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2018 Toyota Sienna

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The Sienna is the car Toyota refuses to redesign.
(This and the Prius V I guess…)
The current generation is now 7 years old, and all it is getting for the new year is a few changes.
Like this horrible new front end that doesn’t fit at all the rest of the car.
It’s like they are forcing it to look like an Avalon. 
It’s not working. At all.
And now they include the ugly lower side rockers as standard.
Because it looks “sporty” I guess.
Inside, nothing new either. Except minor updates to the entertainment system.

This is what the Sienna looks now.
There is really nothing wrong with it. It looks just fine for a minivan.
It looks like Toyota is preparing to maybe exit the segment. Pulling a “Crown Victoria” on the Sienna isn’t the best news.
Everything else is newer. Or just “new”. Like the Odyssey. 
And the Pacifica looks great and has had really good reviews so far.
This is doomed.

Conversation 15 comments

  1. Since the new camry & avalon were deemed stylistic diseasters, Toy's reaction is to dumb down their minivan to the same garrish level of embarrassment! Thank God we have the genius and sophistication of an 80 MPG Pacific to switch to !!! Never much cared for wrestling with Toyota's heavy middle seats, anyway.

  3. It's not "doomed." Most buyers of a Minivan don't pay attention to whether the front end goes with the look of the rest of the vehicle.

    Sorry Vince, but you – and readers of this site – don't represent most buyers of a vehicle such as this.

    It's a Toyota Minivan. That's all that matters to most people.

  4. Still. There should be NO excuse for "ugly".( Especially making ugly something that wasn't.)

    The Pacifica proved that Minivan buyers really don't mind something that looks nice…

  6. I agree. It definitely looked better before the face lift. It sort of resembles a hand held vac after the face lift.

    Toyota products seem to sell on reputation alone, though. It doesn't matter how boring or hideous they look.

  7. The question for me remains: Are large MPVs still a big thing today? Everyone is going CUV/SUV crazy today, and in the European market, the classic MPV is already a dying breed. Average model runs are getting lengthy, cars are getting replaced with more CUVish MPVs (Renault) or straight away turning into CUV/SUVs (PSA, Opel), the Pacifica isn't even exported to Europe anymore (previous generations sold with quite some success until ca. 2010, since when the whole going CUV/SUV trend has really caught on here).

    Given this is a US only car basically, I wonder if Toyota will deem it necessary to replace it, or rather sell the crowd some 7 seat SUV instead.

  8. Horrible and definitely the Pacifica is the best looking minivan out there right now BUT I agree with Anonymous 5:55 PM, people that buy these things apparently don't care too much about looks and this thing will still sell good. The "general buyers" that don't know much about cars look for something else (I'm not really sure what that is), just look at the best selling subcompact car.. the ugliest car in the road as well, the Nissan Versa.

  9. I thought the Pacifica was nice looking until I saw one in person. The GOLD MEDAL goes to the KIA SEDONA!

  10. Absolutely right about the Sedona! I forgot a bout it. I almost never see one, but it is really a super nice design.
    Interior is also great.

  11. Minivans are sold on utility alone, as all they do is to haul around people and their stuff. Design is secondary, or may be tertiary, and in fact attractive design can compromise utility sometimes. Having said all this, in one breath, this new one coming up is not attractive.

  13. I own a 2014 Sienna which is a great Home Depot and roadtrip vehicle but way too clunky for a daily driver. Sorry to see they have not fixed the shifter location which gets in the way every time you reach for the radio. No excuse for poor ergonomics like this. I would choose and Odyssey or Pacifica over this refresh.

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