[Jake Cahill]

Definitely appreciate the word of caution. I’ll be sure to get everything in writing as best I can before committing!

You never know! If it helps or you have any questions, my 2021 is a seven seater all-wheel-drive with spare tire in silver. Let me know, I believe you can only get a seven seater if you get all wheel drive so I’m not sure if that affects your decision or not.

 

[Wife wants a van]

You never know! If it helps or you have any questions, my 2021 is a seven seater all-wheel-drive with spare tire in silver. Let me know, I believe you can only get a seven seater if you get all wheel drive so I’m not sure if that affects your decision or not.

Seems superficial especially in today’s market, but have you been happy with the silver color? Going back and forth between requesting the silver or the darker gray…

 

[Jake Cahill]

Seems superficial especially in today’s market, but have you been happy with the silver color? Going back and forth between requesting the silver or the darker gray…

I like the silver, we have the tan interior which my wife wanted. Not sure you can get tan interior with the dark grey. Im not too picky about colors though except black because it’s hard to keep looking good and I don’t have the time to wax it every month

 

[micoborromeo]

I hear ya. I can hardly believe I’m considering buying a new vehicle. Never, ever would I have imagined I’d be a new car purchaser, but from a purely financial perspective, new is a no brainer right now.

At nearly $50k, I also can’t believe we’d be getting pleather, but alas, here we are. It’s a terrible time to need a van. My wife’s health issues somewhat dictate having heated seats. I have a hard time justifying $50k of pleather, but $60k for real leather is just too bonkers for us to even consider. Heated cloth doesn’t seem to be an option. Different necessities for different climates here, I suppose.

Did I mention I hate buying vehicles? 🥴

i dont think they ever make cars with genuine leather anymore. I bought a Mercedes in 2010 and even that only had artificial leather called MB-tex but its really durable. very very few Mercedes models have genuine leather and its in the $100k price range.

 

[fcolliga_lv]

i dont think they ever make cars with genuine leather anymore. I bought a Mercedes in 2010 and even that only had artificial leather called MB-tex but its really durable. very very few Mercedes models have genuine leather and its in the $100k price range.

Actually, the Sienna Limited and Platinum trims are leather trimmed seats, not Softex.

 

[nc22]

Going back and forth between requesting the silver or the darker gray…

FWIW, my last Sienna was predawn gray, and before that I had an older silver Highlander. Gray showed more pollen than silver, though not as much as blueprint. Silver was harder to find in a parking lot. I've seen gen 4 Siennas in both of these colors in real life and they're both really pretty. Silver shows the black styling details like the taillights and Sienna logo more clearly. The giant black grill might be less noticeable against dark gray. So basically I like silver from the back, gray from the front, and both of them equally from the side. My personal choice would be gray because there seem to be slightly fewer of them where I live, but I would have happily taken a van in either color. (The parking lot thing got very old with my Highlander and I vowed to never have another silver SUV in my town, but the new Siennas have more distinctive styling and everybody has white now anyway.)

In case your dealership can't actually place a preference order, you might want to nail down colors you absolutely won't take -- this might turn out to be more important eventually. At least your preferred colors are ones that they're actually making

 

[PenitentTangent]

We got an AWD XLE 7-passenger earlier this year with the plus package on it. As others mentioned, adding the factory roof rails or spare tire after the fact lies somewhere between impossible and outrageously expensive. Initially, I wanted to get the 8-passenger version, but after seeing the bench seat we decided we would prefer to have the captain's chairs with the long-slide rails on them.

We love having the plus package. The sound from the JBL speaker system is very good in my opinion, but I haven't heard the basic sound system so I don't have anything to compare it to. We have used the rear entertainment system a few times, limiting that to long road trips only. The 1500W inverter is invaluable in my opinion. For me, the inverter alone would just about justify upgrading to the plus package. When we went to the zoo we used the inverter to power a panini press to make hot sandwiches right in the parking lot for the entire group. We've also used the inverter to power a microwave in the trunk to reheat food when we were working away from home. Obviously, everyone is different, but we would rather pack the ingredients and cook a picnic-style meal in the parking lot of a rest area than pay for fast food most of the time.

 

[Ktcars1980]

We just got our 22 XLE last weekend. I contacted a local dealer and asked if they had any allocations that were not claimed. They had an XLE coming in a few weeks later that did not have a deposit on it. They had a loaner that we were able to see the van in person. From the time I first contacted the dealer to the time we drove it home was about a month. We didn’t get to select color or options, but we were flexible on color, and the options this one had we were ok with. They didn’t charge a markup, we got it for MSRP. From reading on here, it sounds like we were lucky. The dealer we worked with said that the 8 seaters are harder to come by than the 7 seaters in the XLE trim. Leather, real or fake, was a must for us for the ability to wipe clean with young kids. Overall, we are very pleased with it so far, and glad we went with the Sienna.

 

[Holdme]

I've no kidding dealt with just about every major toyota dealership in Texas and am even on waiting list at a couple dealers outside the state.. I can tell you in my experience; a dealer I was dealing with who claimed I could select the options I wanted and just wait 6 months in the end wound up being as I figured they would be.. full of crap. Toyotas not taking orders so the most these guys are really doing is just taking your list of "options requested" and using it as a list of wishful preferences.

Almost every allocation I've seen in Texas just has the exact same set of port installed options, something like a spare tire coming installed would be like finding big foot. I'd be hesitant to believe any dealer claiming they can order the options separate and just put them on for you after arrival out of the kindness of their own hearts. I've looked into the spare tire. A $75 dollar build option became a $1700 dealer installation fee (parts/labor) so it sounds a little crazy someone is saying they will do it no problem as part of the purchase?

I know I sound horribly negative and cynical but after getting 3 vins with build dates and every single one of them winding up with a "opps sorry our GM just added a new 5k markup that wasn't there before" I've pretty much given up hope on anything these people say.

 

[Jake Cahill]

I've no kidding dealt with just about every major toyota dealership in Texas and am even on waiting list at a couple dealers outside the state.. I can tell you in my experience; a dealer I was dealing with who claimed I could select the options I wanted and just wait 6 months in the end wound up being as I figured they would be.. full of crap. Toyotas not taking orders so the most these guys are really doing is just taking your list of "options requested" and using it as a list of wishful preferences.

Almost every allocation I've seen in Texas just has the exact same set of port installed options, something like a spare tire coming installed would be like finding big foot. I'd be hesitant to believe any dealer claiming they can order the options separate and just put them on for you after arrival out of the kindness of their own hearts. I've looked into the spare tire. A $75 dollar build option became a $1700 dealer installation fee (parts/labor) so it sounds a little crazy someone is saying they will do it no problem as part of the purchase?

I know I sound horribly negative and cynical but after getting 3 vins with build dates and every single one of them winding up with a "opps sorry our GM just added a new 5k markup that wasn't there before" I've pretty much given up hope on anything these people say.

Exactly, the dealers aren’t ordering anything special for people. Too many people are taking the first vehicle that arrives and they still have a 2 year wait so why would they? I ended up getting a ‘21 CPO Sienna so I could see exactly what options it had.

 

[shersingh]

Those are the specs I’d plan to request. Haven’t officially put the request in yet, as gasp I originally planned to purchase a 3-5 year old Odyssey…but realized a new Sienna is literally cheaper on an annualized basis (thanks hybrid). Still figuring all this out. Perhaps I won’t be able to get the roof rails separately. I honestly don’t have a great use case for them at this point, but from what I understand, they’re a lot better and easier to add from the factory so figured, why not?

Originally planned to request the plus package, but am having a hard time trying to justify the additional $2,000 for what seems to amount to a 1500w charger and better speakers…and keep talking myself out of it. Curious what others come back with on this though.

If you are planning on having this van for long time say 7-8 years, I would say go for it. 2K isnt a lot as long as you can afford it. We work in IT, and having a place to charge your laptop is very convenient. If you go out camping, you would also have electric access at your disposal. Or, you can buy a Jackery - oh and you can also charge your Jackery in the van.

 

[Wife wants a van]

I've no kidding dealt with just about every major toyota dealership in Texas and am even on waiting list at a couple dealers outside the state.. I can tell you in my experience; a dealer I was dealing with who claimed I could select the options I wanted and just wait 6 months in the end wound up being as I figured they would be.. full of crap. Toyotas not taking orders so the most these guys are really doing is just taking your list of "options requested" and using it as a list of wishful preferences.

Almost every allocation I've seen in Texas just has the exact same set of port installed options, something like a spare tire coming installed would be like finding big foot. I'd be hesitant to believe any dealer claiming they can order the options separate and just put them on for you after arrival out of the kindness of their own hearts. I've looked into the spare tire. A $75 dollar build option became a $1700 dealer installation fee (parts/labor) so it sounds a little crazy someone is saying they will do it no problem as part of the purchase?

I know I sound horribly negative and cynical but after getting 3 vins with build dates and every single one of them winding up with a "opps sorry our GM just added a new 5k markup that wasn't there before" I've pretty much given up hope on anything these people say.

OOF!

 

[qowieuryt]

I've no kidding dealt with just about every major toyota dealership in Texas and am even on waiting list at a couple dealers outside the state.. I can tell you in my experience; a dealer I was dealing with who claimed I could select the options I wanted and just wait 6 months in the end wound up being as I figured they would be.. full of crap. Toyotas not taking orders so the most these guys are really doing is just taking your list of "options requested" and using it as a list of wishful preferences.

Almost every allocation I've seen in Texas just has the exact same set of port installed options, something like a spare tire coming installed would be like finding big foot. I'd be hesitant to believe any dealer claiming they can order the options separate and just put them on for you after arrival out of the kindness of their own hearts. I've looked into the spare tire. A $75 dollar build option became a $1700 dealer installation fee (parts/labor) so it sounds a little crazy someone is saying they will do it no problem as part of the purchase?

I know I sound horribly negative and cynical but after getting 3 vins with build dates and every single one of them winding up with a "opps sorry our GM just added a new 5k markup that wasn't there before" I've pretty much given up hope on anything these people say.

The PIO are unavoidable. GST is the sole regional distributor for the entire state and region. Almost all Toyotas have about 2-3k of PIO. Most are useless but some OEM parts are marginally useful/better (roof rails, integrated dash cam, etc) than after market.

Sterling McCall was charging 1k over MSRP and waiving if there’s a trade in.

 

[qowieuryt]

I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the safety features. The SafetySense and cruise control options are really nice. In some situations, i can see the adaptive cruise control being safer than human driving.

I do wish all trims had the auto wipers. My base Corolla from 2009 had it. Don’t understand why only the Platinum has it.

 

[Holdme]

The PIO are unavoidable. GST is the sole regional distributor for the entire state and region. Almost all Toyotas have about 2-3k of PIO. Most are useless but some OEM parts are marginally useful/better (roof rails, integrated dash cam, etc) than after market.

Sterling McCall was charging 1k over MSRP and waiving if there’s a trade in.

Yeah I would never suggest they are avoidable. My point to the guy was more of if someones leading you to believe you are going to have a choice in which options an allocation will come with.. don't.

Sterling McCall won't even take a deposit and put you on the wait list unless you're local to Houston, been there, done that. I do at least appreciate the tip, they are supposedly holding to their word on msrp..if you're a local.

 

[Goolong]

If you have 3 kids, Id opt in for an 8 pass option.
our siennas have been an 8 pass and we do not regret that decision, even though the 8th pass seat is not as comfortable as the rest of them, it definitely is useful for unexpected passenger (grandma decided to go on a grocery run with the fam, a friend of my son had to go with us after school etc etc)
also, get the spare tire option...... its 75 bucks and it just gives you that extra piece of mind.

I have a platinum awd with ottomans on order but can't get the spare. Really wished it was offered . Apparently, you can only choose two. Awd, ottomans, spare. So i chose awd, and ottomans

 

[saidiadude2]

Apparently, you can only choose two.

Is this true of all trims or just the Platinum?

 

[Embeegee]

I have a 21 LE 8P.
I wanted 8P. Here's why: I've got three kids in seats (FF harness, HBB, and RF infant). They sit 3 across. I have never had to climb into my vehicle to buckle any buckles. On a road trip I as the passenger can safely hand needed things to any kid in any seat.
The thought of having to climb into the back to buckle a car seat every time we leave the house makes me shudder. So...8P.

 

[Velox003]

Is this true of all trims or just the Platinum?

Limited and Platinum only has ottoman option

 

[Dimitrij]

Regarding your configuration: I don't even know if XLE comes with 8 seats anymore for MY 2022, but the only thing you might regret is not having the 8th seat. I find it very practical. No-one has ever sat on it, but it's great as a part of the bench on which to take a nap, or to spread my mobile office stuff .... discrete chairs perhaps wouldn't be as convenient.

Otherwise, the price is great for these times, the e-AWD is a huge plus, the silver color is practical, the spare tire and the roof rails are highly valuable additions at a very low cost, I see. Just to get a spare wheel afterwards will cost you $500-600 and there wouldn't be anywhere to store it discreetly.

Boy, would I swap Mr. Sparkollz for this configuration!

Remember the versatility of the 8th seat..... you can remove it when you dont need it.
My train of thought has always been "better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

This is a super useful attitude in these interesting times, as the global market seems to be transitioning from the "instant gratification and throwaway economy" to chronic shortages, supply chain breakdown, gov't encroachment etc.

ATTENTION: PARTY POOPING IN PROGRESS!!!

The van is well respected for convenience, versatility, and outstanding fuel economy. I personally find it quiet, roomy, and comfy, but some people disagree. The e-AWD is competent, and in general the powertrain is capable enough to cope with the duties that minivans are reasonably expected to perform.

But you might (depending on your ideas of what a nearly $50K OTD vehicle should be like) also find a plethora of annoying little details, like

• the famous credit card-eating central console,
• not-always-shutting (for some drivers) tailgate,
• small and reportedly fragile 12V battery (yes, the one that decides whether your electronics are going to work or not = whether you can start the van in the morning),
• shared USB port for both Android Auto and thumb drive .... no Line input, no CD, and no memory card slot, so with Android Auto connected you can only stream your music
• and then there is the traditionally inaccurate Toyota tank level indicator and the resulting hit-and-miss miles to empty display.
• Oh, the 2nd row of seats .... you can't remove it in a dignified way, nor can you fold them up or down, only slide forward and tilt the back about 40 degrees. The max floor space is therefore around 6x4 ft only (which may be a problem for someone who wants to move around 8x4 ft. items, common in the DIY world).