Minivans have never been known for their beauty but rather for their utility. On that score they should be able to function as intended: moving small groups of people rapidly and safely. Here is a list of the 8 most terrible minivan designs that have ever been conceived.
1. 1964 Volkswagen Bus
While it looks great on the outside and is now a collector’s item, this vehicle is underpowered and lacks any sort of safety features. I can also tell you from personal experience that it is uncomfortable to ride in. Air conditioning was provided by way of opening the door while it was running which let in the dust when trailing another vehicle.
2. Toyota Lite Ace
Getting into one is an athletic endeavor. You’re required to slide and twist your body at the same time if you wish to sit towards the back. The seats are too small if you’re even slightly above average height and it just seemed to be too top-heavy on tight corners. Sitting in the back when going over hills and around tight corners is a memorable experience for the wrong reason. There is also very little space for luggage in the back.
3. Nissan Quest
Part of the reason for the decline of Nissan in recent years was this odd-looking vehicle that could only seat 7 people. It also has less internal space than a lot of other minivans at just 25.7 cubic feet. Production was discontinued in 2016 and it wasn’t hard to see why. When it came to safetym Dave Zuby, the executive vice president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said of the 2014 model that ‘’it was one of the worst crash tests we’ve ever seen’’.
4. 2018 Mercedes-Benz Metris
At $40,000 U.S.D. you’d expect a minivan to have folding seats. Not on this one. Here the second-row seats only tilt forward. This means passengers in the third row have to stay in their seats until the passengers in the second row have exited from the vehicle. As an added bonus the seats in the third row do not fold flat in order to create storage space but rather have to be removed entirely.
5. Dodge Grand Caravan
With a boring exterior, a plastic interior, and average space for both passengers and cargo you would expect things would improve after these points have been noted. But what makes this a terrible vehicle is the noise. Long trips become deeply traumatic for this reason alone. 11 million customers since 1984 can be wrong.
6. Ford Windstar
It’s hard to be positive about a vehicle which doesn’t have a single redeeming feature. It’s ugly both on the inside and from outside. And then there was the terrible unreliability. Windstars have been known to have their drive axles detach due to subframe rust issues. Ford agreed to repurchase some Windstars due to safety concerns.
7. Toyota Previa
This minivan failed due to a lack of market research. Someone thought it might be a good idea to sell a minivan in the U.S. market with mid-engine design. Potential buyers didn’t like the idea of having so much space taken up in the middle so it failed in the U.S. market.
8.Tesla Model X
What put this one on the list is the price-$86,190 U.S.D. It can only seat 7 people and that comes with a 305 mile (500 km) range. The selling point is the acceleration which means it’s great for drag races but not much else.
