Rental review, 2017 Chrysler Pacifica.

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I rented a intermediate sized vehicle from Enterprise and this is what I got. Came in handy for moving items.

Firstly, I am not a fan of Fiat Chrysler. The old old Chrysler cars were good. Not today’s stuff imo. Chrysler is on a morphine drip at the moment.

Pluses: Good cargo space. The stow and go seats are handy. Flat floor for loading things.

Minuses: Drivetrain was noisy and a bit weak. The transmission made a wa-wa noise as it kept shifting up and down constantly looking for fuel efficiency. That was distracting. Fit and finish was average. The reverse camera came on about 15 seconds after the car moved in reverse and then stayed on as we moved forward. Loose parts in the interior. This was a rental so I will give FCA a break here. The vehicle drove okay. It didn’t fit me as the steering wheel was off center to my driving position. This would not be a car I would purchase.


Additional; Enterprise customer service was pretty good as we got the the car. In and out in short order. However, when we returned the vehicle, we were tagged with suspicious damage to the rear of the passenger front fender. This was the tail of the fender joining up with the bottom trim. It looked like it had popped and sprung inwards. No signs of anyone hitting the car. We were never in any kind of accident situation. It appeared to me like a clip had given away and separated the two pieces. I have heard that rental companies are getting very finicky on damages. The costs to consumers is skyrocketing and even my insurance agent mentioned this. It is another money making scheme for these companies. Not only are we liable for damages but also for loss of income for the vehicle which in this case is hogwash. More to come on this. My CC will cover the issue as they explained over the phone.

Final verdict, thumbs down. Fiat Chrysler is a brand I cannot recommend. That’s sad considering the older Mopar cars were quite reliable.
 
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Sad that the fit & finish was so underwhelming, even if the car is a rental, the F&F should not deteriorate so quickly.

I agree that FCA is like that house on the block that has the For Sale sign hanging for way, way , too long.
 
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...
 
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.
 
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.

More than likely the ZF 9HP48 that also used in a few other FCA products as well as the Honda Pilot(in Touring and above)/Odyssey(below Touring)/Acura MDX and Range Rover Evoque.

I've been seeing quite a bit of the Pacificas on the road, I haven't sat in one yet as I don't have a reason to visit a Mopar dealer and surprisingly very few of them are being used as Ubers or Lyfts even though Enterprise and Hertz have agreements with both of them in place for weekly leases. The Pacifica does look sharp and the PHEV version beat Toyota at their own game. But if the fit & finish along with the ZF issues persist still, then Fiat's got some debugging to do.
 
This sounds incredibly similar to my review of the Toyota Sienna
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I had one as a rental too, only had 900 miles on it. I was actually impressed with it, no complaints about the ft and finish. I thought the push start button was a little too low and in an awkward position, but otherwise drove fine. I was up in Northern California and it was raining the entire time, so that might have masked a few things.
 
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...


WOW!!
 
Originally Posted By: wemay
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...


WOW!!


If it was rented under a corporate agreement, this should have been easy for the employee's company to resolve.
 
I completely forgot another function of this vehicle and that is the auto start/stop. I hated it. This was the first vehicle I have driven with this function. This and cylinder management are two functions I hope to avoid.

Since this was my first and only experience with this, I have a question. This one shut the engine off literally one second after stopping. I was under the impression that several seconds was the norm? Anyway I hope Fiat put good starters on these cars or else they will be a replaceable service at 30k. This system was so quick I would pull into my driveway and the engine would shut off before I could shift into park. Once I did shift it, the engine restarted for that two to three second period then shut off again. I did discover the button to disable this but it defaults to on each time you start the car. With cold mornings coming this would not be something I would appreciate. The EPA and the industry should look at other technology besides this.

Sorry for the rant.
 
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Originally Posted By: StevieC
I think the Dodge Caravan model is better than the new Pacifica in the way it rides / performs.




Is this the replacement for the Chrysler Town and Country? I thought the Pacifica was a awd vehicle in the past?
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
I completely forgot another function of this vehicle and that is the auto start/stop. I hated it. This was the first vehicle I have driven with this function. This and cylinder management are two functions I hope to avoid.

Since this was my first and only experience with this, I have a question. This one shut the engine off literally one second after stopping. I was under the impression that several seconds was the norm? Anyway I hope Fiat put good starters on these cars or else they will be a replaceable service at 30k. This system was so quick I would pull into my driveway and the engine would shut off before I could shift into park. Once I did shift it, the engine restarted for that two to three second period then shut off again. I did discover the button to disable this but it defaults to on each time you start the car. With cold mornings coming this would not be something I would appreciate. The EPA and the industry should look at other technology besides this.

Sorry for the rant.

The Stop start won't work if it's cold out and the engine isn't up to temp yet. I turn it off in my Cherokee though, I hate it.
I haven't seen any of the recent Mopar quality issues you've talked about in any of the ones in my sig nor two that I no longer own.
 
Originally Posted By: double vanos
Thanks for the write up. I agree with nthach, I have no reason to visit a fiat/chrysler dealer. Your review just bolstered my feelings about FCA.


Then my Sienna review should have done the same for your view of Toyota?

I find it amusing that some are quick to dismiss reviews that don't align with their pre-conceived notions, yet equally quick to praise those that do.

The only rental I've had stateside that I actually was pleased with 100% was a Mercedes. In Canada, we had a Durango for a rental, it was a good enough experience that we ended up looking at buying one.

I would have liked the OP to include pictures like most of us who do reviews generally do.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I think the Dodge Caravan model is better than the new Pacifica in the way it rides / performs.




Is this the replacement for the Chrysler Town and Country? I thought the Pacifica was a awd vehicle in the past?


Sort of and yes, respectively. The new Pacifica is intended to be a half-minivan half-crossover for buyers who don't like to be seen in minivans. Don't know if it's available in AWD now. It's dog ugly in my opinion; I'd like to know the ages of folks who don't disagree with the styling. I still am looking at late model Town & Countrys (like the style) to replace our old minivan, but no way would I ever consider a Pacifica due to styling alone.

I've heard there may be a new Caravan / Town & Country twin in a year or two. Just rumors for now, others may have more up to date news on this.
 
“I would have liked the OP to include pictures like most of us who do reviews generally do.”



I think this is a senior thing on my part. I’m not in the habit of taking pictures of everything. I should of when doing the walkaround. If I ever rent again I will.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac

“I would have liked the OP to include pictures like most of us who do reviews generally do.”



I think this is a senior thing on my part. I’m not in the habit of taking pictures of everything. I should of when doing the walkaround. If I ever rent again I will.


Thanks
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It makes these things a lot easier to understand when you can actually see them. For example, my gripe about the rear HVAC controls on the Sienna, a picture I think helps a lot more than just saying it is in a rather bizarre location
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Rentals are quite hard to judge. I recently had a 2017 Ford Focus as a rental for 2 weeks with only about 7k miles on it and I was not impressed by 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.
 
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