I looked at the AWD Sienna in between my ‘96 4x4 Mazda MPV van and my ‘96 Outback. At the time, the AWD Sienna only came with runflat tires. The Sienna had a reputation for eating up those tires quickly. With the mileage was doing and the amount of gravel roads I drive, a couple of tires shops, the Toyota dealer and a friend that had one (and got rid of it) all said it was not a good choice for me. It was then that I decided to get an Element. But I see that the Sienna now comes with regular tires so when my Element dies, which hopefully is not for years, the Sienna would be a good choice. If I won the lottery, I would take it down to GTRV in CA and have them put a pop top on it and build out the interior!If you want to carry a bunch of stuff and/or sleep comfortably in the back, want AWD, want to be able to drive/park in urban environments without attracting too much attention, don't want a brodozer, and don't need a manual transmission, there's really no finer stealth utility vehicle than an AWD Sienna.
I had a '97 MT Subaru Legacy L wagon for a decade, then a '96 All-Trac Previa LE/SC for ~6 years, and got an '09 Sienna Limited AWD last April. I briefly looked at an Element in between the Suby and the Perv but the cramped living room (even with potential MT) lost out to the radness of the supercharged Space Egg. Once you embrace minivanlife you'll never go back!