2004 Minivans

Mini or SUV?
In the (large) shadow of sport/utility vehicles, are minivans becoming obsolete? Three American-made family haulers, loaded to the max, suggest otherwise. Some people say sport/utilities solve more problems than minivans due to their off-road abilities. In truth, a small percentage of SUVs are used on anything but a highway. Sport/utilities offer less room for people and cargo while achieving poorer emissions and fuel efficiency and, if you believe the hype, aren't as safe as minivans, which are also less expensive to operate and insure.

Minivans are the best family vehicles on the planet, unless you do serious off-roading or tow a 6000-pound boat. Get past the stigma associated with them, and there's nothing that can match the versatility, performance, and value of minivans. Certainly, you can't argue with Newtonian physics that suggest Bradley Fighting Vehicles are safer, as they're less likely to move when hit by a less massive object. But we know that's only part of an SUV's safety record.

Few, if any, SUVs offer as much active and passive safety equipment as the 2004 Nissan Quest and Toyota Sienna: Four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, electronic brake-force distribution, emergency brake assist, stability- and traction-control systems, dual front, front-side, and three-row head curtain airbags, and tire-pressure monitoring. What's more, the cargo capacity in all these minivans outmeasures Ford's hot-selling Explorer and even the larger Expedition.

Adding insult to injury, all three minivans here achieve at least 18 mpg in EPA city testing and 25 on the highway while qualifying for LEV (or better) overall emissions. The most efficient Expedition gets 15/19 mpg. And while neither the Quest nor the Sienna could traverse the Rubicon Trail (and only a handful of SUVs ever do), the Toyota and the Nissan are available with foul-weather-ready all-wheel drive.

Since 2000, total minivan sales have declined, while sport/utility sales have exploded. Despite the obvious advantages of more practical, less expensive minivans, why have people run away from them and toward SUVs? It boils down to the divergent statements each one makes: "I'm manly and ready for anything" versus "I'm Mommy and don't have time for anything." It's unfortunate; many consumers have no idea what family values they're missing.--Chris Walton

Now that you've read about these three, share your opinion in our related minivan poll:Suburban Warriors: Which 2004 minivan would you choose to conquer suburbia?