2001 Pontiac Montana: Overview

Vehicle Highlights

Montana is built from the same design as the Chevrolet Venture and Oldsmobile Silhouette. It offers regular- and extended-length bodies, both with dual sliding side doors. A power right-side sliding door is optional, and extended versions offer dual power doors. Seating ranges from six to eight passengers, with two front buckets and two or three 2nd-row buckets. Third-row choices are two buckets or a 3-place folding bench. Extended-length models offer a 3rd-row bench that folds even with a floor-mounted parcel tray. All Montanas have a 3.4-liter V6, automatic transmission, ABS, front side airbags, puncture-sealing tires, and the OnStar assistance system. Traction control is standard on regular-length 7-passenger models, optional on extendeds. Other options include load-leveling suspension and a tauter sport suspension. Available on extendeds only is rear obstacle detection and a rear-seat video entertainment system. Montana's performance and accommodations mirror those of similarly equipped Chevrolet Ventures.

COMPETITION

Though the competition has heated up, we feel that the new Dodge Caravan is still one of the best minivans you can buy. It offers all of the creature comforts in a pleasing package at a fair price. Our other Best Buy is the Honda Odyssey. It's a little bit smaller than the Dodge, but more sporty to drive, and it has a super-convenient flip-and-fold-away rear seat.

Trailing at a close second are the Recommended Chevy Venture, Ford Windstar, and Toyota Sienna. Though these vans are comparably priced and offer loads of neat features, we feel they can't match the road manners of our two Best Buys. Also garnering Recommended ratings are the Chrysler Town & Country and Chrysler Voyager. Though they are mechanically similar to the class-leading Caravan, they don't offer the breadth of model choices.