Easy access driver's seat

Your dealer might be able to disable it for you.

Eh, stopped by my dealer and they said that unlike some other models, the easy access driver's seat feature could not be deactivated :-\. Not a big deal. Also, not able to enter destinations in the nav using voice commands while driving, unlike other models. I showed a tech who was sitting in the passenger seat. They are going to ask Toyota and get back to me.

I can enter destinations via voice command, but I have difficulty since I don't have encyclopedic knowledge of the POI categories.

You mean like saying the street, city, etc., it will let you do this while moving? I got a screen saying it was not possible to do while the car is moving... Wonder if it has anything to do w/ when the mv was built... Either way, ordered one of those nav/dvd override kits.

As soon as you buckle your seat belt, the drivers seat will automatically move forward into your memory position, no need to override...

They need to depress the brake to start the engine which is inconvenient even for me (almost 5'11") with the seat at its rearmost position. On a hot day, I want to start the car before buckling my seat belt.

Qest T. Silverclaw said:

On a hot day, I want to start the car before buckling my seat belt.

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But Toyota doesn't want you to, because too many people never buckle their seat belt; this is one more way to encourage you to buckle up. I think that the intent is good, but like many automotive features it doesn't suit everyone.

So does it really matter if the air conditioning is running for the two seconds of seat belt buckling time, or are you starting the van then getting back out to leave it running to cool down? I don't have this issue with hot days, but on cold winter days I do start the vehicle (any vehicle I'm driving) and leave it running to warm up while I scrape the ice off of the windows; in that case the "easy access" feature would be a bit annoying to me, too.

Hmmmmm.....looks like another well-intended (on paper) but realistically not a (real world) user friendly feature.
Heh....just wait until the motor dies while the seat is fully rearward.

I was once in an older Lexus (forget year/model), and it had AUTOMATICALLY motorized everything (seats, steering column, etc). It was such a PITA waiting for everything to finish doing what it HAD to do before YOU could really do anything. And it would have to cycle through its routine whether you wanted/needed it to or not. That was for both getting IN and OUT of the car. Made me want to rip it all out. But that's just me....I'm sure lots of people like such features. :

YMMV.
Good Luck!! 8)

I HATE this function, but I have a real-world issue: infant car seat. We have the baby's car seat behind the driver's seat. And because you can't turn off this damn "auto away function," the driver's seat smashes into the baby's car seat upon exit. Why don't we push the second-row captain's chair further back you may ask? Because the baby seat requires the baby to face backwards, and you don't have enough room to load the baby into the car seat if you slide that captain's chair too far back.

Huge pain the ass. My 4-year old Nissan has this feature, BUT you can turn it off via the in-car interface. Toyota?...we can't even have our dealer turn it off! Horrible design.

I'm wondering if there might be a fuse you can pull for that feature hopefully or like someone else said or similar to what someone else said about the engine burning out you might be able to just pull a wire from that motor to keep him from going back and forth at the pain but no other option

dockt said:

Hi everyone, just got a 2011 Ltd w/ CX/PT packages. Will write my review later, but I had a quick question about the easy/auto/comfort access feature for the driver's seat ie the seat slides back when you are are getting out of the car and slides forward when you have gotten in and press the start button to at least "on" -- is this something that can be turned off? I'm about 5'9" and don't really need to be reaching w/ my leg for the break pedal to turn the car on (w/ push-button start); my wife will have to reach even farther. Also, access is roomy enough that I don't really need the seat all the way back when I get in. Tried the owner's manual already. Thanks in advance.

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An old thread, but it can be turned off, or changed to a lesser retraction which we did
since we are less tall than you.

warubozu said:

An old thread, but it can be turned off, or changed to a lesser retraction which we did
since we are less tall than you.

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Great. Please tell me how to turn it off. So annoying.

seeker3325 said:

Great. Please tell me how to turn it off. So annoying.

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Van must be "ON", not ACC
Menu (on center/Nav)
Setup
Vehicle
Vehicle Customization
Other Vehicle Settings
Drivers Side Easy-Exit Slide
Options are Full, Partial, and Off

warubozu said:

Van must be "ON", not ACC
Menu (on center/Nav)
Setup
Vehicle
Vehicle Customization
Other Vehicle Settings
Drivers Side Easy-Exit Slide
Options are Full, Partial, and Off

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, that method works only on the 2015-up Sienna.

Geezer1 said:

Unfortunately, that method works only on the 2015-up Sienna.

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I have seen references to using Techstream on other Toyota forums.

Nevermind..

warubozu said:

Van must be "ON", not ACC
Menu (on center/Nav)
Setup
Vehicle
Vehicle Customization
Other Vehicle Settings
Drivers Side Easy-Exit Slide
Options are Full, Partial, and Off

Click to expand...

seeker3325 said:

Great. Please tell me how to turn it off. So annoying.

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I have 2013 Sienna, same problem. Always squashed something behind driver seat whenever got out of the car, really annoying. Dealer couldn't turn it off. Thus, I disconnected the seat motor under the seat. Only sliding front and back motor. That motor located at under the seat, front and door side. Very easy disconnect the clip, push down notch and pull the clip. Any other power mode remains work.

Hangglider said:

I have 2013 Sienna, same problem. Always squashed something behind driver seat whenever got out of the car, really annoying. Dealer couldn't turn it off. Thus, I disconnected the seat motor under the seat. Only sliding front and back motor. That motor located at under the seat, front and door side. Very easy disconnect the clip, push down notch and pull the clip. Any other power mode remains work.

Click to expand...

When you disconnect the clip, make sure set up the chair position you want.

You can also move your seat forward without pressing on the brake or start button by putting your seatbelt on. That is how it works with my Venza and should be the same with the Sienna.