Its all about price:
If you have $40k or that much to lease - Get a Honda or Toyota - you wont be unhappy.
If you have $30k - look at Chrysler or Kia - you'll get a lot more options for the same money
If you have less than $30k, just get the newest Honda or Toyota you can afford
I have an '09 Sedona and a '14 Sedona - mostly the same van - No problems with either so far, but the '09 has only hit 110k miles, so I expect alternators, half-shafts and water pumps soon...
I think that Chrysler has been making better products since the last re-design in 2008, but I think that every new car will be on borrowed time after 200k.
-all Minivans are front-engine, fwd.
edit - EXCEPT - the Mercedes pictured above
It bothers me, but the newer Ford Expedition (turboV6) and GM large SUV's (Tahoe, Suburban with the V4/V8 motor) are getting similar fuel economy as the minivans, seating the same # of people and doing so with mostly truck parts (ie: available at every McParts in your zip code). I still grabbed the minivan but I know a bunch of soccer moms that love their domestic ladder-frames.
Your mileage may vary
-John