2020 Toyota Sienna Reviews, Pricing & Specs

This is the third generation of the Sienna. It’s been around for a bit, having been introduced for the 2011 model year. Toyota updated the Sienna in 2018 to incorporate newer infotainment tech and styling plus other small changes, but the 2020 version still feels dated. Occasionally upscale, but always dated. If you slam either of the front doors, they let out a resoundingly hollow “thud.” While this isn’t a pure indicator of fit and finish, nearly all automakers pay attention to things like this and try to eliminate them. Another area where the Sienna shows its age is the instrument panel. It looks like it came out of Toyota's 2010 parts bin, although this simplicity also makes the controls quite easy to use.

Trim levels for the Sienna include CE, LE, SE (available with the Technology package or in Nightshade Edition), and XLE (available with the Limited package). The base CE comes relatively well equipped, and it features 17-inch alloy wheels, remote keyless entry, and four-zone automatic climate control. It also comes with Bluetooth connectivity and a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay—a long-overdue addition to the Toyota infotainment setup.

The Sienna LE trim adds sliding dual power side doors, a rear bumper protector, heated front seats, and easy-clean upholstery throughout, making it the ideal choice for families with young children. The LE also gets a centre console with a cargo area storage compartment, manual second-row sunshades and an overhead driver console with toggles to control the power sliding second-row doors. When equipped with AWD, this trim is the CarGurus recommended configuration for Canada.

The mid-range Sienna SE trim comes with 19-inch alloy wheels, a mesh grille, fog lights, and a couple of other unique visual touches. Inside, the SE gets leather upholstery. But most importantly, the SE comes with a power liftgate. Frankly, all the other features we mentioned about the SE are rather superfluous compared with how critical a liftgate can be for a family.

The SE AWD features chrome-accented door handles with a touch-sensor auto-locking feature, 18-inch alloy wheels, a DVD entertainment system for the second and third rows, embedded navigation, and more.

The Sienna XLE adds 18-inch alloy wheels, leather-trimmed seating, a power moonroof, woodgrain accents and power flip-out rear side windows.

We drove the XLE Limited, which adds premium leather seats and a heated and leather-trimmed steering wheel. It also provides a JBL premium audio system and the DVD rear-seat entertainment system. It also adds HID headlights and rain-sensing windshield wipers.

If you want a minivan but still feel that “looking cool” is a priority, Toyota offers the Sienna in the Nightshade Edition. It adds a host of dark accents, and it has dark 19-inch wheels. The Nightshade Edition is available on the SE trim.

All Sienna trims come equipped with a 3.5-litre V6 engine. It makes power specs of 296 horsepower and 263 pound-feet of torque, sent through an eight-speed automatic transmission. The dash-mounted shifter has a Sport mode that livens up the throttle and shift response. In normal Drive mode, the Sienna provides stout acceleration, and clicking over to Sport will help when overtaking another vehicle on the highway. It also has a manual mode, which I seldom used, that may help when working with the Sienna’s 1,587-kilogram (3,500-pound) towing capacity.

The Sienna's powertrain routes power to the front wheels as standard, but for all trims other than the base CE, AWD is either optional or standard. These AWD versions are available with only the 7-passenger configuration, so shoppers that choose it will have to give up the option of 8-passenger seating. But we think many buyers will happily take that tradeoff, and if you’re Toyota, being the only automaker in the class to offer AWD in 2020 makes for a great selling point.

Buyers love AWD, as demonstrated by the growth of the crossover market, but AWD does not offer bulletproof protection from inclement road conditions. All-wheel drive helps tremendously when accelerating on the ice and snow. It also helps in low-speed turns. But it won't help the car come to a stop. Under hard braking, different traction control systems might help, but ice and snow are the great equalizers.

The front-wheel-drive (FWD) Sienna returns the best fuel efficiency in the lineup, returning 12.6 litres per 100 kilometres in the city, 9.1 on the highway, and 11.0 combined. AWD versions return 13.4 L/100 km city, 9.6 hwy, 11.7 combined. In a week of combined city and highway driving, we observed combined fuel consumption of 12.9 L/100 km.

The Sienna has a low centre of gravity and a broad base, and considering the physics alone, that makes for surprisingly decent handling dynamics. It’s not going to handle like a sports car, but it corners rather well. Its size and suspension mean it plows through bumps in the road, and it provides a smooth ride without detracting from cornering abilities. It’s funny to talk about “cornering” with a minivan, but that attribute gives the average driver confidence in getting around town, driving on the highway, or tackling a road trip. Frankly, the Sienna handles better than the Mitsubishi Outlander, which is an SUV we’ve come short of recommending.

There is one concerning aspect of the Sienna’s handling. Its twitchy steering response results in the Sienna feeling frenetic at higher speeds. It requires constant attention to keep the van moving straight on the highway. For busy parents, that means turning around to deal with the kids fighting or reaching for a dropped toy could lead to the car drifting out of its traffic lane. Thankfully, as we’ll get into a bit later, the Sienna comes standard with safety tech that will help keep you safe in those unforeseen scenarios.

This is perhaps the most critical area in which a minivan needs to perform well, and Toyota doesn’t disappoint. The Sienna provides 4,247 litres of cargo space. For reference, the Chrysler Pacifica offers 3,978 litres, and the Honda Odyssey has 4,103 litres. Elsewhere in the market, the Dodge Grand Caravan supplies 4,071 litres, and the Kia Sedona provides 4,020 litres.

Class-leading cargo space does come at a cost, as owners will need to completely take out the removable second-row seats from the Sienna to access that total figure. That's easy enough if you have the second-row captain’s chairs. But if you have the second-row bench, it will be a bit of a chore. Even if the Pacifica has a bit less cargo space, its second- and third-row Stow-N-Go seats fold seamlessly into the floor and are much easier to operate.

Luckily, the Sienna’s third-row seats also fold seamlessly into the floor. Getting into the backseat, however, can be challenging. The second-row seats slide forward, but the seat cushion that folds up when sliding the second-row seat forward is a bit awkward to get back down. You’re better off just shimmying your way past the two captain’s chairs to get into the rear seats.

Toyota is also one of the few automakers to offer mobility access features from the dealership. Toyota's Auto Access Seat is a built-in rotating lift seat. Finding the right mobility conversion van at the right price can be hard. Toyota makes this capability affordable and as easy as selecting an upgraded trim of the Sienna.

The base CE trim of the Sienna comes standard with a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system. In addition to Toyota’s proprietary infotainment software, it supports Apple CarPlay. That has been a long time coming for Toyota. It’s been available in nearly every competitor for several years now, and though it’s overdue, we’re glad to see Toyota has finally come around.

Other standard tech features include Bluetooth connectivity and five USB ports (one for connectivity, the rest for charging). A slightly larger 8-inch infotainment screen is offered on higher trims. Our XLE Limited test model came with navigation and a JBL 10-speaker premium audio system.

Our Limited test van also came with Driver Easy Speak, which is a kind of intercom system, though it’s actually more of a one-way system. It uses the driver’s voice-control microphone and broadcasts their voice to the rear speakers. This way you can yell at the kids in the back without straining your voice. Here’s to innovations in parenting!

As we mentioned earlier, the Sienna has twitchy steering, which could lead to meandering out of your lane if you’re not paying close attention. Luckily, the Sienna comes standard with safety features that include lane-departure alert and lane-keep assist, which are both parts of the Toyota Safety Sense (TSS-P) suite of driver-assistance features. TSS-P also includes forward-collision warning and avoidance with pedestrian detection, dynamic cruise control, and automatic high beams. You can get blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert on SE Sienna models and above.

The Sienna earns five out of five stars in crash testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). For the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), the Sienna earns the best score of Good in many areas, including side crash, rollover crash, and moderate front overlap crash. Its suite of standard driver-assistance features also earns a top rating of Superior from the IIHS.

Base MSRP for the 2020 Toyota Sienna is $35,545. The CarGurus-recommended LE AWD trim starts at $41,750. Our Limited AWD test model starts at $54,385. Fees are $2,354 extra. All of the Sienna's competition, including the Honda Odyssey, Kia Sedona, and Chrysler Pacifica, have newer designs, having been updated, overhauled, or introduced far more recently than the Sienna’s last full redesign in 2011.

So, the 2020 Toyota Sienna isn’t new or groundbreaking, but you can’t argue with its cargo space. Even if you have to remove the middle seats to access all of it, the Sienna is still a heck of a lot more versatile than a crossover. And while crossovers might be popular now, there may come a day when they won’t be, and the minivan will still be the king of versatility. If you’re trying to project an image, you have plenty of options, but if you need a car for a growing family and helpful space is a priority, few vehicles can replace the versatility of a minivan like the Toyota Sienna.

Note: Images show a US model.