OT: Toyota Sienna AWD owners

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

Will a run flat in fact run flat if you get a gash in the sidewall?

[CNY rider]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Curious about this no spare gig(never heard of it before)...so...you are 6 hours from home, get a flat/damage..yes the 'run flat' will get you to the next town..but then what? Limited speed and distance, right? If the tires are worn past a certain amount..buy 4 at the next town? Or buy one, get home..what if you get a flat on the non run flat?

Just curious..

When we bought our van I couldn't get satisfactory answers to those questions.
So we didn't get the AWD version.
That was 8 years ago. Maybe there are better answers now.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Winter tires are a must, and frankly I'd do them with AWD as well.

Second, if you think an AAA membership will ease your mind, do you imagine that if you get stuck or something that AAA just magically shows up? It can take hours in remote areas or during winter snow events.

I'll also likely get AWD on my next vehicle, but I'm also getting winter tires. Winter tires make everything better from the first cold rains to the last dusting of snow. But they'll kill gas mileage too.

One more thing, my brother has Sienna. It's been a good vehicle, but when things get old and need work, it's expensive.

Better waiting a few hours for a tow than walking? It is important to note that AAA does not go off pavement, I believe.

My main motivation in getting the AWD isn't its off-road prowess (it's still a low clearance minivan). It will be strictly for on-road duties. Road trips. Getting up to ski resorts. And reassurance the wife and kids will safely get home if they happen to get caught in a snow storm. The most frustrating thing about drivers around here when it's snowing---heading up a hill means automatically hitting the brakes or slowing way down half way up. Of course, they're on nearly bald all-seasons, so they're sliding all over the place trying to get going again (I even had issues in my FWD car equipped with studded tires). Instant traffic jam. We usually (carefully) drive around them in our Subaru.

[rnhood]

Originally Posted by binxnyrwarrsoul

Will a run flat in fact run flat if you get a gash in the sidewall?

My friend bought a brand new BMW and had a flat about 6 months later - and could not keep driving. He had to call and have it towed. And replacing a run flat tire (at least on the BMW) is big time expensive. I would not want them on my car, but I suspect the chance to a total flat on the road is pretty low.

I see a quite a few Toyota RAV4's with run-flat tires so they must be reasonably popular - probably more on these smaller cars since storage is at a premium. The Toyota van is an outstanding vehicle, I own one and have 260k miles on it to date. But for me, just the standard tires please.

[11.4]

I've had a couple Odysseys and an AWD Sienna. There's really nothing except a bit of price and a few minor features that favor the Odyssey. The leather seats are a poor quality split laminated to fabric, and they go bad very quickly. The Odyssey is very low (and even more so with a spoiler in front) and won't even clear some ramps up into parking lots without scraping the belly. You get another inch or two with the Sienna, which really helps. An Odyssey can very quickly pile up snow underneath and your steering deteriorates badly. In short, between those two vehicles, I'd pick the Sienna.

The drawback(s) to the Sienna: First, it has a few funky design issues (mostly interior) -- just things I disliked. Second, as pointed out above, it's quite expensive to do repairs and they start as soon as the warranty ends. And if you have any body damage on either the Odyssey or the Sienna, it typically hits one of the side doors or the rear and those are all very expensive to repair (usually they just get replaced). Third, the tire issue is a PITA. I bought a full spare tire because I did a lot of long-haul highway trips and needed to be able to keep driving. It's clumsy to find a place for the spare in the back, but I ended up with a vertical wheel mount bracket that held it to the side in the rear, and on two occasions I was very glad I had it. The AWD is a problem if you have to be towed -- count on waiting for a flatbed -- and as mentioned above, your tires all have to be within a few 32nds of each other or you have to replace all of them. A small alignment problem can eat one down and cost you four tires. And run-flat tires simply suck hard. They don't drive well in inclement or icy conditions and they feel horrible.

Frankly, minivans are made to be beaten up inside and sold at a relatively low price with lots of miles and a fairly trashed interior. If you actually drive it for several years, there are frame and drivetrain issues that start popping up. The disc brake rotors can be prone to warping and it's not covered by any warranty, including a replacement part warranty (because they blame you, the driver, for it). Obviously I went back to minivans more than twice, but they aren't the nicest vehicles generally. I now split duty between a Ford Superduty and a Subaru Outback. Look hard at the Outback. Much better bad-weather performance, much better mileage, better brakes, much longer effective lifetime and lifetime repair cost, and so on. There are other good vehicles out there, so my warning is more to be cautious about doing the minivan thing, period. For moms doing carpool duty with a bunch of kids they are cool; for other applications I'm not as enamored.

[Nooch]

is this one running run-flats?

[cderalow]

for what it's worth.

2011 Odyssey owner with 126,000 miles on it.

Live in metro washington area, and have driven it in every major storm we've gotten since owning it, and through several new england snow storms (since my family is up that way)
It has never gotten stuck, never been bogged down and has performed as well as our prior 2007 cr-v through everything i've ever thrown at it in terms of winter weather.

it out drives most suvs in this area, granted i grew up in a snow state and therefore know how to drive in the snow with a fwd vehicle.

my father works for a company that does vehicle transport for special needs and handicap school students throughout mass. his company has a fleet of some 1,000+ vans, many of them being odysseys or siennas and he has fewer maintenance issues with the honda than the toyotas.

in 126k, i'm on my 3rd set of tires, 3rd set of brake rotors (4th set of pads), 17th or 18th oil change, 7th set of wiper blades and second set of headlight bulbs.

the only other issue i've had on it was a warranty replacement of the passenger side sliding door actuator because one of the cables snapped.

it's been a solid highway cruiser and has a lifetime fuel economy of 22mpg (we do a lot of heavy traffic and city driving). it once did a trip from potomac MD to Boston to new york city on one tank of gas (657 miles) and average of 31mpg all highway driving with no traffic along the way (complete fluke)

in my opinion it handled, and seemed more put together than any sienna i've ever driven (which has been several since we purchased the odyssey, in fact once a year for a week every year since buying the honda)

it is however a cursed vehicle. it's averaged an accident a year every year. all but 1 while stationary in a parking lot.

[Zee]

Tires.

1. Run flats are equipped on most new Mercedes and BMW's, a few other big names as well.

2. A TON of new vehicles on standard tires are coming without spares, but 'fix kits'. Blame weight savings to achieve MPG targets, or packing constraints, but bottom line, they are going away slowly.

3. Dedicated winter tires are a game changer. Adding driving wheels to that only improves the traction level.

4. If you need a single tire on an all wheel drive vehicle, you do NOT need to buy a set of 4 tires. Tire rack can shave a brand new tire for you to within a 32nd of your target number.

Vans:

Do not buy an Odyssey Touring. The PAX safety system is a nightmare you do not want to realize.

[rnhood]

A new Odyssey will appear next year (2018) so, if it's on your list waiting probably makes sense.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by 11.4

I've had a couple Odysseys and an AWD Sienna...Look hard at the Outback..

Thanks for the feedback. If I get a Sienna, I would definitely toss the Runflats for regular tires and add a pump/plugs. Even that would probably go unused, as if a flat were to happen, road side assist or AAA would be called.

Regarding the Outback, we've already got one. It's been great, but need more passenger space. We would LOVE a Subaru minivan. I know they're coming out with a 3 row crossover, but not interested in those.

Originally Posted by cderalow

it's been a solid highway cruiser and has a lifetime fuel economy of 22mpg (we do a lot of heavy traffic and city driving). it once did a trip from potomac MD to Boston to new york city on one tank of gas (657 miles) and average of 31mpg all highway driving with no traffic along the way (complete fluke)

in my opinion it handled, and seemed more put together than any sienna i've ever driven (which has been several since we purchased the odyssey, in fact once a year for a week every year since buying the honda).

Yeah, the Odyssey does drive nice. I think I would go that route if I go 2WD.

Originally Posted by Zee

Tires.

1. Run flats are equipped on most new Mercedes and BMW's, a few other big names as well.

2. A TON of new vehicles on standard tires are coming without spares, but 'fix kits'. Blame weight savings to achieve MPG targets, or packing constraints, but bottom line, they are going away slowly.

3. Dedicated winter tires are a game changer. Adding driving wheels to that only improves the traction level.

4. If you need a single tire on an all wheel drive vehicle, you do NOT need to buy a set of 4 tires. Tire rack can shave a brand new tire for you to within a 32nd of your target number.

Vans:

Do not buy an Odyssey Touring. The PAX safety system is a nightmare you do not want to realize.

Thanks. I think the local Discount Tire shaves tires as well.

Originally Posted by rnhood

A new Odyssey will appear next year (2018) so, if it's on your list waiting probably makes sense.

I like the new redesign, but no AWD option, unfortunately...

[AngryScientist]

one thing i wish the odyssey had was seats that fold into the floor for the second row. other than that i am 100% satisfied with the van.

by the way, with regard to AAA:

look and see if your car insurance company offers roadside assistance and towing. we have USAA and they do, and it costs a very small fraction of what AAA costs. Have used the service once and it was a good experience. I assume they use the same pool of service providers as AAA anyway...

[p nut]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

one thing i wish the odyssey had was seats that fold into the floor for the second row. other than that i am 100% satisfied with the van.

by the way, with regard to AAA:

look and see if your car insurance company offers roadside assistance and towing. we have USAA and they do, and it costs a very small fraction of what AAA costs. Have used the service once and it was a good experience. I assume they use the same pool of service providers as AAA anyway...

Yeah, I checked with our insurance, as we do have roadside assist. They reimburse up to $100 and that's it. As infrequent as our flats have been, we may just stick with that and chance it. I do keep up on tire maintenance and switch them out way in advance of min tread depth.

[jh_on_the_cape]

going to test drive an AWD sienna today.
my buddy has one and the run-flat thing was his biggest complaint.

is there a spare tire kit somewhere?
does anyone store skis inside in the winter? roof box would be up higher than my v70 roof.
thanks

[alembical]

We went through a similar debate two years ago. At that time, the Honda with a set of snow tires made more sense to us. If we went Toyota, we would have added an aftermarket tire carrier (rear hatch or on roof), carried a spare and run winter tires in the winter (non-run flat).

We ended up with a Toyota Highlander as my wife was against another minivan. We have a VW Camper already, but it is not a daily driver for us.

[jh_on_the_cape]

Ugh. I just want to find a car.