Not enough ground clearance, at least until the latest KIA Carnival came out. I live in New England, land of unplowed roads and potholes. Even our old Saab would bottom out on the regular.
I guess that’s a local issue. I wonder why people who don’t have such clearance issues don’t choose minivans. I, for example, drove minivans in California for many years in mountain snow without issue.
The difference between minivans and most SUVs (especially crossovers) that people buy isn't all that great, maybe 1-1.5 inches. Most SUVs aren't really high-clearance 4WD like a Jeep Rubicon is. You get into other issues like run-flats vs. standard tires and the lack of a full-size spare but even most relatively serious SUVs don't automatically come with full-size spares any longer and their factory jacks tend to be useless.
We have just one kid on the way and would already buy a minivan if they weren't so hard to get. The waitlist on a Sienna is well over a year long. We have friends who put their names on the list in Q1 2022 and are still waiting "another 4 or 5 months."
