Top 10 SUVs and Minivans With the Most Cargo Space

These roomy and versatile models are available with flexible cargo areas and various seating configurations

By Jon Linkov

Updated April 28, 2023

Chrysler Pacifica MiniVan with Cargo area

While many buyers are hesitant to purchase a minivan because it screams “soccer mom” to them, there’s no denying that these do-it-all vehicles provide abundant cargo room and low loading floors that make it easy to put everything inside. And those sliding side doors make it a breeze to get boxes, bags, furniture—you name it—loaded and unloaded.

But hold on. The midsized and large SUVs of today offer plenty of cargo room as well, and without the compromises of past versions, such as seats that fold on top of—rather than into—the floor, or tall liftovers that make it challenging to get your stuff up and into the cargo bay.

Nearly every SUV now has second- and (if equipped) third-row seats that fold flat, or even into the floor, which make it a snap to go from hauling passengers to carrying cargo. Plus, they all have standard or optional all-wheel drive, something only two minivans offer. Finally, SUVs often have a towing capacity of 5,000 pounds or more. Minivans top out at 3,500 pounds if they’re even rated to tow.

Still, knowing how much cargo your minivan or SUV can carry is a challenge. While automakers are happy to highlight the overall luggage capacity of their offerings, not all of that generous-sounding cargo room is necessarily usable space. Having a lot of space doesn’t do much good if the cargo opening is narrow, short, or oddly shaped.

At Consumer Reports we evaluate cargo room with an expandable rectangular pipe-frame “box.” We enlarge it enough to just fit through the rear opening and extend it into the cargo bay as far as possible without preventing the hatch from closing.

Cargo capacity is the volume enclosed by that box, because it doesn’t help you to have a cavernous space with a small hatch opening. This gives consumers a better idea of what they can fit through the hatch and in the back, whether it’s luggage for a trip, a new dishwasher, or a big-screen TV coming home from the electronics store. (Learn more about how Consumer Reports tests cars.)

We’ve identified the 10 minivans and SUVs with the most usable cargo room based on our testing process. They’re ranked in order of cubic feet of cargo room with both rows folded down, with the top performer first.

While there are other minivans and large SUVs we’ve tested, their usable cargo room is less than that of even the best midsized SUVs because they have second-row captain’s chairs that can’t be removed and/or don’t fold flat into the floor. This limits their overall available cargo space.

We indicate whether automatic emergency braking (AEB), AEB that works at highway speeds, blind spot warning (BSW), and rear cross traffic warning (RCTW) are standard or optional equipment. Note that not every vehicle is recommended. This may be because of below-average reliability or a too-low Overall Score.

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