as accommodating as the others, but they’re fine for kids or adults you don’t like. There are optional video screens to keep the youngins from disturbing the peace. And the motorized sliding doors make ingress and egress a breeze, even in tight parking spaces.
Efficient. Even with all wheel drive on the XSE trim ($47,000), the Sienna is rating by the EPA at 36 mpg. We saw a little less than that, but still, that’s very good for a large vehicle. And make no mistake, the Sienna is large. We’re not sure why they still insist on calling these things “mini” vans. The Sienna will run on electric power only for very brief periods, usually the first few feet after a stop. The 245 hp 2.5L four cylinder engine with the old fashioned nickel metal hydride battery is no speedster, but it gets the job done.
Flexible. The second row seats don’t fold down flat into the floor, a la the Chrysler Pacifica’s excellent Stow n’ Go design. But they slide forward and aft. The third row of seats fold down — also not quite flat — but close. So with the second row slid forward, and the third row folded, there’s a ton of room in the back. You can move your rock band, your kid to college, or a ten year old Meyer lemon tree in full bloom. You can also configure the van to do some of each. You can fold just one of the third row seats into the floor for extra cargo room, and still carry 5 or 6 people. And even with the third row seats in place, there’s a deep well in the cargo area that proved useful for grocery bags and the like. Plenty of them. It’s a Swiss Army knife of a vehicle.
Toyota reliability. While any individual vehicle can have problems, Toyota has a well-deserved reputation for better than average reliability. Since a minivan is often the center of a family’s life, that’s worth considering.

Cons
Engine noise. This is the price you pay for the excellent fuel economy. The Sienna uses a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and the four cylinder engine is noisy and coarse when pushed. So on harder acceleration, the Sienna sounds a little like a Suzuki Esteem going up a hill. It’s not a pleasant sound. But if it’s the difference between 22 mpg and 36 mpg, would you live with it? We would.
No fun. No one will ever accuse the Sienna of being fun to drive. That’s not its job. Its job is to be comfortable, flexible, and efficient. Want something fun to drive? Get a Miata for when the kids are away at summer camp.
Screen interface. We’ve never been won over by Toyota’s infotainment interface. It has always seemed a little more complicated and a little less intuitive than it should be. Fortunately, there’s Apple Car Play, Android Auto, plus large physical knobs for volume and tuning, along with hard switches for heating and cooling, so no need to go into the screen for the basics.
Instrument panel glare. During certain sunny conditions, the glare on the plastic instrument cluster cover made it difficult to see key information.