Tell me about your minivan

[toast2266]

At long you you guys don't start ducking each other, it's all good

But there's so much room back there.

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[Cruiser]

No, you guys are missing the point. The Jeep guys give each other little rubber ducks that they put on the dash. I was advising against that. A special mini van wave is great but I do not suggest randomly giving out rubber ducks.

[riser4]

Heh. My mistake. My phone regularly autocorrects fuck to duck. Not a Jeep owner, so no idea what weird stuff those folk are into. Nttawwt.

[alpinevibes]

Haven't read too far back into this thread, but my parents are looking at getting a Pacifica plug-in hybrid to help move a family member in a wheel chair and grand kids in strollers for the next 1-3 years. They're in the Seattle area. Anyone have experience with those?

[MarcusBrody]

Haven't read too far back into this thread, but my parents are looking at getting a Pacifica plug-in hybrid to help move a family member in a wheel chair and grand kids in strollers for the next 1-3 years. They're in the Seattle area. Anyone have experience with those?

No experience, but their reliability has been pretty terrible. I loved the idea and thought they were good looking vans when they debuted, but everything I researched put them at the bottom of reliability measures.

[gravitylover]

I wouldn't. They look great on paper but don't live up to their potential.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Tell them to run away.


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[Touring_Sedan]

Haven't read too far back into this thread, but my parents are looking at getting a Pacifica plug-in hybrid to help move a family member in a wheel chair and grand kids in strollers for the next 1-3 years. They're in the Seattle area. Anyone have experience with those?

We always rent a minivan when we travel with the kids, the last three have been Pacificas. Overall, I found them to be acceptable for the price. All three were pretty well loaded but only one was a Hybrid. We took that one from SLC to Cody around Yellowstone and back. The extra kick of the hybrid drivetrain was nice until the battery was exhausted, after that the CVT was pretty gross. I think I might have mentioned it up thread, but on the back roads the driver assist features were so bad they were almost dangerous. I've had quite a few vehicles with lane keep and automatic braking but whatever algorithms they used on this model must have been corrupted. There were multiple times I'd try to overtake on a two lane only to have the automatic braking and lane assist intervene and run me back into my lane. It was terrifying. Hopefully it was a one off on that model, but it was enough to make me think again about turning any of the systems back on.

[gravitylover]

^^ I've rented a few things that sucked like that. It's too bad because the tech works pretty well but it explains some of the dumb shit I see happen around me. I'm more thinking of the mechanical and design fuck ups the thing is notorious for. The mention of the disabled user gets me to thinking of the Sienna hybrid right away. Don't get me wrong, I actually like my ChryCo POS but would be way too stressed thinking my krusty old white guy Mopar thing would leave me stranded with someone that can't help themselves.

[alpinevibes]

Thanks lads, I appreciate the insights. They were really into the plug-in but now seem to have bailed. I’m trying to get them to just go Sienna or Odyssey and move on. $25k will get you a decent van to drive for 2-4 years and pass on


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[plugboots]

^^^Ding! We have winner.

[singlesline]

Similar experience. Rented pacificas with low miles have been nice, but wouldn't want to own one.




Love the idea of a plug in hybrid in a minivan form factor, but it is a tough sell. This guy shits on the plug in system, and is skeptical about it in cold climates. Add in the reliability problems and it is a hard no.

Maybe a lease would be OK...basically just rent one for 3 years. Although I'm not sure Chrysler lease terms are any good.

[gravitylover]

I dunno, they have a bunch of shit they need to get rid of.

[alpinevibes]

Update: parents pivoted and are buying a 2024 Ascent. They had a single car that got totaled last week in an accident so they needed something asap. Minivan may still happen, but TBD.

[bagtagley]

Love the idea of a plug in hybrid in a minivan form factor, but it is a tough sell. This guy shits on the plug in system, and is skeptical about it in cold climates. Add in the reliability problems and it is a hard no.

I’ll just wait until Toyota releases the Sienna Prime. Or Honda gets an AWD PHEV Odyssey into the market.

Buddy got a RAV4 Prime as soon as it was available and loves it. Would be perfect for the kind of driving I do and I like the idea of a sub 5 second zero to sixty family hauler.

[bodywhomper]

Have same hope, re:sienna prime, but a bit concerned about the purchase price.

Isn’t Toyota rolling out a steady state battery someday?

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Rumor mill in the Odyssey Club forum says no Ody hybrid on the horizon.

[bagtagley]

Rumor mill in the Odyssey Club forum says no Ody hybrid on the horizon.

Yeah, 5th gen is an aging platform and wasn’t designed for it. They’ve got plenty of experience with the tech, so I’m hopeful we’ll see it in 6th. 5th just got another facelift though, could be a while.

[singlesline]

Similar experience. Rented pacificas with low miles have been nice, but wouldn't want to own one.

Back in this scenario again. Basically only car in the National executive and emerald aisle in Maui is one of many Pacificas in your choice of white or silver.

Normally I’d be upset, but given this is my first trip with a kid it seems fitting. Plus it will actually comfortably seat our whole party with a car seat (although we’ll see…my brother in law is the guy that insists that he be the one to drive everywhere so we might always be taking 2 cars)

Still wouldn’t want to own one but a Pacifica with 4k miles that I don’t have to maintain is a pretty sweet ride.

[MarcusBrody]

Back in this scenario again. Basically only car in the National executive and emerald aisle in Maui is one of many Pacificas in your choice of white or silver.

Normally I’d be upset, but given this is my first trip with a kid it seems fitting. Plus it will actually comfortably seat our whole party with a car seat (although we’ll see…my brother in law is the guy that insists that he be the one to drive everywhere so we might always be taking 2 cars)

Still wouldn’t want to own one but a Pacifica with 4k miles that I don’t have to maintain is a pretty sweet ride.

Exactly. The Pacifica seems like a great family vehicle outside of the reliability, so it's a nice choice for a rental.

[Shredhead]

We rented a Pacifica in Florida for a scuba diving trip. 8 tanks, 4BC's and all the extra gear, plus luggage.
Amazing how much stuff fit.

[singlesline]

Addendum: The headlights on this thing suck.

Maybe it is a trim level or aiming issue, but for the amount of money these cost and the bells and whistles inside, the lights are pretty bad.

[singlesline]

So after a week and a half with the pacifica...I have concluded that it is a piece of shit.

I do LOVE the full rear and middle row Stow-n-go seats though. Especially in a rental where you can't remove seats and store them somewhere, being able to go full flat in the back was awesome. Swallowed two surf SUPs (with noses stuffed between the front seats) without issue.


But otherwise everything is just so poorly done compared to its Japanese counterparts.
All of the driver assist tech is awful.

- The auto cruise control is herky-jerky
- The lane keep assist is very unreliable
- The blind spot warning doesn't understand how to deal with intersections that have TWO turn lanes (of which there are many where I'm staying). It will SCREAM at you every time you turn left with a car in your blind spot even if that car is in its own lane and also turning left. It will also yell at you for random other objects.
- The parking assist/rear traffic warnings are equally bad...loud piercing warnings for no apparent reason, and the beeps seem like they start a mile away from anything. No front sensors either--not that I really need sensors to parallel park, but it is odd given you can see the back with the backup cam so the rear sensors aren't super useful whereas the front visibility is only OK for a minivan.

The engine seems decent, but the transmission is a little funky...and I still think the round dial gear selector is dumb.

The ground clearance/approach angle is pretty bad. I know it is a minivan, but it seems like there's a lot of front end hanging out over the wheels and it is real easy to bash it into things that my little GTI would go right over.

[Jong Lafitte]

So after a week and a half with the pacifica...I have concluded that it is a piece of shit.

I do LOVE the full rear and middle row Stow-n-go seats though. Especially in a rental where you can't remove seats and store them somewhere, being able to go full flat in the back was awesome. Swallowed two surf SUPs (with noses stuffed between the front seats) without issue.


But otherwise everything is just so poorly done compared to its Japanese counterparts.
All of the driver assist tech is awful.

- The auto cruise control is herky-jerky
- The lane keep assist is very unreliable
- The blind spot warning doesn't understand how to deal with intersections that have TWO turn lanes (of which there are many where I'm staying). It will SCREAM at you every time you turn left with a car in your blind spot even if that car is in its own lane and also turning left. It will also yell at you for random other objects.
- The parking assist/rear traffic warnings are equally bad...loud piercing warnings for no apparent reason, and the beeps seem like they start a mile away from anything. No front sensors either--not that I really need sensors to parallel park, but it is odd given you can see the back with the backup cam so the rear sensors aren't super useful whereas the front visibility is only OK for a minivan.

The engine seems decent, but the transmission is a little funky...and I still think the round dial gear selector is dumb.

The ground clearance/approach angle is pretty bad. I know it is a minivan, but it seems like there's a lot of front end hanging out over the wheels and it is real easy to bash it into things that my little GTI would go right over.

I had one of these for a week or two between my ‘08 NA Outback (RIP) and my 09 Outback over the summer.

I too concluded that it was a piece of shit. I agree with most of these points. I’d add that I actually liked the driveline and the ride, plenty of power for my relatively light foot. The driving stance is nice and upright which was fun for a while. The fold down to flat floor seats is very well executed and totally sweet. The gas mileage was fucking poor and I usually get above the rating with the way I drive, drove this the same and it was just poor.

My main issue became that the central operating system was a fucking menace to the normal operation of the vehicle. Ordinary sequences would set off some cascade of operations that left the car somehow inoperable, or unable to turn off, for minutes until you re-sequenced some operation in the order that it needed. The screen froze several times and the system was totally glitchy. Piece of shit. A software update could of course help but just the entire way it was programmed seemed like counterintuitive crap.


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[gravitylover]

Holy grail minivan https://www.facebook.com/share/XUvK5nDLPRUnKrhK/