2004 Toyota Sienna XLE from North America - Comments

I have no spare tire, and I don't have any place to mount one. I tried to figure out where I could put it, and there is no room other than precious cargo space.

I am amazed that I purchased a vehicle used with 23000 miles that has no spare tire. I was neither made aware that I did not have a spare, but I do have a jack, which seems kind of crazy considering that if I get a flat, I have nothing to replace it with.

The real kicker is my Sienna did not have run flat tires on it when purchased because it was used. I never really knew the vehicle came with run flats, and I refused to spend in excess of $1000.

When I purchased my 2004 Toyota Sienna, I had no idea that the car came with run-flat tires either, and was disappointed at the dealer for not informing me of this.

In addition, the run-flat tires drove horribly on the snow despite having AWD. So, I was left with 2 choices, spend tons of money on run flat snow tires or just put regular tires on the van and suffer without having a spare tire.

I ended up putting normal snow tires on my van and decided to suffer with no spare tire. Rather than purchasing a spare tire kit and taking up valuable cargo space, I decided instead to get a AAA membership.

The van drives fantastic in the snow now, and with the AAA membership I feel that I will be covered if for whatever reason I end up with a flat tire. It's a small price to pay for such a fantastic van.

I love everything about my van except for two things.

One - the lack of a spare tire.

Two - the fact that the battery dies quickly. If an interior light is left on for even 1/2 an hour the battery will die. So my solution to that was a portable jump-starter from Walmart that cost $39. So AAA will save me if I get a flat, I can jump start my car whenever the battery dies, and other than that, I'd say that I love everything about my van.

I did learn some lessons though. There are a lot of things a dealer won't tell you just to sell a car. I probably should have researched it a bit more, because there is a lot of info on-line where people complain about the run-flat tires and the battery dying quickly.