SW17LS

Just wanted to give everybody a little update. As you may remember I replaced my 2015 Kia Sedona minivan with a late run 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Limited last November.

We're 11 months in, just shy of 12k miles. So, the Pacifica is seeing much more use than the Sedona was as my kids grow up and we get out and do more as a family. They go to camp now, will be going to preschool next week, birthday parties, we've taken several long trips, etc.

Still really like many things about the Pacifica, but sadly our experience with it is more similar to our experience with our troublesome 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee than our problem free 2014.

Ride and drive is still good. I think it could be made better by a good set of quality tires (OEM Falkens which are hard and loud), but I'm not going to drop the $$ to do that for the van before they wear out like I did on my LS. Visibly van is holding up great. Paint is resistant to chipping, swirling and staining. It gets lived in hard, and the interior materials are holding up well also, save for the carpet floor mats which are a frustrating felt like material which doesn't fully release when vacuumed. Stupid choice for a vehicle like a van, may replace them with some Lloyd mats or something. Gets eaten in, stuff ground up into the seats, feet on the setbacks, etc. Holding up well, cleans up well. Nappa leather cleans right up. I have grown to dislike the ZF 9 speed transmission as it "learns" driving styles. Its clunky, slow to downshift, makes the van feel heavy and slow. Powertrain is not as refined as it could be, or as it is in asian vans. No squeaks or rattles which is very good.

But, we have had several annoying reliability issues similar to what we went through with the 2011 Jeep. Strange electrical things, like every once and a while it just forgets all our memory seat settings. Had some bluetooth connectivity issues. The passenger side sliding door binds off and on. Dealer has never been able to get it to happen while there. Vacuum has stopped working, dealer says its working fine but it doesn't pick anything up and used to. Supposedly its been inspected for blockage and none is found. Sometimes the power rear tailgate only opens up about 6 inches and you have to force it the rest of the way up. The van has also had several recalls. We also have had an issue with the battery door on the uConnect headphones breaking, which is common. They are lifetime warranted so they just mail replacements. Annoying still.

The big issue has been the freezing navigation screen. The screen would intermittently freeze up and would allow no inputs, and would stay that way through multiple power down and restarts. Had it to the dealer 3 times, they did updates the first two times and the third time replaced the radio unit. That seems to have solved it for now, we'll see if it sticks. Not an uncommon issue for the Pacifica. Had to take two long trips without reliable use of the touchscreen which was really frustrating, my wife having to turn around to work the kids movies from their screens, etc.

Now one of the seatback video screens doesn't seem to be working, has to go back in.

All in all, in the 11 months we've owned it its been back to the dealer 5 times, one of those times was for an oil change, but that visit also included repair issues. Next week I have to take it back for the screen so that will make 6 times. I would rate that as poor.

Its very frustrating for us to put this vehicle in the shop too, we have to get my wife set up in the LS so she can drive the kids around in that, and I have to take it in, wait to be driven to Enterprise for a rental car, and then pay for a rental car. Chrysler picked up my last two rentals since I had to bring the van back two extra times to get the screen fixed, but their policy is free rental for an overnight warranty visit unless you have an extended warranty. Each of the 5 times its been in its been given back to me the same day after a full day. I will say the dealer has been very good, very understanding, not dismissive and they genuinely seem to want to see my van perform properly for me...which is really saying something these days.

Overall, lot of things I like about the Pacifica but if I had to do it over again I would have gotten the Odyssey.

Toys4RJill

SW17LS

Yep! I did go drive a Sienna to see if we could get out of the Pacifica and into one. Figured since it was older deals to be had maybe the numbers would work (this was before the nav screen was fixed on the Pacifica).

It is possible, but we would be giving up a LOT of features and modernity going to the Sienna because its so old a platform.

The Odyssey is still popular enough that a move out of the Pacifica and into an Odyssey now would be too financially painful.

This will for sure be my last Chrysler product. 2 out of 3 problematic, and the one that wasn't I only had 10 months...its a shame because it is excellent and class leading in so many ways.

Toys4RJill

Just looking at Toyota.com The Sienna is pretty competitive for an old design, what features are not available on the Sienna that are on the Pacifica?. Surprising you are willing to drive a 10 year LS platform and not an 8 year Sienna?

SW17LS

Its definitely competitive for an older design. You loose things like the more modern nav interface, the video options of having the dual touchscreens in the back for the kids, you lose the easy access second row seats for the third row (big one for us. The second row in the Pacifica tips forward with carseats installed giving access to the third row, in the Sienna they don't), the GPS screen is much smaller with lower resolution, readouts and everything are much older, you loose the App access for remote start, etc, the Sienna is smaller than the Pacifica or the Odyssey. Seating position isn't as good as the Pacifica, steering wheel doesn't come out far enough to be comfortable for me. You loose the panoramic sunroof. Interior is very utilitarian compared to the Pacifica and Sienna. You loose the stow n go seats. It still drives great, drives better than the Pacifica quite frankly, and I know it will be reliable.

Its different cars for different purposes. With the LS they redid the interior giving you a big wide modern screen, all the tech on a 17 LS is the same as whats on a 17 Lexus anything. Its also a difference in the mission of the vehicle. The van is all about utility, and some of what you loose are modern features we use every day (the entertainment screens, the app for remote start, the space on trips, etc). The LS is also a special car (at least to me), and financially a great deal over its competitors.

Toys4RJill

Fair enough.

The new 2019 Sienna has an updated infotaiment screen that is rolling out in the new cars such as Avalon or Corolla Hatch. Seating positions are going to be not as good on the Sienna because it is an older design. Next gen Sienna should be much superior.

SW17LS

The one I drove was a 2019, still really behind compared to the newer vans, small screen, etc.

Would I have chosen one over the Pacifica knowing the Pacifica would be problematic? Very possibly lol

Toys4RJill

Well, it is a tough call. I have always thought that Toyota and Lexus models are usually average but rarely best in class. The trade off is that they last a very long time and are pretty good at being low maintenance. My brother and girlfriend have no complaints about their Sienna or Odyssey. They rarely if every talk about them.

SW17LS

I think thats largely true, and certainly true for the Sienna.

JDR76

Toys4RJill

SW17LS

Another thing to add, the Pacifica forums aren't tremendously helpful. They're pretty Fanboyish, and when you post with issues you're quickly dismissed, quickly deemed a troll, etc. Nothing but responses saying how awesome their cars are. I experienced a similar thing on Jeep forums. Very sensitive to the idea that their cars aren't very reliable. Something as simple as just asking if anybody had replaced the OEM tires and if they experienced a drop in road noise and a better ride was met with nothing but "Well my van is silent and rides better than anything else on the road, what would you possibly want to do that for?" etc.

swajames

The deal on the Pacifica seems to me to be on the hybrid. Dealers here are advertising the 2018 Limited hybrid with 7K off MSRP right now, so actual discounts will be higher. Additionally, the hybrid qualifies for a federal tax credit of 7500 and a California CVRP rebate of 1500 - plus you can get into the HOV lane with it. The tax credit is a dollar for dollar credit, not a deduction, so it's effectively an additional savings of 7500 in most cases.

Stroock639

well i know the sienna is a bit "long in the tooth" these days, and say what you want but i think it's still quite nice to use. maybe i'm just making excuses on behalf of toyota, but at the end of the day it's still a MINIVAN! i'm pretty sure still the only AWD one at that too... i also totally understand feeling entitled to a nice discount off sticker since it's basically like 10 years old at this point, but like i said a minivan isn't exactly something you use to find the limits of driving performance. it has TSS-P and pretty much all the modern stuff you'd expect to find, except for maybe a few of the very latest things.

if something like the camry was in a similar situation i'd say that's unacceptable, but a minivan is mainly just meant to carry stuff around so i don't even really think it needs to be the most modern device possible. i just think not wanting a minivan because the design hasn't seen a major update in awhile doesn't make much sense, at least not without a decent enough discount. personally i think the 2016 and earlier models are better before they introduced the 8 speed and made the engine have no more low end torque, but again i can't really fault them for prioritizing mpgs since it's not meant to be a "driving machine" or anything. although it's actually kinda quick once you get going.

oh and l0lz about your experience on the jeep/chrysler forums, what a shocker!

SW17LS

Bear in mind I got $13k off of my Pacifica at a $49k MSRP, and it has all the latest bells and whistles.

Minivans are the sort of vehicles where little changes that make a difference in their ease of use have a big impact. Something as simple as not being able to tip up the middle row or slide it over to let people access the third row with carseats installed is a game changer. With the Odyssey you have cool new features like Cabin Watch and Cabin Talk, you have the vehicle app where you can create a playlist from everybody phones together, etc. Lots of little things.