2000 Toyota Sienna LS from North America - Comments

I have a 2000 sienna. I bought it with 20k miles on it. I change the oil (personally) every 3000 miles or so. that's very important on any vehicle. I have no regrets about buying it. it has about 35k miles on it now. I am thinking about using it to tow a pop up trailer. any words of advice?

I wouldn't tow unless the vehicle is equipped with the tow package (includes an engine cooler).

You have bought the model and year covered under Toyota's 8 year unlimited mile sludge policy so if you do eventually succumb to sludge, you should be covered 100% for repairs and incidentals during this period. Be sure to continue to change your oil frequently, change the PCV even though not on the maintenance schedule and check your oil constantly for excessive consumption (at least every gas fill up). Hope you are luckier than others.

As an owner of a Sienna with a tow package and engine cooler that sludged, I can tell you that the cooler does not help prevent sludge even with proper maintenance. I have seen some anecdotal reports about thsi, but it is not true. You should change your oil every 3000 miles and use Mobil 1 or Amsoil to make sure no sludge in this engine.

My wife and I bought a 2000 Sienna because my best friend sold Toyotas. The first 75K miles went flawlessly. I changed the oil every 5k and kept up the maintenance like any other vehicle.

Our Sienna also belched white smoke upon startup at around 75k miles. After driving the engine for a year after the BG products, I noticed a high oil consumption: about 1 quart for every 1200 miles.

Then I found out about the SPA from Toyota. The v-6 in the Sienna is the same v-6 in the Cam, which had numerous customer complaints. Toyota dealerships will "un-sludge" and charge Toyota Corporate if your engine does the following:

1. blow white smoke out the tail.

2. High oil consumpion.

3. obvious signs of sludge in the oil input hole.

If they see parts that are worn to excess, they may replace the short block.

If you live in the Northern Virginia area, take your van to Miller Toyota and ask for JD. He took very good care of me.

It probably helps to have your best friend working at Toyota. Unless you can provide a receipt for every oil change Toyota is denying the free engine cleaning or repair. My dealers said I needed receipt for every 3,000 mile even though my manual says 7,500 mile is what is needed for my style of driving.

Also, if all they are doing is cleaning up the engine and not fixing the problem, expect to sludge again in the future.

I think a round of applause is in order for this reviewer for doing their homework and for standing up for themselves by not accepting the dealer's bull. I would have handled the situation the same way. Bravo!

My god, these reviews are terrible. If I could have gone into the future back in august of 01 when I bought my sienna brand new and seen these complaints, I probably would not have taken that risk.

But, I did buy one because a friend is a salesman at a dealership and we got a good deal. We have put 93,000 miles on it to date and have NOT had A SINGLE PROBLEM. We beat on this van all the time, change the oil every 5-6k miles and still no problems like sludge or a fire!? In fact this has been the most reliable, trouble free vehicle I have owned.

I unknowingly took a gamble and I hit the jackpot I guess. Sorry to here about your guys troubles. I am hard core Toyota guy and will always be (maybe not so much newer cars).

I would just like to say for the record I can't believe this happened to you. My 2000 Sienna has nearly 290k (KM's) which is like about 180,000 miles on it. Most reliable vehicle I've ever owned. No smoke, no oil loss, great vehicle.

I have a 2000 Toyota Sienna, and boy would I like to unload it. It has been an albatross around my neck for all but the first year we owned it. I can honestly say we did all the maintenance required faithfully, but when the sludge problem first occurred at 17,000 miles, we were told by the dealership that it would not be covered. We gave up with Toyota, and just took the advice of a friend who said, well if they think you need to replace the engine and won't cover it with the warranty, then just drive it till it stops. We took that approach and at 58,000 miles it stopped, well it ran real rough, one of the cylinders was dead. I took it to a repair shop I trusted and they did a top end rebuild for about $1700, which was a fraction of the cost of Toyota's rebuild at the time. The rebuild lasted until about 85,000 miles. The top end was so tight it probably put more stress on the bottom end, it was blowing smoke and burning quite a bit of oil. I learned how to manage it and keep it running. I changed the spark plugs every 5-10K miles and keep the oil levels a little lower than recommended to avoid blowing too much smoke. The car has 99K on it now, and I am debating whether to finally end my embarrassing drive down the road, or even just replace the engine. My dream when I first bought it was to drive this minivan like 200,000 miles. I did not want to have to invest in another minivan of any kind. I have known it was not likely to those high miles for some time now, but my daughter (chip off the old block) suggested that we drive it till it stops. I just smiled, but I think that day is just about here. If I had only saved saved every little receipt, Toyota would have replaced the engine now with their new warranty policy. But you just can't go back in time. I never wanted to buy the Toyota, I wanted the Honda Odyssey. The whole Toyota experience... oh what a feeling. I feel like Charlie Brown and his kite getting eaten by the tree.

We own a 2000 Sienna (produced in 1999). It is currently at 175000 miles, oil has been changed at intervals of 5K or less (usually around 3k now).

The pro's: still on original transmission, brakes changed at 85K and then at 160K.

The con's: $400 to change a dashboard light, engine failure due to sludge at 105K and 145K. Both times rebuilt by Toyota (after a lot of fuss). First rebuild had some mechanical issues. Took 9 weeks to get the piston rings the second time. Just after the second rebuild blew a rear seal ($990). Appears to have a very small coolant leak after second rebuild (suspect it's the head gasket). Know another owner with a Sienna manufactured within days of this one. It had had its engine and transmission replaced well under 100K miles.

My parents bought a 2000 Sienna brand new... never kept up on oil changes or any maintenance. I beat the crap out of this thing when I was in high school. I bought it off them with 175k miles on it, have 210k on it now.

Replaced shocks, struts, flushed the trans, engine, brakes, coolant etc. Basically replaced all the regular maintenance items that I know my dad never did, put around $1000 in parts and 2 days of work into it. Haven't had one bit of problem with it in 35k miles I've had it. Still gets around 20mpg general driving, no smoke, nothing.

Power steering will need an overhaul in the near future, as well as replacing all the hoses etc. but again a couple hundred bucks and a weekend's worth of work and it should be good for another 75-90k miles I hope.

Only complaints are the tire pressure sensor has never been off in the car, and I have gone through two gas caps since I have had it (aftermarket crap I assume).

As with any high mileage car, I recommend adding Marvel Mystery Oil or Sea-Foam with every oil change and every tank of gas.

This was caused in part by lack of crankcase ventilation, this was never a problem on the predecessor the rwd Previa. The Previa was a frankly a better van in most respects and more reliable than 1st gen fwd sienna.