We took delivery of our 2021 Sienna Limited FWD on Jan. 23, 2021. It replaced a 2011 Sienna XLE FWD that had 220,000 miles and was still going strong. After having driven the new one for over six months, and having clocked 14,000 miles, I thought I would share the pros and cons that come to mind for the benefit of others considering a purchase. About 8,000 of our 14,000 miles are due to three cross-country road trips. Two of those involved trips to mountainous areas. The other 6,000 miles are either errands or short trips to visit grandkids that live 100 miles away. We are retired, so there are no daily commuting miles. In general, we are very satisfied with our purchase so far, and would recommend the vehicle to others.
Things we like: This is the first hybrid vehicle we have owned. We really like the smoothness of the eCVT transmission, and the smooth transitions from battery to engine power. I now notice the power shifts much more in my 2006 Tacoma, and I have always thought of it as very smooth shifting. We also had concerns at first that the 2.5L four cylinder / hybrid powertrain might be underpowered, but have not found that to be the case. It has sufficient power to accelerate onto freeways, and to pass. On a previous trip, we took it up into the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. It had sufficient power to maintain speed going up the long steep grades there. On our last trip, we took it up into Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and it had plenty of power to maintain speed going up those steeper mountain grades. On the down-hill side of mountainous roads, the hybrid computer does a good job of using regenerative braking or engine braking to hold your speed. The 2.5L four cylinder engine will generate a little more noise under heavy acceleration than the 3.5L V6 that was in our previous 2011 Sienna, but under normal cruising and around-town driving it is sufficiently quiet.
We have found the ride comfort better and road noise to be lower than our 2011 Sienna. There is less body-rocking than our 2011 when hitting potholes due to the new independent rear suspension. I have been pleasantly surprised by the electric air conditioner of the hybrid: Being able to wait in a parking lot with no engine running most of the time, with the electric air conditioner keeping the cabin nice and cool is a great unadvertised feature. We often travel with the family dog, and can now leave the car in the “ready mode” with the air conditioner running, lock the doors with the mechanical key, and eat a quick meal in a restaurant while the dog stays nice and cool.
We are very happy with the gas mileage. We have always driven it in the “Econ” mode, but we don’t attempt to keep acceleration within the “Eco Zone” in the hybrid instrument panel tool to maximize gas mileage. Our calculated average over 14,000 miles of driving is 33.8 mpg. Our experience with normal highway cruising at 75 mph is 34 to 36 mpg depending on whether you are bucking a headwind. Cruising at 80 mph results in gas mileage dropping to around 31 mpg. These are very good gas mileage numbers for a large 4700 lb. vehicle that is punching a pretty good-sized hole in the wind. We also like the range of the vehicle: The ability to drive 550 miles between fill-ups makes your road trip stops defined more by restroom and food stops rather than gas stops.
We like the full-range radar-enabled cruise control. I always use it now when I am stuck in stop and go traffic, letting it do the braking for me. The rear cross traffic alert works very well, and alerts even when cars are approaching from half a block away. I know others have complained about the JBL stereo, but we have found it to be a big upgrade from the JBL stereo in our 2011 Sienna, which I never could detect that the subwoofer was operating.
I do my own oil changes and tire rotations because our Toyota dealership is an hour away, and I prefer to do my own basic maintenance. For you DIY’s out there, this model is much easier to change the oil compared to the 2011 since they have gone back to a spin-on oil filter instead of the overly-complicated cartridge filter that you had to torque to get it to work as designed. I measure and track the tire tread depth when doing tire rotations. From those measurements, I would estimate the Bridgestone Turanza tires will be needing replacement at 45,000 miles, for those with the same tires.
Things we feel could be improved upon: We have tried using the lane centering function on road trips numerous times on all sensitivity levels, and have always ended up turning it off. It never seems to settle in on the center of the lane, even on a very straight road. It seems to always be overshooting the center of the lane slightly and then correcting. I am going to see if this is a calibration issue, or possibly a needed software update the next time we take it in for warranty work.
I tried the built-in map navigation on our first long road trip. I found the basic routing to be substandard. For example, it wanted to route me into Memphis on a road with miles of stop and go semi traffic when a newer freeway was available that bypassed all that stop and go congestion. I did not find that using the Toyota map yielded any significant improvement in gas mileage, but liked the concept of the GPS map computer talking to the hybrid computer to make more use of battery power when a recharging stretch of road was ahead. I also liked the realistic graphics showing what upcoming interchanges would look like. But, because of the poor routing, I gave up on it, and now use either Apple or Google Maps through CarPlay. By the way, I have found CarPlay to be a very useful feature for hands-free phone use.
Some of the interior features are not as well executed as they were in our 2011 Sienna: None of the front cupholders will hold large insulated cups. The two cupholders closest to the driver and passenger will not even hold large drink cups. The cupholders for the second row passengers are on the floor molded into the console. They are so far away from the second row passengers that they are an awkwardly long reach for them to use. Not sure why the fold-up cupholders mounted on the sides of the 2011 second row seats were not carried forward into the 2021. They worked nicely.
For those trips when you want to take a few clothes on hangers, you would naturally want to hang them in the furthest back rear windows. There are no hanger hooks at these windows like there were in the 2011. I suspect that a hanger with clothes might interfere with the side curtain airbag operation.
Like others have mentioned, the third row seats will not stay folded into their stored location and pop up as you encounter bumps. I plan to see if Toyota has a warranty fix for this design defect at my next visit.
We have the long-slide ottoman second row seats. When in the furthest-back position, and you attempt to move them forward the plastic keeper on the third row floor mats catches on the bottom of the seat, and you have to work on it from behind to free it up. Also plan to have Toyota address this under warranty. I will also note here that the only time I have actually used the ottoman seat footrest is when waiting for the wife at the shopping mall, LOL. One disadvantage of the ottoman seats is that you loose some storage space under the front edge of the seats when not carrying second row passengers. In hindsight, I might have preferred having the AWD model that was not available with the reclining ottoman seats.
When the third row is folded down, you do not have a flat load floor like you had with the previous generation, which makes it a little more difficult to pack. In addition, the previous generation had flaps on the edges of the third row seat backs that closed up all of the gaps with the sidewalls and back bumper when folded. What happened to that practical feature that would keep small items from falling into the third seat well?
These interior issues, while minor, makes me think Toyota didn’t let a family take a test mule out on a road trip test as part of their development process.
The front grill is nice looking, but it’s a real chore to clean bugs out of with all those little rectangles with sharp edges. I know they don’t have many bugs in Southern California where the styling is done, but you would have thought someone would think about the ease of cleaning up bug splatter.
I don’t mind the looks of the plastic-clad alloy wheels, but it won’t surprise me if they get damaged by the tire-changing machine at the first tire change. Why not make the plastic part removable like a hub cap rather than permanently glueing them on? My experience at tire shops is that the mechanics there are not very careful with anything they do.
Having said all this, our assessment is that the advantages of the hybrid power train, improved ride quality, and advanced driving aids still far outweigh the cons for the 2021 Sienna. We also expect the basic drivetrain to be trouble-free for at least 200,000 miles of driving (with exception of the high voltage battery) from experience with two previous Toyota Siennas. I expect the high voltage battery to be trouble-free at least through the 150,000 mile warranty. Hopefully some of the minor annoyances mentioned above will be addressed in the upcoming model years.
Things we like: This is the first hybrid vehicle we have owned. We really like the smoothness of the eCVT transmission, and the smooth transitions from battery to engine power. I now notice the power shifts much more in my 2006 Tacoma, and I have always thought of it as very smooth shifting. We also had concerns at first that the 2.5L four cylinder / hybrid powertrain might be underpowered, but have not found that to be the case. It has sufficient power to accelerate onto freeways, and to pass. On a previous trip, we took it up into the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. It had sufficient power to maintain speed going up the long steep grades there. On our last trip, we took it up into Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and it had plenty of power to maintain speed going up those steeper mountain grades. On the down-hill side of mountainous roads, the hybrid computer does a good job of using regenerative braking or engine braking to hold your speed. The 2.5L four cylinder engine will generate a little more noise under heavy acceleration than the 3.5L V6 that was in our previous 2011 Sienna, but under normal cruising and around-town driving it is sufficiently quiet.
We have found the ride comfort better and road noise to be lower than our 2011 Sienna. There is less body-rocking than our 2011 when hitting potholes due to the new independent rear suspension. I have been pleasantly surprised by the electric air conditioner of the hybrid: Being able to wait in a parking lot with no engine running most of the time, with the electric air conditioner keeping the cabin nice and cool is a great unadvertised feature. We often travel with the family dog, and can now leave the car in the “ready mode” with the air conditioner running, lock the doors with the mechanical key, and eat a quick meal in a restaurant while the dog stays nice and cool.
We are very happy with the gas mileage. We have always driven it in the “Econ” mode, but we don’t attempt to keep acceleration within the “Eco Zone” in the hybrid instrument panel tool to maximize gas mileage. Our calculated average over 14,000 miles of driving is 33.8 mpg. Our experience with normal highway cruising at 75 mph is 34 to 36 mpg depending on whether you are bucking a headwind. Cruising at 80 mph results in gas mileage dropping to around 31 mpg. These are very good gas mileage numbers for a large 4700 lb. vehicle that is punching a pretty good-sized hole in the wind. We also like the range of the vehicle: The ability to drive 550 miles between fill-ups makes your road trip stops defined more by restroom and food stops rather than gas stops.
We like the full-range radar-enabled cruise control. I always use it now when I am stuck in stop and go traffic, letting it do the braking for me. The rear cross traffic alert works very well, and alerts even when cars are approaching from half a block away. I know others have complained about the JBL stereo, but we have found it to be a big upgrade from the JBL stereo in our 2011 Sienna, which I never could detect that the subwoofer was operating.
I do my own oil changes and tire rotations because our Toyota dealership is an hour away, and I prefer to do my own basic maintenance. For you DIY’s out there, this model is much easier to change the oil compared to the 2011 since they have gone back to a spin-on oil filter instead of the overly-complicated cartridge filter that you had to torque to get it to work as designed. I measure and track the tire tread depth when doing tire rotations. From those measurements, I would estimate the Bridgestone Turanza tires will be needing replacement at 45,000 miles, for those with the same tires.
Things we feel could be improved upon: We have tried using the lane centering function on road trips numerous times on all sensitivity levels, and have always ended up turning it off. It never seems to settle in on the center of the lane, even on a very straight road. It seems to always be overshooting the center of the lane slightly and then correcting. I am going to see if this is a calibration issue, or possibly a needed software update the next time we take it in for warranty work.
I tried the built-in map navigation on our first long road trip. I found the basic routing to be substandard. For example, it wanted to route me into Memphis on a road with miles of stop and go semi traffic when a newer freeway was available that bypassed all that stop and go congestion. I did not find that using the Toyota map yielded any significant improvement in gas mileage, but liked the concept of the GPS map computer talking to the hybrid computer to make more use of battery power when a recharging stretch of road was ahead. I also liked the realistic graphics showing what upcoming interchanges would look like. But, because of the poor routing, I gave up on it, and now use either Apple or Google Maps through CarPlay. By the way, I have found CarPlay to be a very useful feature for hands-free phone use.
Some of the interior features are not as well executed as they were in our 2011 Sienna: None of the front cupholders will hold large insulated cups. The two cupholders closest to the driver and passenger will not even hold large drink cups. The cupholders for the second row passengers are on the floor molded into the console. They are so far away from the second row passengers that they are an awkwardly long reach for them to use. Not sure why the fold-up cupholders mounted on the sides of the 2011 second row seats were not carried forward into the 2021. They worked nicely.
For those trips when you want to take a few clothes on hangers, you would naturally want to hang them in the furthest back rear windows. There are no hanger hooks at these windows like there were in the 2011. I suspect that a hanger with clothes might interfere with the side curtain airbag operation.
Like others have mentioned, the third row seats will not stay folded into their stored location and pop up as you encounter bumps. I plan to see if Toyota has a warranty fix for this design defect at my next visit.
We have the long-slide ottoman second row seats. When in the furthest-back position, and you attempt to move them forward the plastic keeper on the third row floor mats catches on the bottom of the seat, and you have to work on it from behind to free it up. Also plan to have Toyota address this under warranty. I will also note here that the only time I have actually used the ottoman seat footrest is when waiting for the wife at the shopping mall, LOL. One disadvantage of the ottoman seats is that you loose some storage space under the front edge of the seats when not carrying second row passengers. In hindsight, I might have preferred having the AWD model that was not available with the reclining ottoman seats.
When the third row is folded down, you do not have a flat load floor like you had with the previous generation, which makes it a little more difficult to pack. In addition, the previous generation had flaps on the edges of the third row seat backs that closed up all of the gaps with the sidewalls and back bumper when folded. What happened to that practical feature that would keep small items from falling into the third seat well?
These interior issues, while minor, makes me think Toyota didn’t let a family take a test mule out on a road trip test as part of their development process.
The front grill is nice looking, but it’s a real chore to clean bugs out of with all those little rectangles with sharp edges. I know they don’t have many bugs in Southern California where the styling is done, but you would have thought someone would think about the ease of cleaning up bug splatter.
I don’t mind the looks of the plastic-clad alloy wheels, but it won’t surprise me if they get damaged by the tire-changing machine at the first tire change. Why not make the plastic part removable like a hub cap rather than permanently glueing them on? My experience at tire shops is that the mechanics there are not very careful with anything they do.
Having said all this, our assessment is that the advantages of the hybrid power train, improved ride quality, and advanced driving aids still far outweigh the cons for the 2021 Sienna. We also expect the basic drivetrain to be trouble-free for at least 200,000 miles of driving (with exception of the high voltage battery) from experience with two previous Toyota Siennas. I expect the high voltage battery to be trouble-free at least through the 150,000 mile warranty. Hopefully some of the minor annoyances mentioned above will be addressed in the upcoming model years.
