2025 Toyota Sienna Gets Even Smarter for Family Hauling Duties

Look, I get it. You wouldn’t be caught dead in a minivan, even if you have three offspring and all the associated flotsam that comes with them, because you’re clinging to the last shreds of pride parenting has otherwise entirely stripped from your being. You grew up in one, and what was cool to one generation is inherently uncool to the next one.

But this is not the moment for pride. Especially in the early years of child-rearing, logic and utility should win the day, no matter what’s at hand. And I will go to my grave arguing that no vehicle is better suited for family raising than a minivan.

Among the few remaining contenders in the space, the Toyota Sienna sits near or at the top of the list, depending on who you ask. The fourth-generation Sienna debuted in 2020, and the headline change—aside from sharper styling—was Toyota’s choice to offer just one powertrain across all trims. It was a hybrid, something Toyota knows its way around better than most.

In Toyota’s notoriously long product cycles, the 2025 model year marks the due date for a refresh. Though it feels like a stretch to call what you see here a “refresh,” the updates to this beast of burden are intelligent and worthwhile.

Nowhere, save for perhaps the pickup market, do the updates to a model feel so focused on fixing or improving what a vehicle can do for you. For 2025, the Sienna gains two such updates—an integrated refrigerator (Toyota calls it the “FridgeBox”) and a built-in vacuum cleaner.

Both features are integrated into the center console, and the latter gets a removable crumb tray with a built-in air filter to make sure you’re not recirculating powdered goldfish back through the cabin unknowingly. The fridge looks right-sized for juice boxes and tubes of Gogurt, which are essentials for road trips of all durations.

While these two options are only offered on the Platinum (standard) and the Limited (option), both seem well worth the additional upfront dough. Speaking of trims, the 2025 Sienna will be offered along the following trim walk: LE, XLE, XSE, Woodland, Limited, and Platinum.

Lower trims are treated to a few upgrades, too. All Siennas benefit from the latest Toyota Audio multimedia system, with an eight-inch central touchscreen interface for the LE and a 12.3-inch unit for the XLE, XSE, Woodland, Limited, and Platinum trims. All trims benefit from a fifth-generation wireless charger that Toyota says will charge devices faster than previous models, as well as USB-C charging throughout the cabin. There are new interior color options and finishes across the lineup—some rugged, some a bit more luxury-minded.

One of the biggest updates to the 2025 Sienna is the arrival of a new advanced rear seat reminder which uses a radar sensor concealed in the headliner to scan rows two and three for movement after the vehicle is shifted into park and turned off. If movement is detected, an initial warning will trigger the hazard lights and sound the door lock chime a few times. If movement is still detected 90 seconds later, the horn will sound. The third escalation will send a push notification to the phone number on file for the Safety Connect subscription, and finally, a fourth level, triggered after two additional minutes, will generate an automated phone call from Toyota Safety to the owner’s cell phone.

Will most parents suddenly forget that they left a kid in the back seat? It seems unlikely, but when we still have children and animals dying in locked, overheated cars in the year 2024, anything to mitigate that grim fate feels smart. Besides, if you don’t think you’ll need the system, it can be entirely disabled within the vehicle’s settings.

The Sienna Woodland, the slightly lifted version meant to bolster outdoor activities in your family rig, returns in 2025. To help manage how much nature tracks home with you, all Woodlands models will get new all-weather floor and cargo mats that, like the car’s SofTex interior material, should be easy to clean. (We took a Sienna Woodland into the Nevada desert a few years back to call Toyota’s bluff on an overlanding minivan. To see how that went, click here.)

The 2025 Sienna will soldier on with the same hybrid drivetrain as before. It can be had in front- or all-wheel-drive and will offer 245 horsepower regardless of how many wheels it turns. Front-wheel-drive models will return a manufacturer-estimated 36 mpg combined, while AWD models are rated for 35. In AWD, models, there’s no transfer case to send torque to the rear wheels; instead, a separate electric motor on the rear axle will apply power as needed. Not only does this increase efficiency, but it also saves on space in the cabin.

This brings me to my last point: While visiting Toyota’s Ann Arbor, Michigan facility a while back to see the 2025 Sienna in person, I hopped into a Platinum model they had on hand. Seated in the second row, which featured the creatively named “Super-Long-Slide” captain’s chairs, you had the option to flip up an ottoman from under the seat. Even with the front seat pushed all the way back, I could not touch the driver’s seat back. (For context, I’m six feet tall.) That level of comfort is absurd for a vehicle priced below $60K. I know vehicles that cost twice that with more cramped second rows. Wanna make the Suburban-wielding parents feel sheepish? Wait till your kid climbs in their ride (which will be more laborious to start) and asks where the footrests are.

When it arrives in dealerships this fall, the 2025 Sienna will be priced anywhere from $40,635 for a Sienna LE FWD to $58,355 for a Sienna Platinum AWD. A worthwhile example of those Tahoes that all the other kids are rolling in starts north of where the nicest Sienna rings in.

Jump on in, parents. The water’s warm and, for once, real value can be had with more convenience here, not less.