I bought my Plymouth Grand Voyager new in 1994. It has been a fantastic vehicle with four very comfortable captain chairs, seats 7 and has loads of cargo room. I know the earlier model years had some problems which Chrysler seemed to have corrected by 1994. Plenty of people have made fun of me but when it comes to functionally, nothing beats the minivan. I have been on road trips where the owners of Expeditions and Explorers have had to put some of their stuff in my minivan because their SUV’s don’t hold as much cargo. These crossovers don’t even hold as much cargo as the SUV’s they replace. The new Chrysler’s don’t even look like a ‘minivan’ anymore.

I miss my Ford minivans; a ‘92 Aerostar driven to the Grand Canyon, “totaled” in 2000 (but very driveable) was replaced by a used ‘98 Windstar w/quad captn chairs & rear air served us on numerous road trips, camping, picnics, weekend outings … I used it to move appliances, lumber, compost & mulch not to mention kids packed to the legal limit!
I only retired it because the cost to rebuild the transmission exceeded its Kelly bluebook value. I loved “my wife’s minivan”!

Look, the minivan is not about being cool or looking good. It’s about complete practicality and the perfect vehicle for a family with children.
1) It gets better mileage than an SUV that will comfortably seat 6.
2) Access to the rear seat is much easier than in an SUV where you are climbing over armrests and seatbacks.
3) Power sliding doors allow parents to open the doors for everyone at once and get thed kids out of the parking lot quicker.
4)Power sliding doors also decrease the likelyhood of banging doors of cars next to you both in a parking lot as well as in these tight suburban garages.
5)Power rear lifts allow you to open the door while having your hands full.
6)Parking an SUV that seats 6 is way more of an issue than parking a minivan that seats six.
7)The ride is much smother in a minivan than an equivalent seated SUV.

It’s not for everybody. But whether you like it or not, it is the most practical vehicle on the market for a family with children.

“many an SUV is simply a minivan with a nose job”. It’s my understanding that most SUVs are built on truck platforms, and minivans on car platforms. That’s why minivans get better mileage and handle better.

SUVs killed the minivan a long time ago. Now it’s “crossovers” SUVs, which people are flocking to for alleged MPG gains. I don’t think 24 MPG is anything to write home about. If Chrysler had a 30+ MPG minivan they could build them in both Fenton plants and still not make enough!

Me, I’ll stick with my 1994 Volvo wagon. That’s my mule!

I’ve always perceived the minivan as looking like a giant jellybean with wheels. If the Teletubbies drove a car, I would expect it would probably be a minivan. I’m sure minivans are practical….but yuckkkk!

They probably lost favor to the SUV because in many ways an SUV can hold a lot of stuff and passengers too, and SUV’s project a strong tough image (as a substitute for those who cannot do that by themselves? hmmmmm?).

I have always driven small four-door sedans and hate both SUV’s and minivans, mostly for the reason that I can’t see around either of them.

If there is any good to come from these gas prices, it would be the demise of them both. I hope that the car factories can get ramped up quick to make lots of affordable economical smaller cars and trucks, so that these layed off workers can get called back to work.

I have driven a mini van, since the 2nd year Dodge came out with one in 1985, I believe.
I also go to dog shows and cannot imagine a more economical way to travel distance with a full load of dogs, crates, grooming equipment, people etc.
I currently drive an 2001 Olds Silhouette GLS and even with 147,000+ miles I average 24 mpg on highway and 22 around town.
Not too bad, huh?.
and if you check out many upscale shopping centers parking lots, you will also see a large number of mini vans.
I personally think GM and Ford should have stayed the course with the van, and Chrysler should have produced a more economical, stylish one. however the stow and go seating has become a big selling feature for people like me.
When the American companies fold under ecomonic pressure, the Toyotas, Hondas and other foreign auto makers will step in and reap the benefits/profits.
The even bigger danger here, as I see it,are short sighted Ameican companies being taken over by foreign companies who will soon own the pursestrings for all of America.

The Toyota mini-van is the safest,better built van on the road then the Honda comes in second,safety wise everything.We decided not to buy a mini-van due to we had already owned 4 big GM vans and we were tired of all of them.So we bought a Veracruz Hyundai.It has all the bells and whistles heated seats cruise control,leather,moon roof,more safety features then most cars plus 100,ooo warranty.Road side service ,satellite radio.The list is too long 27 miles to gallon.We have another Hyundai and loved these cars.Hugh inside.

Like the Honda Odyssey ad says, “Respect the Van.”

Our Odyssey rocks, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

i didn’t want a minivan. I needed a minivan. My first Town & Country minivan is now 3 years old and I plan to trade it in on a 2008. The back seat windows roll down on the 2008, which was just about the only problem with the 2005. I average 21 mpg commuting on 270 and 28 mpg on highway trips. In order to make SUVs cool, they took away the sliding doors. Sliding doors are the best! Mine are power sliding doors, which is really cool. Oh. and Stow & Go seats! Whoevever came up with those is a genius. My brother has driven a series of used Dodge Caravans, most with more than 200,000 miles on them with minimal repairs.
It’s fun on the highway because everyone thinks they need to pass the minivan. I can go 80 mph and some bozo has to pass me. I think the cops should use them as decoys.