Adventures in Moving, the Sequel: Starring the Sienna AWD

Frequent and attentive readers of this space might recall my ode to the Land Cruiser, written last fall written after I borrowed a new Toyota Land Cruiser SUV to move my daughter and all of her worldly belongings to San Francisco for the start of her college career. I’ve always had an affinity for sporty coupes and sedans, seeing full-size trucks and SUVs as lumbering oafs. But my Land Cruiser experience opened my mind. There is a time and place for such vehicles and—much to my surprise—they can be thoroughly satisfying to drive.

Now, fast forward - a mere four months later. Same daughter. Same stuff. But now - due to reasons that are far too complicated to explain—all of the above had to be moved back to Los Angeles. A Land Cruiser, unfortunately, was not available. But a Sienna was. A minivan!? I swallowed a chunk of pride that was laced with preconceived notions and, gratefully, took my seat behind the wheel.

And, I have to say, I’m glad I did. This specific Sienna came with all-wheel drive. Not sure if that played a part, but this thing seemed incredibly solid and sure-footed. In the fall, we had the luxury of setting a leisurely pace. So I led the Land Cruiser along the scenic route—none other than the breathtaking Pacific Coast Highway. For this journey, time was of the essence. So I blasted the Sienna up Interstate 5 through California’s mind-numbing midsection. This full-featured people mover ate up the miles and spit them out while I sat back and enjoyed the ride as if I were nestled in my living room’s favorite leather chair.

The next morning, I folded the second- and third-row seats  flat in nothing flat. No need to wrestle with bulky removable seats. This created a cavernous and easily accessible cargo hold that, in short order, we proceeded to load. Though my daughter had accumulated a few new items during her brief stay up north, everything fit with ease - even more so than with the Land Cruiser.

From there, it was a simple matter of plugging our destination into the available navigation system  to find our way to the nearest San Francisco Bay bridge en route to the Interstate, where we could set the cruise control and power our way home. What a way to go!

The physical stuff is now temporarily housed in my swelling garage—a source of anxiety. And much heavy lifting of emotional baggage remains—much more anxiety. But the Sienna proved to be welcome relief, doing everything it could to make take the edge off an admittedly stressful situation.

Who could ask for anything more?

~ Contributed by Dan Miller, Corporate Communications

Comments

[Steve Matlon]

C'mon Toyota,
Who are you trying to kid with the recall story. Lot's more people are having problems with your vehicles so much so that Consumer's Reports had to pull the Camry and Tundra from it's recommended list so that says there are real problems being voiced by a growing number of owners. As an uhappy owner of a 2004 Sienna (my first and last Toyota) I've experience your shoddy quality and poor customer service upon multiple calls to the "Toyota Experience" number. You are losing your quality halo as your models, plants and problems begin to expand exponentially.

[Gary Kendall]

I own a 2000 Sienna with 150,000 miles, and with care and proper maintenance, it still drives and feels like new. I plan on driving it forever (or until my wife wants a new one). My serious question is does anyone in toyotaland know if the new trails edition with the bigger 265/75-16 tires has had a gear reduction to go along with it. If not, the gear ratio for the automatic went from 3.72 to 3.59. Good on the highway but not towing or the "trails" (edition). I have one on order, should be here in about 3 weeks and was mostly curious. Thanks.

[Melissa G]

I would like to start by saying, my first car in 1983 was a toyota and here it is 2008 and I'm still buying toyota's. I have to say I have NEVER had a major problem with any of my vehichle's. We follow the maintance schedule to the mile and other than normal wear items nothing major has ever needed to be replaced. As far as customer service, I guess we are lucky that the dealership we deal with is EXCELLENT. We can call, walk in or see the employees out in the evening and we always get a Hello and most important respect.
On the otherhand, I would like to know it the 4Runner will be included in the "recall" for rust. We have a 99 that has had to be repaired for severe rust. If anyone could let me know I would appreciate it.
Please don't get me wrong, I have in the past and always will own toyota's, a rust problem will NOT stop me.

[David C]

As far as I know, the Sienna's 2nd row seats do not fold flat as Mr Miller claims.