I still haven't ruled out paying a massive premium for the Pacifica AWD just because AWD is so nice. Since its not a plug in, rebates are less, and price is higher it would be over 10k more. I've had dedicated snow tires and front wheel drives before. AWD is luxury. To skip it on a Sienna purchase ($1575 USD option) would be a mistake. There's no transfer case or differential to maintain, just a cute little electric motor back there helping you out whenever needed. Not to mention there will be a big difference in the future used market. AWD Siennas of the past sure sell for a lot more today.
Basically, with Sienna AWD, it boils down to what one values. For those in snow belt, and inclement weather, hypermile their cars and watch over their fuel mileage like a hawk, don't care for nice interior and driving dynamics, go for the Sienna as they will retain their value come time to sell. Those that can't stand the noisy (and whimpy) 4 cylinder of Sienna, prioritize a luxury interior with arguably nicer features, and gotta have the up-to-date safety features and silky smooth V6 is a must, and you get along just fine with snow tires go for the Carnival. I did some math on this, you pay for more for the toyota Sienna at purchase time, you get more at sale time also. Same for the Carnival (based on past Sedona sale trends), you will pay less (In Canada about $11,00 taxes in for the top SX trim), but you will get less at sale time, by about as much less as you saved at purchase as depreciation is expected to be about the same for both vehicles (about $4000 per year).
I am going to test drive the top trims of both 2021 Sienna (I will wait for the 2022 Siennna s I am hoping they will migrate to TSS 2.5) and Carnival, and decide there and then.
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