People buy minivans because they offer unsurpassed utility in the form of seven-passenger seating and cavernous cargo capacity. We measured utility by comparing how easy it was to convert each minivan from a people carrier to a cargo toter. We also examined each van’s talent at swallowing the knicks and knacks of daily life, from cell phones and Frapucchinos to Gameboys and Barbie dolls. Turns out, Stow ‘n Go is the only trick the Grand Caravan knows.

4th Place – 2005 Pontiac Montana
Because the 2005 Pontiac Montana SV6 is based on a decade-old platform, engineers couldn’t design a system to tuck the third-row seats down into the floor. So instead, they faked it. Fold the third-row seat in half, and it looks like it disappears into the floor. But in reality the rear seatbacks simply line up with a raised platform attached to the rear cargo floor that serves as a useful trunk organizer. Trouble is, the resulting load floor sits high, increasing the liftover height, and robbing the Montana of useful cargo space. To maximize room, the trunk organizer needs to be unscrewed and removed from the van, and the third-row seats must be dragged out of the tailgate and stored in the garage. The second row seats fold in half, exposing their plastic seatback storage compartments to scuffs, or they can be removed as well. But even with all the seats and the organizer yanked out of the Montana, it offers a meager 136.5 cubic feet of total cargo room, the least of any van in the test. Reinstalling everything is a back-breaking hassle, and the third-row seatbacks don’t have a strap attached to them so you’ve gotta climb inside on top of the trunk organizer and yank on the seat to get it flipped up for use. Ugh.

We also found that cabin storage areas could be more plentiful and better designed. For instance, the folding trays between the first- and second-row seats need rubberized surfaces to keep items placed upon them from sliding off when accelerating, braking, or turning. And aside from the large glovebox, the Montana SV6 lacks usefully sized storage areas.

3rd Place – 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan
Stow ‘n Go is Dodge’s system of second- and third-row seats that tumble and fold into the floor. The Grand Caravan, and its corporate cousin, the Chrysler Town & Country, are the only minivans on the market with such a feature. The Nissan Quest comes close – the second-row seats in the Quest collapse onto the floor to create a flat cargo area – but the Dodge’s bins can be used for 12 cubic feet of covered storage when the seats are in use. Stow ‘n Go is ingenious, and for minivan buyers who spend lots of time carrying both people and cargo, it might be the only selling point worth caring about. It’s not quite as easy to use as Dodge claims, though. To access the storage wells for the second-row seats, the front seats need to be moved forward or the lids won’t open all the way. But the third-row seats can be dropped with one hand, and Dodge provides clearly marked, three-step instructions on straps attached to the seats. Once the Grand Caravan is converted and ready to swallow a load measuring as much as 167.9 cubic feet, your back will appreciate the ultra-low liftover height and power liftgate feature. When you’re ready to haul the soccer team again, flipping the seats back into position is just as simple as it is to stow them.

Our main complaint with the Dodge’s utility had to do with the utter lack of useful storage spots for stuff. The glovebox is small. The overhead storage compartments are small. The door bins are small, and there aren’t any in the sliding doors. There’s a single seatback pocket for the second row, and in our test van it was stuffed with headphones for the DVD entertainment system. A single net could be stretched between the front buckets or the second-row captain’s chairs, but small items wind up on the floor. There is exactly one cupholder for each seating position. The most impressive storage solution in the 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan, aside from Stow ‘n Go, was a card clip. In our opinion, the Grand Caravan is a one-trick pony…but it’s a hell of a trick.

2nd Place – 2005 Toyota Sienna
A single point separated the 2005 Toyota Sienna from the Honda Odyssey in this category, and the difference could have been one of these three things: 1.) It takes two hands to get the Sienna’s third-row seat folded flat into the floor, compared to one hand with the Honda; 2.) Like the Odyssey, the Sienna’s second-row seats can be arranged so that they’re together like a bench seat or apart like captain’s chairs. The difference is that, in the Honda, they slide together without being removed and re-installed; 3.) The Toyota’s second-row seats were a little more difficult to remove than the Honda’s, though they were easier to re-install once you knew what to do. Otherwise, the two excellent vans were neck-and-neck in terms of utility. The Toyota’s cargo well with all three seats in use is bigger than the Honda’s, and the Sienna offers more maximum cargo space, too, at 148.9 cubic feet. Our test van came with a power tailgate that made it easier to load with arms full, and it included handy 115-volt power outlets in both the second- and third-row areas.

Nooks and crannies include bins under the front door armrests, dual gloveboxes, bins in the front and the sliding doors, and large covered bins in the third-row of seats. There’s also a good-sized covered cubby in the dash, and our Sienna was equipped with a large center console bin that could be unclipped from between the front seats and moved to a new location between the second-row seats. Additionally, the Toyota offered the most intelligently designed cupholders of any van, totaling 11. Plus, and this is a big deal for new parents, the Sienna can be had with eight-passenger seating that includes a second-row center seat that slides forward so that a baby is placed both in the center of the Sienna for safety and close to parents riding up front. Thanks to Toyota’s thoughtful attention to detail, the Sienna is an easy van to live with every day.

1st Place – 2005 Honda Odyssey
Watch your noggin on the Odyssey’s tailgate if you’re six-feet-tall, because Honda inexplicably designed it so that six-footers can catch their scalps on the latch when it’s open. It was the only van in the test that didn’t pass our head clearance test. Otherwise, we have no complaints other than that the second-row seats still require removal and storage in the garage to create maximum storage space – just like the Pontiac and Toyota. The Odyssey’s folding third-row seat flips and drops into the floor with one hand, and raises just as easily. The second-row seats tip up and slide over to create a bench seat, and in the Odyssey EX or EX-L buyers can get eight-passenger seating with the PlusOne removable seat. New parents will appreciate that the PlusOne seat can be set to place a baby safely in the center of the Odyssey and within doting distance of Mommy and Daddy.

Our Honda Odyssey Touring test van had a humongous center console bin between the second row seats, which can be removed to create a flat load area totaling 147.4 cubic feet. The Honda also included dual front gloveboxes, twin covered dash bins, two bins in each front door panel, slots in the sliding side doors, seatback pockets for both rear rows of seats, zippered mesh compartments for the second-row of seats, and covered bins on either side of the third-row bench. It even had a ticket flap in the driver’s side visor, a pen clip molded into the rear edge of the rubberized center folding tray, and 17 freakin’ cupholders. And let’s not forget the lazy susan under the floor in the center of the van, accessible from the front and second-row seats. Righteous.