Tell me about your minivan

[Eluder]

What if you just don't let them eat in it?

Careful or we will have to go to the Dad thread… seriously though how do you pull this off?

[riser4]

I just tell them the easiest way to walk home and "I'll see you in a bit."

There's crayon melted into the back seat of my hooptie so your results with allowing children to do stuff in your car may differ from mine.

[uglymoney]

yeah what, at a blazing 30 mph?

the great white is so laughing at yer sissy ass minivan.

Attachment 412457

Huh? Unlike with the Subaru CVT I am not aware of any speed or slope restrictions with the Sienna CVT while towing. I'll admit if you want to be a USSA race dad having a large 90 thousand dollar late model Tahoe is necessary to fit it with the old boy network, but not needed for light/medium duty towing.

I tow with a 4R, but my dad tows a much heavier boat than my 3500ish boat with his 2008 Sienna and he has since it was new. In fact that boat is way over 3500 lbs. He has 200k or so on it now and still waiting for a tow issue to crop up.

So perhaps one would be worried about how the P810 CVT in the new Sienna will hold up to towing? I'm not sure why they would. As with all the Toyota hybrid CVT's it uses electric motors and gears to manage rpm and power. There is no belt to overheat. It uses transmission fluid to cool the electric motor stators. In traditional slush box terms it is essentially always locked up. Usually these transmissions go several hundred thousand miles without issues. The older one on our 2012 Prius V has been flawless at 215k, albeit a different design that has more limitations than the current versions.

This video is awesome. It is of the P710 CVT from the late model RAV4 hybrid, which is essentially the same transaxle as the Sienna with thinner electric motors. If you are like me you'll want to watch it more than once but if not go to about 17 minutes to see how it controls engine/electric motors/transaxle rpm.



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[neufox47]

A minivan is definitely in my near future. Have a 10 month old and 3 year old. I’m trying to get the wife to hold out for a Sienna plug in hybrid, which hopefully takes another 2 years so we can keep driving the paid off 14 CRV that has 110k miles on it and has never needed anything except fluids, filters and brakes (knock on wood).

The lifted sienna looks sweet. As does that camper modification. Banging the misses in the queen sized bed while out camping sounds like a major plus.

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[plugboots]

I always felt like the cool Dad, piling seven kids into the thing and going to whatever sporting event letting the kids play their music, and eat whatever, and do whatever the hell they wanted to do back there.
Then we always carpooled in my van when we drove up to ski, and guess what? it was shit ton quieter skinning up because everybody got all their conversations out of the way on the drive.
I miss the thing. I definitely need a beater minivan, but the prices are insane for used ones.

[detrusor]

We had an ‘04 sienna awd, put 280k on it, pulled a trailer w inflated raft and all our shit (2k pounds?) at 75-80 all over. Airbags on back

Yep m going to buy a hybrid and lift it for sure


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[skaredshtles]

Our Honda got vanity plates at 100K.

[bodywhomper]

Can you fit a queen in the back of the newer sienna’s with the non-removable second row?

[mcphee]

For those of you who have your hands on the new sienna, what’s stopping the 2nd row from being removed?

When I had an Astro, we took the 2nd row out for our first road trip and they never went back in. Same for my current 06 Sienna, although now with a baby it’s possible one of the 2nd row seats is going back in.

[riser4]

Non-removable 2nd row seats???? Dafuq???? Removable seats are what make this van so versatile. Our old '07 and the '11 both have that and it rocks when you have to move a bunch of shit. Although usually I drive around in station wagon mode with the rear seats stowed and the middle seats in place

[irul&ublo]

[Brownski]

Our Honda got vanity plates at 100K.

My college friends called my ‘85 Safari the battle van. My AK friends called it the wildebeest

[plugboots]

For those of you who have your hands on the new sienna, what’s stopping the 2nd row from being removed?

People have removed them on YouTube at least. Lots of safety shit, wiring, etc.

[JohnF]

I have always been a fan of minivans. The big downside, in some ways only downside for me, is lack of clearance/ability to go wheeling.

That said, the notion that a FWD with snows is fine only holds true until you're stuck. After my first winter in real snow country, I committed to never owning a FWD again. There is only so much you can make up for with solid driving skills and snow tires.

What about adding chains for those times?

[doebedoe]

Our Honda got vanity plates at 100K.

Mine got some at 80k.

[riser4]

When it was new you missed the chance:. ANUSTRT.

[Danno]

What about adding chains for those times?

I used chains plenty that first winter. That's part of what convinced me to never do that again.

[neufox47]

Seriously chains are the worst. Every time I drive past the poor dumb fuckers freezing their fingers while they deal with chains going on and off I think about how happy I am to have awd.


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[RootSkier]

The Rootskier family has been rallying a 2021 AWD Sienna Hybrid (Limited) for about a year. I LOVE it. It is a million times better for family ski days than my four-door Tacoma. I just drove it to Utah and back from MT and put five bikes INSIDE the van for the road trip portion (family flew), which was absolutely clutch because nobody needs to watch bikes bouncing around one a 1-Up for 900 miles. Also, it only took one fill-up between Missoula and St. George, and I got a little over 30mpg the whole way, and that was averaging around 90mph the entire way (15 through UT has a lot of psycho drivers, wow folks, take a puff and chill).

I am now looking into the lift, because I agree with toast that ground clearance is the major fault, especially with an added receiver hitch. The approach angles with a 1-Up are not ideal. But 100% would buy again, and the sound system in the Limited edition slaps pretty fucking hard for a stock Toyota.

[Not DJSapp]

2013 Sienna owner checking in here. Love the damn thing for family trips. 2 kids + large dog and luggage no problem and everyone is comfortable. Does it all, and for what it can't do I have a F150 Supercrew 4x4, which is pretty much just trips to buy lumber. Only real complaint is that it seems to go through brakes rather quickly (rotor warps). They're stopping a lot of car and this seems to be a frequent complaint on the 2013 Sienna. They supposedly fixed it with a TSB a while ago, but the real answer is to upgrade them from OEM. I wish the entertainment system was a bit more modern though. Android Auto kicks ass and this thing doesn't have it.

FWIW, when we shopped vans back in the day I remember the following:

Honda Odessy didn't have enough headroom for me at 6'3". Hair was hitting the headliner with the driver seat bottomed out. Deal breaker, seemed like it could have been nice but not for me.
Top of the Line Town and Country checked all the boxes for features, but felt stupidly cheap and plasticy. Like it was a K-Mart special.
I rented a Chrysler Pacifica about a year ago. Seemed fine.

And highway queen SUV's are for chumps.

[doebedoe]

My 2013 Sienna front rotors warped enough after 65k (of which there was a lot of mountain driving) to merit replacement. Luckily, if you're the least bit mechanically inclined it's a dead easy job. I do love how easy it is to flick into manual mode to engine brake on the down (at least compared to my old Astros). Wondering how long I'll get out of the current rotors/pads with my more conservative braking.

[riser4]

My 2013 Sienna front rotors warped enough after 65k (of which there was a lot of mountain driving) to merit replacement. Luckily, if you're the least bit mechanically inclined it's a dead easy job. I do love how easy it is to flick into manual mode to engine brake on the down (at least compared to my old Astros). Wondering how long I'll get out of the current rotors/pads with my more conservative braking.

Or you'll need a new transmission.

[skaredshtles]

Or you'll need a new transmission.

[doebedoe]

Or you'll need a new transmission.

I specifically got the pre-2017 gen 3 because the 6 spd transmission in that has been beaten to hell and back in many iterations. The torque converter in it locks up quick and holds revs after that. It isn't constantly slipping and is no harder on the transmission than shifting under load from what my local mechanic has told me. My use of engine braking might reduce its expected lifetime from 350k to 300k and I'm fine with that if it saves me doing rotors up front every 50k cause while my time is cheap it ain't free.

[fatnslow]

That's incredibly helpful info. I feel like I'm gonna end up with a new one at this point. Just need to plastic wrap the entire thing before it gets covered in kid stuff.

Uhm, the battle is already lost. Just let it all get around into the carpet and if you ever get stuck in the woods and need food just a couple of licks will get you everything from caffeine to organic nuts.