We purchased this beautiful 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE and, as much as I hate to admit it, I. Absolutely. Love. It. It honestly looked the least "minivan-y" of the options we looked at, in my opinion anyway. Our Jeep Grand Cherokee just wasn't cutting it anymore with TWO kids, their car seats and all their miscellaneous junk, so we decided it was time. We also scoped out bigger SUVs as well, but none of them had the features and space we needed for a price we were comfortable with.The first minivan we test drove was the 2010 Honda Odyssey, but honestly? Hubs and I HATED it! It totally drove like a minivan (shocker, right?) and was just so... I dunno. It wasn't for us. There are 80 gazillion of them out on the roads today, so obviously there are a lot of Odyssey fans out there, but that just doesn't include us.
We resorted to looking only at SUVs as we figured all minivans would drive like the Odyssey. We test drove a few and still just weren't satisfied. I mean, it is SO unlike me to have my husband give me the "go ahead" to buy a NEW car, and yet I'm just not excited about it at all and am at a complete loss as to what to buy. I finally got to the point where I said we'll just wait (gasp!) a few months and see what things look like during the summer. Maybe there'll be some great sales. Maybe a new car will come out that I fall in love with. Maybe...
Then I happened to see a cute commercial for the new 2011 Toyota Sienna. You know, the ones with that crazy couple with their two kids? They call it their "swagger wagon?" You can check out their silly commercials here. Anyway, I decided that we'd test drive one more minivan before completely closing the door.
Hubs and I both Fell. In. Love. It was crazy! This thing (the Limited, of course) drove like a dream! We both agreed it drove like a luxury crossover more than a minivan. We both loved the body style... not overly minivan-y since the front hood doesn't come to a point and drop off into an abyss. We were sold. After haggling with a few local dealerships, we ended up making our purchase last Tuesday. I'm so in love!
The dual power sliding side doors. The power lift gate. The heated seats. The XM radio. The sunroof. The leather. The captain's chairs for the kids. The LATCH anchors for the car seats. The fold and stow 3rd row. The beautiful predawn gray mica color. The DVD player with wireless headphones. The tri-zone automatic climate control. The bluetooth for making/receiving phone calls and listening to the music from my iPhone wirelessly. I could go on and on and on! There's so much to love about this vehicle!
So while I still somewhat hate the fact that hubs and I had to officially enter into parenthood with the rite of passage known as a minivan purchase, I'm still totally stoked about this baby! I can't wait to break it in on our upcoming family road trip!
Woot!
While our mini van isn't quite as "fancy" as yours, I am absolutely in love with ours as well. We do have the power sliding doors and they are amazing! We also have a DVD player which is great for our frequent trips to Chicago to visit family. It will now also be great for the trips to Indy! (one warning though- be careful with those automatic sliding doors. Hannah got her hand closed in it and broke 2 fingers. Just be careful!)
ReplyDeleteWe have a DVD player, too (it's a necessity when traveling with our almost 3-year-old) and the Sienna also has a jam protection function with auto-reverse on both power sliding side doors and the rear lift gate. Basically if it encounters anything in the way, it automatically stops and reverses, preventing those painful finger injuries! :) I guess that does make it sound pretty "fancy" like you said! ;)
ReplyDeleteThere's no shame in it!! We "gave" also and traded in our Jeep Grand Cherokee for a Town & Country! :) Carseats and Jeep Grand Cherokee backseats just don't get hand in hand, do they? We always said we would NEVER be minivan people too.... how things change, huh? :) Those commercials are hilarious! ENJOY! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha - Ladies this is too funny. When I got pregnant with Olivia I had a little crisis about the fact that my 2 door was going to have to go and I was going to need a Mama-mobile. So for the 2nd half of the pregnancy I spent time researching all the family vehicles out there that I deemed cool/sexy enough for me to drive with the comforts that a family would need. We settled on a Buick Enclave and I never thought in a million years that I would be driving a BUICK in my 20's but I too LOVE IT!
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