It’s got swagger. But of course you already knew that. It has style too, especially the higher-end variants and the knee-weakening Salsa Red Pearl exterior paint option. But here are six surprising features of, and unexpected uses for, the 2015 Toyota Sienna minivan.
A Private Changing Suite
The ’15 Sienna offers your traveling party the unique ability for an entire family, including, as a 100% totally random example, a 6′ 4″ dad who sports a chronically bad back and a pair of handsome but oft aching knees, to get completely (and I mean COMPLETELY) changed in the trunk (with the 3rd row seats collapsed flat down) after a sandy sunsplashed afternoon at the beach. Let’s see you try to pull that off, literally and figuratively, in your Subaru Forester!
Your Own Personal Drive-In Movie Theater
Sure, Drive-In movie theaters may be a quaint relic from yesteryear for most who are not fortunate enough to be near one of the remaining few outdoor screens, but with the 2015 Toyota Sienna XLE, you have your own portable theater under the stars. Park anywhere you can see the night sky twinkling above through the Sienna’s dual moonroofs, whether that’s your driveway or the parking lot at the edge of the Grand Canyon, climb into one of the five comfortable seats in the back, tear open a bag of popcorn, and enjoy a movie theater experience on the 2015 Sienna’s widescream Blu-ray entertainment system with booming 6-speaker Entune JBL sound.
Retire To Your Study On The Road
The exquisite contrast stitching that can trim your 2015 Sienna’s dashboard console, the debonair two-tone leather seats, and the classy wood inlay of the door armrest control panel is akin to your own private study in the house of your dreams, only so much better because you can be nestled down inside this beaut with crazy good lumbar support to boot, while driving to the farmer’s market or blowing past actual farms on your way to your next American Family Adventure. This supreme level of in-vehicle luxury and refinement is rarely spotted in what is, at the end of the day, still a family ride.
A Mobile Pantry
You already know that cupholders are-a-plenty in the 2015 Sienna. But did you know that the belly of the front seat armrest is Grand Canyon deep and American Heartland wide, and is crying out to hold food stuffs capable of taking you and your foaming-at-the-mouth-hungry family from Legoland just north of San Diego all the way up to Crater Lake in Southern Oregon or from the Manhattan skyline to the Windy City shoreline? With all those munchies on board, only pee breaks are in your future from here on out!
Welcome to Your Future Past
My parents’ house still has its original intercom system in place. Speakers are operational in most every important room of the 2-story suburban home in which I grow up, but since the dawn of cellphones and beepers before them, intercom technology as a way of communication has gone the way of the 1970’s station wagon. I for one am still kinda in love with the retro novelty of being able to transmit a scratchy approximation of your voice to your brother’s room, or downstairs to the kitchen to check in on the eventuality of dinner. The 2015 Toyota Sienna brings back this rad little functional joy with Driver Easy Speak, the least scream-y way you’ll ever chat with your 3rd row passengers.
*Toyota graciously had my family to Hawaii for the 2015 Sienna press event last month. The opinions expressed above are unbiased and honest, as always.