Traded our Kia Sedona in on a Chrysler Pacifica today...
#106
Lexus Fanatic
He's old-school, even more than me.....and I'm no spring chicken.
The only reason I brought him up in the first place was not necessarily to give him, or me, any more attention on the side, but to show that, like Steve, others can purchase or lease a Pacifica with expectations of at least reasonable reliability. Although Chrysler products, in general, do seem to run more problems per vehicle than what is considered average these days, there seems to be a lot of comments in this thread (some of them inaccurate or excessive) about Chrysler products being lemons simply because of the badges on them. Being overwhelmed with video-electronics is not necessarily something wrong with the vehicle IF it works as designed.
Last edited by mmarshall; 12-03-17 at 03:32 AM.
#107
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Although Chrysler products, in general, do seem to run more problems per vehicle than what is considered average these days, there seems to be a lot of comments in this thread (some of them inaccurate or excessive) about Chrysler products being lemons simply because of the badges on them.
Being overwhelmed with video-electronics is not necessarily something wrong with the vehicle IF it works as designed.
back to vehicles and displays/controls, with apple carplay and android auto taking off, the car infotainment controls at least may become more consistent and simpler, as car companies simply leave it to the phone companies to get it done. climate controls shouldn't be on the touch screen i don't believe... my car is a mixture (like pacifica also u-connect) but certainly not difficult.
#108
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
If he was satisfied with a used Jeep Patriot why on earth was he ever even looking at a Pacifica?!? My cousin had a Patriot, you could not find two cars more different. And what a terrible vehicle (the Patriot).
Anyways, just got back from WV. The Pacifica ran great, good power in the mountains, charged right up the big 6 mile long 7% grade over Sandstone Mountain on I-64 with nary a hiccup. We rode through both times 5 hours without stopping, kids were entertained by their movies the whole time. Very comfortable, my wife complained about the seat, but I was very comfortable in the drivers seat the whole time. Returned 24.7 MPG on the highway which is great with the mountains. I run cars pretty hard on this trip, heavy acceleration to 90-95 to pass trucks on 81, mountain grades with cruise set to 80 on 64. The transmission definitely handled the grades better than the Sedona, of course it didn't feel as effortless in the hills as the Lexus.
Couple gripes I have:
1. The uConnect Theater is a pain to use at times. Lockouts make it hard to get a movie going, my wife had to turn around and do it on the screen behind her seat which was needlessly unsafe. Then, when using a USB stick you have full menu control?!? Weird. Infared headphones are too big for our kids, and the plugs for wired headphones are where their feet lay on the seats in front which means they break the headphone jacks (cost us two sets of headphones). These issues will be solved when the kids are older, but could be implemented better now.
2. The 9 speed has a very high overdrive gear, and the van tends to race down mountain grades with very little engine braking. Crest a hill at 80 and very quickly you're doing 90 headed back down. Just something to be aware of.
3. Range isn't great, tank is a little small for the road trip focus of the vehicle. I usually get there with between 1/4 and 1/3rd of a tank left, do in the Lexus, did in the Sedona and the Jeeps, the Pacifica had less than a 1/4 tank left. Pacifica has a 19 gal tank, Sedona was 21.5, Jeeps were 24.6, Lexus is 22.2 gal. I'd like to see the Pacifica have a 21-22 gal tank.
Overall, very pleased. I really like it.
Anyways, just got back from WV. The Pacifica ran great, good power in the mountains, charged right up the big 6 mile long 7% grade over Sandstone Mountain on I-64 with nary a hiccup. We rode through both times 5 hours without stopping, kids were entertained by their movies the whole time. Very comfortable, my wife complained about the seat, but I was very comfortable in the drivers seat the whole time. Returned 24.7 MPG on the highway which is great with the mountains. I run cars pretty hard on this trip, heavy acceleration to 90-95 to pass trucks on 81, mountain grades with cruise set to 80 on 64. The transmission definitely handled the grades better than the Sedona, of course it didn't feel as effortless in the hills as the Lexus.
Couple gripes I have:
1. The uConnect Theater is a pain to use at times. Lockouts make it hard to get a movie going, my wife had to turn around and do it on the screen behind her seat which was needlessly unsafe. Then, when using a USB stick you have full menu control?!? Weird. Infared headphones are too big for our kids, and the plugs for wired headphones are where their feet lay on the seats in front which means they break the headphone jacks (cost us two sets of headphones). These issues will be solved when the kids are older, but could be implemented better now.
2. The 9 speed has a very high overdrive gear, and the van tends to race down mountain grades with very little engine braking. Crest a hill at 80 and very quickly you're doing 90 headed back down. Just something to be aware of.
3. Range isn't great, tank is a little small for the road trip focus of the vehicle. I usually get there with between 1/4 and 1/3rd of a tank left, do in the Lexus, did in the Sedona and the Jeeps, the Pacifica had less than a 1/4 tank left. Pacifica has a 19 gal tank, Sedona was 21.5, Jeeps were 24.6, Lexus is 22.2 gal. I'd like to see the Pacifica have a 21-22 gal tank.
Overall, very pleased. I really like it.
Last edited by SW17LS; 12-04-17 at 04:59 PM.
#109
Lexus Fanatic
Actually, he wasn't replacing the Patriot with a Pacifica....he had already purchased the Pacifica. He replaced the Patriot with a Forester.....in several ways, a much better vehicle.
Anyways, just got back from WV. The Pacifica ran great, good power in the mountains, charged right up the big 6 mile long 7% grade over Sandstone Mountain on I-64 with nary a hiccup.
We rode through both times 5 hours without stopping, kids were entertained by their movies the whole time. Very comfortable, my wife complained about the seat, but I was very comfortable in the drivers seat the whole time. Returned 24.6 MPG on the highway which is great with the mountains. I run cars pretty hard on this trip, heavy acceleration to 90-95 to pass trucks on 81, mountain grades with cruise set to 80 on 64. The transmission definitely handled the grades better than the Sedona, of course it didn't feel as effortless in the hills as the Lexus.
Couple gripes I have:
1. The uConnect Theater is a pain to use at times. Lockouts make it hard to get a movie going, my wife had to turn around and do it on the screen behind her seat which was needlessly unsafe. Then, when using a USB stick you have full menu control?!? Weird. Infared headphones are too big for our kids, and the plugs for wired headphones are where their feet lay on the seats in front which means they break the headphone jacks (cost us two sets of headphones). These issues will be solved when the kids are older, but could be implemented better now.
1. The uConnect Theater is a pain to use at times. Lockouts make it hard to get a movie going, my wife had to turn around and do it on the screen behind her seat which was needlessly unsafe. Then, when using a USB stick you have full menu control?!? Weird. Infared headphones are too big for our kids, and the plugs for wired headphones are where their feet lay on the seats in front which means they break the headphone jacks (cost us two sets of headphones). These issues will be solved when the kids are older, but could be implemented better now.
2. The 9 speed has a very high overdrive gear, and the van tends to race down mountain grades with very little engine braking. Crest a hill at 80 and very quickly you're doing 90 headed back down. Just something to be aware of.
Might be a quirk in how Chrysler sets up their 9-speed. The new GM/Ford 9-speed seems to have an effective Grade-Logic program...and you can downshift manually if you're not satisfied with even that.
Overall, very pleased. I really like it.
And glad you are satisfied. Few things are as disappointing as Buyers' Remorse on a new vehicle.
(BTW, if you haven't already seen it, check my PM on the new local toll-lanes here on I-66)
Last edited by bitkahuna; 12-05-17 at 05:33 PM.
#110
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
I had mistyped the MPG, it was 24.6 corrected it after you had quoted it. There is an "L" mode for engine braking which helped.
I will check my PMs, saw I had one but hadn't had a chance to check yet
I will check my PMs, saw I had one but hadn't had a chance to check yet
#111
Lexus Fanatic
Keep in mind, though, that if you took the average MPG directly off the trip-computer, rather than figure it out for yourself from the distance covered and number of gallons needed, my experience has been, with several different vehicles, that the computer can be off as much as 1 to 1.5 MPG......but rarely or never more than that. Don't ask me why ......I'm not enough of an engineer to know the answer in detail (though I've got a couple of theories), but that has just been my experience, that's all. In general, though, it's within about 0.5 MPG or so of what I get by doing it manually.
Last edited by mmarshall; 12-04-17 at 06:16 PM.
#112
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
24.6 is remarkable for a large vehicle with a family and lots of gear on a trip not driven 'slowly' over mountains...
#113
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Agreed, very satisfied. Overall average right now is 21.6 which is amazing when you figure how much its idled around here
#114
Pole Position
Random question. I know in several threads you (SW15LS) have mentioned that in certain respects you thought your Sedona was equal or better in build quality to your LS. In reading through a decent amount of this thread, I'm wondering if you still feel that way as there are a couple of things where you're saying the Sedona was starting to "wear" a bit and it was relatively low miles in my book. So if Sedona is > 460 and Pacifica is > Sedona, is Pacifica > 460??!
#115
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Random question. I know in several threads you (SW15LS) have mentioned that in certain respects you thought your Sedona was equal or better in build quality to your LS. In reading through a decent amount of this thread, I'm wondering if you still feel that way as there are a couple of things where you're saying the Sedona was starting to "wear" a bit and it was relatively low miles in my book. So if Sedona is > 460 and Pacifica is > Sedona, is Pacifica > 460??!
I will also say, I think the brand played a role there. As much as I fought it, I think I always sort of felt like I was driving an "off brand" car...
#116
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Just to give everybody an update, we're 3,200 miles in and the Pacifica is doing great. We completed three sizable road trips, a 500 mile roundtrip trip to NJ, a 700 mile round trip trip to WV, and an 850 mile round trip trip to Albany, NY. All the trips went great, and seat comfort seems to have improved as the seats have broken in. My wife complained about numbness from the passenger seat over the first trip, but on the trip back from Albany I commented that she hadn't had any issues and she agreed. I spent 6 hours solid driving the van with no break coming back from Albany and was perfectly comfortable. Long stretch of the trip up there occurred at night, HID headlights and LED fogs are excellent. Base audio sounds great too (my Pacifica does not have the upgrade HK sound)
The Pacifica scuttles down the road with a solidity and a premium feel that was definitely not present in the Sedona. Road and wind noise is much better controlled than in the Sedona as well. Driving aids work great, the LKA does a nice job of nudging you away from the line without being overbearing and the adaptive cruise works very well too. Although with the latter I did have to clean the sensor off after driving on salted roads in Albany (the Pacifica was and is absolutely filthy) to restore ACC function. Kids love the uConnect theater and it keeps them happy and quiet.
I also got to drive it in the snow in Albany and it did quite well. VERY cold there and despite obviously no AWD and all season tires in 0-1 degree F weather it did great.
My only road trip issue continues to be small range due to the small tank, this van should have at least a 20 gallon tank. Only hiccup we have had, and I'm not even sure you could classify it as a hiccup, is sometimes the power lift gate will open and then stop, and you have to push it all the way up as if to reset it. Will watch that and see if its an issue or a user error.
Overall, very satisfied with the van. Have another trip coming up in a couple weeks to NJ, but will likely take the new LS460L on that trip to try it out.
The Pacifica scuttles down the road with a solidity and a premium feel that was definitely not present in the Sedona. Road and wind noise is much better controlled than in the Sedona as well. Driving aids work great, the LKA does a nice job of nudging you away from the line without being overbearing and the adaptive cruise works very well too. Although with the latter I did have to clean the sensor off after driving on salted roads in Albany (the Pacifica was and is absolutely filthy) to restore ACC function. Kids love the uConnect theater and it keeps them happy and quiet.
I also got to drive it in the snow in Albany and it did quite well. VERY cold there and despite obviously no AWD and all season tires in 0-1 degree F weather it did great.
My only road trip issue continues to be small range due to the small tank, this van should have at least a 20 gallon tank. Only hiccup we have had, and I'm not even sure you could classify it as a hiccup, is sometimes the power lift gate will open and then stop, and you have to push it all the way up as if to reset it. Will watch that and see if its an issue or a user error.
Overall, very satisfied with the van. Have another trip coming up in a couple weeks to NJ, but will likely take the new LS460L on that trip to try it out.
#117
Lexus Fanatic
Just to give everybody an update, we're 3,200 miles in and the Pacifica is doing great. We completed three sizable road trips, a 500 mile roundtrip trip to NJ, a 700 mile round trip trip to WV, and an 850 mile round trip trip to Albany, NY.
All the trips went great, and seat comfort seems to have improved as the seats have broken in. My wife complained about numbness from the passenger seat over the first trip, but on the trip back from Albany I commented that she hadn't had any issues and she agreed. I spent 6 hours solid driving the van with no break coming back from Albany and was perfectly comfortable. Long stretch of the trip up there occurred at night, HID headlights and LED fogs are excellent. Base audio sounds great too (my Pacifica does not have the upgrade HK sound)
The Pacifica scuttles down the road with a solidity and a premium feel that was definitely not present in the Sedona. Road and wind noise is much better controlled than in the Sedona as well. Driving aids work great, the LKA does a nice job of nudging you away from the line without being overbearing and the adaptive cruise works very well too. Although with the latter I did have to clean the sensor off after driving on salted roads in Albany (the Pacifica was and is absolutely filthy) to restore ACC function. Kids love the uConnect theater and it keeps them happy and quiet.
My only road trip issue continues to be small range due to the small tank, this van should have at least a 20 gallon tank. Only hiccup we have had, and I'm not even sure you could classify it as a hiccup, is sometimes the power lift gate will open and then stop, and you have to push it all the way up as if to reset it. Will watch that and see if its an issue or a user error.
Overall, very satisfied with the van. Have another trip coming up in a couple weeks to NJ, but will likely take the new LS460L on that trip to try it out.
#119
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
If applicable, have you checked your oil-life monitor?....with most vehicles so-equipped, it's a push-button option on the trip-computer Ordinarily, with a new vehicle, once you start to get a few thousand miles on it, the monitor might be down to 40-50% oil life remaining, especially with the generally severe usage and stop/go traffic in this area. Long trips, though, such as the ones you've taken, tend to extend the life of remaining oil, so, in your case, you might have some time on it left (I get my first two oil--changes free.....that's just my dealer's standard policy). You'll also want to keep an eye on the dipstick to see if the engine uses any oil between changes.....chances are it won't if it has been broken improperly.
Did your wife do any of the driving, in the drivers' seat? Though usually of the same general design and upholstery as the passenger seat, the drivers' seat will often have more features in it (such as adjustable lumber support or massagers) that the passenger seat may lack. If she was uncomfortable in the passenger seat, she may or may not be uncomfortable on the left, in the driver's seat.
On the WV trip, did the transmission grade-logic and brakes keep things under control in the mountains? Or were you mostly on easy-grade Interstates? (I suspect the latter LOL)
When the lift-gate stops on the way up (or down), are you being careful to stand clear, out of its way? In today's litigious society, features like that often have prevent-sensors that prevent operation (or continued operation) if they detect something in the way. Same thing with power-windows, of course, particularly in the back where the Kiddies and pets are. The windows will not close all the way if they detect a head, neck, arm, paw, etc...in the way.
Without the UConnect, though, better bring along something to keep the Kiddies amused LOL
Originally Posted by theory816
If im getting a minivan it has to be a Sienna. Those things seem solid.