BUYING GUIDE to New Minivans

Overview

Minivans are the epitome of the suburban family lifestyle. Able to carry the kids to baseball or cheerleading practice, these people movers provide all the right conveniences for the busy family. They offer good gas mileage and a plethora of safety options to satisfy the most practical concerns. They come at a cheaper price than most SUVs and provide better handling. Many are even equipped with high tech entertainment systems to entertain the passengers on longer trips and ample storage spaces for any knickknack. Even though this car class has seen drops in sales due to the popularity of SUVs, thanks to raising gas prices, better minivan styling, and the often impracticality of SUVs, the minivan is finding its way back into the garages of family car buyers everywhere.

Price Range: $17,635-$28,595

Models

The most popular minivan of all time, the Dodge Caravan and its other stablemate, the Chrysler Town & Country are carryovers from 2008. For 2009, a differentiating feature that both the Dodge and Chrysler offer is its flexible Stow 'n Go seating arrangement. The designers' main focus was to give passengers the most comfortable, well-appointed interior. The Stow 'n Go seating allows the interior dimensions to grow without compensating the exterior dimensions.

In fact, new Caravan actually weighs less than its predecessor, so acceleration and fuel economy are not compromised. Powertrain options range from a 3.3-liter 175-horsepower V6 mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission to a more robust 4.0-liter 251-horsepower V6 coupled with a first-in-class 6-speed transmission. Fuel economy only drops off by 1mpg compared to the smaller 3.3-liter while netting a whopping 76 horsepower more.

The top-rated 2009 Honda Odyssey and 2009 Toyota Sienna also come equipped with powerful yet fuel efficient V6 variants. Interestingly, both the Odyssey and Sienna come with one engine option: a 3.5L V6. The Odyssey's produces 244 horsepower while the Sienna's produces 266 horsepower. The Odyssey gets slighly better fuel economy (23/25 city/hwy) due to its more conservative tuning, sacrificing low-end grunt for a smoother, more fuel-efficient engine. The Sienna, on the other hand, rewards its owner with class-leading acceleration and passing, important if you primarily drive on the highway, while getting 21 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway.

A new entry in the minivan category comes from Volkswagen this year, and it's as polarizing of a break from their cult-classic, the Vanagon. The 2009 Volkswagen Routan comes equipped with either a 3.8L V6 or a massive 4.0L V6. The 3.8L produces 197 horsepower and gets a 17/25 mpg for city/hwy use, while the 4.0L churns out 251 horsepower and nets 16/23 mpg in the city/hwy. If those numbers sound familiar, it's because the Routan is based on the Dodge Caravan platform, so it shares the same engine, chassis and suspension. However, VW's extensive use of high-quality interior materials are a definite upgrade over its competitors. In addition, the Routan looks sharper and more modern, something buyers often take into account when purchasing a vehicle.

Minivan Safety Guide

As family hauling is its central purpose, most minivans provide integrated child booster seats that are built right into the rear seat and take the place of store-bought seats. Other standard features include dual front airbags, and in many cases, side airbags, which serve as protection to occupants against side-impact collisions.

More advanced features are standard in higher priced models and include anti-lock braking systems and traction control, which stops the spin of a wheel, and in turn insures maximum contact between your tires and the road. A back-up sensing system is an option that's commonly offered on these models, which is a series of sensors along the rear bumper that alerts the driver to people and/or objects in his blind spot.