Tell me about your minivan

[J. Barron DeJong]

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

Was expecting to see an R63 AMG.

[gravitylover]

Mid-engine, AWD and supercharged. The only thing it's missing is a 5spd.

[J. Barron DeJong]

I hear you.

What about this one:

[gravitylover]

Ha! Want. Ya know I'm a sales rep right? That's the perfect rep rig! It would make my 1k>1500 miles a week so much more fun

[singlesline]

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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And there are 24 fricking buttons on the steering wheel alone.

Just classic disorderly design that you’d expect from legacy Big Three. No attempt to create a refined and coherent interface.

Not sure about GM (last GM I rented was a Cruze like 10 years ago and it was the worse car I’ve ever driven so I never touch them), but Ford really seems to have turned things around in that respect. Their cars actually feel like they were *designed* rather then thrown together from a parts bin.

[4matic]

I bought a 2008 R350 with 90k in good shape ($8k rolled including tax and reg). It’s rwd without panoramic sunroof (lots of problems) base model. I’ve been looking for a van quite a while. A good used van is very hard to find because, well, they get used. Carpets manked, deferred maintenance. Nasty, dirty things.

I’d driven quite a few r-class and finally drove one that was pretty nice and drove great but had thousands in deferred maintenance so I was convinced to find a good one. I’ve also driven numerous Toyota, Honda, and Chrysler both used and new. The problem I had with all of those is road and wind noise; they just felt cheap. The R-class is no S or even E-Class refined but it’s darn quiet and smooth. The one I found had good service records and a full front end rebuild with $2k in receipts and a fresh tune. The rear air springs failed the day after driving it home but those are a commodity now and the parts cost $150 on Amazon and mechanic installed for $150. The only problem now is getting the air freshener stink out. It ain’t easy!

I really like the car. And Obtw, no coincidence it looks exactly like the latest Chrysler

[m2711c]

canadians are sellin’ an upfitted pacifica…



The weekend awd looks good for short overnight skiing road trips.

https://www.5marsrv.com/en/produit/weekend-awd/

for longer ski safaris they add more shit to the build.

https://www.5marsrv.com/en/produit/illusion-awd/

new and used available.

https://vrsouliere.com/en/motorise-5...w-2023-sh22181

https://vrsouliere.com/en/motorise-5...n-2022-b22353a




fact.

[riser4]

The silly thing about me and mini vans is that I'm addicted to sliding doors. Ya, I know, lots to go wrong in a slider. But it's just not a real van to me without them. I miss my full size '77 Chevy with the slider.

[gravitylover]

Everything should have sliding doors. The body shop lobby might have a bad time with that though.

[The Reverend Floater]

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.
Attachment 505888

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.

My mom drove her Pacifica all over the country, camping out of it while bird watching pretty much everywhere. That thing has around 180k on it when she sold it and I don’t think it ever had an issue. And my mom wasn’t one for inconveniences like oil changes or rotating tires.


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[nickwm21]

canadians are sellin’ an upfitted pacifica…



The weekend awd looks good for short overnight skiing road trips.

https://www.5marsrv.com/en/produit/weekend-awd/

for longer ski safaris they add more shit to the build.

https://www.5marsrv.com/en/produit/illusion-awd/

new and used available.

https://vrsouliere.com/en/motorise-5...w-2023-sh22181

https://vrsouliere.com/en/motorise-5...n-2022-b22353a




fact.

Honestly - where is the market for $100k pop top Stellantis? I am very pro van - but these are not going to sell.


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[m2711c]

thats pricing be candaian fundages... so $66,183 freddom units for that new one and $57,595 for the one with 13,709 km on it. (thats 8518.3777 freedom miles) and of course, thats just the starting point for further negotiations.




i mean, we haven't even discussed the trucoat options yet.




fact.

[abraham]

Some Canadian vans:



Japanese Odyssey's look a bit different and lower.

[abraham]

Some Canadian vans:



Japanese Odyssey's look a bit different and lower.

[lowsparkco]

I talked to a van upfitter recently that has been considering new platforms.

His shop is leaning towards the Sienna. Seems mighty small inside for camping, but the AWD would be nice.

I'm in the process of working out adding an unleaded burning cabin heater at the moment. I think ski utility goes up tremendously with a cabin heater.

[m2711c]

agreed.

[riser4]

I talked to a van upfitter recently that has been considering new platforms.

His shop is leaning towards the Sienna. Seems mighty small inside for camping, but the AWD would be nice.

I'm in the process of working out adding an unleaded burning cabin heater at the moment. I think ski utility goes up tremendously with a cabin heater.

You need an RTG. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radi...tric_generator

[Touring_Sedan]

I bought a 2008 R350

I hope it has a good personality....

[Danno]

how is that thing a minivan?

[4matic]

how is that thing a minivan?

What do you call this?

[skaredshtles]

What do you call this?

Has it got sliding doors?

[4matic]

Sliding door is known to be problematic across platforms so in a used and 16y/o car my choice was less potential problems.

[gravitylover]

If that's a minivan so is the Venza. So... Nope not a minivan.

[4matic]

I don’t see it.

[4matic]

Is there disagreement that the R350 looks like the Chrysler? It makes sense since the R-class was released while Daimler still owned Chrysler and is likely shared design.