Will the newly designed 2011 Toyota Sienna look better than the present rounded

Alan

refridgerator on wheels? I've wanted a Sienna for years, and am waiting for a new design because I simply won't be seen in that ugly thing. Honda Odyssey, and Chrysler and Dodge mini vans at least have some lines and look like a normal mini van. The Sienna however seems to suffer from a line-less dome like unshapen contour. Will Toyota catch up to the others? Or will it be more of the same. If it is I'll just go for the Honda. thanks.

Toyota Obsession

Looks that way.































Sounds like they want to Trump Honda in the Looks department.































But nobody has any finished Pictures yet. So we won't know till we get to look at the 2010 Honda and the 2011 Toyota.































townhall-talk.edmunds.com

__A_YAHOO_USER__

I've been trying to track the 2011 Sienna also. There is not much information on the Internet about it; one site claims that it will be a redesign, but that the basic external contour will remain similar to the 2010 version. That site also claims that production will begin in January of 2010, and another site says first quarter of 2010. The sales manager in my local dealer said Toyota has not yet made an actual deicision on whether to go with a redesign for 2011 or to retain the 2009/2010 version. He also told me that production would not begin until next spring or summer. There are some "spy photos" on the Internet showing heavily camouflaged developmental versions of a 2011 Sienna, but you can't see very much.































For myself, internals are more important than the external shape. I'm most concerned about the Nav system. I've seen comments from owners of the 2010 model indicating that they hate the Nav system, especially its inhibition on reprogramming it while the car is in motion. Toyota saw fit to disable this capability, despite the fact that the front passenger can manipulate the Nav while the driver is driving the car. Owners have been desperately looking for workarounds to circumvent the disablement of reprogramming, exchanging disks with new versions of the control software, I think. People have also complained that it's hard to use, and provides bad errors in current location at times.































The existing Nav system also does not have real time traffic, which is a show stopper for me, and does not have an integrated rear view TV camera (this is an extra cost option), also very annoying. The current Sienna also does not have a factory-installed satellite radio option, but the factory radio is "Sirius Capable," terribly old technology. The Navigation/Entertainment package very badly needs updating, especially as compared with Ford's fantastic Navigation/Entertainment system (which even has local gas prices, movie listings, and real time animated weather radar!), but also as compared with Toyota's own Prius Navigation system, which does have real time traffic. It's so ridiculous for Toyota to have a good Navigation system in some of its products but not in others. I would buy a Sienna today if it were not for this factor.































My other fear about the 2011 Sienna, if it is a redesign, is that Toyota might mess up things that are really good about the current model. In particular, the current Sienna's instrument cluster has a beautiful blue light for illumination, and I'm red-green color blind; blue is one of my few good colors. So if they change the lighting to something I can't see, it would greatly discourage me from buying this car.































Another thing I'd like to see is a left-hand arm rest for the driver's seat. There is a right-hand arm rest, but I need both sides due to a bad back. I don't understand why the mid- passenger seats have arm rests on both sides but the driver's seat has it only on the right side. I might have to take the car to Seatco and pay for them to custom-fabricate a left hand arm rest, possibly mounted on the inside door panel rather than the seat itself, an inconvenient and expensive kluge.































I would caution you about switching to the Odyssey. I own a 2000 Odyssey, and although it's the best car I've ever owned in terms of reliability and longevity, it has some other negative characteristics that are show stoppers, at least for me, in buying another one. The ride is harsh, and there's lots of wind and road noise inside the cabin. This drives me crazy in my current car, and I've had it for ten years now. I think it's ridiculous for Honda not to have fixed this in all this time. I absolutely will not buy another noisy van. Also the power assist for the power steering in my Odyssey is very weak, and you really have to tug on the wheel to turn it, which I also hate. I don't know how bad the current Odyssey is on that factor. But I've also seen severe criticism from owners of the current Odyssey about its Navigation system.... go to Edmunds.com and see what owners are saying about both vehicles.