What Are the Safest Minivans for 2018?
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has put three of the most up-to-date minivans on sale today through its various crash safety tests.
The Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Pacifica and Toyota Sienna were all recently tested by the safety watchdog group, with the Odyssey coming out on top. The Odyssey performed the best of the three vans in the IIHS’ demanding Small Overlap Front test, receiving a rating of ‘Good’. The Pacifica received an ‘Acceptable’ rating in Small Overlap Front testing, while the Sienna had the lowest rating of ‘Marginal’.
The Odyssey’s body structure received a ‘Good’ rating, higher than the Pacifica, which received a structure rating of ‘Acceptable’. The Sienna, meanwhile, had a body structure rating of ‘Poor’ as it allowed 20 inches of intrusion during passenger side impact collision testing. “The intruding structure crumpled around the test dummy’s legs,” the IIHS said of the Sienna. “A real right front passenger would sustain possible injuries to the right hip and lower leg in a crash of this severity.”
SEE ALSO: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Review
Because many minivans will be used as family vehicles, the IIHS also conducted extensive testing on the vehicle’s Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) restraint systems. It’s easy for users to be confused by the LATCH systems, so the IIHS rates them based on ease of use. The top rating of ‘Good+’ is reserved for LATCH systems that provide additional seating positions with easy-to-use LATCH hardware. The Odyssey received the best possible ‘Good+’ rating, with the Sienna receiving an ‘Acceptable’ rating and the Pacifica a ‘Marginal’ rating.
The Odyssey and Pacifica qualified for the IIHS coveted Top Safety Pick+ rating, but the ageing Sienna missed out – getting an overall rating of ‘Marginal.’
Hear what the IIHS had to say about its 2018 minivan safety tests in the video embedded above.
Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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2018 M-Y 11,955---- Jan 2018 thru July 2018 Kia Sedona sold-
Kia Sedona with optional features qualifies for 2018 TOP SAFETY PICK ARLINGTON, Va. The 2018 Kia Sedona minivan qualifies for the TOP SAFETY PICK award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety when equipped with optional front crash prevention and good-rated headlights. To qualify for the 2018 award, vehicles must earn a good rating in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests; an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention; and an acceptable or good headlight rating. The Sedona has earned good ratings in the five main crashworthiness tests since the 2015 model year, when it was last redesigned. It hasn't yet been rated for passenger-side small overlap front protection. An acceptable or good passenger-side rating is a requirement for TOP SAFETY PICK+, the Institute's highest award. The Sedona earns a superior rating for front crash prevention when equipped with the optional automatic braking system. In IIHS track tests at 12 mph and 25 mph, the minivan avoided a collision. The optional headlights on Sedonas built after May 2017 have high-intensity discharge, curve-adaptive low beams that provide good visibility in all scenarios without too much glare, while the high beams provide fair to good visibility. The system comes with high-beam assist, which automatically switches between high beams and low beams depending on the presence of other vehicles. The Sedona's standard halogen headlights are rated poor. They provide inadequate visibility in some scenarios and also produce excessive glare for drivers of oncoming vehicles. Media contact Russ Rader Senior Vice President, Communications rrader@iihs.org office +1 703 247 1530 mobile +1 202 257 3591 For more information, visit our press room. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses deaths, injuries and property damage from crashes on the nation's roads. The Highway Loss Data Institute shares and supports this mission through scientific studies of insurance data representing the human and economic losses resulting from the ownership and operation of different types of vehicles and by publishing insurance loss results by vehicle make and model. Both organizations are wholly supported by auto insurers.