2021 Toyota Sienna Road Test and Review

2021ToyotaSiennaFront ・ Photo by Nicole Wakelin

The 2021 Toyota Sienna minivan is newly redesigned this model year. While minivans were once the go-to choice for families, SUVs and crossovers have since taken the lead. Still, there’s nothing quite like a minivan when you have kids. They offer seating for the whole family and a few friends with enough room for schoolbags, sports equipment, and whatever else you need to carry. Flexible seating configurations let you quickly rearrange to fit the needs of the moment and family-friendly features including an available rear-seat entertainment system make daily life easier.

This year, the Sienna sports big changes. Most notably, it’s now available exclusively with a hybrid powertrain, and it has a choice of all-wheel drive instead of the standard front-wheel drive across the lineup. Let’s take a closer look at the all-new 2021 Toyota Sienna to see if it’s the right minivan for your family.

Five Trims Priced to Fit Every Budget

There are five Sienna trim levels, starting with the LE. It’s priced from $34,460 and includes a 9-inch infotainment touchscreen, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, blind-spot monitoring, and a rear cross-traffic alert. The XLE, priced at $39,750, adds hands-free dual power sliding doors, a kick-to-open liftgate, four-zone automatic climate control, and front and rear parking assist with automated braking. The XSE adds premium audio with navigation, a sport-tuned suspension with a matching sport interior, and heated power mirrors for $42,000.

The Limited continues the lineup at $46,700 with a premium 12-speaker JBL audio system, Qi wireless charging, and a power tilt and telescopic steering wheel. Sitting at the top of the range is the Platinum. Priced from $49,900, it adds rain-sensing wipers, heated second-row seats and steering wheel, and a 10-inch color head-up display. A wide range of fully-featured trims makes it easy to find the perfect Sienna for your needs.

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Only Available With a Hybrid Powertrain

The previous generation of the Toyota Sienna was sold only with a gasoline engine. Now, it’s sold exclusively as a hybrid. Power comes from a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with an electric motor for 245 net horsepower with Normal, EV, Eco, and Sport drive modes.

While hybrids aren’t known for winning races, they’re a far cry from what they were a decade ago, and Toyota has a long history with hybrid technologies. The Sienna is quiet and responsive, so you won’t really know you’re driving a hybrid, which is exactly how it should be when you drive one. The notable lack of engine noise when running purely in electric mode is the only time you’re aware that this is a hybrid vehicle. It accelerates up to highway speeds quickly and quietly and is ready with extra power when you need it for high-speed passing.

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Flexible Seating for up to Eight Passengers

The Sienna has three rows of seating with room for up to eight passengers. Front seats are spacious and supportive with minimal bolstering, which is ideal for longer road trips. A range of seating surfaces include fabric, SofTex, and, on top grades, leather, for a more upscale experience. There’s a second-row bench seating with seating for three or captain’s chairs with seating for two. The captain’s chairs are roomier and more comfortable. The Limited and Platinum trims equipped with front-wheel drive also have an available ottoman.

Either way, there’s ample legroom with a 25-inch slide forward and backward. This also makes access easier, especially for kids climbing inside and heading for the third row. That third row has seating for three and splits 60/40 for quick reconfiguration. Its One-Motion Split & Stow design lets you easily pop the seats up or stow them flat for loading larger cargo.

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Easily Able to Handle Your Cargo Needs

A minivan needs to do double duty by carrying lots of people or lots of cargo. It also needs to be easily reconfigurable to fit your changing needs not just from one day to the next, but from minute-to-minute. The 2021 Toyota Sienna has 33.5 cubic feet for cargo behind the third row, 75.2 cubic feet behind the second row, and 101 cubic feet behind the front seats. That’s easily enough to handle a full load of passengers and all their stuff.

Making loading cargo easier are a hands-free power liftgate and hands-free power sliding doors. A quick kick of your foot with the key fob in your pocket and the doors open so you don’t have to awkwardly juggle the load in your arms. The One-Motion Split & Stow third row further aids with cargo loading by making it an easy process to stow those seats.

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Affordable Hybrid Fuel Economy

Fuel economy is important for any car, but especially so in one that is likely to be used for family road trips. Holiday drives to visit family and summertime vacations get expensive if gas prices rise and your car doesn’t get good fuel economy. That makes the hybrid powertrain in the Sienna a bonus when it comes time to fuel up.

The 2021 Toyota Sienna gets an EPA-estimated 36 mpg in both city and highway driving when equipped with front-wheel drive. There’s a slight drop to 35 mpg in the city, 36 mpg on the highway, and 35 mpg combined for all-wheel drive models. That’s solid fuel economy for a large vehicle that seats up to eight passengers.

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Smooth, Quiet Ride and Easy Handling

Minivans carry lots of people, so Toyota designed the Sienna to provide a comfortable ride. That starts with a quiet interior. There’s little wind or road noise, and the sound of passing trucks is well muted on the highway. Even the noise of the engine, which can sometimes be intrusive under hard acceleration in a hybrid, is kept at bay getting up to highway speeds. Rough road surfaces are evened out by the Sienna’s suspension so passengers can enjoy a quiet and relaxing ride.

The ride is relaxing for the driver, too. The Sienna is responsive, so minimal inputs are required to point the Sienna in the right direction and keep it on track. It stays planted to the road, so even swooping highway on and off ramps or unexpected rough roads are kept nicely in check and won’t have the driver struggling to keep control.

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Large Infotainment Screen

The Toyota Sienna includes a standard 9-inch touchscreen mounted high on the dashboard. It’s easy to view for both driver and passenger and has a wide range of standard features to keep you connected. It features Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Amazon Alexa, and a three-month trial of SiriusXM. There’s one USB media port plus six USB charging ports, so there are no arguments about who gets to charge up next.

A six-speaker audio system is standard, while an eight-speaker system that includes navigation is available on select trims. Standard on the Limited and Platinum is a 12-speaker JBL premium audio system with a subwoofer and amplifier. Those in the rear seats get an available rear-seat entertainment system with an 11.6-inch ceiling-mounted display and HDMI inputs. There are also two sets of wireless headphones and a remote, so the kids can do their thing without bothering adults up front.

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Standard Toyota Safety Sense 2.0

Safety is important, but never more so than when you have your kids along for the ride. The Sienna includes Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 standard across the lineup. This suite of safety features includes pre-collision with pedestrian detection, full-speed range dynamic radar cruise control, a lane-departure alert with steering assist, lane trace assist, automatic high beams, and road sign assist. Blind-spot monitoring, a rear cross-traffic alert, and a rear-seat reminder are also standard.

That’s on every Sienna, even the base trim, so you don’t have to step up to a more expensive model simply to get the benefits of today’s advanced safety features. Additional available features include front and rear parking assist with automated braking, an integrated backup camera with a wide-angle monitor, and a digital rearview mirror that gives an unobstructed view of what’s behind the Sienna.

Photo by Nicole Wakelin

Final Thoughts

Minivans are a love-it-or-hate-it proposition, and the Toyota Sienna gives you plenty of reasons to love. Its new hybrid powertrain makes it a fuel miser ideal for family road trips. Its versatile interior provides a great combination of passenger comfort — especially the roomy second row — with ample room for cargo. There’s also the infotainment system with key connectivity features and a large touchscreen that makes it easy to use, plus a wide range of advanced safety features to keep you and your loved ones safe.

Finally, a range of five trims, all of which are well-equipped, make it easy to find a Sienna that fits both your needs and your budget. If you’ve been undecided about the merits of a minivan, then the 2021 Toyota Sienna is ready to help you make the jump to minivan life.

Photo by Nicole Wakelin