Tell me about your minivan

[MontuckyFried]

I have never cared one whit about how my car looks, I am all about function. I used to be interested in a Honda Element, and that thing looked like a fucking toaster.

There's a difference in the design intentions. The Element was like, "Yeah. I'm ugly. What of it?" It was charming in its own way. Whereas so many Toyota products these days are like "Look how rad I am! Check out my grill! Look at me! Look at me! So effing cool! Yeah." [Sienna puts on shades] It's trying waaaaaaay too hard. A bit like BMW these days. These guys are loving their grills a little too much.

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[toast2266]

I drove my wife's green sienna to work today. It actually got kinda dangerous because so many women were throwing their panties on the windshield. That thing pulls more fur than any stupid porsche.

[RootSkier]

I drove my wife's green sienna to work today. It actually got kinda dangerous because so many women were throwing their panties on the windshield. That thing pulls more fur than any stupid porsche.

I would prefer to drive the Sienna as a daily driver, too. But apparently my wife gets too much 'tang from it to let me have a chance. #mensrights or something?

[uglymoney]

I love my wife, she is truly the best wife ever, but she is not without flaws. She won't drive the family minivan. So we don't have one.

In the days before I bought my VW Alltrack I went to the dealer to buy a beautiful black 2016 AWD Sienna. Literally got sick to my stomach and overwhelmed with anxiety at the dealer. Drove off. The Alltrack has worked nicely, even managing to haul all 4 of us, 19 year old stepson in backseat and our dogs 2000 miles on a ski trip this winter, but it is no minivan.

I am incredibly practical, but unfortunately I have my limits.

You guys are so lucky.

[muted reborn]

I drove my wife's green sienna to work today. It actually got kinda dangerous because so many women were throwing their panties on the windshield. That thing pulls more fur than any stupid porsche.

[bodywhomper]

I wish Toyota would bring the hi-ace into the US.

[frorider]

The Metris has straightforward styling. Shrug.

[MontuckyFried]

These been posted here yet?

https://youtu.be/NBK_PQTqUi0

https://youtu.be/pUG3Z8Hxa5I

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[Brownski]

I wish Toyota would bring the hi-ace into the US.

Or Ford would bring the Transit / Tourneo Custom AWD

[skaredshtles]

These been posted here yet?

https://youtu.be/NBK_PQTqUi0

Heh. That's the "Dadholes" dude.

[riser4]

Don't tell mommy. Don't tell mommy what you saw here.

[skaredshtles]

Don't tell mommy. Don't tell mommy what you saw here.

"As real as the rich tobacco that fills my lungs and brings me that much closer to death's knowing embrace."

GOLD, Jerry!

[BmillsSkier]

I drove my wife's green sienna to work today. It actually got kinda dangerous because so many women were throwing their panties on the windshield. That thing pulls more fur than any stupid porsche.

Maybe, but can it bring a family together like this?

These been posted here yet?

https://youtu.be/NBK_PQTqUi0

https://youtu.be/pUG3Z8Hxa5I

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Heh. That's the "Dadholes" dude.

Don't tell mommy. Don't tell mommy what you saw here.

"As real as the rich tobacco that fills my lungs and brings me that much closer to death's knowing embrace."

GOLD, Jerry!

Absolute gold. That was hilarious.

[riser4]

Holy shit. Dadholes is quite the rabbit hole. That's some funny fucking shit motherfucker.

[mcphee]

https://www.journeysoffroad.com/2021...lift-kits.html

3” lifts available for the hybrid siennas

[Todd Zander]

Toyota had been after my wife ever since she checked the local inventory on her phone, its tempting but like others have said a plug-in for short distance ev mode would be great.

[MarcusBrody]

Any opinions on those small commercial style vans; NV200, Transit Connect, Promaster City, Metris, etc….

I know they aren’t “cool” but in passenger build with AWD - they’d be a pretty functional grocery getter / kid hauler. They seem like they would have more headroom, storage, and access (sliding door) than a similar small SUV or crossover but with a better price tag.


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I have a current gen Transit Connect. In a lot of macro ways, I love it. It has an incredible amount of space for the footprint, as it's not really that long but it's tall and square so the space is very easy to use. The load floor is low and flat (esp. when I pull out the rear seats) and is about the easiest vehicle I've found for packing gear. Parking is easy. The driver position is good and the visibility is excellent. It actually handles pretty well for a van and has much less body roll than most other vans/Outbacks of the mid-teens when I got it. We've taken it on multiple multi-thousand mile cross country road trips and while you feel the bumps and ruts on dirt roads, it came through fine and got us there (the only issue was the sliding door sticking from the dust but once wiped down and regressed with some olive oil from the cooking box it was silky smooth).

Mileage is in the 23-24 combined range, which was better than any alternatives at the time, but it's been surpassed by the hybrids. I've never been able to get the high 20s highway estimate but I guess I drive too fast for the box like shape. The new transmission might help though.

Things I don't like: the interior was clearly an after thought. I don't like the transmission (though they updated to an 8 speed sometime later in the run).

If you're using the third row, there isn't much room for gear, so if you have more than 4 people and gear regularly, I might go bigger, esp if you have some middle row denizens in car seats which makes getting three people in there less comfortable for long trips. We've done 5-6 person trips by putting one rear seat down and in one case using a hitch rack for extra space, but normally we just use the front two rows and have the big square rear area for cargo.

Overall I really like this class of van. I can't speak to the other models outside the Transit Connect, but I think the Ford has amazing utility for its size at the cost of little refinement. For me that's fine, but I got mine pretty cheap. The list is higher than I'd pay.

If they create the next gen for North America on the Maverick platform and put half as much thought into the interior I think it could be the ultimate outdoor activity utility vehicle.

[riser4]

Ya, the Ford Transit Connect. The example I've mentioned before was a single retired school teacher into outdoor activities who slept in it a fair amount. She is small in stature. The kayak (s) and bike(s) are sometimes inside and sometimes outside. Options. Last saw her in 2015-ish so no idea if she's replaced it. No Subaru for her.

[MarcusBrody]

One more thing: I was really excited about the hybrid Sienna for the efficiency and that you can get a little lift. When I saw it though, I didn't love the packaging. I didn't like that you couldn't easily fold or remove the middle seats, the rear lift gate isn't as large as my Transit Connect and the sloping rear roofline leaves less useable space. Plus while the seats fold down into the floor, it isn't perfectly flat. Overall, it seems like it would be a great as a full time people mover but it didn't strike me as an ideal combo adventure road trip vehicle.

[Todd Zander]

Even with the easily removable 2nd row out the slider tracks stick up 2-3 inches.

Currently watching some pacifica plug in hybrid videos.

[RootSkier]

https://www.journeysoffroad.com/2021...lift-kits.html

3” lifts available for the hybrid siennas

This is really interesting, thanks. Does shit like this void a warranty?

[MarcusBrody]

Ya, the Ford Transit Connect. The example I've mentioned before was a single retired school teacher into outdoor activities who slept in it a fair amount. She is small in stature. The kayak (s) and bike(s) are sometimes inside and sometimes outside. Options. Last saw her in 2015-ish so no idea if she's replaced it. No Subaru for her.

I'm a bit over 6'2" and before we had our son, my wife and I used to sleep in the Transit Connect. I'd built a platform that folded out when you folded the middle seats. I'm not sure if I could have slept on the floor with the seats folded flat or it would have been an inch or so too short. The dog even slept under it in the middle seat footwell. It worked really well until our son came along and then it was too small and if we were going to pitch a tent anyway, I might as well put up a giant, comfy one so we mostly stopped sleeping in the van.

My wife also used to just fold the seats (including the front passenger seat) and slide a 10 foot kayak in as it was a lot easier for her than getting it on the roof.

[MarcusBrody]

This is really interesting, thanks. Does shit like this void a warranty?

It voids the warranty of the parts involved, but doesn't of unrelated parts. So obviously CV axles are going to be your responsibility , but if a head gasket goes, it should still be covered.

The base Sienna hybrid AWD with that lift was exactly what I was looking at until I decided I didn't love the layout. It's still an option down the road though.

[doebedoe]

This is really interesting, thanks. Does shit like this void a warranty?

Depends on who you ask. There's at least one dealership in Oregon that has installed a few of these lifts and claimed it doesn't void the warranty.

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Overall, it seems like it would be a great as a full time people mover but it didn't strike me as an ideal combo adventure road trip vehicle.

Uhhhh, this is the very lame, full-time people mover, "gee whiz I'm really excited this van comes with a built-in vacuum so I can clean up all these cheerios" van thread. All the cool adventure road trip vehicles are over in the Ski RV thread.

Also, for anyone playing along at home, during my van hunt I've discovered that '14 - '16 Siennas are dinosaurs that no modern family should be caught dead in, '17's and some of '18's have very questionable transmissions (or maybe they're fine, good luck finding out if you buy one), '19 and '20's mostly cost as much as hybrid '22's, but hybrid '22 are either a year out from delivery, or if you call every single Toyota dealer in America, every single day, you might get one tomorrow.

So we folded and threw some money at a low mileage '16 XLE AWD that my kids will certainly destroy in a year.

And if anyone in Bozeman wants my previous '09 AWD Sienna with very minimal child puke and crushed bananas on the seats hit me up.