Minivan Reviews

The minivan was created in 1983 by a Chrysler Corporation just coming out of near-bankruptcy. Market research showed that the minivan would be intensely popular, if it handled well and easily fit into a garage. Given the era, the originals minis were moderately nimble and fit easily into most garages - they had the footprint of a K-car.

Nearly every minivan feature was based on customer requests, resulting in a crude but desirable vehicle that crushed the competition for over 15 years, despite repeated efforts by Ford and General Motors. (The initial 1984-1990 van was replaced by a far more refined version that was mechanically quite similar in 1991; the first full redesign would have to wait until 1996).

In the end, Chrysler ended up losing market share largely because of quality issues that started around 1989 and were largely solved by 1994 - poorly-designed four-speed automatic transmissions and Mitsubishi V6 engines with oil leaks. Today's Caravan and Voyager are high quality vehicles, nicer to drive than the Honda Odyssey, and from various tests, equally well made. However, the Toyota Sienna still sets the standard for reliability, according to quality surveys.

Full minivan reviews:

• Chrysler PT Cruiser Limited and Turbo (a mini-minivan)
• Chrysler Town & Country LX - big van, lots of gizmos, decent price
  • Chrysler Town & Country Limited minivan - the gadget lover’s van, now with added zoom
• History of the Caravan/Voyager: see this page at Allpar
• Toyota Sienna (2005): luxury interior, and all the gadgets you can want, with class-beating acceleration and mileage

Past generations:

• Chevrolet Venture
• Dodge Grand Caravan (Chrysler Town & Country) (2005)
• 2002 Dodge Caravan / Chrysler Voyager / Chrysler Town & Country (prior generation)
• Mazda MPV
• Scion xB (2005) - surprisingly fun and economical miniature hatchback...or is it a minivan? or an SUV?
• Toyota Sienna (2001)