Minivan That Can Fit For Your Family

I considered many factors such as comfort, utility, value, and fuel efficiency, but because a minivan is made to carry your family and loved ones, safety was my first and foremost concern. I judged each minivan’s safety credentials using the two most well-known and highly regarded arbiters of crash testing in the United States: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and its five-star rating system, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and its Top Safety Pick designations. I also considered the amount and type of safety equipment each minivan has standard, as well as what’s available as optional equipment. Comfort and utility were also big factors. We judged the former by putting butts in seats and measured the latter by evaluating not only how much people and cargo each minivan could hold but also how easily everything went in. 

Value was another area of consideration, so I examined the price of each minivan at every trim level and with options, as well as the five-year cost-to-own data from Kelley Blue Book. This metric takes into account the cost of fuel, insurance, maintenance, repairs, financing, state fees, and the depreciation over five years of ownership. While each of these minivans is impressive when fully loaded, I think the overall best minivan is the one that most people can afford. A fully loaded minivan can cost more than $45,000, which is far above the average price for a new vehicle and similar to the cost of luxury cars. So to make value a priority, I tasked myself with determining the overall best configuration of a minivan that’s still affordable. To do that, I decided on which optional features are must-haves. The first two features that I decided are worth getting are power sliding side doors and a Bluetooth phone connection. 

Power sliding side doors might seem like a mere convenience (and they are indeed handy), but they’re also an important safety feature, as any kid who has had his or her fingers slammed in a sliding door can attest. Likewise, cell phone use has become so prevalent that having Bluetooth support for your phone is necessary, as it allows you to make and receive calls without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road. I then decided that the overall best configuration must also include a rearview backup camera, which is still optional equipment on many vehicles. Studies have shown this safety feature to be most effective at preventing collisions when the vehicle is backing up, which includes avoiding contact with bicycles left in the driveway or children chasing a ball, and the federal government will mandate its inclusion as standard equipment in all passenger vehicles by 2018. Other advanced safety features, like blind-spot alert systems, front and rear collision alerts, and radar-based cruise control, missed my list of must-have features. 

While they do make vehicles safer to drive, they’re generally restricted to higher trim levels or expensive option packages. These three features alone—power sliding side doors, Bluetooth phone compatibility, and a rearview camera—meant that I would be considering midlevel trims, many of which come standard with or offer other features like push-button start and keyless entry, three-zone automatic climate control systems, 115-volt household-style outlets, and Bluetooth audio. However, I did not consider these features essential because they are only conveniences and are sometimes bundled in option packages or higher trim levels that can greatly increase the cost. And the most expensive options, such as navigation systems and rear entertainment systems, are also not required, as these days smartphones and tablets can effectively perform their functions for far less money. Fuel efficiency was also an important factor, and I took into account each minivan’s official miles-per-gallon rating from the Environmental Protection Agency as well as real-world data from the site Fuelly.com. I also sought out the opinions of other experts, reading reviews from authorities such as Motor Trend and Consumer Reports, including this excellent comparison test that Cars.com conducted in 2011. I found it so helpful that I called up one of its authors, Kristin Varela, “Chief Mom” at Cars.com, for her additional thoughts. Lastly, I spent time with each minivan. Either in my own driveway (with a vehicle on loan from the auto manufacturer) or at the dealership, I inspected each minivan as an actual buyer would and drove each one a number of times.

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