Whats new in the 2023 Sienna?
The Car Connection Expert Review Show
October 11, 2022 Likes
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Buying tipSkip the panoramic roof if you want to preserve second-row head room—and pass on all-wheel drive if your daily drive never sees anything but pavement. features & specsLE AWD 8-Passenger LE FWD 8-Passenger Limited AWD 7-Passenger The 2023 Toyota Sienna can’t match rivals for flexibility, but it soars past most in efficiency.What kind of vehicle is the 2023 Toyota Sienna? What does it compare to? It’s a kid-friendly, adult-approved minivan with seats for as many as eight people. With sliding side doors and a hybrid powertrain, it’s a competitor for the Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Odyssey, and the Kia Carnival. Is the 2023 Toyota Sienna a good car? Review continues below It’s efficient with fuel and can tackle people-moving and cargo-carrying with aplomb, but some safety and flexibility blemishes limit it to a TCC Rating of 6.7 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.) What's new for the 2023 Toyota Sienna? Toyota’s added a 25th Anniversary special edition based on the Sienna XSE, with some Limited-grade features including leather upholstery, front heated and cooled seats, and second-row captain’s chairs with fold-out footrests. The SUV-like Wilderness model carries forward into 2023 too. The lineup runs from the base Sienna LE to the better-equipped XLE, the lightly sporty XSE and Wilderness, the plusher Limited, and the lightly decadent Platinum trim. All-wheel drive is available on all Siennas. With its windswept looks and sometimes heavy-handed detailing, the Sienna’s interesting to look at, if not as conventionally handsome as the Pacifica or Carnival. The interior’s high center console and horizontal dash give it a cozy—or confining—feel, and even in Platinum trim it can seem a little spartan compared with those ritzy rivals. All Siennas tap a 189-hp, 2.5-liter inline-4 coupled with batteries and electric motors for a net of 245 hp. All-wheel-drive versions add a third motor at the rear axle, where it delivers torque to add traction. The Sienna’s CVT knits all of this together with perky but not memorable acceleration, but ride and handling rise above the fray with direct responses and a soothing, well-damped state of tune. Above all that, the Sienna’s 36-mpg combined EPA rating in front-drive form soars past all other vans save for the plug-in Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The Sienna’s interior rivals other minivans for space, but it’s used less effectively. The second-row seats either sport a slim and not entirely comfortable middle section, or omit it for opulent reclining captain’s chairs with extendable footrests. Slide them forward on a track to access the third-row seat, and you’ll find less room and a slightly more finicky fold-away mechanism than the ones in other minivans. There’s good interior room, but the Pacifica in particular’s a cargo-carrying benchmark. The Sienna comes with a raft of safety gear and a Top Safety Pick+ award, but the NHTSA gives its five-star overall rating with some noise in the data: the four-star front-impact ratings include a three-star driver-side rating. How much does the 2023 Toyota Sienna cost? The $35,385 Sienna LE has enough to keep almost any minivan shopper interested, with smartphone integration and a big 9.0-inch touchscreen, but all-wheel drive costs extra. The $40,695 Sienna XLE gets synthetic leather upholstery and available power for its tailgate, while the $51,605 Platinum ladles on just about everything, from leather to JBL audio to navigation. Where is the 2023 Toyota Sienna made? In Princeton, Indiana. Stylish curves meet a middling interior in the Sienna.Is the Toyota Sienna a good-looking car? Heavily sculpted in places, angled where it needs to be for people-moving spaces, the 2023 Sienna has an attractive shape that earns a point for its exterior and one for its interior. We give it a 7 here. Sexy isn’t a word applied to minivans, despite their obvious origin story. Still, the Sienna’s a good-looking vehicle, though its lines can look busy to some. The fenders swell while the nose angles, slim LED headlights fishhook its grille into place like a mask, and its muscly rear fenders stick into place with LED stirrups. Overstyled? Yes. Intriguing? Also yes. Stick with the conservative XLE or Limited if you want to keep it down, or opt into the higher-riding Wilderness to garner even more attention. The interior of the Sienna doesn’t stretch the limits as far, but it’s distinctive in its own ways. The center console’s sheer height creates a wall between front passengers, one that’s slathered in trim that’s printed with a metallic finish or stamped with faux wood grain. A big touchscreen perches on a very thin band of trim that sports HVAC controls as a foundation. The low dash has a whiff of future electric vehicles in its spare design, but it looks more upscale in the Platinum trim’s plusher materials. Review continues below Hybrid efficiency translates into pokey acceleration in the Sienna.It’s no rock star, but the Sienna acquits itself well enough for its mission. We give it a 6 here, with a bonus point for ride quality. Is the Toyota Sienna 4WD? All-wheel drive can be fitted to any Sienna save for the Wilderness, where Toyota makes it standard. The system adds a third electric motor to the rear axle, but doesn’t connect the front axles to the rears; it’s a smart setup with gas power at the front, electric at the rear, sometimes called “through the road” AWD. It’s effective, simple, but not trailblazing in its intent. How fast is the Toyota Sienna? It’s not very quick. The 4-cylinder in the Sienna filters its gas power and its electric motor/battery pack through a CVT that keeps the whole symphony of power production under control. It delivers a net 245 hp, and doesn’t struggle for low-end power thanks to the hybrid boost, but acceleration’s put lower on its priority list. It feels like the slowest minivan on the market when hitting highway speeds. On the other hand, its ride quality easily matches that of the Chrysler Pacifica and Kia Carnival. The Sienna’s smooth ride could sport a Lexus badge, and its nicely weighted steering and controlled body lean give it capable road manners that better many of Toyota’s own SUVs. The Sienna has strong brakes with steady control and good modulation too—another rarity among Toyota hybrids. Review continues below Some rivals use their interior space better than the Sienna.Toyota suits up seven- and eight-person versions of the 2023 Sienna, but neither of them are quite as flexible or useful as other minivans. It’s a second-row issue that drags the otherwise spacious and useful Sienna to a 7 here. Excellent front seats greet Sienna drivers and passengers. They’re upholstered in cloth on base models, swell for long-drive comfort thanks to thick bolsters, and heated and cooled and covered in synthetic or real leather in upper trim levels. Power-slide the side doors away and the Sienna reveals a second row of seats with either a small middle seat that’s inadequate for adults, or a pair of captain’s chairs that recline and spring out a footrest for business-class accommodations. It’s not quite feast or famine, but a true bench middle seat would earn an extra point here. In either case the outboard seats sit on a 25-inch track for sliding back and forth to expand leg room for the second or third rows, or to ease entry to the third row. That third row has less room than the wayback seats in the Odyssey and Pacifica, and its flat bench seat for three gets tiny rear windows. Claustrophobics need not apply. It does fold out of the way to boost storage, though it’s a manual mechanism. With the third row out of the way, the Sienna can hold a 4x8 sheet of plywood on its seatbacks—not on the floor, as can those other vans. The Sienna’s second-row seats can only be removed with tools and a plan. Cargo space ranges from 33.5 cubic feet behind the third row, to 75.2 cubic feet behind the second row, to 101.0 cubic feet behind the front seats. The Sienna has ample small-item storage, particularly in front with its deep console, but the materials are less fancy than the ones you’ll find in a Kia Carnival or a Pacifica. Review continues below The Sienna’s crash-test scores are mixed.How safe is the Toyota Sienna? It’s a 7 here, thanks to a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the IIHS and a generous helping of standard safety features, which include 10 airbags, adaptive cruise control, and automatic emergency braking. Outward vision to the rear gets compromised by thick roof pillars and small side windows. Our biggest misgiving with the Sienna comes from the NHTSA, which grants it a five-star rating overall, but cites four-star frontal-impact ratings which include a troubling three-star driver front-impact score. Review continues below The Sienna costs more than some rivals, but it’s well-equipped.The 2023 Sienna has standard infotainment we like, and lots of standard equipment. The average 3-year/36,000-mile warranty doesn’t do much for it, but the overall value of base models does. It’s an 8 here. Which Toyota Sienna should I buy? The $35,385 Sienna LE will suit most any family just fine. It has all the standard safety gear from above, power sliding side doors, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay through its 9.0-inch touchscreen. All-wheel drive costs as much as $2,000 extra, depending on the trim. Step up to the $40,695 Sienna XLE for its synthetic leather upholstery and standard sunroof, though the latter can cut into valuable head room. At $47,645, the Sienna Limited would be our final stop in the model line. It has cooled front seats, airline-style second-row seats with fold-out footrests, leather upholstery, JBL audio, navigation, and an intercom that parents can use to nag third-row passengers. How much is a fully loaded Toyota Sienna? Platinum Siennas can cost as much as $55,000. Review continues below The Sienna’s the greenest non-plug-in minivan by far.Is the Toyota Sienna good on gas? It’s very efficient for its size. Most minivans score EPA ratings in the 20s, but the front-wheel-drive Sienna’s rated at 36 mpg across the board. The AWD version? It’s still up there, at 35 mpg city, 36 highway, 35 combined. That’s good for a 5 here. Chrysler’s Pacifica Hybrid plug-in is the Sienna’s only better, with its 32 miles of electric driving and its 30-mpg combined rating. Review continues below Continue Reading The Car Connection Consumer ReviewWill the 2023 Sienna have removable second row seats?Unlike the Odyssey and the Pacifica Hybrid, the Sienna's second row seats are not removable; however, the optional second-row captain's chairs can slide forward-and-back a total of 25 inches to help provide maximum legroom for rear-seat riders or to open as much room as possible aft of the second row for cargo.
Will Toyota redesign the Sienna?Compare the 2022 and 2023 Sienna »
2021: fully redesigned (start of fourth generation) with a hybrid four-cylinder powertrain, sleeker interior and exterior styling, a new infotainment system with support for Android Auto and less cargo space.
What grade is the 2023 Sienna 25th Anniversary Special Edition?Based on the sport-infused XSE grade, the special model gains additional luxury cabin features from the Limited grade and adds exclusive exterior and interior trim. Toyota will build just 2,525 of these models for the U.S., making this a “gotta have it” minivan.
Is Toyota discontinuing the Sienna?Following the discontinuation of GM's all-wheel drive minivans in 2006, the Sienna was the only minivan in its class offered with AWD in North America until the 2021 Chrysler Pacifica was introduced with an AWD option in 2020.
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