2005 Toyota Sienna LE from North America

Summary:

Great car for families and long distance drives

Faults:

Tires at 40000 miles which is normal.

Recently the airbag warning light came on.

Other than that, nothing!

General Comments:

Great car specially for kids and cargo. To take the 2nd row seats out is a nightmare.

Engine and transmission are in great harmony with lots of power.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th August, 2009

2005 Toyota Sienna XLE V6 gasoline from North America

Summary:

With the glaring exception of the tires, the car runs fine

Faults:

We bought a new 2005 Toyota Sienna XLE model with run-flat tires. At the time of purchase, no one at the dealer advised us of the problems Toyota had been experiencing with the Dunlop run-flats. A class action lawsuit had already been settled by Toyota with the owners of all wheel drive Sienna equipped with the notorious Dunlop run-flat tires.

My wife is the primary driver of the van (volleyball mom.) She noticed severe tire wear on the outside rim of the tires at approx. 10k miles. The Walmart tire technicians refused to rotate the tires due to the wear. I took my Toyota back to the dealer who claimed the tires were fine and rotated the tires.

Within two months, the tires had visibly worn badly. I returned to the Toyota dealership only to be told I was a bad owner and hadn't rotated the tires properly. I reminded them they had rotated the tires asking them to check their maintenance records. The Toyota service manager confirmed the facts but insisted the tires were wearing as expected.

Not willing to risk my families safety, I went to Les Schwab Tires and replaced all four tires at a cost of nearly $600.00.

The lack of service, honesty, and integrity of the local Toyota dealer and company as whole convinced me to never purchase another Toyota vehicle.

I've owned Nissans before. Next time, Nissan, and I won't look back.

General Comments:

The car seems solid and well built. The failure of Toyota to step up and take ownership of the issue of the Dunlop run-flat tires is making me tell all my friends to steer clear of Toyota products.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 13th December, 2008

13th May 2021, 21:11

Never buy vehicles equipped with run flat tires. Always negotiate before the purchase to have normal tires installed - if the dealer says it's not possible, just look him more straight and repeat your demand. Run flat tires are usually of bad riding quality, and less durable. Plus, see it this way: for a set of run flat tires you pay 30% more than for normal tires. If you have a flat you can always call a tow and have a normal tire fixed on the spot. One thing people are not aware is most run flat tires cannot be fixed if they get a puncture: you are in for a nice bill to replace the run flat tire, instead of a tow service tire repair for a normal tire. Keep in mind that cars equipped with run flat tires don't have a spare tire. There are also these more recent tire repair "kits" with expandable foam. Do NOT RELY on these kits, they are too difficult to figure out how to use on the side of the road, and basically impossible to use by the average person and what's more, the foam will destroy the tire pressure sensor if there's one equipped. And of course, you will have to replace the tire repaired with these kits once back home - in fact the dealerships tell you to go see them if you ever used the tire repair kit - now you know why they are saying that. Moral of the story: for all car brands, have the car equipped with normal tires, try to get a spare tire and call a tow if you have a flat. And be smart, when purchasing a new car, never go for the optional bigger wheels: it's useless, you will pay much more for tires, and you have more chances to get a flat if you hit a pothole. Steer clear of all these marketing gimmicks.

17th May 2021, 00:31

Unless you buy a high performance sports car. Carry a portable air compressor. Great if you are broke down late at night in bad areas.