The 2023 Toyota Sienna Is Good But It Has One FATAL Flaw!

hello and welcome to the Car Care on our Channel and welcome to the 2023 Toyota Sienna ever since they changed Sienna to a hybrid I think they really did a good version of the CRM this is the best Sienna yet however this Sienna has one fatal issue that might prevent you from buying one or might make you not want to buy one which we're going to discuss in this video and a lot more right after this let's take a look under the hood of the 2023 Toyota Sienna and just for reference this has been exactly the same since 2021 so the Sienna only has one powertrain you can technically say they are too but it's actually just one so they took out the V6 they took out the old four-cylinder there's no longer a gasoline only model it is all hybrid some people will take that as that's a bad thing that's actually a great thing for something like this nobody will buy a minivan and want a very fast car they never were intended for that but people will buy them because they want to hold their families around for good gas mileage so what we have here is a four cylinder engine the a25a fxs it's a 2.5 liter four cylinder it's been ounces 2018 and other models so far there hasn't been major issues there are a couple things we'll talk about them later in the video but this engine has a lot of great technology has some things that are question mark has some things that are could have been done less complicated but overall it is a decent engine some of the highlights of this engine it has a very clever vbtie system which uses an electric motor that advances and retards the timing pretty cool setup very complicated on paper but in reality it's actually pretty simple how it works and to me it is better than the oil controlled ones now this engine also has Toyota's d4s system which so far it's been out for a few years now there hasn't been issues with carbon buildup because you have both port and direct injection and I actually have a video showing you how that looks like after 80 000 miles or so I'll leave that right here this is a fourth generation hybrid system really smooth you cannot really see the transition feel the transitions between electric drive or hybrid or both it's very very smooth does have two cooling systems one of them is from the engine standard stuff does have an electric water pump one of them is for the inverter cools inverter that battery is air cooled the transmission in this is ecvt not to be mistaken with a normal CVT basically the operating principles of it is of a CVT continuously variable transmission however it is not a conventional CVT and this is basically the exact same design since Toyota hybrids first came out back in the first generation Prius this is a p810 transmission you're going to find this in a lot of other models like the Highlander Hybrid like the RAV4 prime it is basically bulletproof if you take care of it just simple maintenance don't tow a lot with it don't exceed Towing actually small recommendation don't tow near the limit in these if you want them to remain reliable as the truth have to be said these are not meant for towing but otherwise this hybrid system to me is one of the better versions that they've ever come out with and you'll see this exact same hybrid system and so many other Toyota and Lexus models it is super common very basic looks very very complicated but actually is not considering how the automotive industry have gotten too complicated now the Hybrid battery in this car sits underneath the front seats I think that is a better location for it than for example the Sequoia where it says behind the rear seats this keeps your back floor low but the only disadvantage is it raises the front floor up so the seats the front seats feel a little elevated we'll talk about them a little bit when we talk about the inside but that is the only thing it is air cooled it does have two vents with filters now with proper filters do keep them clean do make sure they stay unobstructed they're not blocked and you shouldn't have issues with this battery for a long time let's take a look underneath the 2023 Toyota Sienna and the first thing you notice everything is completely covered up that is the thing with new cars and this is what keeps them relatively quiet although Sienna is not the quietest in the world but this does help service very simple just like any other Modern Toyota few bolts you take this oil change is very simple if you do need to drain coolant and transmission these two covers have to come off Unfortunately they did not really make easier access to them not the end of the world these are covers are just few bolts a few clips and they come right out now we look at the front suspension here we have dual piston caliber pretty interesting to see that because hybrids normally do not need strong brakes they use regenerative braking which really helps but we still have the Dual piston caliper which is cool we do have an aluminum knuckle that is something that they're doing to save weight we do have Toyota's familiar design with the control arms separate from the ball joint I don't think they'll ever change that and I think they shouldn't McPherson struts in the front things are very very familiar if you've had a previous generation Sienna or you've seen other Toyotas this is a very familiar design but what is not familiar design is the exhaust situation so here's what the exhaust does it comes up from the top there's another catalytic converter up top this is a secondary cleanup cat pretty exposed not the end of the world then the exhaust comes very very close to the edge and we have this little Contraption over here so what this does is it uses the heat from the exhaust to warm up the coolant so the car would warm up quicker we've had this since the third generation Prius it does work third generation premiums did have some issues with it leaking and whatnot but the newer ones we do not have issues so this is what that is but then the exhaust takes a very wild turn it turns back in to this one-sided Muffler And the reason they did that is to keep the floor low they did not want to make this just straight and they put this giant Muffler that is one-sided so the pipe comes in and then goes out at the same side pretty interesting design how they did that but it works car is pretty quiet of course and then it comes back out we have another resonator here and then it goes out to the tailpipe interesting design the reason they did that is the hyper battery sits here and if you turn around if we turn around and look in this area you can actually physically see that the floor is lower here so if you put this Muffler here this will be hung down very low this kind of lower floor is where the battery is so you have the battery here and then on the other side you have the fuel tank right here so the only place to put the exhaust and put this big Muffler is right here so this is your one-sided Muffler so air comes in gets muffled Turners around and then comes back out pretty interesting design you don't really see designs like that and I like it they they made it work and it works pretty good as we move our way to the back we have Toyota's typical suspension these days they call it a wishbone double Wishbone I don't see the double Wishbone but it is basically a multi-link suspension pretty simple suspension this is an all-wheel drive model we're going to talk about that in a few does have the electronic parking brake I love those they work really good makes service very very simple now we talk about the all-wheel drive system you do have MGR which is the motor generator rear very familiar with hybrids you do not have a drive shaft no transfer case none of that stuff it's very simple but there is one thing that is interesting if you look here at the connector of this MGR it looks very very similar to those of the RAV4 and the Venza that have the water intrusion but so far it's been quiet because when I put my hand behind this is actually completely closed unlike the ones with the RAV4 where they're open to let the water out so far there hasn't been issues but at least in my eyes it looks very similar to that of the RAV4 as we make our way all the way back here you notice the floor kind of comes down this is where that third row seat will hide we'll take a look at that and how that works in a bit but you notice the floor is very low to the ground here almost at the same level as a subframe and then we exit very interesting design it's actually pretty different than previous CNS you know the previous generation of Sienna had a beam rear suspension very simple very ancient this does not it says independent rear suspension pretty cool to see it one small note the shocks here are Hitachi USA now something about these shocks if we go kind of jump into the Lexus side the RX 350 used to have Hitachi shocks and they were notorious for leaks so far there hasn't been any issues with the Sienna that I know of with rear shocks leaking but that's just a small observation they're very simple to replace you know three bolts here to the top and the whole thing comes out that's part of the tnga platform very simple but overall there's a pretty interesting design that one-sided Muffler is pretty cool let's take a look at the outside of the Toyota Sienna and something have to be said my wife likes to say that cars are mimicking animals lately and they do to a point this one reminds me and her of a beluga whale that's the best way to describe the Sienna it is a very interesting shape and this car has a nose this one right here you notice it just everything kind of comes in comes down and then goes in then comes back out almost like it has a nose pretty interesting again it is a minivans minivans historically have not been handsome looking things this one included you have a massive Grille the Toyota has been really trying to emphasize lately but that's what they're going with lately radar sensor right behind the emblem you have shutters Behind The Grille so when the car is cold it'll actually close the shutters so you can warm up faster in cold weather and then they'll open and resume normal Cooling the headlights are somewhat of a resemblance of Toyota's latest design language you can see the same design and like the Corolla and some other models interesting headlights look pretty good they work really good they're LEDs and then as we wrap around the side we come to something that I don't like these wheels now this is a Platinum version of this van you know these wheels are nice you look at them for far away they're almost chrome-like and whatnot but this is something that Toyota has been doing for a while now this is called a clad wheel so this is actually a plastic listen to this this is a plastic cover that sits on top of the aluminum wheel initially when you think about it wait a second this is a plastic cover basically a glorified hubcap that's okay at least it's well made but the problem is when you go service this wheel it is so easy to scratch that clad cover and then you can get it separate so basically if you curb this on on a curb or you go to replace this tire and this gets crashed that's it you have to buy the entire wheel this absolutely makes no sense and this is basically a glorified hubcap in my opinion but that's what Toyota went with so when you hear clad wheels they're not a good thing it's just my opinion it's a technician as we weave our way around of course this is the very important touches from Toyota these little two tiny little fins for aerodynamics they absolutely do nothing but some Engineers somewhere thought it was a good idea to put that on a giant box which is what the Sienna is now as we wrap around something that I like about this the handles no they're just door handles I actually like the design I like that they made something slightly unique and when you look closer they actually made an indentation in the body just for the handles and this is a clever way for aerodynamics instead of making this some weird Tesla style handle whatnot they actually made a cutout where the handle comes in closer but it's still nonetheless a big handle I like it I think it's a pretty small touch but pretty cool one and then something else that they added in this entire generation of Sienna first thing is the door you can open the handle the automatic door will take it but then if you have a little child that is trying to open this door usually pulling this handle will hang at it and they can't open it now you just have a button this is actually pretty cool I I really like the idea of a button to open and close the door makes it more friendly and of course equally we have one more thing about the door in the higher trims if you notice right here you have these three little lines and in a perfect world that indicates that you have this feature basically it's the kick sensor for the sliding door great feature however Toyota in their Infinite Wisdom decided even the models that do not have the kick sensor will have these three lines I don't know why they did that but they did and then you can just do this and the door opens this is what the scenario I'm thinking of people say oh this is gimmicky whatnot here's a real life scenario where this is really useful you're a parent you'll come into the car you have a little little kids like babies you're carrying your baby in one arm and the diaper bag in the other you came to the door how are you going to open it well you just do this do the little dance and the door opens useful features not the end of the world if you don't have it but it is nonetheless a useful feature that is available which is nice now as we make our way back there's something extremely interesting here I guess this new world order of car manufacturers trying to make a minivan even it looks sporty and cool it is pretty cool I I have to agree this deal here if you look at it from this angle this Sienna has a muscular look in the back you have this giant dip and you just there's a lot going on making way for the massive tail light that of all cars if you look at this tail light of all cars in the world this resembles the Supra the BMW Supra I'll put a picture and I want you to kind of look at this from far away this angle right here and then I'll put a picture of the back of a zebra they're exactly the same this is very interesting to see because you can tell they're the same company now something about this back door that I dislike this is something not just Toyota everybody's going this way in order to make this as big as possible on the inside they're making the bumpers smaller and smaller and in this one is non-existent if you look here any little tap and you're going to damage the back door and imagine if you live in the city of Chicago where people use other people's car as bump stops when they're parallel parking this will get damaged so fast and there is nothing usually you just you know you have the license plate marks all over your bumper and that's how it is but in here you're going to damage the back door next thing you know your back door doesn't want to open anymore because it's all bent that's not cool now speaking of the back door it is of course power operated it does have the dual motor design everybody's going with that we have no choice when these break down hopefully they don't but when they do you can't open the door anymore it becomes very hard and you have to literally fight it to do that now so also here is the third brake light which I don't like and here's why when you look through the rear view mirror to the back this literally blocks your view this window is not very big and this is again they're trying to maximize the space in this van they made the window way too small and then you have the third brake light just sticking out to the top they could have done a little better here for visibility but again not the end of the world but what is somewhat the end of the world at least for me and to a group of people this fan does not come standard with a spare tire the spare tire is an option a 75 option I don't understand why that is the case but hey place is still available as an option an option that is extremely interesting because if you look right here normally if you get the one without this very special option this would be just a storage pocket but in here if you pull this panel which is very flimsy by the way you have a spare tire very interesting location for it and I think it's a better one than the previous one so the previous year I used to have the spare tire underneath it I told you this is super flimsy that's where they did it the previous Sienna had the spare tire underneath it very cumbersome very hard to get to usually the rust out and the Rust Belt area this is a much better place but I don't understand why is it not a permanent option that's just the way Toyota did it now business as usual once we put this flimsy flimsy door back there we go which the Gap is horrendous but it's very flimsy this is business as usual with the Sienna pull this seat disappears pull this third row seat disappears and now you have all the space but there's one small annoyance here you have the seats down you go for a drive you hit the first bump here's where the third door seat does it just comes up like this same thing here and they don't want to come down you have to keep push them down and they still want to come up I don't know why they couldn't do something better about this but this is a small observation now the second row seat does not come out of the car they they are permanently bolted down yes you can completely remove them but then you would disable the airbag and we have all kinds of problems so let me demonstrate so you can see it how big is the space here with the seats like Toyota wanted them or intended them you fold this down and you fold this one as well now we have to say that that is a pretty large space however they're still in your way and this is where they could have done something different they didn't it's not the end of the world but they could have done better with this I just wanted you to see it in case you're going from an older Sienna you cannot remove the second row seat you can push them all the way forward but that's as much space as you get unfortunately I wish they would have done that different but they didn't and then one last thing we're going to talk about here which is very very interesting so this model has the trailer hitch which is fine pretty cool this is actually an oem trailer hitch but then Toyota decided to do something very very interesting with the wiring so because there's no space for the wiring to come here and attach right next to the hitch so you can plug in your lights for your trailer and you can't really do it underneath because this is a pretty low hitch they decided to put this little Contraption right here and the wire runs through it and goes here so this looks very odd because you have this thing sticking out there's nothing on the other side they could have done this a little better and it looks like a complete and absolute afterthought but that is Toyota's way of doing this so it will actually work but it just looks very odd let's talk about the interior of the 2023 Toyota Sienna now this interior is really well thought out from a functional standpoint materials could be better especially as prices go up materials could be better finish could be better but overall the layout of this interior is really good some highlights that I love now you have all this like open feel you have this flying Center and console and you have a storage compartment underneath it I love that I think that is really a good use of space then you have this open shelf that I can just see families really utilizing that they really thought of this well Center stack is is flat where you can still put stuff here even though you know this is just the top of the center console is really thought out well I like that everything is also still physical control your HVAC controls they're all physical buttons screen is a little far away especially if you you're taller and you're going to sit further back the screen can be a little far and the other thing is this is not updated yet potentially next year they will come up with an update where this will be the first thing to go but this is an old infotainment system it works okay but it's featureless and it can be slow and glitchy sometimes now the new system they're going to replace it with eventually is also glitchy but at least it's more featureful and it does work a little better this is a fully Decked Out Platinum version of this van and the screen can be a little bigger not the end of the world but the gauges are not some silly screen that does nothing but add more to the price does have a decently sized screen that does have a few functions nothing over the top but again in in a van like this you don't want too much as well shifter is a physical shifter even though there's a hybrid it's still a physical shifter still have a cable and that is very nice and works very well now something about the front of this van the seats sit very high naturally that is a good thing if you're short like me you know I always raise my seat all the way up and this I don't have to raise it all the way up because they're already raised to begin with but if you're tall this is going to be an issue and the reason for that is they decided to put the high voltage battery right underneath the front seats I think it is a great location because it's you can still sit here if you're tall but exiting out of it you might hit the pillar and whatnot but you once you're seated it is comfortable but if they put the battery in the back they would have to raise the back floor and that would intrude on your second row space and the third row space which they did not do that and that is a good thing seats are super comfortable everything here is easy to operate and just really family focused taking a road trip in this car will be fun because it is well thought out and of course we cannot talk about the Sienna interior without talking about the back seats and starting with the sliding doors yes folks the center of course have sliding doors they are power one thing I have to say about the sliding doors with CNS it's always been a problem as they get older the cables break and all the problems start so starting the previous generation Toyota actually improved the cable serviceability where the cable is not expensive basically the the cable on the sliding doors is a serviceable item separately from the motor not expensive and they continued that theme with this one if the cable breaks you don't have to mortgage your house to fix the doors you can actually buy the cables inexpensively and they're relatively simple to replace and that is a huge update now the second row seat if you go with the higher trims like this one you get a fancy little screen which is very nice but the days of DVDs are over so what exactly does this big screen does well if you look in the middle you have two things there are major if you have a screen like this you have an HDMI port and right next to it you have a power outlet so what I see Happening Here is my kids on a long trip connecting their Nintendo switch or PlayStation 4 or whatever the case may be and powering it right next to it putting it right in here it will be covered in fries and Cheerios but they can play the video game and not bug us on our 12 hour trip this is really a good idea folks if you're gonna put a screen in 2023 it needs to have those two things and better yet right next to each other that is really a good idea now the space here I am 5'7 I mean this is my driving position I have plenty of room and this is what the Sienna really shines not the Highlander not the grand Highlander is coming up not even the Sequoia has this much room inside because this is the ultimate family van now this second row seat cannot be removed completely from the van and so many people avoid so many issues about it and look I understand and I agree they could have done this better however they had to put an airbag in the seat so basically if you you were gonna you buy your minivan as a cargo van this might be an issue otherwise you can actually fold the seat the bottom folds up and the seat pushes all the way forward to give you maximum space when you fold the third row seat and you will have a lot of space speaking of that Toyota seat let's go check that out third row seat a proper one at that now for following purposes we push this one forward but I'm 5'7 this is my seating position the second row seat and in front of it is my normal driving position this is a lot of room folks there is one thing I have to say about the third row it's how low the seat is like I'm sitting here and my legs are bowed up and down that is about the only thing that is an issue now I don't think you're gonna have a lot of cars that have the third row seat that is exactly the same as the front seat Comfort wise this is just the way they are but as far as legroom I'm perfectly fine here and if you're not an old stir like me you're a youngster you sit here you young adult this is perfectly fine you can even stretch your legs a little bit and you're perfectly fine now if you're older and you sit here for a long time this position might be an issue but otherwise it is super comfortable but the best part is there's even more stuff in the third row seat first my personal favorite there is a little window shade right here it is manual you can hang it here just so the sun wouldn't bother you from this tiny little window right here that is super cool right here and equally on the other side you actually have a headphone jack and a volume so whatever video game we're playing that big screen we can hook it up here listen we don't have to drive our parents crazy and life is wonderful told you this van is really thought out even in the third row seat and over here you have some more USB charging points this is the perfect family van in my opinion and they really thought this one well and you can see it even in the third row seat let's talk about some common problems with this entire generation of Sienna not just the 23. so something have to be said when a car is launched in the technician world or kind of the internal leadership World they will call certain launches successful and certain other ones unsuccessful the Sienna was more towards the successful there were some issues in the first year 2021 for example there was a few issues and there was some kind of activity in movement to improve things but 2022 and up have been complete silence and that is what we want to hear so 2021 let me give you a few examples of those few activities first one is depleted battery and unfortunately that problem went into 2022 that is not depleted high voltage battery 12 volt battery and then the other issue is rattles and squeaks and wind noise and this and that that is very typical with any new model but more on the serious side there was issues with the hybrid computer causing all kinds of codes and to a point shutting the car off or putting it in in a way limp mode and the problem at that time was they were on back order so car sat and sat and sat and waited and there was some issues with engine computers there were some computer problems going on I was in 2021 the early ones the only real issue that remains up to 2023 and really has nothing to do with the Sienna has to do with the four-cylinder engine this four-cylinder engine is a little bit on the high-tech side so when you get an engine this high tech every little thing matters something with this engine and this applies even if you have this engine in another model RAV4 Camry wherever the case may be if you drive this engine very short periods and worse with a hybrid where you're potentially going to move it in EV mode and as soon as the engine comes off you should let it shut off and move and shut it off in cold weather it's actually going to build up so much condensation inside next thing you know the oil looks milky you people have come thinking their head gasket has blown it makes coolant and oil but condensation is actually water it's going to mix with that oil and we have major problems folks if you own one of these cars you're planning to buy one you already own one or you own this engine another model plan on always driving them longer periods don't just start the engine move it a little bit shut it off repeatedly especially in cold weather because they are known to do that and if you must do that say you have no choice you have to move this car here and there check your oil the minute you see it changing color into something whiter like it's mixing with water immediately change the oil and remember you gotta change the oil every six months regardless on these engines because they are a little sensitive to condensation buildup and if you all of a sudden pull the dipstick the oil level is way too high and it looks milky that's what happened be careful with that because this problem remains otherwise things have been extremely quiet for the Sienna and that is a very good thing this hybrid system doesn't really have a lot of common issues regular maintenance fluids whatnot keep the vents of the hyper battery clear clear the filter if it even gets dirty depends on your use if you live in Dusty area whatever the case may be but otherwise there is not a lot of data indicating kind of chronic issues and some people will say this is too new for that folks ask me about a 2016 Tacoma in year one I can write a two hour video talking about their common problems because they were that bad this however this is a medium successful launch basically there was issues in the first year second year third year things are quiet they fix them life are good one thing remains though and that is unfortunate the fit and finish is not perfect and when I say not perfect I mean it's really not good the interior feels plasticky there was gaps mismatched and this is something unfortunately developing with Toyota lately you don't buy this because this luxury car 50 years from now it'll still be the same it'll still function the same but it just when you pay these high prices and you look at the gaps not consistent things are off a little bit here and there it just it doesn't feel good and I'm with you on that let's talk about some things I do not like about the Toyota Sienna there's only really a couple things maybe three things but one of them is a fatal thing that might actually shy away a lot of folks from buying one so the first thing is the price is high and I understand it's a hybrid it's all that and that's fine but the problem is the fit and finish and the feel of everything inside it does feel too plasticky and that's been something with the Sienna for a while but in this one the price is being higher they could be a little nicer on the inside the second thing I don't like about it is the second row of seed being non-removable look I understand it's not the end of the world you can Fold It Forward and push it all the way forward and that's fine but they could have done something better there I understand there's an airbag in the seat and all that they could have done something better there but the Fatal thing about the Sienna look this is a great minivan I think this is the best Sienna ever but the problem is can you even get one the wait times are ridiculous to get one of these I mean I'm hearing as much as eight to ten months to get one and that's causing dealerships to wreak havoc on customers raising marking up the prices used ones that are extremely expensive in some cases used ones are more expensive than new ones because they're available right now and then what is Toyota doing what is the point of making this great minivan and you can get one this is there's no point Toyota really needs to do something about this and fast because what's the point of having a great minivan when you can't even get one and when you do find one finally it is ten thousand dollars more than MSRP because leaderships are just having at it with people that's not right folks I hope Toyota fixes that soon so should you buy a 2023 Toyota Sienna folks I think this is a super competent minivan I mean this is such a massive improvement over the previous one which was already very good in my opinion you're not going to find a large minivan that is kind of a people carrier a family the ultimate family car that gets this kind of gas mileage in the market today and be this reliable reliability has significantly improved since 2021 probably 2021 early ones had the most issues the later ones they're much much better however the major problem remains can you even get one this is a message to Toyota you made such a good van while it's not perfect the build and fit finish is not 100 percent but it is not the end of the world but the message tutorial is could you please make more so people actually can buy one and dealerships don't have to wreak havoc on buyers raising the prices of the new ones raising the prices of the used ones to a point where it absolutely makes no sense that's what Toyota needs to work on to improve this Sienna because otherwise this is a really good minivan now if you're going to use this as a cargo van this is not a potentially a good van for you if you're gonna always have full passengers with their luggage going in a mountainous area all the time this is probably gonna wear you out because while the power is sufficient like we talked about it is not as powerful as the previous V6 and that's possibly the compromise to get that good gas mileage they had to go hybrid and I think you're not really gonna always be driving with full passengers full luggage all the time in a mountainous area so there is that folks this is a really good minivan if you can get one hope they fix that problem I hope this video was helpful informative I hope you learned something new if you like it consider giving me a thumbs up if you're not a subscriber consider subscribing to the channel check out some other videos and until the next video folks may the Lord bless you and keep you and you have yourself a wonderful day

Channel: The Car Care Nut

Views: 547,591

Keywords: 2023 toyota sienna, toyota sienna, toyota sienna 2023, toyota, toyota problems in 2023, toyota sienna common problems, should you buy a sienna, sienna, minivan, best minivan, common problems, car repair, scotty kilmer, car review, mechanic review, car dealership, minivan review, doug demuro, the car care nut, car care nut, tccn automotive

Id: z5LiRM0wpHc

Length: 37min 45sec (2265 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 05 2023