We had ordered a Pacifica when they first came out as a 2017 model in March 2016. I previously had a Grand Caravan that we liked, it was comfortable and rode incredibly well. The dealer demo Pacifica came in at the end of February 2016, after a drive around the block I had my order cancelled. The seats weren't as comfortable as our 2010, the transmission was always confused about what gear to be in, lots of fit and finish issues observed with some dash trim pieces. Perhaps the biggest gripe I had was styling. I think the Pacifica looks great from the front but once you get past the sliding doors it looks like they ran out of design money, the back just doesn't have the same design to match the front. We ended up getting the 2014 Odyssey used at the same dealer. With only 5700 miles on it and being the Elite model, it just made sense. The Odyssey has been an incredible van, 36,000 miles now and no issues. The Odyssey is extremely easy for DIY oil and transmission fluid draining and has been a great vehicle.
Rental review, 2017 Chrysler Pacifica.
- Thread starter PimTac
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Originally Posted By: carguy996
We had ordered a Pacifica when they first came out as a 2017 model in March 2016. I previously had a Grand Caravan that we liked, it was comfortable and rode incredibly well. The dealer demo Pacifica came in at the end of February 2016, after a drive around the block I had my order cancelled. The seats weren't as comfortable as our 2010, the transmission was always confused about what gear to be in, lots of fit and finish issues observed with some dash trim pieces. Perhaps the biggest gripe I had was styling. I think the Pacifica looks great from the front but once you get past the sliding doors it looks like they ran out of design money, the back just doesn't have the same design to match the front. We ended up getting the 2014 Odyssey used at the same dealer. With only 5700 miles on it and being the Elite model, it just made sense. The Odyssey has been an incredible van, 36,000 miles now and no issues. The Odyssey is extremely easy for DIY oil and transmission fluid draining and has been a great vehicle.
Your experience pretty much matches mine. I did notice the rear design. One positive was that you can find it in a parking lot. I agree, it doesn’t match. It looks like a speed racer rear attached to the conservatively styled front.
That transmission would drive me crazy if it were mine. It was constantly shifting back and forth, struggling with trying to keep up versus getting another tenth of a mpg in fuel economy. The funny part was that it was doing this on fairly level streets. Now my new Mazda just seems to know what gear it should be in. No waffling, plus it has a normal shift lever and not a knob.
Comfort of course is personal. My big gripe was the slightly off center driving position to the wheel. Some manufacturers design their vehicles that way for whatever reason. Space limitations? Who knows?
We had ordered a Pacifica when they first came out as a 2017 model in March 2016. I previously had a Grand Caravan that we liked, it was comfortable and rode incredibly well. The dealer demo Pacifica came in at the end of February 2016, after a drive around the block I had my order cancelled. The seats weren't as comfortable as our 2010, the transmission was always confused about what gear to be in, lots of fit and finish issues observed with some dash trim pieces. Perhaps the biggest gripe I had was styling. I think the Pacifica looks great from the front but once you get past the sliding doors it looks like they ran out of design money, the back just doesn't have the same design to match the front. We ended up getting the 2014 Odyssey used at the same dealer. With only 5700 miles on it and being the Elite model, it just made sense. The Odyssey has been an incredible van, 36,000 miles now and no issues. The Odyssey is extremely easy for DIY oil and transmission fluid draining and has been a great vehicle.
Your experience pretty much matches mine. I did notice the rear design. One positive was that you can find it in a parking lot. I agree, it doesn’t match. It looks like a speed racer rear attached to the conservatively styled front.
That transmission would drive me crazy if it were mine. It was constantly shifting back and forth, struggling with trying to keep up versus getting another tenth of a mpg in fuel economy. The funny part was that it was doing this on fairly level streets. Now my new Mazda just seems to know what gear it should be in. No waffling, plus it has a normal shift lever and not a knob.
Comfort of course is personal. My big gripe was the slightly off center driving position to the wheel. Some manufacturers design their vehicles that way for whatever reason. Space limitations? Who knows?
Originally Posted By: JTK
Kind of surprised on the drivetrain issues, but I'm not familiar with what transmission is used in the new Pacifica. To me, the Pentastar and 6spd 62TE used in the Grand Caravans is really powerful, loaded down or not.
Funny you said that. I just came back from Denver and had rented a GC with only 8,000 miles and that thing was a complete pig. I had to wind it out every time I merged onto the highway.
Kind of surprised on the drivetrain issues, but I'm not familiar with what transmission is used in the new Pacifica. To me, the Pentastar and 6spd 62TE used in the Grand Caravans is really powerful, loaded down or not.
Funny you said that. I just came back from Denver and had rented a GC with only 8,000 miles and that thing was a complete pig. I had to wind it out every time I merged onto the highway.
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I don't know if some manufacturers have specially made/equipped vehicles with fleet sales in mind, but in some cases it sure seems like it.
GM and Ford have been known to build outgoing models when they introduce new models and those end up as rental or government fleet.
I don't think FCA is doing that with the migration from Town & Country/Caravan to Pacifica, it seems like the rental companies all have them and Google is running a whole fleet of them as Waymos(and cheaper than Uber's Volvo XC90 self-driving mules). The Caravan might be sold under the Ram brand for fleets, but the ProMaster City is direct competition for it.
I don't know if some manufacturers have specially made/equipped vehicles with fleet sales in mind, but in some cases it sure seems like it.
GM and Ford have been known to build outgoing models when they introduce new models and those end up as rental or government fleet.
I don't think FCA is doing that with the migration from Town & Country/Caravan to Pacifica, it seems like the rental companies all have them and Google is running a whole fleet of them as Waymos(and cheaper than Uber's Volvo XC90 self-driving mules). The Caravan might be sold under the Ram brand for fleets, but the ProMaster City is direct competition for it.
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
PimTac, did you have any photos or video of the car at pick up time to show if the "damage" was already there?
A former coworker had an extreme case of what you ran into at the end of a business trip, was returning his car at SJC when a rental worker rushing to park a car crashed right into him. The site manager came out to make sure my coworker was OK and assured him that there was no issue, the damage was all on them and gave his name and number for reference. My coworker really didn't want to miss the redeye home, so he went with it.
You guessed it, the rental company got in touch with him back home and said he was liable for massive damages to the car he had rented. He called the manager and the guy said he had no knowledge of any accident at his site...you can imagine the mess he had to go through. Can't remember how it all went down in the end...
Yikes, which company was that with?
PimTac, did you have any photos or video of the car at pick up time to show if the "damage" was already there?
A former coworker had an extreme case of what you ran into at the end of a business trip, was returning his car at SJC when a rental worker rushing to park a car crashed right into him. The site manager came out to make sure my coworker was OK and assured him that there was no issue, the damage was all on them and gave his name and number for reference. My coworker really didn't want to miss the redeye home, so he went with it.
You guessed it, the rental company got in touch with him back home and said he was liable for massive damages to the car he had rented. He called the manager and the guy said he had no knowledge of any accident at his site...you can imagine the mess he had to go through. Can't remember how it all went down in the end...
Yikes, which company was that with?
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