2003 Toyota Sienna XLE review from North America

The driver's seat heater broke, fixed under warranty. Trailer hitch reduces ground clearance to unacceptable level (see general comments).

The current model Sienna is spacious, reliable and performs well... certainly superior in all regards to the previous ('98-'03) design which was our last minivan. We have yet to drive it in snow, but the reports show it is pretty good, at least for a minivan, which are not good snow vehicles as a group due to their high center of gravity.

The only problem is the suitability of this car for towing. Due to the design (3rd row seats that fold into the body and a low stance), the tow bar (only 1 is available that I could find after much research, a class III HiddenHitch) sits very low allowing for only a few inches of clearance at the rear of the vehicle. We scrape bottom (the hitch) often and as a remedy I'm going to have the car raised which I'm sure will cost $$$. I spoke to the folks at HiddenHitch and they confirmed a) they could not allow for more ground clearance given the design of the car and b) they have received many complaints.

I have owned many Toyotas as well as other marques and I believe that by any measure - quality, value, low running costs, reliability, durability and availability of parts and service - Toyota cannot be beat!!