America’s original mom-and-dad-wagon, the minivan, has been a part of pop culture and a fixture in soccer practice parking lots for decades now. The exploding popularity of SUVs and pickup trucks has all but killed the minivan in recent years, but a few stubborn automakers are holding onto their sliding door-having family haulers. Some are selling quite well and are outfitted with the most advanced and most convenient technologies and features.
Here’s our roundup of the latest and greatest minivans on sale today:
Chrysler Pacifica
All of Fiat Chrysler America’s minivan eggs are being moved into the Pacifica’s basket. Where the Dodge Grand Caravan is about as barebones as a new vehicle can get (in a good way), the Pacifica can be had with a laundry list of tech and convenience options that make it a prime choice for family buyers wanting for the higher end of the minivan spectrum.
Even midrange trim levels of the Pacifica come standard with leather upholstery, heated seats, and kid-friendly sun shades, but the top trims are on a different level entirely. Pacifica Limited models come with heated second row seats, advanced safety tech, Nappa leather, and a panoramic sunroof. While many minivans (say that three times fast) feature folding seats, Chrysler’s Stow ‘n Go Seats in the second and third rows fold away effortlessly, opening up the Pacifica’s cabin for hauling large cargo. It’s more impressive than it sounds, trust us.
The Pacifica is also the only minivan on our list available with a hybrid powertrain. Starting at $41,490 with destination, the Pacifica Hybrid Touring Plus comes standard with an 8.4-inch touchscreen display, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, blind spot monitors, parking assist sensors, and an astonishing combined fuel economy rating of 84 MPGe. Those are great numbers for any vehicle, let alone one with seating for seven.
Dodge Grand Caravan
Dodge’s Grand Caravan has been on sale for 36 years, and while it hasn’t been significantly overhauled in a decade, we can’t have our list without mentioning it. The Dodge’s corporate cousin, Chrysler’s Pacifica, sports the latest tech, a nifty available hybrid powertrain, and a sleek profile, but the Grand Caravan is a blast from the past. As a result, it’s a much more affordable option for buyers with a limited budget – something to celebrate in today’s automotive world.
The Grand Caravan is a no-nonsense vehicle that has stubbornly defied the trend of “more of everything” in favor of doing one thing well: Carrying several people and tons of their stuff. There’s a generous amount of room as you’d expect, plenty of power from the 3.6-liter V6, comfortable seats, and a non-offensive design – all of the things a minivan needs and nothing it doesn’t.
Toyota Sienna
People who live where the air hurts their faces part of the year (I do) may want to consider the Sienna – the only minivan on our list with available all-wheel drive. The Sienna, like the Grand Caravan, has been around quite a while in its current format. Unlike the Dodge, however, Toyota has updated its minivan several times over the years to include standard advanced safety tech and modern infotainment features.
The Sienna is also available with near-luxury trimmings, as the XLE model features leather upholstery, a power sunroof, navigation, rear-seat DVD entertainment, and some nifty tricks like a microphone that allows people in the front row to speak loudly to unruly little people in the back rows.
Honda Odyssey
Honda’s answer to the minivan question, the Odyssey, was completely redesigned in 2018 to include a load of new technology and comfort features. Since 1998, the minivan has been manufactured entirely in North America, and the last two generations have been designed and developed here as well.
The Odyssey comes standard with power-adjustable seats, a multi-angle rearview camera, and Honda’s excellent 3.5-liter V6 engine. Higher trims like the Touring model come with very thoughtful features that make life with a van full of kids much easier. CabinTalk, like the Sienna’s microphone, amplifies front seat passengers’ voices to people in the back (and through any connected headsets). CabinWatch projects an image of the rear seats onto the infotainment screen, so parents can see who really started the poking war that escalated so quickly.
Safety is important, and Honda knows this, including its Honda Sensing safety tech standard starting in the EX trim (one step up from the base LX trim).
Kia Sedona
The Sedona is almost a dark horse on our list, but it has been around for quite a while. Goodcarbadcar’s sales research shows the Sedona firmly at the bottom of the sales numbers rankings for January 2019, but that’s just an indication of the other vans’ popularity, not an indictment of the Kia’s virtues.
The Sedona starts at around $28,000 and includes Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, Slide-n-Stow seats (look out, Pacifica), and a strong 3.3-liter V6 engine. The top SX trim undercuts its rivals’ pricing by quite a bit, starting at just over $42,000, and has all the goodies. Leather upholstery, navigation, premium audio, and advanced safety features like forward collision warnings and radar cruise control are included standard in the Sedona SX.
