Review # 48: 1999 Toyota Sienna

Why review a vehicle that is almost 12 years old? I wasn't going to, but the economy is tight, older  used cars may be the only option for some, and besides, I don't buy all that much, and coming up with 100 things is becoming more difficult.

After driving station wagons for many years, we bought a 99 Sienna in 2000. It was a year old and had about 33,000 miles on it when we got it. Our Sienna is an upgraded CE model (the CE is the basic model.)

The review goes like this:

The 1999 Toyota Sienna turned out to be an outstanding vehicle.  My only complaints about it over the years were that the turning circle was terrible making u-turns impossible, and that the back up lights were not positioned well, making backing up at night difficult. The best things were that it was comfortable, spacious, yet on the small side of a mini-van, versatile, the back seat could be split or both seats could fold down for storage, and reliability.
To keep it in good shape we changed the oil frequently. Other than routine maintenance like tires and brakes and occasional recommended maintenance, the Sienna never needed a thing until it started broaching the 200,000 mark. At that point, some things started to go, a gasket here, a strut casing there, all the hubcaps ran away, but the engine and transmission remained solid.
To date, the Sienna has about 265,000 miles on it. It doesn't get the mpg that it used to, on a recent vacation we calculated it averaged about 18 mpg, The owner installed CD player is stuck on "random." Some of the radio keys have popped off. The upside is that without the distracting noise of music, I can hear more clearly that the engine sounds as it did when we bought it 10 years ago. The transmission shifts perfectly with no hint of slipping. In short, when we get in the van and turn the key, it performs as it should.
If you are looking for a reliable used car and come across one of these, even with high miles, jump on it. It is a good vehicle.