For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Sienna are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Buick Enclave doesn’t offer height-adjustable front seat belts.
The Toyota Sienna has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Enclave doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Sienna has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Enclave doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
The Sienna’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Enclave doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Sienna and the Enclave have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Sienna is safer than the Buick Enclave:
|
Sienna |
Enclave |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
175 |
333 |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
.9 inches |
Neck Compression |
42 lbs. |
51 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Sienna is safer than the Buick Enclave:
|
Sienna |
Enclave |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
42 |
69 |
Chest Movement |
.5 inches |
.9 inches |
Abdominal Force |
123 lbs. |
161 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
52 |
134 |
Spine Acceleration |
30 G’s |
39 G’s |
Hip Force |
542 lbs. |
716 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
14 inches |
Spine Acceleration |
31 G’s |
34 G’s |
Hip Force |
499 lbs. |
554 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Toyota Sienna is safer than the Enclave:
|
Sienna |
Enclave |
Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Structure |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
|
Driver Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Neck Tension |
201 lbs. |
446 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Shoulder Deflection |
.55 in |
1.3 in |
Shoulder Force |
178 lbs. |
312 lbs. |
Torso Max Deflection |
.83 in |
1.5 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
6 MPH |
6 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
Pelvis Force |
736 lbs. |
1116 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
|
Passenger Injury Measures |
|
Head/Neck |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Head Injury Criterion |
18 |
189 |
Neck Compression |
22 lbs. |
201 lbs. |
Torso |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Shoulder Deflection |
.98 in |
1.02 in |
Torso Max Deflection |
.71 in |
1.22 in |
Torso Deflection Rate |
7 MPH |
10 MPH |
Pelvis |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Pelvis Force |
625 lbs. |
848 lbs. |
Head Protection |
GOOD |
GOOD |
Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Sienna is 1% to 4.2% less likely to roll over than the Enclave.
For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Sienna its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Enclave has not been fully tested, yet.