Tuesday, March 07, 2006

2001 Toyota Sienna

I'm going to test drive a 2001 Toyota Sienna (mini-van) today. 56,000 miles, $14,995. Consumer Reports says you can't beat it. The only thing we don't like is not so much storage behind the back seat. Makes it tight for vacation luggage. Any thoughts? I'd appreciate input.

UPDATE: I drove it I liked it. It felt small. I asked the salesman and he said, "Yes, the 2001 Sienna was smaller." Still, I agree with Sherri's assessment in the comments about reliability. Danelle called this morning and told me where I could look at a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, 1)you can learn to travel light. 2)Don't take the kids on vacation, then you can fill up the seats with your stuff. 3)Buy a snail (that's what Shauna's kids call their X-cargo luggage carrier with a "snail" logo. It's pretty roomy inside. Two pre-schoolers fit nicely, or three toddlers. That's all I got...hope it helps!

Tom said...

That sounds like a pretty good deal, I'm a pretty big fan of Toyota, they seem to stay together for a long time.
T

Unknown said...

I guess you have to think about how often you're going to pack it to maximum capacity...probably a few times a year at most, unless you're going on a speaking circuit we don't know about. :-) Dependability is probably a bigger issue for everyday...

As far as fitting it all in...you'd be amazed how much stuff you can tuck in around your children in the back seats. I remember a trip from the Northeast to Texas when I was a kid where I had my legs propped up and couldn't see my brother on the other side of the car because we'd stashed so much stuff in with us. Probably wouldn't meet highway safety regs anymore, but sometimes "walls" are a good thing. It kept sibling car fights to a minimum since we couldn't move.

Another thing to consider is you're past the stage of hauling the nursery with you...and kids toys just get smaller and more expensive the older they get. Plus, you can e-mail ahead to the places you're going to visit and KNOW they'll do everything in their power to provide the things that just won't fit, if only you'll come and visit. (Hint, hint. :-)

Oh, and the cartop carrier idea is a good one...especially if there is a luggage rack attached. Having had one of the hard-shelled carriers for years (and having had a hard time storing it), I would suggest looking into the soft, foldable carriers. I haven't had any experience with them, but they seem much more managable on the storage end of things (which is where they are most of the time).

Sherri

P.S. That's my 3-1/2 cents with interest.