The Toyota Sienna is a minivan manufactured and marketed by Toyota primarily for the North American market. It is named for the Italian city of Siena, in the region of Tuscany. It replaced the first generation Previa van, and the Toyota Camry wagon in 1997 (for the 1998 model year) with a more conventional front-wheel drive layout and shares a heavily revised platform with the Camry. Both the Previa and original Sienna were smaller than the other minivans they competed against, but a redesign in 2003 (for the 2004 model year) increased the dimensions to match those of its competitors.
It was redesigned again in 2010 (for the 2011 model year). The third generation Sienna went on sale in the United States in February 2010 and is the first Sienna to ever receive a "Top Safety Pick" award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. A 2020 redesign (for the 2021 model year) saw the Sienna becoming a hybrid vehicle for its fourth generation. While previous generations of the Sienna were exported to select Asian and European markets, the fourth generation is the first to be produced outside of the United States as Chinese production commenced in July 2021 by two Toyota joint ventures. In China, it is also marketed as the Toyota Granvia.
Following the discontinuation of General Motors' all-wheel drive minivans in 2006, the Sienna was the only minivan in its class offered with AWD in North America until the 2021 Chrysler Pacifica was introduced with an AWD option in 2020.
The Sienna is not made in right-hand drive configuration and is not sold in right-hand drive markets. The market segment in many of these markets is occupied by the Alphard/Vellfire and the HiAce/Granvia.
As of the fourth generation, introduced in 2020, the Sienna is built on Toyota's TNGA-K platform, which it shares with most of Toyota's other large MPVs and crossovers.
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First generation (XL10; 1997)
In 1997, Toyota launched the front-wheel drive 1998 model year Sienna in the North American market as a replacement for the mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive Previa. The Sienna debuted with a 3.0-liter 1MZ-FE V6 engine rated at and of torque. Built on an extended platform of the XV20 Toyota Camry, the Sienna was appropriately marketed as the "Camry of minivans," capitalizing on the Camry's popularity and reputation.
It came in three trim levels: CE, LE, and XLE. The LE and XLE models were equipped with second row captain's chairs while the CE models came equipped with a two-passenger bench seat in the second row. The seats may be folded and individually removed as needed. The driver side sliding door and roof rack were standard on the XLE models but were optional on the LE and CE models. The XLE models offered leather seats and a wood trim package. The Sienna also touted best-in-class fuel economy of city driving and highway driving. It was built in Georgetown, Kentucky. A year after its release, the Sienna faced new competition from the redesigned and V6-equipped Honda Odyssey minivan, which was larger than the Sienna.
Safety This generation was noteworthy for its impressive safety content as one of the few minivans at the time to offer options including front seat-mounted side torso airbags and Vehicle Stability Control. Anti-lock braking was standard. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rated the Sienna "Good" in all six frontal crash test measures, which was far better than the Previa.
+ NHTSA crash test ratings (1999, no side airbag): Frontal Driver:Frontal Passenger:Side Driver:Side Rear Passenger:
Yearly changes The Sienna underwent a facelift in 2000 for the 2001 model year. Several colors were added and removed. The front grille, bumper, and tail lights were redesigned, and the speedometer got a new look. Toyota also revamped the center console area to add more usability to the HVAC controls along with new locations for the accessory switches (rear vent, power sliding doors, and heated seats (XLE models)). The engine also came equipped with a variable valve timing feature VVT-i boosting output to and . The driver side sliding door became standard on all models, although the roof rack remained optional on the CE models.
In 2001, for the 2002 model year, the Symphony Package became available for the LE models, where some extra items included a premium JBL cassette, captain chairs in the front and middle rows, heated mirrors, and so on. It was offered with the choice of three body colors.
In 2002, for the 2003 model year, the Sienna remained unchanged.
Oil sludge problems The first-generation Sienna was marred by a class-action settlement for an engine oil sludge problem which affected the V6 engines in many Toyota models. Symptoms of the problem include oil smoke in the exhaust, oil quickly becoming dark or black after an oil change, gasoline odor in the oil, high oil consumption, and eventually engine failure.
Second generation (XL20; 2003)
On January 6, 2003, the second-generation Sienna was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Production was moved from the Georgetown plant to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana.
Toyota assigned Yuji Yokoya as chief engineer on the new Sienna project. Yokoya and his family drove the previous model over throughout North America to find weaknesses from the design.
Changes from the first generation included 45% more volume overall and 39% more cargo space. The seats were in the 60/40 split configuration, and the flat-folding third row seat was offered even with all-wheel-drive. The engine was an updated ULEV certified 3.3-liter 3MZ-FE V6 paired with a new five-speed automatic transmission. The gear stick was moved from the steering column to the center console and had a gated shift pattern. Seating for eight was optional on lower-level trims, and the third row seating was fold-flat, allowing the van to transport building materials like plywood and drywall sheets.
Trim levels, in order of increasing standard and available features were: CE, LE, XLE and XLE Limited (renamed Limited in later years). The most distinguishable difference on the XLE Limited model was the horizontal chrome bar placed above the rear license plate. The CE had a black trim there, while the LE and XLE had a body-colored trim.
Standard features included remote keyless entry, tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel, and high solar energy-absorbing glass (HSEA) on the windshield and front windows. All 2004–2007 Siennas had a factory tow package (hitch kit and trailer lighting connections not included) and a towing capacity.
All-wheel drive, optional on the more expensive trims included run-flat tires. The all-wheel drive system continuously divided engine power 50:50 front and rear.
Options, depending on the trim level, included HID Xenon headlamps, Dynamic Laser Cruise Control, parking sensors, a convex rear view mirror to enable the driver to see the passengers, a voice-activated navigation system (not voice activated for the 2004/2005 model year) which included a backup camera, 10-speaker JBL audio and rear-seat DVD entertainment system with two 110 V outlets.
Updated styling allowed for a . EPA Fuel economy was 17 mpg city driving and 23 mpg highway for the FWD version. The AWD version got 16 mpg city driving and 22 mpg highway driving. The turning radius was .
Safety The Sienna came standard with anti-lock braking system, brake assist, electronic brakeforce distribution, traction control and a tire-pressure monitoring system. Side torso airbags and side curtain airbags were standard on certain 2004 and 2005 LE and XLE trims while optional on others, but became standard on all 2006 trims. Vehicle Stability Control initially optional on lower trims became standard for 2008 models.
The IIHS gives the Sienna an overall "Good" score in their frontal offset crash test with "Good" marks in all six measured categories. All 2006 models and later receive a "Good" overall score, while pre-2006 models without side airbags receive an "Acceptable" score for side impacts.
+ NHTSA crash test ratings (2004, no side airbag):Frontal Driver:Frontal Passenger:Side Driver:Side Rear Passenger:FWD Rollover:
+ NHTSA crash test ratings (2005, no side airbag):Frontal Driver:Frontal Passenger:Side Driver:Side Rear Passenger:FWD Rollover:
Yearly changes
2006: the front fascia, side molding, headlamps and tail lights were restyled. Blue-backlit electroluminescent Optitron gauges were added to LE, XLE, and Limited trims. The "XLE" prefix in "XLE Limited" was removed, and new exclusive equipment for this trim included an optional memory function for the driver's power seat and side-view mirrors (also available on XLE as an option) and power-folding exterior side-view mirrors with integrated in-glass LED turn-signal repeaters. Other options included Bluetooth and a power-folding third-row seat. Front row side torso airbags and side curtain airbags for all three rows became standard equipment on all models. The optional rear seat audio system was discontinued. Horsepower and torque ratings were changed to meet SAE's new standard to and 222 lb·ft (from and , Toyota also started to rate engines on 87 octane). 2007: a new ULEV-II certified 3.5-liter 2GR-FE V6 engine rated at with a rated fuel economy of 17/23 MPG for front-wheel-drive models and 16/21 MPG for AWD models replaced the 3.3-liter V6. This engine had a lower-maintenance timing chain as opposed to the timing belt of previous Sienna engines. The tire pressure monitor was upgraded, and a new seven-spoke alloy wheel design was made exclusive to the Limited and AWD models. 2008: Vehicle Stability Control became standard in all trims. 2009: the Sienna remained largely unchanged, except for a revision in pricing to become more competitive through several available comprehensively equipped "extra-value package" offerings. In Canada, base prices were lowered by up to $1,500. Rear power window switches were also modified to comply with new regulations against toggle window switches. 2010: the second generation Sienna was unchanged in its final model year.
Third generation (XL30; 2010)
The redesigned Sienna premiered at the Los Angeles Auto Show in early December 2009 for the 2011 model year. It was designed at Calty studios and engineered at Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan. The new Sienna arrived at dealers in February 2010. In November 2011, exports of the XL30 Sienna to South Korea began, making it the first Toyota minivan sold in the country. In July 2016, the Sienna was officially introduced to the Taiwanese market.
In the U.S., the third-generation Sienna was offered in five trim levels, a base grade, LE, XLE, Limited and for the first time the SE trim. The new SE offers revised bodywork, clear tail lamps, wheels, firmer suspension and revised steering tuning for a sportier ride. All-wheel-drive is only available with the V6 engine on the LE, XLE and Limited model trims. Described by AOL Autos as slipping a sports car in a minivan, chief engineer Kazuo Mori (an avid autocrosser) reportedly had to overcome corporate opposition to get the SE equipment package included in the line-up.