The spare tire is (was) mounted under the car. Due to rust, Toyota thinks it could fall off and cause accidents leading to injuries and possible loss of lives. Rather than coming up with a fix such as galvanized or vinyl coated cable assembly, Toyota's solution was to clip the cable and place the spare tire in the trunk. The space in the trunk was for the last row of seats to be folded for larger (cargo) trunk space. This was one of the feature that sold me the Sienna.

It has been almost 9 months since they clipped the cable and placed the spare tire in the trunk. Toyota's answer is we are still working on the fix. Toyota has not been responsive to their current owners. They know the fix. The problem was fixed in the later models. They just do not want to spend money and resources to fix this problem. By placing the spare tire in the trunk their liability is gone. The owner is stuck with Sienna without one of the feature that made Sienna desirable. DO NOT BUY TOYOTA. It could be a different problem that they will not fix.