When you’re shopping for a new minivan, chances are it’s because you have kids to schlep around. And if you have kids to schlep around, you’re a parent who would do anything to protect them.
We have good news for you.
There are five minivans for sale that are Top Safety Picks for crash protection according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). And one of those five also gets a rare 5-Star overall crash-test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
To determine the safest minivans, Vehix reviewed all of the overall crash-test ratings available from the NHTSA, and all of the Top Safety Picks available from the IIHS, as of February 1, 2012.
The minivan class is a small one. Including the Mazda5 mini-minivan, there are eight models available, three of which are basically different versions of the same vehicle (the Chrysler Town & Country, the Dodge Grand Caravan and the Volkswagen Routan).
Five finalists made the cut, but don’t automatically infer that the other three minivans on the market are unsafe.
The NHTSA had not tested any of the models that did not make our list – the Kia Sedona, the Mazda5, or the Nissan Quest – and the IIHS had not tested the Mazda.
The Quest missed a Top Safety Pick rating only because it rated Acceptable rather than Good in the roof strength test. As for the Kia, well, based on IIHS results, you want to look elsewhere since it received the worst possible score in the roof strength assessment.
Up First: 2012 Chrysler Town & Country
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