A Girls Guide to Cars

Cars. On Your Terms.

  • Home
  • About
    • Become a Contributor!
    • Contributors
    • Our Privacy Policy and How to Advertise on the Best Car Site for Women
  • Work With Us
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Periscope
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Navigation
  • Luxury
  • Style
    • Automotive Design
    • Personal Style
  • Technology
    • Apps
    • Connected Cars
    • Green Tech
    • In Car Entertainment
    • Safety Innovations
    • Spotify Playlists
  • Travel
    • Destinations
    • Road Trip!
    • Travel Tips
  • Car Buying
    • Costco’s Car Buying Program
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Recalls
    • Safety
    • Events
    • Buying a Car
    • Finance
    • Maintenance
    • Parts and Gear
    • Canada
  • News & Opinion
    • What Drives Her
    • Her Stories
    • Editorial
    • Ask Us Anything
    • Twitter Parties

Why a Used 2017 Toyota Sienna Might Be the Right Car For You

June 9, 2020 by Meagan Wristen Leave a Comment

2017 toyota sienna

2017 Toyota Sienna

The kids and I headed down to Texas for Christmas and thanks to Toyota we cruised around the state in a 2017 Toyota Sienna.

I must confess: a minivan is my daily driver, so I was super bummed about spending our vacation in a minivan. Unlike many moms, I do not embrace the minivan life. I drive a minivan because at one point I had three kids in car seats and sadly for me, a minivan is a fabulous option when you have three or more car seats. However, on this trip I was going to be road tripping over 1,000 miles with my three kids, plus my sister, niece, and my mom. Since I needed a vehicle that would seat 7 it was either a minivan or an old school church van. Definitely not an option.

Related: 2020 Toyota Sienna: 8 Reasons Why the Minivan is Still the King of Family Vehicles

WHO THIS CAR IS FOR

  • Families, especially those with 3 or more kids, who need a 3rd row
  • Families with multiple kids in car seats.
  • A family with twins or triplets–then everyone can bring a friend along or there’s room for grandma and grandpa
  • Families with quintuplets–room for 5 car seats!
  • Buyers who need space for 6 or 7 passengers
  • Buyers who crave (or need) top safety and luxury features in their car
  • Buyers seeking top safety technology in a new car

Related: 2019 Toyota Sienna XLE: How it Saved My Family Time – and My Sanity

WHAT THIS MINIVAN COSTS

*prices may have changed

  • Base price:$29,750
  • LE model: $32,540
  • SE $36,990
  • Price of the nicely loaded model we drove: $51,244

This van is not cheap. I drove the Toyota Sienna LTD Premium AWD (all wheel drive) which was priced at $51,244. It’s hard to think of spending that kind of money on a minivan, except I sure do wish my minivan had AWD. Since we are now into a new model year I decided to see if the price had dropped any. I looked up priced in my area for the model I drove and it suggested $42,314 – $44,804, quite a bit lower than MSRP. 

The starting price however is a much more affordable $29,750. There are 8 versions of this minivan available, including a V6 option!

In case you were wondering about resale, I looked that up too and discovered that this minivan won the 2017 Kelley Blue Book Best Resale Value award. It’s too early to tell what the current model year will sell for in three years, but that’s good to know.

The 2017 Toyota Sienna Back Seats fold flat into the cargo area.

The 2017 Toyota Sienna Back Seats fold flat into the cargo area. | Photo by Meagan Wristen

WHAT I LOVED

  • Cargo Space – Between the seven of us, we had 7 suitcases, all of which fit into the back easily.
  • 3rd row folds flat – The 3rd row can fold down into the bottom of the cargo area and give you a flat area to haul stuff.
  • Two sunroofs – one up front and one in the back.
  • Shaded windows in the middle row.
  • Apple Car Play
  • Second row captains chairs
  • Household plug and USB port in the second row
  • Heated steering wheel
  • It’s low to the ground, making it incredibly easy for kids to climb in and out.
  • There’s an infotainment center with a Blue Ray DVD player and 4 sets of headphones.
  • 7″ touchscreen with navigation
  • The layout of the front. Everything is easy for the driver.
2017 Toyota Sienna

2017 Toyota Sienna Dash.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • MPG: up to 19 in the city and up to 24 on the highway
  • It can tow something! – Towing capacity is 3,500 lbs
  • They tour that with one motion you can drop the back seats into the cargo area. That may be true, but it took two of us to get those seats back out and set up. If I had not had help I could not have managed it.
  • Unlike the 2015 Sienna the kids and I tested a few years ago, this one does not have the foot rests on the middle row captain’s chairs. It’s really too bad, as this was our favorite feature.
  •  The Sienna comes with Toyota Safety Sense:
    • Pre-collision system with pedestrian detection
    • Lane departure alert with steering assist (which you can see in action in the video below)
    • Automatic high beams
    • Dynamic Radar Cruise Control
    • Blind spot monitoring
    • Rear cross traffic alert

Disclosure: The Sienna was provided to me by Toyota for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Fun and completely useless fact: I drove the Sienna to meet my newest cousin baby Sienna. Isn’t she cute!

Cousins

My newest cousin, Sienna! | Photo credit: Mommy Travels

WHAT WE LISTENED TO IN THE 2017 TOYOTA SIENNA

Now you might be wondering what we listened to during our 1000K mile road trip. My sister and I are children of the 90’s, so it was all 90’s all the time. Here is my 90’s playlist, so you too can listen to hits from the 90’s!

 

  • Bio
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • Latest Posts
Meagan Wristen

Meagan Wristen

Meagan is the Director of Social Engagement and a contributing writer. Meagan is a travel writer based in Portland, Oregon with her three children. Founder of www.MommyTravels.net, Meagan has been a social media influencer and blogger since 2008.
Meagan Wristen

@MeaganShamy

Meagan Wristen
Meagan Wristen

Meagan Wristen

Meagan Wristen

Meagan Wristen

Meagan Wristen

Latest posts by Meagan Wristen (see all)

  • 11 Tips for Buying a Used Car - December 1, 2020
  • Why a Used 2017 Toyota Sienna Might Be the Right Car For You - June 9, 2020
  • Dust Off Your Boots and Head to the Dallas Fort Worth Auto Show - February 5, 2018

Filed Under: 7-passenger seating, Minivan, Toyota Tagged With: minivan

Meagan Wristen

About Meagan Wristen

Meagan is the Director of Social Engagement and a contributing writer. Meagan is a travel writer based in Portland, Oregon with her three children. Founder of www.MommyTravels.net, Meagan has been a social media influencer and blogger since 2008.

« The 2020 Alfa Romeo Stelvio: All You Love, Plus a Little More 
A Note About Color and Diversity »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Videos

Reviews Header
Britax Endeavours Car Seat Review

Britax Endeavours Car Seat Review: Safety First for Our Girl

Eli Sleepypod Featured image

Sleepypod Pet Travel Harness and Carrier Review: Travel Safely, Fur Babies!

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Child Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress