I know that the car industry is being hit with chip shortages issue, but I would not expect this. Last year I tried to enter my 2019 Sienna into Carvana and it offered me $37,500 at 11,000 miles (I bought it new from dealer at $38,000 with discounted), but we decided not to upgrade to Gen4 at that time. Last night I was just curious with the used car price so I went to Carvana site again and it offered me $43,000 at 15,000 miles. So my question if would it be worth to upgrade to 2022 Plantinum Awd? The main intentions for us to get Platinum are: Led Head Light, Power Liftgate(open/close), Bird's Eye View Camera(help with tight spot parking), Digital rear view camera, spare tire, and we do not want the white color of my current Sienna due to we are in MN so it always looks so bad in Winter. However I am not sure in term of performance between Gas and Hybrid? I also do have Lexus RX450HL, so I know how the hybrid work, but I am just not sure if Hybrid in Sienna would be a good enough to accommodate when all seats are occupied? Hope everyone can share their thoughts. Thanks and Happy thanksgiving to our forum members and family
Need advices on switching from 2019 (XLE-AWD) to 2022 (Platinum-AWD)
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Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours as well.
We have never had more than 6 people on board, but we have done quite a bit of driving with 4 adults (and 2 adults and a couple of hundred pounds of gear) in the Appalachian mountains, where steep grades are common (up to 7% on highways, I think). The power is perfectly adequate, and the fuel economy is excellent for this size of a vehicle.
The power/weight ratio is noticeably better than in the Prius and the CRV Hybrid. Never had a Lexus hybrid, so can't speak to that.
We have never had more than 6 people on board, but we have done quite a bit of driving with 4 adults (and 2 adults and a couple of hundred pounds of gear) in the Appalachian mountains, where steep grades are common (up to 7% on highways, I think). The power is perfectly adequate, and the fuel economy is excellent for this size of a vehicle.
The power/weight ratio is noticeably better than in the Prius and the CRV Hybrid. Never had a Lexus hybrid, so can't speak to that.
Thanks for the input. That would be helpful since test drive for short period would not give a good overview comparing to long term owner.
Go for it. IMHO It's a no-brainer. I am loving our AWD Plat, and the features you mentioned. In my 20K miles of driving, I have not felt it run out of power except once coming close to it on Vail Pass. 10K of our 20K miles were on a coast-to-coast trip within DC, Seattle and Las Vegas Triangle going thru National Parks with about 1100lbs in it. The biggest complaint I can think of is the droning noise under infrequent high load conditions. Other than that, it is a Limo with nice open space inside, and nice zippy ride.
Here's my early lengthy write-up on Plat Only Features. Btw, I read somewhere that AWDs now come with Ottomans too under certain configurations. This wasn't possible for 2021.
www.siennachat.com
Here's my early lengthy write-up on Plat Only Features. Btw, I read somewhere that AWDs now come with Ottomans too under certain configurations. This wasn't possible for 2021.
Platinum specific features Review (Limited ->...
This post is meant to list out Features that get added to Platinum on top of what comes standard in Limited, and also my opinions of them. I have had our Platinum for about 3 months now. I am hoping this will be helpful for those trying to decide between Limited and Platinum. Btw, looks like...
www.siennachat.com
By reading your post, it sounds even so tempted 🤣. ThanksGo for it. IMHO It's a no-brainer. I am loving our AWD Plat, and the features you mentioned. In my 20K miles of driving, I have not felt it run out of power except once coming close to it on Vail Pass. 10K of our 20K miles were on a coast-to-coast trip within DC, Seattle and Las Vegas Triangle going thru National Parks with about 1100lbs in it. The biggest complaint I can think of is the droning noise under infrequent high load conditions. Other than that, it is a Limo with nice open space inside, and nice zippy ride.
Here's my early lengthy write-up on Plat Only Features. Btw, I read somewhere that AWDs now come with Ottomans too under certain configurations. This wasn't possible for 2021.
Platinum specific features Review (Limited ->...
This post is meant to list out Features that get added to Platinum on top of what comes standard in Limited, and also my opinions of them. I have had our Platinum for about 3 months now. I am hoping this will be helpful for those trying to decide between Limited and Platinum. Btw, looks like...
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We switched from an RX450h (previous gen). The v6 in the Lexus is definitely smoother but everything else we got in return in the platinum AWD more than makes up for it. So much more room and more technology, just as you mentioned. It’s much easier with the kids. They can walk in the car when we stop. A lot more cargo room. I used to mount a roof cargo box on long trips. Not anymore. (We rarely use the third row btw.) Did a couple 500-mile trips, no problem.
Things I’m not crazy about but I accepted them as they are minor to me:
- The interior is not the most modern but it’s functional.
- I personally would take a v6 but we get better mileage as a bonus I guess.
- The brakes could be better.
- The main infotainment screen could be higher res. It’s noticeable how bad it is.
- Apple car play is not wireless
- The RES does not have great input options for the iPhone.
Glad to hear from someone perspective of Lexus SUV Hybrid experience compared to Toyota. It would be a little bit hard to compare the fit finish of Toyota to Lexus, but functionality wide for 4 adults and 3 kids, Sienna would be top of the list. Since we started to own Lexus with bird eye view camera and HUD, I felt that we were really missed something with our XLE Sienna especially when parking in the tight spot or we did not have take the eye of the road with HUD. The most tempted point is that we got offered price over the cost we bought new car 2 years ago. Thanks for sharing your experience. The problem right now, based on cars.com for our zip code, there is only 1 silver color available while the rest are Perl color and the silver color does not have Digital Rear View mirror option which I think it would help for rear view when we have an adult sit at the center of 3rd row. Hope more colors is coming in next couple weeks since we try to avoid the whole color again if possible.
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I am not sure if you tried shopping for one yet but they are not available on the dealer lots. I also heard they are not even taking deposits. So the whole color thing could be moot. I lucked out and bought under msrp but didn’t really have an option to pick a color. Had to compromise. Also, you may be looking at a $3k to $10k markup right now.
I see… thanks for the info. Yes I am still trying to collect info before deciding to trade.
Getting one now, even at MSRP, will need quite a bit of luck. However, if you can get by for 3-4 months between selling 2019 and buying 2022, you may be in luck.
Btw, Car rental companies are paying insane amounts for nice minivans too. See if they can top Carvana.
Also, Spare wheel can be a bit of a challenge too for certain configurations. Mine didn't come with it. However, it forced me to buy a full-size spare. It may be better solution in certain conditions.
These are very good advices. This weekend, I will try to stop by at some dealers around my are to see their inventory…🤞😀
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I also have a full size OEM wheel for a spare, and I have it rotated along with the rest of the wheels. I found that the "official" donut wasn't exactly cheap, and it has a visibly smaller diameter than the regular wheel. This means it's very likely to drive the traction control system crazy, and you can't use it for more than X miles and above Y mph.
I see….good to know about the limitations of spare tire as I am planning to have tires trade-in with those All-weather tires to help with traction in snow when I get the new car.
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Prepare yourself to see mostly empty parking lots and totally empty showrooms
Up north similar.
See more tires in show rooms then vehicles!!
Toyota should be normal production soon so let's see how that plays out.
They're making more vehicles Dec 2021 then Dec 2020.
+1.
Call before you go. Less than 5% Siennas are AWD Platinums. I will be surprised if you can see any on a delaer lot anywhere in the US right now. Calling may not help as they may lie and say someone just bought it 5 minutes before you got there. They want to sell whatever they have on the lot, new or old. They just need you to get there one way or the other. They don't have too many cars to sell so they have to resort to every trick in the book to make a sell and pay their bills!
Good tip on those bait and switch
That works better. I took easy (and cheap
) route. I told the used tire shop around the corner from me that I needed a full size rim and tire for my car. He found one within a week for which I paid $120. I had them put it on and I drove a few miles to make sure it was good.
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Equally, it might work the other way around. Your van may be sitting on the lot, but doesn't show in the inventory. This happens because sometimes people fail to raise the money they need, or change their mind, or order in more than one places and pick whichever comes first. Makes car buying like a game of treasure hunt.
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