The 2018 Dodge Caravan’s transmission is failing, so, new car time. These are ongoing investigation notes.
The default is definitely the Honda Odyssey; everyone is very clear that that’s the correct choice for a reliable minivan.
I mostly used the 2024 model year for things like trim packages; it seems to be the sweet spot between price and mileage.
Current car’s MPG is 20 and length (which is very important for us) is 202.8“.
A big takeaway for me is that the ability to remove one of the 2nd row seats, which is basically the feature I want in a minivan, is only available in the Odyssey and the Pacifica of the models I’ve looked at. Which fucking sucks.
ICEs
Honda Odyssey
- gas, 22 MPG
- sliding doors
- I don’t much like the EX trim but I’d survive, the rest are fine
- length: 205.2 inches
- $30-40k
HEVs
Toyota Sienna
- no-plug hybrid (2021 and later), 36 MPG
- sliding doors
- cannot remove the middle row seats without a socket wrench; why even have a minivan at that point??
- trim doesn’t seem to matter much for our purposes
- length: 203.7 inches
- $35-45k
PHEVs
Chrysler Pacifica PHEV
- Yeah, no, the reliability reports are just too bad.
- It does let you remove the 2nd row seats though!
Kia Sorento PHEV
- plug-in hybrid, 79 MPG with a charged battery, 32 mile electric-only range
- car doors
- it’s definitely an SUV; without folding down the rear seats there’s very little cargo space. The third row folds down nicely. The second row cannot be removed but can be folded down, sort of.
- length: 189.6 inches
- Around $35-40k, but the range here is huge
EVs
VW ID.Buzz
- 234 mile theoretical range, actually more like 200 if highway driving
- sliding doors
- as with the Sienna, cannot remove the middle seats without a socket wrench; WTAF?, otherwise the space is excellent, but it means you have to pop the middle seats forward to get into the back, which feels very SUV-ish
- length: 195.4 inches
- $50k for sure, possibly more
Hyundai Ioniq 9
- 300 mile range in real life but it depends on the trim
- car doors
- interior space looks decent for an SUV
- length: 199.2
- $45-58k but used stock is VERY limited since it only came out in 2026
Kia EV 9
- Somewhere between 250 and 300 mile range
- car doors
- We want the Light Long Range version
- interior space looks decent for an SUV, but we definitely do not want the GT line because the middle seats won’t fold for flat storage in that line
- Main criticism from folks at work was that software is apparently pretty flaky, but otherwise people thought it was pretty good. “B+” as someone put it.
- length: 197.2 inches
- Actually could probably do this for $35k used, maybe even less; stock is very limited though.