It has good horsepower (195), lots of room, good looks (for a minivan) and a real solid feel. There are lots of cupholders and everything is easy to use. The safety ratings are very good.

The seats don't fold away as nice as some other models. You really need to take them out to make lots of room. Its not that tough to handle the bucket seats, but its a pain compared to other minivans where they fold down under the floor.

My experience has been very good with the Sienna. I just turned it in after 60K miles on a lease and other than regular maintenance, it hasn't required any service. It is just as solid and reliable and when we bought it and there have been no annoyances.

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93 Mercury Villager was previous car. Sold it at 105K miles, but the Sienna seems a more solid vehicle.

Drivetrain, good acceleration, good resale value, looks good.

Original Dunlop tire wear down very fast. Gas milage in stop/go traffic is low but the van also weighs 3900lbs.

It's been a very good,reliable car.109kms on it and still drives like new.Ultra smooth engine/tranny combo.Engine is very quiet, smooth, powerful and has always run flawlessly.Everything else works good too.Still haven't had to do a brake job and still has original battery.

- Smooth power train and good handling. - Comfortable for driver and passengers. - Good reliability thus far. - Good general build quality.

- Could use a bit more cargo room and more space-efficient back seat storage scheme. - No OD when tranny cold.

Bought the Sienna new in Aug/00 after comparing it with Ford, GM, and Honda minivans. Became a toss up between it and the Odyssey. Decision made when Honda dealers were firm on pricing. We live in the Pacific Northwest and use the Sienna mainly for short people-hauling/cross town trips. It goes on longer tours a few times a year. We use it to tow stuff occasionally (it has a class II Hidden Hitch). It gets about 20 mpg around town and 25 on the freeway. For what the van is used for, we find the power to be ample and always smoothly delivered. Handling is competent and safe for a fairly wide range of road/driving conditions. It is pretty easy to park. Interior room and seating functions are okay. Front seats are spacious enough for 6 footers. Back seats/cargo area certainly not as roomy and 'trick' as what the Odyssey offers. We have had to put things up on the roof rack a few times, and reminded ourselves that it is a MINIvan after all. Gauges and indicators are easy to read and understand. Heating and a/c have worked well front and back, winter and summer. Low tire pressure indicator provided accurate warning twice (nails in tires), so it's a useful gizmo. Forward vision is good due to seating height and low/short hoodline. Rearward not great due to thick pillars and head rests. There's road and wind noise, more pronounced at higher speeds, but nothing the Lo-Fi sound system can't drown out. The Sienna has provided us with good, reliable service since day one, and has remained so after close to 50K miles, which is to be expected. Some complaints, however: 1. Recently noticed that the transmission does not always shift into top gear when the van is cold. Will shift properly after a few minutes of operation (takes a bit longer with lower ambient temperature). Will talk to the service folks at the next visit. 2. Rear door strap broke at about 30K. Romania/Kendall Toyota repaired it. 3. Not a glitch really, but the original Dunlops were done after about 40K miles; perhaps a bit on the short side of things. Replaced them with some Michelins. That's about it for whining; but then again, our expectation is no major problems for at least 100K. The van gets an oil&filter change every 3K miles with conventional 5W30. All scheduled maintenance has been proficiently done at the local Romania/Kendall dealer. I have read (and been verbally informed by the dealer) about the engine oil sludging problem, so will continue to regularly monitor oil and look for symptoms mentioned by owners who have experienced the problem. Also received from Toyota Motor Sales USA a warranty enhancement notice last year for the automatic transmission. We will find out if the No-High Gear-when-cold phenomenon is part of the issue. We plan on keeping the Sienna for another 3 - 5 years if all goes well.

misleading advertisement... Breach the contract... Big Corp vs small consumer... anything can be done?

Toyota claimed "we had some confidential document issued to dealers only, indicating that model didn't have such system.... Why confidential?

It was just found that this car didn't have low tyre pressure warning system which was listed in Toyota's info and brochures and explained by Toyota's sales people... Now Toyota denies that this model never intended to have such a system...

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Driving Toyota for decades, now all trust on Toyota's reputation is colapsed... Lesson: If buying Toyota, make sure check every bolt and nut, AND put them all in writting!!!

Engine and transmission mesh well and good acceleration. I don't speed too often, but 85 mph is all too quite on the highway. Very safe, a major selling point for me was the great crash ratings all around. Unfortunately my wife go to test this out when she was rear ended by a utility van. She was hit pretty hard and walked away without even a neck ache. The $4,800 in repairs to the rear were easy to bear

Some minor hardware issues. Both plastic mounts for the hood prop rod cracked after 3 years.

Originally when I bought he van in June 1999 it was a toss up between the Sienna and Honda Odyssey, but the 6 month wait on the Honda made up our minds for the Toyota. I have read the numerous posts regarding engine sludging, sliding door and transmission problems. I have 54,000 miles on mine now and have had no significant mechanical problems. I have had a seat belt retractor replaced under warranty and now have an intermittent emergency brake warning light up. I have not needed to even align the car and just replaced the original, very mediocre Firestone Affinities with Faulken Z512s, with a definite improvement in performance. I haven't yet even needed to replace the brakes or battery at this point. I change the oil myself unless simultaneously having 15K service done. I change the oil myself with Mobil 1 5-30W every 3,000 miles and certainly hope to never have the sludging problem I keep reading about. Four other friends have bought 2000-2001 Siennas based upon my recommendations and I don't know of any of my friends having any significant mechanical problems yet. I use regular gas and typically get 20-22 mpg and fully loaded get 27 mpg on long trips.

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1990 Honda Civic, 140,000 and still trouble free. 1987 Acura Integra

great handling i like the tire pruss warinng

a little underpowerd

great van, rides great took taverld with friends for more then 3000Km and didnt feel a thing, very smoth on highways, the only thing i didnt like is rear breaks dust cover rusted right away, seat handels not that strong, get lose

Looks Good

My kids always feel clausterphobic in the back..very congested

Bought this van,right window switch got defective in 4 months,went to the dealers 4 times,wasted more than 6 hours of my time to get the warrantied switch..feel terrible..they just dont care about your time wasted and inconvenience..Side door started sticking..service guy told me to keep the rubber seal clean at the bottom,now works fine...stereo cd stops working at 37000 miles..toyota dealer service rep told me it will cost about $500.00 to probably replace it..is this the kind of products they sell that it will just last till expiration of basic warraty..received notification from manufacturer about possible transaxle problems...will see and hope this does not happen to me...Good luck you all future Sienna buyers

crash test results

fuel economy; reliabilty is very poor; dealerships tend to be difficult to work with (serviced at different dealership than purchased from); extended warranty not worth it-every time a claim is submitted, they claim normal wear and refuse to cover anything

I purchased the 1998 Toyota Sienna new. The first 50,000 miles were trouble free. After that problems began appearing. Cracked spark plug wires at $50K. Sliding door sticking at 50K. Arms on seats fell-off at 50K-60K. Heat shield for catalytic converter fell off at about 70K. Oil leak at 80K and new transmission. Vanity mirror fell of at 90K and rear breaks dust cover rusted away. A third transmission at 95K (second transmission worst than 1st). Dealer alluded to me that 1998 and 1999 have a lot of lemons. Would not recommend buying 1st or 2nd year of new Toyota design. Gas mileage is poor unless you use 93 octane fuel.

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Pontiac - paid less and lasted much longer

Received a letter from Toyota extending the Power Train Warranty, stating a possible problem with the bearing in the Transaxle. At approximately 150,000KM I began hearing a hum coming from the Transmission. Brought it in to the dealer and they replaced the Transmission with a brand new one at no charge.

Sliding doors are difficult to open. Child protection lock always locks with in the car even if it was in the unlocked position before closing the door.

Overall the Toyota Sienna has been simply amazing. Handling is great, plenty of Power and simply the most reliable car I have ever owned

5 stars in federal impact crash test. No major repairs at 65K miles.

Seat belts do not retract well. Multiple brake repairs due to noise. Replaced calipiers. Poor stock tires, outside edge worn prematurely. Inside slider door release bottons replaced multiple times.

Great vehicle. Handles well. Drives just like a car. Does well in the snow.