A Tribute to Big Charlie, our 2004 Toyota Sienna

We owned Big Charlie, our stalwart 2004 beige ("desert sand mica" colored to be exact) Toyota Sienna, for over 16 years. With kids in college, we decided to sell it to someone who could use it, but it is still running well at 167,700 miles.

Good ol' Big Charlie

Prior to buying it, Andy had scoffed at the concept of buying a mini van, but with two young kids and a large dog, we could no longer deny the extreme pragmatism of it. We researched brands and finally came down to a close call between the Sienna and a Honda Odyssey. We bought Big Charlie new in April of 2003 (an early release 2004 model redesign) for about $26 K. This car has been ridiculously reliable, and other than routine maintenance, we never had a major issue- what a great value and total-cost-of-ownership over these years.

Crafting with license plates- when you own a car a long time and get periodic replacements

A lot transpires when you own a car over a 16 year period. When we purchased Charlie, both of our kids were in car seats. Eventually both kids learned to drive using it, and both are now in college.

There are so many things we've experienced and appreciated about Charlie over the years:

• It's big! The first time we took it home, we were shocked to find that we had to fold the driver-side mirror in to (barely) squeeze it into our Richfield garage
• The motorized passenger door was great when trying to wrestle a toddler into a car seat. Over time, though, as the seal aged, it would begin to freeze in the winter, so there were a few times I had to pour hot water along the door to get it to open
• Extremely low maintenance. Charlie has been a dream to maintain, with very few problems over the years
• A great vehicle for family trips, driving to the family cabin or Duluth. You just open up the back hatch and throw all your crap in without having to organize it. Back in the old days, we had a travel VHS player that we would hang from the front seats for the kids to watch on long trips. We've driven numerous times to Chicago, Kansas City, WI Dells, Madison, etc. Our longest trip in Charlie was our 2006 loop through the Badlands, Rapid City, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado Springs, Denver, Lincoln and Omaha. Near the end, Andy's back was hurting so much from being in the car that he had to lay on his back in the cargo area while I drove us home from Omaha 

Approached by wildlife while trying to get something from the rear, Badlands, 2006

Trip through Northern Minnesota

Four Toyotas at the cabin- there seems to be a theme...

• There have been a number of times we've driven with the maximum 7 people, including family events, birthday parties, sports teams, etc.

Kids and a golden retriever

(OK- this is actually my sister-in-law's beige Toyota Sienna, but you get the idea)

Max capacity- on an outing for Will's birthday party-he's goofing off before we even leave the driveway

• A great car for tailgating, picnics and drive-in movies

Getting the cooler

Tailgating before a drive-in movie

• Charlie always gets surprisingly good mileage, generally over 26 MPG
• It's so easy to drive- great visibility, and it's turn radius is phenomenal. Also a great car for teaching novice drivers, and it was reassuring to know they were in a fairly safe car

New driver

Another new driver

Then again, once the kids start driving...

• We've used it a number of times for moving, including when we moved from Richfield to Bloomington, and moving our kids to and from college. Andy's mother used it to drive a set of baby furniture down to Iowa. The back seats are removable for more cargo area. We've hauled lumber, mulch, landscaping rock and huge amounts of groceries for parties. I was even able to buy an enormous kayak as a gift for Andy and maneuver it into Charlie myself

Barely squeezing in a new kayak

Moving kids to and from college

Graduation open house shopping

• We installed a hitch, and it was great to haul all four of our bikes around. When the kids were young, we hauled the Burley in the back cargo area along with the bikes

Hauling bikes and a Burley

• 15 cup holders! For you statistics folks, that's 2.1 beverages for each passenger under max conditions
• A great car for hauling dogs. We've owned three dogs during Charlie's tenure. We could never figure out how Duchess could sense when we were getting close to the cabin without changing speeds or turning, but without fail she would start whining with anticipation when we were a few miles away. Sadie was a sweet dog, but dumb. Once she "got lost" in the van and couldn't find her way out even though I was calling her over and over through the open passenger door. I actually had to get into the van myself to guide her out. Chester was such an easy and eager traveler. He jumped in without hesitation and very quickly went to sleep, usually in the most inconvenient spot on the floor

Sadie going places in Charlie

• While beige minivans can seem ubiquitous, there are times that's an advantage: it seems that beige mini vans have cloaking devices. We've never been pulled over or had a speeding ticket

Pulled into the grocery parking lot, and parked by two other beige Siennas

• Over the years his stereo equipment got more and more outdated. Nobody has listened to a cassette tape for years, but we were able to buy first an audio jack-to-cassette and then a Bluetooth-to-radio station converter to keep the music rolling
• We rode Charlie hard with our 2018 Ragnar race. Six of us drove along a 200 mile, 36 hour course, getting in and out, eating granola bars and stashing our stinky gear in the back

2018 Great River Ragnar

Charlie was "rode hard and put up wet"

• Charlie rose to the challenge again transporting team members for the 2019 Ragnar Trail Wisconsin in Wausau. Our team was named in his honor.

Good old Big Charlie. We'll miss him.