Comparison Tests
Nobody likes minivans, except the devotees who bought 1,018,873 new ones in the U.S. last year. And don't forget the indefatigable loyalists to efficient cars, including the editors of this magazine, who counsel SUV owners moaning about calluses on their gas-filler hands: "Get rid of that and get a minivan!"
We are largely ignored. Minivan sales eased about five percent in 2003, in a market that was off one percent. Not a disaster, but the trend is disappointing, down from nearly 1.4 million of them sold in 2000, the record year. These family haulers no longer get the headlines they enjoyed in the '80s, when they were young and the SUV was still a rawboned truck for the Pendleton shirt crowd.
Now, sales gains come from new models encroaching into territory held by former market leaders. These conquests are inched out the old-fashioned way as heavyweight carmakers refine and redefine, creating breakthrough innovations and enhancements with every model renewal, yet with little visual change. This is the "mature market" stage, where Japanese dedication to detail takes over and Detroit gets its butt kicked.
We saw it in compact cars, then in big cars. Big pickups are in the sights now that the small-pickup field has been conquered. Can Detroit hang in there in a category it invented back in 1984, when the old Chrysler Corporation tucked K-car mechanicals into brand-new boxes called Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager to resounding huzzahs?
Now you understand why we called this meeting. We're enjoying a brief intermission in the minivan pageantry after a first act in which four of the principal actors introduced important new players.
Toyota has been on a roll recently, grabbing eight places on the top-10 list of most-sought-after new models as defined by short supply on dealer lots. One of them is the Sienna, which debuted last summer amid admiring reviews, not to mention winning a spot on our own 5Best Trucks roster. It's as smooth, quiet, and comforting as a soft flannel shirt.
Nissan made a daring daylight play for the glamour seekers (what, in minivans?) as it jacked up the Quest nameplate, drove away the old yawner box it shared with the Mercury Villager, and slipped an all-new, all-provocative envelope beneath. It has flaring hips! And designer drama! An extra-long wheelbase, too, with big-box space inside. No one will confuse this with your mother's Mercury.
Detroit, too, has two new characters. Adios, Ford Windstar—hello, Freestar! The styling is pleasing in a careful, Puritan way. The interior picks up the new dash theme that's so reassuring in the F-150—as classy as a blazer on Saturday evening. Moreover, Ford seems to have matched, item for item, the bulleted list of interior features offered on leading minivans these days.
That said, the Dodge Caravan promises to be the darling of the minivan set. Remember back when Honda rewrote the game with the original Odyssey and its disappearing wayback seat? After a few origami folds, it vanished beneath the floor. For 2005, Dodge matches that feature and, for the first time anywhere, does the same trick with its second row of captain's chairs, leaving the interior as empty as a Doritos truck on the trip back for more. Stow 'n Go is standard equipment on the company's high-line, long-wheelbase models, including the Dodge Grand Caravan SXT in this test.
Going in, Dodge with Stow 'n Go has to be the white horse among the five candidates, which include Honda's perennial-favorite Odyssey, making one last appearance in our ring before its replacement appears this fall.
You'll notice a few missing names here. This is a comparison of full-size minivans. The Mazda MPV and the Kia Sedona are both significantly undersize and therefore inappropriate for this group. The new Mercury Monterey is a Freestar clone. GM will replace its full-sizers this autumn. That means today's aging Chevy Ventures and Pontiac Montanas will be stacked on the remainder tables too soon to justify one last round of our withering scrutiny.
Can the minivan inventors in Detroit hold off the new and improved models from Honda, Nissan, and Toyota? Let's find out.
