How do you remove middle seat in a Toyota Sienna?

Answer 1

I don't actually own a Sienna but just rented one and was very frustrated with the lack of answers out there on how to take out the middle seats. I ended up just working with it and figuring it out and wanted to share this with you to save you a little time........... The trick is to start by moving the seats as far back as possible by pulling up on the black bar on the front of the seat and then pushing back -- works well by sitting in the seat, reaching down between your feet to pull the bar up, and then pushing back. Then the process depends on whether or not you are removing one of the outside seats or the middle seat (in models that have a middle seat). For one of the outside seats pull up on the handle on the side of the seat that makes the back fold down but don't stop with just the back........keep the motion going and rotate the entire seating unit forward. If it doesn't work the first time (i.e. the back folds down but the seat doesn't rotate), lift the seat back up again and start the motion over. It sometimes takes a little help to keep the motion going. Then look for a black bar near the floor that has a little strap attached to it. Pull this bar up toward the ceiling and rock the seat back & forth until the latches separate from their connections to the floor. For the middle seat (again, after moving it as far back as possible), start by sitting in the far back middle seat and look down under the middle seat in the middle row for a red lever. Pull the lever up which will rotate the seat forward then repeat the process above of pulling up the black bar with the little strap attached. When completing the final step for either seat (the one where you pull up the black bar) there is an extra strap enclosed in the back of each seat that you can attach for extra leverage.