The Toyota Sienna to avoid is the 2011, and it is not close: 612 complaints, 40.8 per year on the road, a score of 28 and twelve recall campaigns, the worst score, count, rate and recall total in the table. The years to buy are 2018 to 2020, which have 69, 45 and 38 complaints and score 76, 77 and 88, and the 2016, which scores 83 on 75 complaints. Between them lie six years that alternate between CAUTION and a narrow BUY, and the reasons they do are visible in two component categories, Air Bags and Structure, and in the campaigns that address them. The full record is 1,815 complaints and 70 recall campaigns over fourteen model years.
2011: air bags and doors
The 2011 was the first year of the third-generation Sienna, and its record is dominated by two components. Air Bags has 211 complaints, more than a third of the year's total, and Structure has 154. Electrical System follows at 67 and Wheels at 37. The campaigns on this year account for both leaders. Four separate air bag campaigns touch the 2011 — the passenger-side frontal inflator module campaigns 16V340000 (23/05/2016), 19V741000 (17/10/2019) and 19V005000 (09/01/2019), and the distributor campaign 13V014000 for the air bag sensor module — and the Structure count corresponds to 16V858000 (29/11/2016), which covers every Sienna from 2011 to 2016 for a power sliding door that can be damaged if it is commanded to open while it is frozen or obstructed. There is also 11V306000, a small campaign for a front right drive shaft that may break on vans built over a few days in March 2011, and 14V273000 for a spare tyre carrier on vans registered in the salt states. Four of the twelve recalls are safety-critical.
2012 to 2015: the same faults, thinning out
The 2012 has 247 complaints and the same two leaders, Air Bags at 84 and Structure at 72, and it carries six safety-critical recalls, the most of any Sienna year alongside the 2017. The inflator campaign 17V006000 (09/01/2017) covers it. The 2013 and 2014 improve to 183 and 163; Structure is top on both at 44, Air Bags drops to 22 and 13, and the 2014 is the first year the site rates BUY, at 72. The 2014 has its own pair of campaigns: 14V414000 for a transmission shift cable sleeve on vans built in one week of June 2014, and the safety-critical 14V576000 for a fuel delivery pipe that may leak. The 2015 slips back to 230 complaints and a CAUTION at 61. Structure is 60 that year, the highest since 2011, with Electrical System at 44. Its campaigns include 14V757000 for a second-row curtain air bag and two distributor campaigns, 15V236000 and 15V240000, for overhead entertainment units whose installation disturbed the roof trim. Scores for the four years: 58, 69, 72 and 61.
2016: the good third-generation year
The 2016 has 75 complaints, 7.5 per year on the road, and scores 83 with medium evidence. Structure is still the top component at 26, because the sliding door campaign 16V858000 runs through the 2016 model year, but nothing else reaches 15. It carries five recalls, three safety-critical, of which the one specific to it is 16V197000 for front seat belt height adjusters on vans built over five days in February 2016. It is the last year before the complaint pattern shifts to the drivetrain, and if you want an older third-generation Sienna, this is the year.
2017: the drivetrain year
The 2017 changes the record's shape. Structure drops out of the top five altogether; Power Train takes its place at 36, with Unknown Or Other 25, Electrical System 20, Wheels 16 and Engine 15. The complaint count is 153, 17.0 per year on the road, and the score is 58, CAUTION. Ten recall campaigns touch the 2017, the most of any year but the 2011, and six are safety-critical: 18V211000 (03/04/2018) for the brake vacuum pump, the two fuel pump campaigns 20V012000 and 20V682000 that run from 2017 to 2019 and 2017 to 2020 respectively, and 19V532000 for steering shaft extensions on Braun mobility conversions. A 2017 with all of those closed is a reasonable van; a 2017 with any of them open is not.
2018 to 2020: the years to buy
From 2018 the third generation is the quietest Sienna on record. The 2018 has 69 complaints, the 2019 has 45 and the 2020 has 38, at 8.6, 6.4 and 6.3 per year on the road. Power Train stays top on the 2018 at 18 and the 2020 at 8, but those are small numbers; Fuel/Propulsion System sits at 9, 7 and 6 across the three years, matching the fuel pump campaign that covers all of them. The 2018 has one campaign of its own, 18V130000, for a lot of ten-spoke alloy wheels from one factory that may not have been cooled properly; the 2019 has 19V318000 for welds in the passenger front door that can affect the air bag sensors. The 2020 has just two recalls, both safety-critical: the 20V682000 fuel pump campaign and the Braun steering extension campaign, which only matters on a converted van. Scores: 76, 77 and 88, though the 2019 and 2020 carry low evidence, so the 88 is a promising number rather than a settled one. The 2022 to 2025 vans have no complaints on record and no verdict. Their 36 mpg combined against 20 to 22 for the earlier vans is the only thing the record says about them.
Toyota Sienna: the record, year by year
| Year | Score | Verdict | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | DATA PENDING | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | — | DATA PENDING | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | — | DATA PENDING | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | — | DATA PENDING | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 88 | BUY | 38 | 2 |
| 2019 | 77 | BUY | 45 | 7 |
| 2018 | 76 | BUY | 69 | 7 |
| 2017 | 58 | CAUTION | 153 | 10 |
| 2016 | 83 | BUY | 75 | 5 |
| 2015 | 61 | CAUTION | 230 | 6 |
| 2014 | 72 | BUY | 163 | 6 |
| 2013 | 69 | CAUTION | 183 | 6 |
| 2012 | 58 | CAUTION | 247 | 9 |
| 2011 | 28 | AVOID | 612 | 12 |
Live from the federal record as of 2026-10-04; linked years have their own page. Full table and repair costs on the Toyota Sienna model page.
What to check before you buy
- On any 2011 to 2016 van, work every sliding door from the key fob, the dash switch and the handle, with the van parked on a slope. Confirm 16V858000 against the VIN.
- On a 2011 to 2014, confirm every passenger air bag inflator campaign is closed: 16V340000, 19V741000, 19V005000, 17V006000 and 18V024000 as they apply to the year. Air Bags is 211 complaints on the 2011 and 84 on the 2012.
- On a 2017 to 2020, confirm the fuel pump campaigns 20V012000 and 20V682000; on a 2017, add 18V211000 for the brake vacuum pump.
- On a mobility conversion of any year, ask which converter did the work and check 19V410000, 19V553000 and 19V532000, which cover Braun and Vantage brake lines and steering extensions between 2012 and 2020.
- On a 2014, confirm 14V576000 for the fuel pipe. On a 2015, 14V757000 for the curtain air bag.
- On a 2018 with ten-spoke alloy wheels, check the 18V130000 campaign.
Summary
Avoid the 2011 Sienna; at 612 complaints and a score of 28 it is the worst year in the Sienna record by every measure. Treat the 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017 as CAUTION years whose air bag, sliding door and fuel pump campaigns must be documented closed. Buy a 2016, or better a 2018 to 2020, where complaints fall to double digits and the 2020 scores 88. The 2022 onward vans have no record yet.