2021 TOYOTA SIENNA

CAN A HYBRID VAN REALLY MOVE US?

- K.C. COLWELL

Long-Term Test

AFTER TRACKING EVERY FILL-UP, SERVICE, PROBLEM, COMPLAINT, DENT, AND DOG HAIR, CAR AND DRIVER PRESENTS THE 40,000-MILE EVALUATION.

ARRIVAL MAY 2021

DEPARTURE MAY 2022

Would you ever believe that this green literally, not figuratively-hybrid was the most popular car in our long-term fleet during its 12-month tenure? "No way," you say. Well, despite that we have a parking lot filled with the likes of a BMW M3, a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0, a Chevrolet Corvette, and a Ram 1500 TRX, a minivan the terminally underappreciated automotive breed that new dads fear and cool moms look down on-was in fact the most popular. Our 40,000-mile test took 350 days. Why was that? Simple: This is one highly evolved minivan.

This all-wheel-drive Sienna Limited arrived back in May 2021, and it stickered for $51,885. We might have gone for a lesser trim, but when we saw Cypress green on the options sheet, we knew that was the van for us. Limited is the lowest trim in which the color was available, and while it's $1960 less than the Platinum, we felt that the Limited had everything we wanted: leather seats, sliding second-row captain's chairs that shuffle rearward far enough to make Yao Ming smile, more USB outlets than a Delta Sky Club lounge, and a 245-hp hybrid powertrain consisting of a 2.5-liter inline-four, three electric motors, and a small traction battery.

Rants and Raves

Vans get no love, which is sad because they're so useful. The Sienna is so good: a silent, supple, no-BS van with 30-plus-mpg fuel economy and a great interior. -TONY QUIROGA