2020 Toyota Sienna vs 2021 Honda HR-V

Since the second half of the 20th century, each decade has had a hot-topic family car, and, as we’ve noted in a number of reviews this year, the crossover is our current darling vehicle. Before the crossover, there were big, truck-based SUVs. Before that, there were station wagons.

And for the past 35 years, there's always been the minivan.

The Dodge Caravan has been widely considered the Patient Zero of the minivan segment. From there, seemingly everyone joined the party, including Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Chevy, GMC, Volkswagen, Oldsmobile, Ford, and more. Heck, even Mercury had a “Nautica Edition” version of the Villager.

The minivan was king once, the crossover is king now, and some other type of vehicle will likely dominate in the near future. But in all this, the 7- and 8-passenger minivans will always represent the ultimate in versatility. The crossover is an image-forward fad with a dash of usability, but the minivan continues to prove itself as the pinnacle of practicality.

The 2020 Toyota Sienna is neither the newest nor flashiest minivan out there, but when you absolutely need space for people and gear, there’s nothing better. Additionally, the Sienna is the only minivan to offer all-wheel drive (AWD), which is something specifically desired by many car buyers.

The 2021 Honda HR-V is the automaker’s smallest crossover SUV, sitting below the Honda CR-V in size and price. While Honda hasn’t updated the HR-V in some time, it remains worthy of consideration thanks to agile handling and impressive practicality for its size.

Because while it’s billed as an SUV, the HR-V shares a platform with the discontinued Honda Fit hatchback. The HR-V is a bit bigger than that pint-sized wonder however, and adds features SUVs buyers want, such as a taller driving position and available all-wheel drive (AWD).

Honda launched the HR-V for the 2016 model year, and added more tech features for 2019. While Honda has been pushing these updates, the subcompact crossover category has exploded, adding new entrants from the likes of Hyundai, Kia, and Toyota.

The HR-V doesn’t receive any major updates for the 2021 model year, so we’re using our experience with past model years for this overview. The HR-V LX, Sport, EX, and EX-L trim levels carry over for 2021, but the HR-V Touring is no more. The only other changes are new wheel designs for the Sport, EX, and EX-L models, and added privacy glass for the HR-V Sport.