Comments: 1-15, 16-27
At 16,000 miles, white smoke appeared on startup. After taking it to the Toyota dealer, the oil had formed a "sludge", and the engine needed to be re-built.
Radio went out for no reason. Replaced under warranty.
Niggling complaints - rattles, squeaks, and unpleasant noises coming from all over the inside.
After my mediocre experience with a 1995 Dodge Caravan, I figured I would go for a vehicle from across the pond, because Toyotas supposedly have good reliability, and hold their resale value well.
As it turns out, the only thing I got by switching to an import van was a snotty dealer and perhaps one of the worst vehicles ever made. I'm not saying Domestics are superior, but this is a shining example that when it comes to cars, you can't stereotype.
OK, so onto the van. The dealer was your classic "let's haggle" slimebag. I knew that going in... Toyota dealers seem to have this cocky attitude, and my experience seemed to prove this theory correct. He would sell it to me for $2,000 over sticker, because they were in "high demand," and they only had "two left, and didn't know when they were getting more." After an hour of negotiation, I got the exact van I wanted, and got it for the actual sticker price.
The van itself was not too shabby. Seemed well built, minus the squeeks and rattles that appear on bumpy roads. The kids liked it well enough, except in the middle rear seat, where a nasty hinge kept prodding them in the rear. But as a 6 passenger hauler, the van worked quite well. It reminds me of a Camry in its driving manners. Fluid, but not fun. But hey, minivans and fun don't mix.
The first year of ownership was rather problem free, with the exception of a Radio that decided to stop working for no reason. But a little after 13 months of ownership, we noticed a huge white cloud of smoke upon startup. Yikes! So we took it to the Toyota Dealer, and he diagnosed the problem: the oil was forming a thick sludge in the engine, and had practically destroyed it.
And then Mr. Slimebag continued to inform me that this was caused by improper maintinence of the vehicle. As ready as I was to bite his head off, I marched out of there, and pulled up the receipts from each oil change (every 3,000 miles on the SPOT), each done by Jiffy Lube.
But once again Mr. Slimebag informed me that because I didn't pay the Toyota dealer's inflated prices for an Oil change (which were usually twice for me what they were at Jiffy Lube...) they would not fix the engine, and informed me that it was caused by the apparent inferior quality of Pennzoil.
After this I was furious. That night I researched this problem on the internet, and surprise surprise... it's a very common problem in Toyotas. After printing out documented reports on this, as well as a recently posted issue on Toyota's website addressing this, I marched into the dealer and told him he could either fix my engine, refund my money, or show up for court. I don't take this kind of crap, especially when my safety, and my kid's safety is at risk. Reluctantly, the dealer offered to rebuild the engine.
This has been nothing short of a horrible ownership experience. 2 weeks after the van was fixed we sold the van, and purchased a Ford Explorer.
Had the Sienna been a reliable minivan, I could care less if the dealer was dishonest. But if I'm stuck with a horrible piece of scrap metal, I am not the person to mess with. I certainly hope this is an isolated case, but I certainly have been burned off of Toyota for quite a long time ahead.
Just goes to show you, Toyota... just like all the other apparent stalwart bastions of apparent reliablity... have had to lower their standards to compete. No matter what kind of reviews come out now about Sienna, I will NEVER consider it.
I have a 2001 Sienna and have 33,000 miles on it. It is two years old, I have had Toyota dealer do a maintenace every 2500 miles (oil and oil filter change) I have not had any problems with this vehicle. I had to have the power door worked on, but that is all. My wife drives this vehicle and would not trade it for any other. I can only hope this remains the case.
If you have to change the oil every 2500 miles, I don't want one.
After reading the reviews on Toyota and Honda mini-vans, here, I think it is best to go with the American built Hummer H-2.
Thanks for the info. So much for buying another Toyota! No way!
Ended up with a ford explorer?? out of the frying pan and into the fire.. hope you're luckier with the transmission than others out there!!
We are in the process of buying a used 2000 minivan and now that I've read these comments I'm going with a Dodge. I had forgotten about the trouble at the dealership with the Toyota Corolla I had 19 years ago.
STAY AWAY FROM CHRYSLER, DODGE AND ANY OF ITS DIVISIONS!! YOU WILL REGRET IT!!
Buy a Chevy Venture or an Astro. Actually an Astro is built on a truck frame and it has the interior of a minivan. Plus they are reliable and very safe to drive not only because of the truck frame, but rather of the rear wheel drive. Check out the reviews of the Chevy Astro and the Venture.
ALSO, check out the Chevy website at www.chevrolet.com.
Just stay away from Chrysler because the cars they produce are nice, but junk. The transmissions and engines have been known to fail at about 100,000 kilometers, even on the newer models.
I owned a Chrysler mini-van prior to my Sienna. It was problematic, but over a 4 year period, the amount I paid in repairs did not come close to the engine repair on my one year old Sienna. All my Caravan problems were AFTER the vehicle was out of warranty, not like Toyota which was within warranty, but denied coverage under warranty for repairs.
So what is a guy supposed to buy? I hear good and bad from all brands. I want a Toyota Sienna because of the supposed quality. I can get a new Windstar for the same price as a used sienna. I have a 97 Camry with 112,000 miles on it and have had no troubles at all with it.
What's a guy to do? I'm afraid to buy anything.
Don't buy a Toyota because of their supposed past reputation for quality. Do better research than that. You can find a lot of info on line. It may be the lesser of some evils, but do not expect it to be special, problem free or tolerant of even the maintenance requirements in the manual. If you want it to make it to 100,000 miles, like any other car out there, you must handle it with extraordinary care. Just don't be fooled by the hype of the past reputation of excellence. That is the past, not now. And don't expect to be handled any differently when you do have a problem. You will be given the same load of crap that you get at any other dealership.
What I would look for is a company's history of customer service. Every car manufacturers have problems at some point in time. I can say from my experience that Toyota does not seem to be very customer oriented when something seriously goes wrong. They try to blame it on the owner. They have been wonderful on minor problems, but if the big one hits (like sludge) watch out.
1999 Toyota Sienna CE.
Engine oil gelling ("sludge") issues: I have a copy of the letter Toyota sent in mid-2002 and would be glad to fax it to anyone. My e-mail is kmkurtz@juno.com. Our van was purchased used with 46,000 miles. It now has 88,000 miles with NO SIGNS of oil gelling or any other problems. I've changed the oil roughly every 3-5,000 miles, but not "religiously."
My mother had a critical fire incident in her 2000 Sienna just this past Tuesday. She is a burn unit and may or may not survive the 3rd degree burns over 30% of her body. An investigation is underway, but I understand that it probably started in the engine area.
Can anyone out there offer any info that may help me and my family??
Thanks!
File a complaint with the National Traffic Safety Administration at www.nhtsa.gov. You can do this on-line or you can call and do it in person. Hopefully you have an attorney to assist you.