The front seats hold you securely, but they don't feel like the buckets in a sedan. There are large side bolsters on the backs of the seats, but the seating surface is relatively flat. This makes the van easy to get into, but encourages you to move around on long trips.

The standard second-row bucket seats fold and remove easily. Handy diagrams on the frames underneath the seats instruct you how to unlatch them from the floor. They are among the lightest seats in the minivan market, so removing them won't kill your back. However, they are heavy enough that you'll want to convince a teenager to move them across the minivan's floor and into your garage. Doing this reveals a flat and wide rear cargo floor.

The dashboard is neatly arranged, and the gauges are easy to read. However, when the speedometer needle reaches 75 mph, it blocks the right turn-signal indicator. A gentle chime indicates you've left the indicator on, but you'll miss it if you've got the stereo turned up. The steering wheel has seek, set, and AM/FM radio controls within reach of your left thumb, and volume, mute, and play (for cassettes and CDs) near your right thumb.

The videotape and CD players are nicely located up on the front console.

The DVD entertainment system has been redesigned for 2002. It features a large seven-inch screen that folds down from the roof panel. It features a wireless remote, auxiliary jacks for video game systems and camcorders, and wireless headphones. Called MontanaVision, the system comes standard on the versions of the long-wheelbase minivans. What we like best about this system is its integration; aftermarket systems we've tried tend to be more difficult to use and not as durable.