1998 Toyota Sienna consumer reviews

This is the best vehicle I've ever owned. It now has over 315,000 miles on it. Other than normal wear items, the only things I've replaced are a couple of door handles (easy to replace yourself) and a window motor (had to have a mechanic do that one). So I've owned it for 12 years and driven it 315k miles and spent only around $300 over that entire time on non-wear repairs. And it still gets around 21MPG overall. Only negative that I can think of is that I'd love to have seats that fold into the floor. But no minivan had this feature when I bought this one so its hard to complain.

I have many of the problems in the earlier post. Replaced Front Steering Gear, Components, and rear Suspension due to failure from road hazards. However, Starter goes out at 125,000 miles on the dot. Lost one Firing Unit, Doorhandles are atrociously badly designed and I can't open either rear door from inside. They are absolutely the worst feature of Toyota's van line. I've heard several owners complain. Window sticks open (Weak Motor). On the plus side, Engine, Tranny, A/C and Power Steering and Brakes are all original at 307,000 miles. So it's OK, I guess.

I am sorry the person in a previous post is having problems with their Sienna, the non operational seat belts tell me this van was in an accident where the airbags deployed and they did not replace the seatbelts. It also sounds like it may be a flooded vehicle, you should have an ASE Master certified technician have a look at it. You may also want to run a Car Fax. Steering problem also said a lot, your car may still have suspension or frame damage.

We purchased a 1998 Toyota Sienna after reading all of the wonderful reviews on them. The van had very low mileage on it, and we thought it would be a great running van. However, in the past two years of owning it we have put over $3,500.00 in mechanical repairs (not including normal wear and tear items such as tires, etc.) into this van. We were suprised at this as the van had such great ratings by everyone. Our biggest problem has been in the steering. We have taken it to dealership four times for the same steering problem, and each time have been told it is something else causing the problem. As of today, the problem is still not corrected. The hardware in this van is terrible. We have had to replace all four outside door handles. The inside locks stick. The electric windows occasionally get stuck in the open position. The seat belt locks do not work properly in two of the seats. I think our car just turned out to be the lemon of the Toyota Siennas. We will not be purchasing another Toyota van. We were greatly disappointed in this van.

This van has been to Canada and back and all over the midwest. Handles predictably in all kinds of weather, and a quiet ride on any surface. Very reliable and easy to maintain. I'm a Toyota believer, and just bought a newer model of the Sienna. You can't beat the versatility of a minivan.

I love this minivan - best car I have ever owned. Only minor complaints such as the back wiper doesn't fully clear the rear window - they changed this on later models. Had some problems with front struts and both had to be replaced - pricey repair. Turning radius isn't great, but on the whole a fabulous vehicle. Very, very reliable. Except for the front struts, no major repairs at all. Holds air conditioning well, which is more than I can say for our other cars (Nissan Murano and Honda Accord).