35,900 Miles and… Bust? Turning a Suspension Fail into a Coilover Upgrade

They say Toyotas run forever, and usually, they’re right. But apparently, the stock shock absorbers on my 2021 Sienna XSE didn’t get the memo.

At just 35,900 miles—barely out of the bumper-to-bumper warranty period—the ride quality suddenly took a nosedive. We went from a smooth “Dad-Van” cruise to a bouncy castle every time we hit a mild dip in the road. A quick inspection confirmed the worst: the stock shocks were blown.

I was pretty frustrated. You don’t expect major suspension components to fail that early on a modern Toyota. I was facing a tough choice: overpay at the dealership for the same OEM parts that just failed me, or use this as an excuse to upgrade.

Enter VKGarage

While hunting for alternatives, I got connected with VKGarage. Not only did they know exactly what I was dealing with, but they also had the perfect solution that wouldn’t completely drain the wallet.

They had a set of used Megan Racing coilovers available. I’ve used Megan parts on previous builds; they are solid street coilovers that offer ride height adjustability and a definite handling improvement over the floaty stock suspension.

The Deal

We struck a deal that was too good to pass up: $1,000 for the coilovers, completely installed.

Considering a dealership would likely charge more than that just for OEM replacement parts and labor, this was a no-brainer. I swapped out broken factory parts for a legitimate suspension upgrade.

The Verdict

The van sits nicer now—a little lower, a lot meaner—and the floatiness is completely gone. It feels planted in corners without being too harsh for daily family hauling duties. Sometimes parts breaking is just the universe telling you it’s time to mod.

Big shout out to VKGarage for hooking up the deal and getting the Dad-Van back on the road, better than before.