Toyota Kingdom

The 2011 Sienna has a more solid, steady ride than the floatier, more disconnected 2010. The appearance of the redesigned dashboard will not win universal praise, but it's certainly more modern. A new transmission helps boost EPA fuel economy ratings by one mile per gallon, to 18 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway. And while most crash test results aren't yet out, it's safe to assume that Toyota has managed to make some advances over seven years. The van's seats are also more comfortable – at least in the first and second rows – some new luxury features are now available, and the third row seat requires less effort to stow into the floor.

For the most part, and for many consumers, the redesigned Sienna is a fine minivan made better.

But there are some clear missteps in the new design, several surrounding a redesigned mechanism that moves the second-row seats out of the way for third-row access. Rather than folding down then tipping forward like the old model, the seat cushion now flips up and the seat slides forward on plastic tracks – a design that also enables fore-aft seat adjustment. 

However, the seat's large plastic bases remain in place even after the seats are removed to maximize cargo space – which is up slightly from the 2010's already class-leading 149 cubic feet – which costs the Sienna a flat cargo floor. (Other cargo measures -- behind the third row and behind the middle row seats -- are down slightly in the redesign.) The fore-aft adjustment means these bases can slide almost up to the front seats, but not quite. The protruding plastic also catches the feet of passengers trying to get in and out of the third row, and  other General Motors large crossover SUVs is easier to operate.