2026 Toyota Sienna XSE AWD: Practical people mover?
Price: $53,159 as tested.
What others are saying: “Highs: Fuel economy, ride, interior room, versatility and flexibility, cruising range; lows: Long stopping distances, engine noise,” reports Consumer Reports.
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What Toyota is saying: “Built for life’s everyday adventures.”
Reality: Built for life’s everyday adventures.
What’s new: Toyota last thoroughly updated the people-moving Sienna for the 2021 model year, when it received a hybrid powertrain. There have been some changes since then, but mostly it was a strong start, or restart.
Competition: The minivan category is shrinking, but there are still some competitors. The Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Odyssey, Kia Carnival and Carnival Hybrid, and Volkswagen ID.Buzz are about it. The Pacifica PHEV is gone, and the ID.Buzz has been revamped for 2027 with more range and features.
The latest Sturgis Sienna adventure was a long one. We had airline points so our choices were limited; a summer vacation to Minneapolis and the North Coast of Lake Superior would offer a summer-worthy set of adventures.
As a Bob Dylan fan, it seemed the perfect time for me to drag the Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat around the stomping grounds of one of Minnesota’s most famous sons.
We hadn’t planned for the highest temperatures in the Upper Midwest in ages, followed by smoky skies after lightning strikes set up a million-acre wildfire in Canada.
Up to speed: The 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine coupled with the battery pack and motor makes 245 horsepower, perfect for threading into I-35 traffic in Minneapolis or making a left onto the famed “Highway 61” from Black Beach or Split Rock Lighthouse.
The power is also there when you’re stalking the Dylan-Zimmerman farm near Minneapolis, and you need to exit the long driveway quickly. (Special thanks to Favorite Waitress 1.0 who offered enough information to put the final pieces of the puzzle together. No, I’m not telling; we found it with internet clues, so you can, too.)
Shiftless: A traditional T-bar lever gets things into gear, a thankful nod to tradition.
On the road: Handling seemed loose at first, and Sport mode tightened things up, but over time Normal mode was fine for all of our purposes, riding half forever across upper Wisconsin to the tourist haven called Bayfield. Unfortunately smoky skies canceled the boat tours to Apostle Islands. After an hourlong visit to Madeline Island, we learned the awful truth that it is definitely to be missed; it’s seen better days and has little to offer.
The road seams are rough on many of Minnesota’s highways, and the Sienna XSE with sport-tuned suspension is not doing much to smooth them over. I-35 had some rough spots up North. Lots of construction deluged us in Duluth. Maybe choose the more rarified Limited if you live in areas of rough roads, like, say, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or anywhere I’ve been in the United States, to be honest.
“The hills of old Duluth” Dylan mentions in the 1970s deep track “Something There is About You” could challenge Manayunk or Pittsburgh for steepness, but the Sienna slows itself nicely for the descent. We ventured past Bob’s boyhood home and through neighborhoods of truly beautiful architecture closer to the water. Everything is big downtown, just like the ships and the bridge. And the woods.
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Northern Wisconsin is the sad stepchild of the family up here. The Minnesota side captures all the tourists and their money, I imagine. The east sides of metro areas also tend to catch the prevailing winds and suffer for it.
Driver’s Seat: The high 90s outside reinforced that the Sienna is best ordered with ventilated seats. Our model did not have the option, and the Softex seats held the heat like many of the places we stayed, which do not have AC units designed for such temperatures.
Friends and stuff: The second and third rows are among the most spacious out there and provided plenty of changing room for Mr. Driver’s Seat and The Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat for swimming adventures in Lake Superior (43 degree water there, and brave Mr. Driver’s Seat was the only one with wet hair).
The seats seem less cumbersome than Sturgis Kid 1.0’s Sienna but still only smash up against the front seats, no fold-down or fold-away option.
Cargo space is 33.5/75.2/101. The old Sturgis Family Sienna from 2011 remains the cargo carrier, with 150 cubes when the third row is squished down, and the second row is left in the garage. Still, there’s plenty of room to shopit up at the Mall of America or Duluth and the North Country’s many gift shops.
Play some tunes: Mr. Dylan would be as sad as Mr. Driver’s Seat to know how the JBL 12-speaker stereo was not quite up to the task. It didn’t play loudly enough to even hear some songs as we thumped along I-35 or U.S. 2 to our destinations. The system is set for full media experiences like Highway 61 Revisited or 2001’s Love and Theft, not the more spare sounds of Blonde on Blonde, and certainly not Freewheelin’. Songs from those acclaimed albums were half lost in the echoing cabin. I’d call it a B+, though sound could be good, it just disappeared into the corners of the van.
It has a volume knob; other controls are in the 12.3-inch touchscreen, and with icons down the left, Toyota has made this a functional system across its lineup. Sound controls are sliders in the screen, though, and very difficult to follow.
Keeping warm and cool: Dials for temperature and buttons for all the rest. The Sienna handled 100-degree heat pretty nicely for a giant box. But note the sweaty seats.
The recirculation button kept the cabin smoke free even as we drove with our lights on for miles and miles and miles.
Fuel economy: Averaged right around 33 mpg, which is where it started.
Where it’s built: Princeton, Ind.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the reliability of the Sienna to be a 3 out of 5, but I’m going to violate my oath to them here and say it received one point less than a 4 out of 5 on their more specific scale. I love CR, but I find that a really jerky thing to do.
In the end: Toyota still has THE minivan, and I defend the reliability because my 15-year-old model is still going strong here at home. (Which I’m sure I just jinxed.) The competitors are good, too, and if the Odyssey went all-wheel drive and hybrid, I’d probably change allegiances. The ID.Buzz also is a joy to live with, although Volkswagen reliability is sketchy.
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