Author Topic: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?  (Read 5699 times)

Petuniajo

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Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« on: September 09, 2015, 01:45:33 PM »
I'm looking at some point to get a mini-van. My current car (a 2006 Equinox, 98k miles) has been a total lemon since the time we bought it 4 years ago (and gets horrible mileage lately--about 15 miles per gallon), but surprisingly enough--we haven't had any major repairs this year. Perhaps we've finally reached the point where we've replaced everything into new and working order! :)

So, I'm not in a huge rush to buy a different car, but I've been keeping an eye on Siennas and Odysseys for sale in my area, as I'd like to get a minivan now that we regularly have additional passengers in our car (kids are getting to the age where they invite friends on outings, family visits from out of state, etc.), would like the extra space for camping etc. (again--not a need, definitely a want).

Anywho, I'd been leaning toward Odysseys given lots of raves I've seen around here, but they are really quite expensive! For example, a 2010 with 120k miles on it still runs over $15k. I've noticed a 2007 Sienna (clean title) with 136,000 miles for $8700 on Craigslist in my area. Any thoughts? Is this likely to be a pretty reliable car over the next 70k miles? I would of course have a mechanic look over it, but I'm trying to decide if it's worth my time to check it out or to just keep waiting/saving for an Odyssey.

Gone Fishing

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2015, 02:02:24 PM »
The 2007 is quite a bit different, but our 2002 has been fairly reliable.  Most issues we have had with it have been sensor related.   

ubermom4

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2015, 04:40:57 PM »
The Sienna and the Odyssey are very similar. Through some strange circumstances we have a 2007 Odyssey with 154k miles and a 2010 Sienna with 70k miles. Bought the Odyssey new and the Sienna last year. We have a house in the South and another house near Boston and needed a van with AWD so last year we got the Sienna. I really like both cars. Our Odyssey was lousy in snow and the Sienna was great in the snow last year. The Sienna did very well on our steep, shady driveway and during 2 ski trips to VT.
 One difference between the 2 vans deals with the spare tire. The Odyssey has a donut and the Sienna AWD has no spare. Both cars have tire pressure monitoring systems. Our Sienna has fussy tires that can easily trigger the tire pressure monitor when they are really fine. The Toyota plan for a flat tire is for us to drive within 70 miles to get a new tire. We are supposed to be able to drive that far on the 'flat' tire. I hope to never find out. When the temperature is changing, that can trigger the tire monitoring system. Anyway, my friend has a Sienna AWD and has never had this problem. I am used to it and it does not bother me to see that light coming on sometimes. I have read about other Siennas having this issue.
  Another difference relates to the design of the storage bins on the driver and front passenger doors. This is going to sound sort of fancy-complainy pants so please be patient. Our Odyssey has 2 levels of storage bins on the front doors -- one on top of the other.  The Sienna has a more traditional single storage bin on the front doors. It took me awhile to get used to the extra level of storage but I really much prefer it. We have 4 kids and have taken many, many long road trips in the Odyssey and have found those bins to be very helpful. Similarly, the back of the door storage in the Odyssey is a bit better 'designed' than the storage in the Sienna. I would not notice this when shopping and only noticed it after using both cars.
Given these minor differences, I can completely recommend either van to you. If you want AWD, I would definitely chose the Sienna and Odyssey very weak in snow. Hope this helps!

Petuniajo

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2015, 08:37:28 PM »
Very helpful information--thanks! The Sienna on CL already sold, but I'll be keeping my eye out for inexpensive used Odysseys and Siennas!

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2015, 08:43:41 PM »
Sienas are, statistically, a bit more reliable than the Odysseys and come with less of a price premium. Odysseys had the one model range with really bad transmissions (forget which years right now).

Generally speaking you'll be happy with either but will typically see a Sienna in my area for as much as 1-2K less.

$8700 for that many miles seemed steep, but markets vary. I got my 2000 model Sienna when it was 2 years older than that, but only had 100K on it for $5500. Mileage, to my mind, matters more than age when screening cars.

Not sure about newer vans, but mine doesn't get terribly great mileage. Maybe 20mpg in mixed driving.

Indio

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2015, 08:53:29 PM »
I have a 2004 Siena AWD and my major gripes are about the gas mileage, which is usually 17 mpg. My second issue is the cost of the run flat tires. Even with price matching shopping around, they cost about $175 a tire. Yes, for 1 tire. Ive never had a problem with them but I am supposed to be able to drive 350 miles on a flat. Considering these tires wear out every 25-30k miles, it gets pricey. Never had a problem with tire pressure alerts but fuel sensors have needed to be changed a few times. Overall it is a solid car and with a roof rack and bike hitch we can haul a lot of stuff for 10 day camping trips in Nova Scotia or wherever we are off to.

Dicey

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2015, 11:05:52 PM »
Okay, this thread caught my eye because I drive a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan. It used to be my company car and I bought it out when the CC program ended. It has 128K miles on it and I love it! The seats fold flat into the bed of the chassis, so I can haul 4 x 8 sheets of plywood as easily as I can haul six passengers and their gear. When the seats are up, the seat wells are awesome hidden storage cubbies. It is the trim level (XST?) that has the magic doors, which I love, love, love.

I have had no major issues with the car. DH just replaced the radiator and the master cylinder preemptively, just because he likes to do that kind of stuff. My sister has my previous CC, a 2006 DGC XST with over 185k miles on it. She has had to do a little more upkeep, possibly because she has four boys, all of whom learned to drive in that van ;-0

My point is that Dodge Grand Caravan gets no respect, so they are much, much cheaper than the Odyssey or the Sienna. It's definitely worth considering. Just my two cents.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #7 on: September 10, 2015, 05:32:27 AM »
My point is that Dodge Grand Caravan gets no respect, so they are much, much cheaper than the Odyssey or the Sienna. It's definitely worth considering. Just my two cents.

They're significantly less reliable. If you're DIYing repairs, the price difference probably more than makes up for that fact, but if you're paying a mechanic, statistically you'll still be ahead paying a couple grand more for the Japanese vans.

Petuniajo

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #8 on: September 10, 2015, 07:28:51 AM »
I've considered the Caravan (and Windstar, and Town and Country) as it really is so much cheaper, but we are still a bit limited in our DIY skills when it comes to cars (but we are learning!). DH can do oil changes and some basic fixes, but we still visit mechanics for the bigger stuff that goes wrong. Our bills on the Equinox have REALLY added up over time (just the first year we owned it, we had over $3,000 in repairs!), and nearly every year we have a repair in the $600-$700 range, so I'm heavily leaning toward something with a reputation for reliability, which it seems the Siennas and Odysseys have (exclusive of earlier models with transmission issues on the Odysseys). But I'm certainly open to others! Anyone had experiences with the Kia minivan (Sedona, I think?)?

MayDay

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #9 on: September 10, 2015, 07:44:15 AM »
We have an 04 Sienna with 183K miles and we love it.

Just had the timing belt done, and needed routine stuff like tires, but otherwise no problems. 

I love that thing.  People routinely talk about liking the steering better on the Odyssey but its a van dude, I use it to haul kids and stuff, I don't really care how it steers.  Same with seat arrangement- since I don't need to fit 5 children on a daily basis, I don't care who has the wider jump seat. 

acroy

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #10 on: September 10, 2015, 07:56:16 AM »
The Nissan Quest is the unloved, overlooked, cheap Japanese option!
You buy Toyota /Honda, you pay Toyota/Honda tax. I don't understand it.
We had an '08 Quest for 6yrs and 50k miles. One wheel bearing needed replacement in that time. Bulletproof and got 20mpg around town, 27 on road trips. We had a base (simple) model with a lot less crap to go wrong - no power slide-y doors, that kind of thing. It was great!

UnleashHell

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2015, 08:15:00 AM »
hate the dodge. had a caravan and a town and country. I'll never buy another.
We replaced ours with a 2008 Entourage and its great.
Nissan quest is a good shout too.

Petuniajo

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2015, 08:59:27 AM »
Hmm, good to know about the Nissan Quest. I had been thinking for some reason that it was quite a bit smaller than the Odysseys and Siennas (one of the things we are looking for is flexibility for hauling camping junk and home improvement stuff around), but maybe I was thinking of the Mazda 5?

MayDay

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #13 on: September 10, 2015, 09:16:18 AM »
The Nissan Quest is the unloved, overlooked, cheap Japanese option!
You buy Toyota /Honda, you pay Toyota/Honda tax. I don't understand it.
We had an '08 Quest for 6yrs and 50k miles. One wheel bearing needed replacement in that time. Bulletproof and got 20mpg around town, 27 on road trips. We had a base (simple) model with a lot less crap to go wrong - no power slide-y doors, that kind of thing. It was great!

Power sliding doors, oh man, I am a convert.  (Ours was used and came with what it came with, I don't know if I would pay extra).  If ours break you can turn them off and not fix them and use them as manuals, so I'm not too worried about it.  I love them so hard though.  My kids can't opan and close slidey doors alone, so I do not want to be having to run around the huge van opening and closing doors. 

jda1984

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #14 on: September 10, 2015, 09:23:03 AM »
We have a 2005 Odyssey.  It is the touring trim (wasn't looking for it, just a good deal and low miles).  The touring had Michellin PAX tires (special run flats) that were terrible.  They cost about twice as much as a "regular" tire (~$250-300 in our market) and lasted half as long (~25,000 miles).  You also needed to take it to place that had a special tire mounting machine since there is a plastic cylinder to support the tread when "flat" and the diameter of the inside and outside are different.  We opted to replace the rims with regular rims and tires from TireRack when we needed new tires.  $1200 and won't need special tires again.  I did buy a compact spare (there's a place for it in our van, since other trims didn't have the special tires) for another $200 in case of a flat.

I second the thought of watching for miles more than years.  We've had our van about 2 years, and have about 95,000 miles.  At the rate we've been driving, it will be another 2 years before we need the timing belt and water pump service at 105,000 miles.  The caveat to this rule is to watch for rust in areas with snow/salt in the winter.  Besides the obvious body damage, it can damage other parts such as suspension, steering, etc.  So, if you happen to be shopping in an area located in the rust belt, it may make sense to get higher miles newer vs. older lower miles.

Dicey

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #15 on: September 10, 2015, 09:29:00 AM »
Power sliding doors, oh man, I am a convert.  (Ours was used and came with what it came with, I don't know if I would pay extra).  If ours break you can turn them off and not fix them and use them as manuals, so I'm not too worried about it.  I love them so hard though.  My kids can't open and close slidey doors alone, so I do not want to be having to run around the huge van opening and closing doors.
Oh, those doors! When it was time to replace my Company Car with a brand-new vehicle, I discovered that the company was no longer paying for that upgrade. I  asked the fleet manager to find one in the outgoing fleet that had lower miles on it but was due to be turned in, hence replacing my 100k 2006 with a 30k 2007. The best thing about what I call those "magic doors" is the back deck. I was a sample-carrying sales rep. On a rainy day, the protection it offered was priceless. Every day, with my hands full of samples, I breathed a sigh of relief that I could just touch a button and a door would open. As to the doors conking out, it happened to one of mine and DH found the relatively cheap and easy fix via You Tube.

Petuniajo

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Re: Thoughts on 2007 Sienna?
« Reply #16 on: September 10, 2015, 09:35:09 AM »
We have a 2005 Odyssey.  It is the touring trim (wasn't looking for it, just a good deal and low miles).  The touring had Michellin PAX tires (special run flats) that were terrible.  They cost about twice as much as a "regular" tire (~$250-300 in our market) and lasted half as long (~25,000 miles).  You also needed to take it to place that had a special tire mounting machine since there is a plastic cylinder to support the tread when "flat" and the diameter of the inside and outside are different.  We opted to replace the rims with regular rims and tires from TireRack when we needed new tires.  $1200 and won't need special tires again.  I did buy a compact spare (there's a place for it in our van, since other trims didn't have the special tires) for another $200 in case of a flat.

I second the thought of watching for miles more than years.  We've had our van about 2 years, and have about 95,000 miles.  At the rate we've been driving, it will be another 2 years before we need the timing belt and water pump service at 105,000 miles. The caveat to this rule is to watch for rust in areas with snow/salt in the winter.  Besides the obvious body damage, it can damage other parts such as suspension, steering, etc.  So, if you happen to be shopping in an area located in the rust belt, it may make sense to get higher miles newer vs. older lower miles.

Good points. I'm currently living in AL (but used to live in the frozen tundra known as ND... so I'm all too familiar with the snow/salt/rust problems), so I'm hoping it won't be an issue on older models.

 

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