2023 Toyota Sienna long-term update: Not-so-family truckster

The Autoblog long-term 2023 Toyota Sienna is now in my possession. Here, it will enjoy a respite from school drop-offs and cereal spills (OK, no guarantees on the latter). Instead, I plan to use the Sienna like a truck — duty that may not necessarily come naturally to the hybrid minivan, but one it appears capable of handling. Not convinced? Let me lay it out for you.

Let's talk pros. For starters, the cargo area in this thing is massive. Remember, a minivan is basically a three-row crossover with sliding doors. Consequently, it's long and wide enough to accommodate 4x8 sheets of plywood — something many a modern truck bed can't do without accessories. It also offers a hefty GVWR of 6,102 pounds, which allows plenty of headroom over its 4,500-pound curb weight for hauling cargo. Normally, that number would be 6,170 pounds, but the extra goodies installed on our tester drop the total by 68 pounds. And since it's a minivan, the interior is meant to be abused. That's three points in favor.