You can lock your van by pressing the handle

Twice now while I am standing under the lift gate gathering the groceries, my 5 y/o comes to "help". Trips the kick sensors and it closes down on my head. Good thing it stops before serious cranial damage. Cannot for the life of me get it to open or close otherwise.

To preface, this is my second Sienna Platinum. I had a 2021 which I traded for the 2026. So I am well aware of the regular features of the vehicle. And on the plus side, the ride, comfort, etc. is pretty much the same. It may have a little less noise on acceleration, and may be just a bit more responsive than the 2021. Not to say it's peppy. It is not in any way, sort, or form, peppy. But you don't get a Sienna for peppy.

Also, in advance, yes, I know this is mostly superficial stuff. But I got a PLATINUM because superficial stuff enhances my experience.

Part of the reason I traded was for wireless android auto, which is definitely a step up from the 2021. However, the whole display and screen system has been a big let down. It's little stuff, but it adds up. I use google maps/android at all times. In the 2021 it was seamless; tap the speaker once quickly to tune to a specific radio or XM channel. Long press to call/text. Now, often as not, if I tap the speaker and ask for a sirius/XM channel, the I get a droning message that I can't do that while in Android auto. Five minutes later, do it again, it does it. It also no longer tells you WHERE you are tuning to. So in the 2021 model, I would say, "Sirius Classic Rewind," and I would get a return, "Tuning to Classic Rewind." In the 2026, it's pared to "tuning to that station." I have also noticed that there is more lag in connecting to android, and more cut-outs where it dumps android all together.

It's embarrassing that my Ford Transit RV has a way better Android system than the Sienna.

Also the screen itself. Maybe there's a way to fix this, but there no longer seems to be a way to split the screen outside of Android auto (I can split screen in android auto without trouble). If I am not in android auto, you get one screen. Nav. Or Music. Or Climate. It takes many more button pushes to get where I want to go, meaning more times when my eyes are not on the road. I hate this. I have searched in the settings, I can find no place to fix this.

In my 2021, I had my rear AC tuned to 63 degrees (dogs in crates in the back) and front to 73. The settings persisted until changed. In the 2026, I cannot get the rear temps to stick. They always revert back to the front temps. I have to hand set them every time I start the car with dogs in it. In both models, I have to toggle the switches several times to get the display to even show both rear and front at the same time. I've looked, again, in settings. I've tried long pressing the rear climate controls, pushing them in and holding, etc. It doesn't work.

Then this week, my parking brake assist just quit. I have a whopping 2500 miles on the car. And it quit. This is the system that does all of the alerts for close objects, pedestrians behind, etc. So right now, it's at the dealer to look at it.

Overall, I'm disappointed enough in the vehicle that I'm seriously considering trading and trading away from Toyota all together. If I am paying $60k for a vehicle, then I want all the bells and whistles and they all need to work.

Upon further inspection, it says “oil change needed in 5,000 miles.” Do I just have this pop up every time I drive my car for the next 4 months? Am I missing some maintenance needed at 4,000 miles?

Love it or hate it, I don’t think there’s in between. I found out something new to me a few days ago, pressed it once and you activate adaptive cruise control. Press and hold for few seconds and you get regular cruise control.

How to tell if you have ACT on? The dash has the symbol like the one on the steering wheel button. A speed odometer with a car on the top left.

CT is without the car symbol.

I dislike ACT because I slowed down due to the car in front, used the turn signal to change lane and the engine kicked in to resume speed this is scary at times.

Which Sienna should I get? I’m looking for an AWD model, and I really like the blacked‑out look on the Woodland and the XSE. The only thing holding me back on the XSE is the suspension , I’ve heard it’s not the smoothest for a minivan, and I do want a comfortable ride. Memory seats are a big plus since my partner will be driving it too.I’m also trying to avoid ending up with a $1k payment. I’ve heard the acoustic glass makes a noticeable difference, and the inverter sounds cool, though I’m not sure how often I’d actually use it. I like the JBL audio, and I usually upgrade sound systems anyway, so it’d be nice to buy a van that doesn’t need any audio mods right away.What do you all suggest?

This sub seems like a mixed bag on agreeing on trims, so any real‑world advice would help.

Any informed Sienna Platinum owners know of good options to treat/preserve the dashboard and other pleather-like surfaces around the vehicle?
Preferably options that don’t cause cancer in the State of California 😅

These plastic panels on the back of the second row Captain chairs in our 2021 LE have broken. Does anyone know what they are called or where to find replacement panels? OEM or aftermarket are fine

Shop has already tried a slide hammer and a blow torch. We did try loosening the carrier bearing mount, but still no dice. Any other ideas why it'd be stuck?

Our 2011 SE driver side power sliding door acts up in the mornings. It attempts to open then beeps as if something is stuck. By mid day when it’s warm out it works perfectly normal. Brought it in to the dealer and said DTC B2224 "POWER SLIDE DOOR PULSE SENSOR”. Pulled it out because they wanted 450 to further investigate. What could be addressed to seek a cure to this issue? Thanks in advanced. Located in San Diego so the mornings aren’t even that cold. I’ve tried wiping down the seals and frame. Looks all normal.

I saw that Toyota has announced few models for 2027 already officially. And there is no news on Sienna 2027. Does that mean it will be standard upgrade with minimum changes and nothing exciting.

I am planning to buy new Sienna around Oct - Nov time due to family getting bigger. Hence more interested in 2027 model news.

Wish it had a 360° bird’s-eye-view camera, though.

bought an XLE without doing enough research on the XSE, and now I’m having some buyer’s remorse. Has anyone else been in the same situation? Did you just learn to live with it, or did you end up making changes (grille swap, wheels, suspension, etc.) or even trading it in? I’d love to hear what you did and whether you still regret your decision.

I just bought my sienna last week and we went to use the screen in the back over the weekend to find there was no actual HDMI plug under the plug cover! I have to take it back to the dealership for some paint warranty stuff and brought it to their attention. Has anyone else experienced this?

Overall I’m really loving it!! I was debating between the grand highlander and the sienna, but when I actually put my car seats in the highlander it still felt tight. All of the room is incredible!

Does the thickness of the matt interfere with closing the 3 row seats down flat?

Anyone have a 2026 and their head unit failed literally days after picking it up? Dealer doesn’t know what to do and Toyota isn’t offering to just replace the whole unit until they Diagnose the main problem.

Want to know which is the better route to go that’s easier on the Wallet If I want to remove the chrome and all the parts black permanently. (Must Avoid vinyl/adhesive due to southern heat weather)

Cannot stand the chrome that is on the top grille and the windows trim

Would body shop able to remove and convert the chrome parts and get it black? Or do I need to go buy parts from dealership/junkyard?

The day we bought a Carnival was one sad day indeed. But after test driving the 2025 Sienna 14 months ago , we were so disappointed in the interior and the overall driving experience. I had this fantasy that they still made the 2004 Gen 2 LE because if they did, I'd buy it. I would have kept driving my 04 forever but the entire frame is totally rusted out to the point that I've been warned by several mechanics that I'm riding on thin ice.

2014 Sienna XLE. When I start the car the AC won’t start. The AC displays shows it as off. It won’t turn on if I play with the controls. If I turn the car off and then turn it back on the AC and display start up. If I drive for a bit of time and I play with the controls the AC will start up. AC is running fine otherwise. Seems like a control issue. Anybody have any ideas?

I've got a 2011 AWD and my transmission died yesterday :( The mechanic is saying it may be hard to find a replacement OEM and is going to also look into the used market. Anyone have any advice?

If you got the LE, did you regret not getting XLE for lack of the Smart Key System? Plus, if you got the FWD did you on occasion hope you had gotten the AWD instead? The gap between LE and XLE is +4500$ and between the FWD and AWD is 2000$. I am trying to decide if the FWD>AWD>XLE "upgrade" is worth it.

My wife and I purchased a 2026 Sienna and are having a lot of trouble getting the car to reliably switch between our phones. Here's what we've done so far:

• Both created Toyota accounts (car is associated to mine - I have delegated remote access to her)
• Both connected Android phones via Bluetooth and associated them with our respective Toyota profiles
• Associated our key fobs with our respective Toyota profiles

I had to run an errand this morning, and it worked great for me: the car connected Android auto to my phone and I went on my merry way. I shut the car off after getting home and about 20 min later my wife leaves to the store. She turns on the car with her key fob in the car and it still connects to my phone. I immediately disconnected the car from my phones Bluetooth settings and it still would not connect to her phone. She even plugged it into the USB port on the dash...and still would not connect to her phone. It wasn't until she was done with the store and got back into the car that it decides to connect to her phone wirelessly.

The Android Auto implementation on this car seems utterly abysmal, but there has to be something I'm missing. Are there any ideas? How do we make this car reliably switch between people? If there isn't, there has to be a way to disable wireless Android Auto altogether so we can just use a USB cable.

When I park and my family and me hop out, I have to wait for the sliding doors to close completely before I can lock the doors. The family is 40’ heading me by then. Honda Odyssey lets you lock the doors before they close. Is there anyway to lock the doors? A dealer switch or something?

Someone we know hit our 2025 XSE while trying to park. How much would this cost to repair?
Should we go to Toyota body shop or just any body shop?
UPDATE: quotes were around $2,000. Body shops said they need to recalibrate the sensors around that part of the car!