- The 2025 Sienna has arrived with more luxury equipment and is the first Toyota to get new rear-seat reminder tech.
- The radar-based system will send an automated call to your smartphone if it thinks you’ve left kids in the rear two rows.
- Other upgrades include a digital gauge cluster on mid-range trims and the return of the fridge and vacuum on high-end models.
Minivans are all about function over form, they’re practical and brilliant in their own way but rarely at the cutting edge when it comes to tech. The 2025 Sienna changes that by being the first Toyota to call your smartphone if it thinks you’ve left your kids in the back unattended.
Children and animals die every year when drivers forget they’re there and lock up and leave their vehicles in hot (or cold) weather. Toyota already has a basic system on vehicles like the Corolla Cross that reminds drivers to check the back seats as they’re exiting, but the latest Sienna is far more sophisticated.
Related: Minivans Are Big On Space, But Not Safety, IIHS Finds
If the driver locks the Sienna and the radar-based tech detects someone in the back seat, the hazard lights will flash and the door locks chime nine times. Ignore that warning for 90 seconds and the horn will sound, wait four minutes and you’ll get a text via Toyota’s smartphone app, and if you still haven’t opened the door after two more minutes Toyota will send an automated phone call to your smartphone.
The Sienna will cut you a little more slack if it’s left unlocked and detects rear-seat movement, skipping the horn toot and giving you 10 minutes before firing off a text, and another two minutes grace until making the call. But the principle is the same and the 60Ghz radar scanner mounted in the headliner is capable of monitoring the second- and third row in both cases.
Every grade of Sienna, including the basic LE, gets the Advanced Rear Seat Reminder tech, and a 10-year Safety Connect subscription needed to make it work.
What else is new for 2025?
Other changes for the new model year include the arrival of a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster on the mid-spec XSE, Woodland Edition, Limited and Platinum, and the return of the in-car vacuum and fridge on top-line models. The chiller and sucker – now standard on the Platinum and available on the Limited – were originally slated to appear on the fourth-generation Sienna for its opening season in 2021, but Toyota was forced to drop them when the company that made the vacuums went bust.
Toyota claims it has upgraded the interior fit and finish on the seats, console, and dashboard across all trims. New wheels on some models and Toyota’s latest media system round out the updates, but what hasn’t changed is the Sienna’s hybrid drivetrain. Combining a 2.5-liter inline four and a single electric motor, it makes 245 hp (248 PS) and can be optioned with front- or all-wheel drive.
