The Toyota Senna is the American version of the Previa, although this car has a much shorter history than the Previa, and it was not until 1997 that the first generation was released in North America. It quickly joined the Honda Odyssey a little later in the U.S. MPV market for a long time in the top two spots, and to this day, the third place is still far from them.
The Toyota Senna has been recognized by Consumer Reports as the smartest consumer choice. It boasts a comfortable ride, smooth handling, and impressive fuel economy.
Toyota has not officially introduced the Senna to the Chinese market, and the Senna is currently only sold in China as a parallel import, but it is not expensive compared to its competitors, and its sales are not low. The current Senna is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine and a six-speed automatic manual transmission, making it a very brisk driving experience. Senna is one of the few MPVs equipped with a four-wheel drive system in the domestic market, coupled with a minimum ground clearance of 173 mm, which makes Senna have stronger terrain adaptability than ordinary MPVs, which is very suitable for long-distance family travel.
The 2011~2014 Senna was very noisy, and this problem was significantly improved in 2015. Except for the roar that comes into the car when the engine is in a hurry to ramp up the rpm, the Senna is quiet enough at all times. The Toyota Senna's feedback during continuous sharp cornering is not as light as the Honda Odyssey, but it does not reduce the sense of safety in the slightest, after all, consumers who buy this kind of car are looking for stability and comfort.
The Senna can be selected as a 7-seater or 8-seat design, and the seats can be pushed forward and backward on the track, and the third-generation Senna currently on sale moves the original mid-mounted engine forward, plus the chassis that is pressed downward, forming a large interior space, maximizing the comfort and cargo space of the driver and passengers. The seven-seater version of the second-row seats is multi-directional adjustable and equipped with leg rests for maximum comfort.
With the third row of seats open, the Senna still has quite plenty of boot space, and there is still considerable luggage space even when the seats are full. When more luggage space is needed in daily use, the third-row seats can be fully absorbed under the floor, which not only makes the folding process easy, but also performs very well with the floor flatness when the seats are retracted.
Toyota's quality is naturally not an issue. Consumer Reports predicts that the quality of the Toyota Senna will be among the best in the industry. The ten-year-old Toyota Senna is still comparable to a new car except for some paint loss, as long as it is well maintained.
In 2017, the Toyota Senna scored "acceptable" in the IIHS frontal small-angle overlap collision, and all other indicators were "excellent" and did not receive the award. The MPV body structure is simple, but the height of the vehicle is relatively increased, because the front seats are in the front of the whole car, the buffer space in front of the driver and the front passenger is very small in the event of a frontal impact accident, so the low collision coefficient of the frontal small angle overlap is a common problem of MPV.
Toyota Senna test report