New toyota sienna awd

kevinwak · Feb 7, 2012

So my wife and I finally got tired of squishing the baby and all associated gear into the matrix. We broke down and bought a Toyota Sienna AWD minivan. I am excited for the added room, even if it comes at the expense of driving a minivan which I never wanted to own.
The Sienna AWD does not have a spare tire. To maintain interior room when they ran the rear drive train they did away with the spare and put run flat tired on it. I kind of like this idea of run flat since my wife probably can't change a tire herself anyway. The only trouble is I am now looking at getting winter tires and I am only limited to one mediocre rated blizzak if we stay with the run flat and it is $410 a tire. I can get a top rated blizzak without run flat for only $200 a tire. I can only think of once in the last ten years where I ever used the spare and it was a slow leak from a nail. I am wondering if I can get buy with the cheaper better tires and no spare and put a couple cans of fix a flat and a little 12 v air compressor in the back. Also I can get a roadside service membership with the money I save. I don't want to be cheap on my wife and sons safety but when I read the tin flats had poorer winter traction it discouraged me from buying them.

dusty3030 · Feb 7, 2012

Right now I drive a 2010 Sienna back and forth to work. We keep some kind of SUV / van at our office all the time and I get to drive it back and forth to work (mainly becuase I won't abuse it and I will keep it maintained properly etc.). It gets great gas mileage. It drives well and comfortably. It has been a quality car. If a woman catches you looking at her when you are driving it instead of smiling they look at you in disgust like some kind of pervert

Seriously, I'd get use whatever tires you like best and if they aren't run flats make sure she knows how to use a little compressor and fix a flat and have at it. Put a few cans in it, a tire gauge, and a little pump and she is good to go. Where the spare is located on one (even if you had one) it is a pain in the rear to crank down with the supplied tool anyway and after she fooled with it for 15 minutes or so she would be calling someone regardless.

Diamondpilot · Feb 7, 2012

I would add road side assistance via AAA, your cell provider, or insurance company and forget about the Fix A Flat and compressor. Its about $2 per month and well worth it. Its what I did with my better half and her BMW 335I. Just used it for the first time 2 weeks ago with a flat. Wrecker was there in 12 minutes.

Chris

Dmace · Feb 7, 2012

Congrats!
Vans have come a long way. We have a couple of AWD Town & Country's in the fleet for site meetings and they're pretty nice even with 6 adults in them.
I tried to talk the misses into one but she wanted the cooler looking Pacifica...

LastSTRAW · Feb 7, 2012

You can' t go wrong with a Sienna. I had one for almost 11 years and only had to make 3 repairs. Front Bushings (year 8) Brakes (year 10) Handle to the back door (year 10). When an old man hit me and wrote off the vehicle they gave me $8000 for a 2000 Sienna. I couldn't believe what a great vehicle they make to hold that much value.

I went right out and bought another Sienna. This one has 7 seats and we love it more than the last one.

Sienna is great for use as a truck when the seats are out and like a bus when the seats are in. I would love to have a truck but the van with trailer hitch is much more useful.

You will get lots of use out of it.

Combustix · Feb 7, 2012

It was either a sienna or Odyssey for the wife and we went with the Odyssey, we have gotten good use out of it and it's been trouble free. Hope your Sienna works out for you.

s219 · Feb 7, 2012

I have a car with runflats, and am not a fan. One of the problems with runflats is that they are not as fixable as regular tires, and they are not stocked like regular tires. That can turn into a major hassle if you damage a tire -- it can be 2-3 days until a replacement comes in. That happened to us recently, and I found out it's a common problem. Add that hassle to the harder/noisier ride of the runflats, and I'd definitely prefer regular tires. When our set of runflats wears out, I plan to change to regular tires and invest in a repair kit or spare.