Reviews from owners: 2008 Toyota Sienna (limited or other)

[auger]

I guess ths is the appropriate board for this, since it will be a definite budget issue if this ends up being a bad decision!!

Are there any owners of 2008 Toyota Siennas that can give me reviews on how you like yours?

Have you had any major issues, gripes, complaints, problems, etc?

I am planning to buy a Limited on Wednesday - not an AWD BTW.

I am very hesitant to buy such an expensive vehicle. My last van was a 1998 Silhouette and only cost $5900 - it was 5 yrs old at the time I bought it.

But it died in May of 2010, and I have been w/out a vehicle since.

This van is WAAAAAAAAY more expensive, but I know I am supposedly paying for Toyota quality this time. But, with all the bad hype Toyota has been getting recently, I am concerned that the quality is no longer there!

Any help, reassurances, or warnings from owners would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[cheerky]

We have a 2006 Sienna with 140,000+ miles and love it! Even with the high mileage, we wouldn't hesitate to take it on yet another long trip. I had a Caravan before and it died at 100,000 and drove poorly early on. I definitely recommend the Sienna!!!

 

[Jedimike]

I don't own a Sienna, but I own a Sequoia and a Corolla, both over 100,00. Both bought new. No problems on either on. I will always own a Toyota methinks.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

I have a 2008 Sienna Limited. I love it, love it, love it! It has 62,000 miles on it and has been wonderful. The radio is starting to do some weird things (ejecting the CDs by itself and sometimes turning off by itself. That's annoying.) We typically get a new car around 60,000 miles, but I love this van and don't really like the new Siennas as much, so I am going to keep this one for a while.

I also had a 1999 Sienna - loved it, but it was too small (the old model was much smaller) - and a 2004 Sienna Limited that was AWD. I'd probably still have that car if not for the AWD - the run flat tires were expensive, and I was lucky to get 20,000 miles on each set.

My DH even likes my van, and he is not a van person. He has converted from Acura to Toyota because my vans have performed so well.

One of my best friends has a 2008 Limited (she got hers six months after I got mine because she liked mine). She traded in her Honda Odyssey and loves her Toyota. My DSIL has a 2006 (I think - maybe a 2007) Sienna because she liked my 2004 Sienna - she has also been very happy with hers.

 

[packofjedis]

I have a 2005 Sienna. Haven't had any issues with it (knocking on wood....) and absolutely love it! Was just commenting the other day that it still runs like it's new even though it has 70k miles on it. Totally worth it. Great van!

Had a Dodge Caravan before this and it wasn't a good van at all IMO. Agree with above poster, had issues from the start with the Dodge.

 

[SDSorority]

I guess ths is the appropriate board for this, since it will be a definite budget issue if this ends up being a bad decision!!

Are there any owners of 2008 Toyota Siennas that can give me reviews on how you like yours?

Have you had any major issues, gripes, complaints, problems, etc?

I am planning to buy a Limited on Wednesday - not an AWD BTW.

I am very hesitant to buy such an expensive vehicle. My last van was a 1998 Silhouette and only cost $5900 - it was 5 yrs old at the time I bought it.

But it died in May of 2010, and I have been w/out a vehicle since.

This van is WAAAAAAAAY more expensive, but I know I am supposedly paying for Toyota quality this time. But, with all the bad hype Toyota has been getting recently, I am concerned that the quality is no longer there!

Any help, reassurances, or warnings from owners would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!

We have a 2006 and it has served us well so far!

 

[luv2sewtjr]

My 2004 Sienna had nearly 210k on it the day it was totaled. Outside of getting a little scratched up, I had no major complaints. I just did the maintenance as needed.

 

[mdrob214]

I drive a 2008 Sienna. The ONLY thing I truly dislike about my van: the tires! The ones that came on it were complete junk. Absolutely abysmal in the snow and not great on wet streets, either. I only got about 30,000 miles out of them, and judging by some forums DH has read, we did really well.

One thing that I think may be a downside is that the oil filters are more expensive than a basic filter. We don't actually do our own oil changes, but the mechanic we use (I don't go to the dealer) apologizes every time about the higher price because of that filter.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We had a 2000 and now have a 2006. The 2000 was totalled in an accident and no one was injured. It had about 130,000 miles on it with no major work required before that time. Our current one (we had two of them at one time) has about 65,000 miles on it. Our Toyota guy said once they get 100,000 miles on them, they should get another 100,000 or more before they need major work.

Talking about bad Toyota Hype - it was all hype. Ford, GM, Chrysler all have as many recalls if not more without any publicity by Washington.

The first time we get new tires, we get Michelins or similar quality.

Consumer Reports always give Sienna high marks. Usually they are the minivan of the year.

 

[disneymomoftwins]

I drive a 2008 Sienna. The ONLY thing I truly dislike about my van: the tires! The ones that came on it were complete junk. Absolutely abysmal in the snow and not great on wet streets, either. I only got about 30,000 miles out of them, and judging by some forums DH has read, we did really well.

One thing that I think may be a downside is that the oil filters are more expensive than a basic filter. We don't actually do our own oil changes, but the mechanic we use (I don't go to the dealer) apologizes every time about the higher price because of that filter.

I work in the Service Department of a Toyota Dealer and our oil filters arent that much more than a regular oil filter. If your mechanic is using a Toyota filter he is probably buying it from a Toyota Dealer and then marking it up to sale to you (this is normal practice). Buy your filter from the dealer and take it to the mechanic you use for the oil change. Also check with your dealer about the price of their oil changes, we keep the price of ours cheaper than the Walmart in our area.

I also own a 2008 Sienna and I love it. I havent had any problems at all. It does really make a lot of difference in the longivity of a vehicle if you keep up the maintenance.

 

[luvdisney00]

I have a 2005 LE and i love it. It has 96,000 miles on it and it still runs great. I will be looking for a new one in a few more years because this one held up so incredibly well. DH has a corolla and loves it as well. We are a toyota family for sure.

 

[cvjw]

We have a 2006 Toyota Sienna with 68,000 miles on it. We haven't had to do anything except normal maintenance. We love our van. We only buy Toyotas, Hondas, or Nissans in our family now, after a really bad experience with a Ford Explorer.

 

[auger]

Thank-you to everyone who has responded so far.
I am so happy to hear such great reviews.

The one we are looking at is totally loaded and only has 29K miles on it.
I am a freak about regular maintenance, so I know that won't be an issue.
I am hoping that the previous owner did what was supposed to be done up to this point.

Deb & Bill - thanks for making the point about the hype. You are right about that, of course.

mdrob214 - As far as tires, I think the crappy ones they start out with are the new standard for new cars. I can't tell you how many reviews I have read about a variety of vehicles where the owners are complaining of short tire life. I think the van I am getting must have had the tires changed already, because it has pretty good tread yet.

The main reason we are wanting the Sienna is because we have a Tundra w/ 215K miles that is still going strong ( like packofjedis, I am knocking on wood!!)
We like the reliability scores on the Sienna, but we have read a lot of reviews from unhappy owners, and that had us a bit timid about the purchase.
But we realized more unsatisfied people take the time to post those reviews than satisfied people, so we know we can't rely solely on those neg reviews.

Thanks to all of you who took time to share your thoughts!

I would appreciate anyone else's comments as well.

 

[lukenick1]

I own a 2004 Sienna and it has been great, I really love it. My only complaint and warning is that both of my power sliding doors have broken and it will cost us $1,700 per door to repair them. We are just using them manually now . I refuse to pay that kind of money for a power door! Other than those doors breaking we really love our van. My husband has a Camry that he says he will NEVER part with!

 

[yesiamcrazy]

We LOVE out 2006 Sienna! Drive it constantly.

 

[Neesy228]

I own a 2004 Sienna and it has been great, I really love it. My only complaint and warning is that both of my power sliding doors have broken and it will cost us $1,700 per door to repair them. We are just using them manually now . I refuse to pay that kind of money for a power door!!

This.

We have a 2005 and the exact same problem. I will never buy another Toyota because of the problems with the doors and the difficulty we've had with Toyota customer service regarding them. We had our van less than 18 months before the power doors broke. Those doors were a major selling feature for us, so were/are sorely disppointed.

 

[verlee]

We have a 2000 toyota sienna. Not sure my review will help as ours is prior to the 2004 redesign however.....We love our sienna! It has over 150k miles on it. We just got back from a 1200 mile road trip and would do another tomorrow, no question. It has been an awsome car. It is comfortable and drives like a car not a truck. Our only issue is brakes. The rear brakes warp and we need to have them repaired. It is not super expensive or frequently enough for it to be too much of a pain. We are planning on driving this van for at least two more years ( or until the repairs are more then it's worth) and then we will get another Sienna.

 

[HeatherC]

We own a 2008.. not a Limited one though, and love it.

HOWEVER...just last month I failed inspection because the airbag light won't shut off. Apparently, this is a problem with Toyota that they have known about for years. It is a $5000!!!!!! fix. No exaggeration. They need to take the whole car apart and rewire the airbag system.

They know it is a problem and have released technical service bulletins to their dealers in the last couple years. They also warranty it for 60,000 miles. I have 69,000 and they will do nothing for us.

As far as safety, the airbags will not deploy...rather they are disabled which I actually feel better about. Not sure what we are going to do.

I am in the process of fighting Toyota corporate but they will do nothing. Seriously considering sueing the dealer because they know about this and will not do a recall on it or mention it to people until after it happens.

I personally, will not buy Toyota again.

If you would like to research the problem, the service code for it is:

SRS Light "ON" B0111/B0116 Open Side Squib Circuit

The technical service bulletin is TSB-0162-10

just wanted to share this info so it doesn't happen to other people.

For anyone who has under 60,000 miles, I would tell Toyota to check your airbags before the warranty is up.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We have a 2004 Sienna, and I love it! It has almost 100,000 miles and we haven't had any issues. We got it in 2007, and it had 63,000 or so miles then.

 

[edk35]

I guess ths is the appropriate board for this, since it will be a definite budget issue if this ends up being a bad decision!!

Are there any owners of 2008 Toyota Siennas that can give me reviews on how you like yours?

Have you had any major issues, gripes, complaints, problems, etc?

I am planning to buy a Limited on Wednesday - not an AWD BTW.

I am very hesitant to buy such an expensive vehicle. My last van was a 1998 Silhouette and only cost $5900 - it was 5 yrs old at the time I bought it.

But it died in May of 2010, and I have been w/out a vehicle since.

This van is WAAAAAAAAY more expensive, but I know I am supposedly paying for Toyota quality this time. But, with all the bad hype Toyota has been getting recently, I am concerned that the quality is no longer there!

Any help, reassurances, or warnings from owners would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!

We have a Sienna 2008 AWD and LOVE IT. We purchased it in Dec. 07 We have had NO PROBLEMS with it at all so far. I actually traded a 2007 Chrysler Town and Country that we bought exactly a year before BRAND NEW. I hate it...traded it in a year later for a brand new Sienna. We have a 1998 Grand Caravan that we have held onto..... HAVE PUT BOO COO money into it over the years including a transmission. We bought our daughter a 2008 corolla in Sept of the same year we got the Sienna....GREAT CAR. We have not put any money into it other than the regular maintenance stuff. Love Toyota.