Where each one leads
Toyota Sienna
- On Canada's official test the most frugal 2026 Toyota Sienna uses 6.6 l/100 km, the 2014 Volkswagen Routan 12.1.
Volkswagen Routan
- Against cars of the same year, the Volkswagen Routan comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 7% more often than average) than the Toyota Sienna (fails 83% more often than average).
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Toyota Sienna | Volkswagen Routan | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1996–2020 | 2008–2015 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Toyota Sienna | Volkswagen Routan | |
|---|---|---|
| New York safety inspections failed | 3.1% | 2.7% |
| … against cars of the same year | +83% | +7% |
| US owner complaints | 8,552 | 784 |
| Most complaints about | Structure | Electrical system |
| Model year with most complaints | 2004 (2,062) | 2009 (294) |
| US recall campaigns | 50 | 8 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 5,314 | 2,692 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 32 | — |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Safety
| Toyota Sienna | Volkswagen Routan | |
|---|---|---|
| NHTSA overall rating | 5★ (2020) | — |
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Toyota Sienna | Volkswagen Routan | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 6.6 l/100 km (2026) | 12.1 l/100 km (2014) |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).