I recently contemplated buying a newer car to replace my 20 year old vehicle. My 2004 Toyota Sienna XLE has been a good, reliable vehicle the entire time I’ve owned it. There was a long list of things that either didn’t work right or didn’t work at all. You can find a list of things below that I was able to troubleshoot and fix on the van in case you are reading this and wanting to do the same as me. At the moment I haven’t calculated exactly what the total cost to do the repairs were but it’s roughly between $1500 and $2000. For me and my situation I feel the cost was worth it as the van runs and drives like new.
Modernization
Stereo
Being a 2004 model vehicle there was some outdated tech in the van. The first update I did was to the stereo. It’s of note that this model Sienna has the JBL surround sound stereo. It sounds really good but the head unit features an AM/FM radio, cassette player and a CD player. I don’t have any cassettes or CDs and I generally don’t like music that plays on the radio.
I decided to upgrade the head unit to a Sony XAV-AX150 which was affordable and features wired Apple CarPlay. While this head unit has all the features I wanted, the JBL surround sound system made installation fairly difficult. I ended up buying a special writing harness to make the installation a little less stressful. This harness wasn’t cheap but was definitely worth it and allowed me to keep all speakers in the van working along with the stock JBL amplifier. The wiring harness was an AXXESS Metra TYTO-01 JBL Amplifier Interface Harness. You can find a link to it in on Amazon below.
AXXESS Metra TYTO-01 JBL Amplifier Interface Harness
description Wiring Harness for Select 2003-2008 Toyota Vehicles with JBL/JBL Synthesis Audio Systems. Interface Components TYTO-01 harness, TYTO-01 interface and 16-pin harness with stripped leads here
I wanted to be able to maintain my steering wheel controls with the new Sony head unit. Luckily the head unit comes with a special, 3-wire, steering wheel control cable. All I had to do was hook up the 3 wires and then manually program the controls inside the Sony’s settings.
In order to use the Apple CarPlay features on the Sony head unit my iPhone needs to be physically connected. The Sony has a usb dongle but in order to get the usb input to look a little more stock I ended up installing an extension cable and mounting it in place of one of the 12 volt power outlets on the dash.
USB 3.0 Male to Female AUX Flush Mount Extension Cable for Car Truck Boat Motorcycle Dashboard Panel
Comes with waterproof kit to protect the port(s) against water and dust. Support USB 3.0 and backward compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.0. Serve both charging and data sync function.
Overhead Video Player
The built in overhead DVD player was a little outdated and had a very small screen. Additionally, after installing the new head unit the overhead player no longer worked (video would play but no sound). I ended up removing the stock unit and then installed a more modern unit. Finding a unit that would function the way I wanted was not an easy task, there are a lot of options but very few with good reviews. I ended up choosing a 17″ player made by ZBARK.
17.3″ Car Overhead Flip Down Monitor
17.3″ Monitor 1080P Video HD Digital TFT Screen Wide Screen Ultra-thin Mounted Car Roof Player
Note: This unit doesn’t have a DVD Drive. do not built-in Speaker
There’s several important reasons that I chose this unit for my particular vehicle. First was the size. This unit was just big enough to cover the hole left from the old player. Secondly and just as important was that it features an FM transmitter. Many of these players have built-in speakers but I’d rather have sound come through the car’s stereo system. While most have RCA outputs, this one included, the added bonus of not having to run any cables to the head unit was a big plus thanks to the FM transmitter. Lastly this player features a usb port so that I can plug in a thumb drive with movies on it to play on road trips.
If you have the same model vehicle as me and plan on getting this player too you need to keep in mind that you will need to be very crafty with the installation. I ended up cutting up some plywood to use as mounts and spacers for the unit. If yours has a sunroof like mine does be very careful with the length of screws you end up using so that they don’t tear into the inner sunroof shade. Space is very tight for the wiring needed. Since I knew I wouldn’t need any of the many RCA inputs and outputs that come on the unit I ended up cutting these off completely to save space.
This new overhead player has been a favorite for my kids and they enjoy watching movies on long trips.
Repairs
I’ve had this van for a very long time and have only performed the basic routine maintenance: oil changes, brakes and filter changes. There’s a large list of issues with the van and I’m sure that there’s more than I’m not evenaware of. Even though the van has more than 210,000 miles on it I truly believe I can get the odometer up to 300,000 at least.
Suspension
The suspension on this van was completely wore out. Something makes a knocking sound whenever I run over the smallest bump and the van sways in curves. I initially thought the issues where just due to bad struts and shocks, but after getting into it I found that most of the boots and bushings where broken.
I was right about the struts and shocks being bad though. They were all bad but when I pulled off the passenger side strut, the strut shaft just fell into the strut body. I replaced the struts with KYD strut cartridges and strut mounts. For the rear shocks I also went with KYB. After install the van ran much smoother and the loud knocking sound was no longer there.
Strut Mounts:
KYB SM5423
Struts:
KYB Excel-G Strut Assembly 334430, KYB Excel-G Strut Assembly 334431
Shocks:
KYB 344308 Excel-G
After a few days the sway bar end links broke on both sides in the front. Trying to save some money I ordered a very cheap set off of Amazon.
SCITOO 2pcs Suspension Kit 2 Front Sway Bar End Links fit 2004-2010 for Toyota for Sienna K80249
2x K80249 Front Sway Bar End Link
I was a little worried they wouldn’t even fit but once I held them up against the originals they matched up in size and seemed to be of similar build quality.