4 Family Minivans With Better Ratings Than The Chrysler PacificaSlashGearAlvin WanjalaMon, September 28, 2026 at 12:45 AM UTCAdd us on GoogleStelantisMinivans offer enough capacity to accommodate even big families, with three rows of seats and the ability to seat seven or even eight people. When shopping for a minivan, Chrysler's Pacifica is one of the models that should definitely be on your watchlist. In fact, the Chrysler Pacifica is a great choice, and that doesn't come as a surprise for a company that single-handedly invented the segment in the '80s and has been doing it for years.If you do a quick online search, you'll notice it rarely misses in listicles of the best minivans on the market. The Pacifica has several strengths that have earned it top marks from expert reviewers across publications. The 2026 Pacifica seats up to eight and is fitted with either a gas-only 3.6-liter V6 engine producing up to 287 hp (making it one of the most powerful minivans on the market) or a hybrid powertrain featuring a 3.6-liter V6 with two electric motors, with a total output of 260 hp.However, while the Chrysler Pacifica is one of the best, it doesn't rank high on every metric that matters and on every site. Some minivans have better ratings than the Chrysler Pacifica and might serve you better. We've rounded up a list of the best minivans that have performed better than the 2026 Chrysler Pacifica in reviews by earning higher scores. For more details on how we selected these minivans, see our methodology section at the end of the article.AdvertisementAdvertisementRead more: 8 Little-Known Car Gadgets Worth Trying For Yourself1. 2026 Honda OdysseyHondaThe first minivan you can consider instead of the Pacifica is the 2026 Honda Odyssey. While both the 2026 Chrysler Pacifica and the 2026 Honda Odyssey have earned a spot in Consumer Reports' (CR) list of the best minivans, the latter comes out on top, with better ratings. The Odyssey is ranked fifth in CR's rankings and earns the site's CR Recommended badge, while the Pacifica sits a position lower, at sixth. Behind the wheel, CR's experts found the Odyssey to be a better car in its road test.It also has higher predicted reliability and owner satisfaction scores, meaning you're more likely to be satisfied with your purchase if you pick the Odyssey. In Car and Driver's testing, the Honda Odyssey narrowly beats the Chrysler Pacifica. The Honda earned an overall rating of 8.5 out of 10, just 0.5 higher than the Pacifica. In J.D. Power's rankings, the Chrysler still falls behind the Odyssey, earning 6 fewer points overall with a score of 75 vs. 81.The Odyssey also ranked higher in quality and reliability, as well as driving experience. And if you'd like to sell it in the next three years, J.D. Power predicts it'll fetch more on average than the Pacifica. Per U.S. News rankings, the Odyssey tops the charts of the best minivans and is the only model that scored better than the Pacifica. The 2026 Honda Odyssey has a starting MSRP of $42,795, with an additional $1,595 destination charge.2. 2026 Kia CarnivalKiaThe 2026 model year of the Kia Carnival is also a better car than the Chrysler Pacifica, if ratings from different sites are anything to go by. Starting with J.D. Power's ratings, the Carnival edges out the Pacifica by a small margin, scoring 78 out of 100 vs. 75. It's pretty tight between the two, with the Pacifica performing better in quality and reliability by a single point while the Carnival offers a better driving experience and resale value. In Car and Driver's testing, the Carnival stands out as a better car overall, scoring 9 out of 10, a point higher than the Pacifica.AdvertisementAdvertisementIn addition to these two rankings where the Carnival performs better, the same story plays out in CR's ratings. The Kia Carnival rounds out the top three in CR's rankings of the best minivans, while the Pacifica sits in sixth place. Additionally, this model performed well enough in testing to earn the site's buy recommendation as one of the best options shoppers should consider, something that the 2026 model year of the Pacifica didn't get.According to CR, the Carnival is predicted to offer better reliability and satisfaction. On the road, it also offers better driving dynamics than the Chrysler. The only site where the Kia Carnival doesn't outperform the Pacifica is U.S. News, where it earned an 8.8 out of 10 vs. 8.9. The 2026 Kia Carnival starts at $38,935, including a $1,455 destination and handling fee, and tops out at $53,035 for the high-end Carnival SX Prestige FWD trim with no additional options added.3. 2026 Toyota SiennaToyotaWhile the 2026 Toyota Sienna doesn't sit at the top of J.D. Power's rankings of the best minivans, it manages to beat the Pacifica, albeit by a small margin. The Toyota Sienna earned an overall score of 77 out of 100, clinching third place, while the Pacifica earned 75 and is ranked fourth. The 2025 model year of the Sienna was ranked as the most reliable minivan by J.D. Power, and interestingly, the 2026 variant fails to beat the Pacifica in quality and reliability. However, in other categories, the Sienna is a better car as it scores higher in driving experience, resale value, as well as the dealership experience.That edge over the Pacifica can also be seen in Car and Driver's test. The Sienna earned an overall score of 9.5 out of 10, while the Pacifica scored 8.0. Car and Driver has ranked the 2026 Sienna as the best minivan on the market as of this writing. CR has also tested this model, and it's a similar story to the other sites.AdvertisementAdvertisementIn CR's rankings, the Sienna comes in at second position, performing better than the Pacifica, with a better overall score and higher scores in individual categories, including predicted reliability, owner satisfaction, road test score, and one of the highest fuel economy figures thanks to its standard hybrid 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. It's only in U.S. News tests that the Pacifica came out ahead of the Sienna with an 8.9 overall score vs. 8.7. The Sienna starts at an MSRP of $42,915.4. 2026 Kia Carnival HybridKiaThe 2026 Kia Carnival comes in hybrid and non-hybrid options. The gas-only Kia Carnival boasts higher ratings than the Pacifica, and if you go the hybrid way, you'll still get a solid car with better ratings. According to Car and Driver's hands-on tests, the hybrid Kia Carnival scored an impressive 9 out of 10, similar to the gas-only variant. As a result, it's a better car overall compared to the Pacifica, which scored 8 out of 10.CR also rated the Kia Carnival Hybrid separately, and in the site's testing, it topped the list with the highest overall score, beating the Sienna, non-hybrid Carnival, Honda Odyssey, as well as the Pacifica. It's predicted to be highly reliable, more than twice as reliable as the Pacifica, and it boasts the highest owner satisfaction score of any minivan model in CR's shortlist. It also scores better in driving experience, as depicted by its higher road test score in CR's testing.However, U.S. News testing results depict a different story. According to the site, the 2026 Pacifica is the better model overall, earning a higher 8.9 out of 10 score compared with the Carnival Hybrid's 8.5. J.D. Power has yet to rate the 2026 Kia Carnival Hybrid as of this writing, so there's no way we can pit it against the Pacifica's 75 out of 100 score. The base trim of the 2026 Kia Carnival Hybrid, the HEV LXS FWD, starts at $41,390, plus a $1,545 destination charge.How we selected these minivansTravis Langness/SlashGearChrysler has already revealed the 2027 model year of the Pacifica. However, since some sites have yet to give that car a rating, we chose the 2026 model as our reference point, as it's been widely reviewed by different automotive experts. We also chose the 2026 model year because some of its competitors from that year have been widely reviewed as well, unlike the 2027 variants.AdvertisementAdvertisementNext, we scoured the web to find 2026 Chrysler Pacifica ratings from different reputable sources, including Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, Car and Driver, and U.S. News. Once we had ratings for the 2026 Pacifica, we searched for minivans that have earned scores equal to or higher than those of our reference model from the same site. While we strove to only include models with higher rankings in every reference site, we also included models that were ranked higher in at least two of the four sites.Since each site has its own ranking and scoring system, we compared the scores that the Pacifica earned with those of competing minivan models from the same site to ensure an apples-to-apples comparison. Also, because of the differing scores and scoring systems from the reference sites, we have listed these models randomly.Want the latest in tech and auto trends? Subscribe to our free newsletter for the latest headlines, expert guides, and how-to tips, one email at a time. You can also add us as a preferred search source on Google.Read the original article on SlashGear.
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