Oh no, not again, .... 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Touring L Plus

[Robert Hall]

14 minutes ago, regfootball said:

 

One huge beef that is becoming more and more irritating.  There are no dash buttons for the heated seats and no steering wheel button for the steering wheel.  To have to turn that on and off through the touch screen all the time is a MAJOR annoyance.

 

My Grand Cherokee is the same way--one thing I do like is how the buttons for those appear on the touchscreen at startup...so I punch them before the regular screen comes up and I have to navigate the menus to get to them. Does yours do that?    Agreed about the 3.6, very smooth engine. 

[G. David Felt]

9 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

My Grand Cherokee is the same way--one thing I do like is how the buttons for those appear on the touchscreen at startup...so I punch them before the regular screen comes up and I have to navigate the menus to get to them. Does yours do that?    Agreed about the 3.6, very smooth engine. 

What year is you Jeep? My son's 2017 GC if the temp is 45 or freezing or below auto turns on the seats and steering wheel. I am wondering if you got a software update if it would do that for you. He tells me he likes it as he remotes starts hi GC before he leaves his office, by the time he walks out to his jeep, the seats are warm as is the steering wheel. He said he will never have another auto that does not have those features.

28 minutes ago, regfootball said:

Loving the Pacifica!  The v6 pentastar in this thing is nice and smooth, revs nice, very good power.  Much nicer to drive than the GM 3.6.  The maligned 9 speed, no issues, tranny is smooth too.

Nice ride and drive, this is a great family vehicle.  Why Chrysler FCA is not proliferating this chassis and engine to some new Dodge and Chrysler crossovers and other vehicles is really insane.

One huge beef that is becoming more and more irritating.  There are no dash buttons for the heated seats and no steering wheel button for the steering wheel.  To have to turn that on and off through the touch screen all the time is a MAJOR annoyance.

The CarPlay hasn't worked for awhile now too.  Been trying to find what could possibly get it working again, but all things with the phone i have tried have not made a difference.  Will have to bring it to the dealer soon.

I wish this had a real console, armrest and traditional shift lever.  The rotary shift knob is efficient and easy to use, but i just prefer the typical shift lever on the console with a real armrest and console instead of the folding armrest off the seat.

Two things, my son's 2017 Jeep GC at 45 degrees and below auto turns on the seats and steering wheel so it warms up when he remotes starts it. If your Pacifica does not do that ask about a software update that might have it.

In regards to the CarPlay, that has happened on others I find on the internet, seems pulling the fuses to let the system hard reset and letting it sit for more than a few minutes has fixed it, I bet capacitors inside need to de-charge and then with a blank slate, upon putting the fuses back in to allow it to power up it reboots to reset.

That is what I would try.

[Robert Hall]

3 minutes ago, dfelt said:

What year is you Jeep?

Mine is a '14.  I need to check the settings to see if there is an auto on setting for them. 

[regfootball]

10 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

My Grand Cherokee is the same way--one thing I do like is how the buttons for those appear on the touchscreen at startup...so I punch them before the regular screen comes up and I have to navigate the menus to get to them. Does yours do that?    Agreed about the 3.6, very smooth engine. 

Yes, fortunately its as you describe, they will come up on the screen.  You gotta catch em before they go away.

10 hours ago, dfelt said:

What year is you Jeep? My son's 2017 GC if the temp is 45 or freezing or below auto turns on the seats and steering wheel. I am wondering if you got a software update if it would do that for you. He tells me he likes it as he remotes starts hi GC before he leaves his office, by the time he walks out to his jeep, the seats are warm as is the steering wheel. He said he will never have another auto that does not have those features.

Two things, my son's 2017 Jeep GC at 45 degrees and below auto turns on the seats and steering wheel so it warms up when he remotes starts it. If your Pacifica does not do that ask about a software update that might have it.

In regards to the CarPlay, that has happened on others I find on the internet, seems pulling the fuses to let the system hard reset and letting it sit for more than a few minutes has fixed it, I bet capacitors inside need to de-charge and then with a blank slate, upon putting the fuses back in to allow it to power up it reboots to reset.

That is what I would try.

thanks for the advice on the fuses.  should be worth a try.

there is a settings menu where you can set whether the heated seats and wheel come on when starting.  We have it set for that and it is a huge convenience.  ALthough the heated wheel is so toasty that is when i go hunting for a means to turn it off.  To not just have the switch on the wheel for that is frustrating.

Edited January 21, 2019 by regfootball

[Robert Hall]

The wheel does get toasty.  The GC is my first vehicle w heated wheel, so it’s nice to have in Ohio.  

[Drew Dowdell]

I thought you could customize the row of buttons at the bottom of the screen.  Make it so the heated seat button is always there. 

[regfootball]

you still have to go through three menus or whatever.  where a simply simple actual button with one press and tactility would be awesome.  touchscreen is fine for redundancy, but for me something like heated seat and steering wheel switches should have real primary access buttons.

Edited January 27, 2019 by regfootball

[daves87rs]

On 1/22/2019 at 9:33 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

I thought you could customize the row of buttons at the bottom of the screen.  Make it so the heated seat button is always there. 

 

Kinda thought that too...pretty sure my sil has that at startup....

[2QuickZ's]

On 1/22/2019 at 9:33 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

I thought you could customize the row of buttons at the bottom of the screen.  Make it so the heated seat button is always there. 

You can absolutely do that.  You just drag it from the app screen down to the button bar at the bottom or the screen and it will replace whatever you drop it on top of.  Here is what the screen on our Pacific currently looks like.  We'll dump the heated seat and heated wheel buttons for something else once it warms up.

 

Edited January 28, 2019 by 2QuickZ's
Let me try that again with a smaller pic

[regfootball]

1 hour ago, 2QuickZ's said:

You can absolutely do that.  You just drag it from the app screen down to the button bar at the bottom or the screen and it will replace whatever you drop it on top of.  Here is what the screen on our Pacific currently looks like.  We'll dump the heated seat and heated wheel buttons for something else once it warms up.

 

ah, now that i have to try.  thanks for the tip.  otherwise, if you just click on the climate app, you have to do four touches to get back to the radio screen.  you usually want the heated wheel on for a bit at startup so you can't turn it off right away when its on the splash screen.  Is the app still only one click?   Even with this I prefer an actual button.  If they can provide one for traction control and other climate functions, it should have a button for heated seats and wheel.

Edited January 28, 2019 by regfootball

[G. David Felt]

11 hours ago, regfootball said:

ah, now that i have to try.  thanks for the tip.  otherwise, if you just click on the climate app, you have to do four touches to get back to the radio screen.  you usually want the heated wheel on for a bit at startup so you can't turn it off right away when its on the splash screen.  Is the app still only one click?   Even with this I prefer an actual button.  If they can provide one for traction control and other climate functions, it should have a button for heated seats and wheel.

Have not tried this on my son's jeep, but any voice control on the system? Just call the auto whatever the app name is and say heated seat?

[2QuickZ's]

16 hours ago, regfootball said:

ah, now that i have to try.  thanks for the tip.  otherwise, if you just click on the climate app, you have to do four touches to get back to the radio screen.

You don't have to go into the climate screen either.  Both heated seats as well as heated wheel are directly under the "Apps" icon.  If when you go into Apps they are not on the first page, you can drag them and drop them from the first page to the second.

In regard to getting back to the Radio screen, why don't you just tap the "Radio" icon on the bottom bar??

Edited January 28, 2019 by 2QuickZ's

[Robert Hall]

On my '14 Jeep, the heated seats and wheel are on the Controls menu item instead of Apps.  Probably differs with newer UConnect versions.   And they are also there on the splash screen, which is when I usually turn them on.

[2QuickZ's]

It's in all those places plus under Apps on the 18 Pacifica

Edited January 29, 2019 by 2QuickZ's
Corrected spelling

[regfootball]

and despite all that, could still be more easily taken care of with a simple tactile button on the dash. 

Edited January 29, 2019 by regfootball

[Drew Dowdell]

On 1/28/2019 at 9:11 PM, regfootball said:

and despite all that, could still be more easily taken care of with a simple tactile button on the dash. 

But this way, its customizable.... someone in miami who doesn't need the button can move it off the page in favor of something else. 

[G. David Felt]

57 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

But this way, its customizable.... someone in miami who doesn't need the button can move it off the page in favor of something else. 

Drew, do you know if the Uconnect system is voice capable for access?

Uconnect turn on heated seats

Uconnect turn on heated steering wheel

??????

[Drew Dowdell]

Just now, dfelt said:

Drew, do you know if the Uconnect system is voice capable for access?

Uconnect turn on heated seats

Uconnect turn on heated steering wheel

??????

not that I'm aware of. 

[regfootball]

5 hours ago, dfelt said:

Drew, do you know if the Uconnect system is voice capable for access?

Uconnect turn on heated seats

Uconnect turn on heated steering wheel

??????

and if the passengers are asleep and i don't want to wake them, i don't want to use voice command.

[Robert Hall]

Voice commands aren't for me, but I wonder if with Car Play or Android Auto there is a way to use Siri or Cortana..(wait, Cortana is Microsoft--what is the name of the Android Assistant?).  I have devices that use Siri or Alexa at home, but never use it.

Edited January 31, 2019 by Robert Hall

[G. David Felt]

7 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Voice commands aren't for me, but I wonder if with Car Play or Android Auto there is a way to use Siri or Cortana..(wait, Cortana is Microsoft--what is the name of the Android Assistant?).  I have devices that use Siri or Alexa at home, but never use it.

I thought with Android you said "OK, Google" That is how I talk to my Note 8.

[Drew Dowdell]

18 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Voice commands aren't for me, but I wonder if with Car Play or Android Auto there is a way to use Siri or Cortana..(wait, Cortana is Microsoft--what is the name of the Android Assistant?).  I have devices that use Siri or Alexa at home, but never use it.

Google Assistant

[caddycruiser]

On 1/22/2019 at 9:33 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

I thought you could customize the row of buttons at the bottom of the screen.  Make it so the heated seat button is always there. 

This is possible on 2018's and newer. Although the screens and buttons "look the same" on a 2017 vs. 2018 model, as an example, 2018 and newer UConnects are all new, from graphics to hardware to CarPlay, and have the drag & drop.

We have the "base" 7.0" UConnect in our 2018 Grand Cherokee, with drag & drop. Helps, just like a smartphone, to put what you want where you want it.

[regfootball]

 

it's CRAZY the mpg on a huge cavernous heavy minivan, that 26.3 is mix of city / highway over many miles, the 32.5 was a long stretch of about 80 miles on a trip last weekend.  and a nice strong smooth and quiet v6.

 

The carplay hadn't worked in several months and then my wife said the car did itself and over the air update the other day.  And after that, the screen apps were updated and some new things, and the Carplay fixed itself and started working again.  WIN no trip to the dealer.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by regfootball

[Drew Dowdell]

Amazing mileage for such a big vehicle and as @smk4565 puts it.. an "old" engine.  Just goes to show, newer isn't always better.  I bet a turbo-4 with the same horsepower would suck fuel like crazy because the boost would always be on. 

[2QuickZ's]

We took ours from Michigan to Florida and back including driving through the mountains on the back roads from Atlanta to Pigeon Forge and I bet it averaged 26 - 26.5 mpg for the round trip.  The stop/start did quit working coming down one of those mountains, though.  They replaced the battery and reflashed it and it has been good since.  The dealership told me I needed to drive it more.  I told the guy, more than the 17,500 miles I put on it in the first 12 months of ownership? ?

On a side note, don't put bad windshield washer solvent in these.  Cost me $320 for a new pump, filter and blowing out the lines.  Could have done it myself for $40 worth of parts but just didn't feel like messing around with it.  Anyway, they said use the blue stuff only.

[ocnblu]

Yikes, I used the purple stuff, has a rain deterrent in it that works moderately well, hasn't clogged my veins so far, but I heard the same thing you're saying from others.

[Drew Dowdell]

I use the Rainex brand all the time. 

[Robert Hall]

Speaking of the Pacifica, haven't seen any mention here about the return of the Voyager name for the lower Pacifica trims.

[G. David Felt]

I am seeing less and less of the Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Kia minivans. They truly seem to be a dying breed.

[Drew Dowdell]

55 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Speaking of the Pacifica, haven't seen any mention here about the return of the Voyager name for the lower Pacifica trims.

it came out on a day I was sick and I never circled back around to put it up.  But you've essentially written the whole thing.  The lower trims are now Voyager instead of Pacifica. 

16 minutes ago, dfelt said:

I am seeing less and less of the Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Kia minivans. They truly seem to be a dying breed.

One wonders... with the small number of sales in the minivan segment, how do they keep the cars alive.  When, as in Ford's case, they were selling 250,000 Fusions a year and couldn't keep it going.  That's almost as much as the whole minivan segment alone. 

[riviera74]

32 minutes ago, dfelt said:

I am seeing less and less of the Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Kia minivans. They truly seem to be a dying breed.

Same here.  Apparently nobody wants to buy a minivan anymore.  Can't imagine why.

[Robert Hall]

1 minute ago, riviera74 said:

Same here.  Apparently nobody wants to buy a minivan anymore.  Can't imagine why.

They make a lot more sense as a family hauler than the CUV or SUV..taller inside, power sliding doors, etc...

[G. David Felt]

16 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

They make a lot more sense as a family hauler than the CUV or SUV..taller inside, power sliding doors, etc...

Would be cool to have a suburban with a power sliding door.

[Robert Hall]

Just now, dfelt said:

Would be cool to have a suburban with a power sliding door.

Yeah...and the height of a minivan is big part of the difference for an adult getting in the third row..I recall getting in the 3rd row of an Uber Burban in SF a few years ago, was awkward even with the size of the Burban... 

[regfootball]

i still know plenty of folks like us that have a van.

declining segment, yes.  But there is still very few models.  Odyssey, Sienna, Chrysler buyers all like them.

That said.  I think they could stand to add AWD to them, and that might help them regain new interest.  The Sienna is odd that way in that at least in the past it added run flat tires.  If they keep the price of the AWD down, the sliding doors alone make many folks go to a van vs an SUV.

That said (part duex) now that our kids are getting older etc. I could see an Enclave or Atlas etc. in the future to replace the Chrysler.  The kids can be trusted to not fling doors open into other cars these days.  Chrysler needs to make a 3 row SUV off the Pacifica platform.

Sometimes the van is TOO big for everyday outings.  Maybe the next step in vans is to try to reduce the size 5% while figuring out how to keep nearly the same usable space.

 

9 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Speaking of the Pacifica, haven't seen any mention here about the return of the Voyager name for the lower Pacifica trims.

noteworthy, the Voyager does not have Sto N Go.  One way to keep PAcifica resale from tanking while cheapening the base trims is to rename the base trim to another model and stripping the features out of that.  They can pump up the Pacifica MSRP's and the Voyager can become the cheap lease special.

[Robert Hall]

My next door neighbors have an older F150, and a Sienna and an Odyssey, both around 10 years old..now that their kids are both driving (one in high school w/ an FR-S, one in college w/ a Compass), I assume they will get something else eventually. 

Speaking of minivans, I wonder if they will eventually drop the Caravan or rebadge the Voyager for Dodge dealers.   It's still selling...

[riviera74]

24 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

My next door neighbors have an older F150, and a Sienna and an Odyssey, both around 10 years old..now that their kids are both driving (one in high school w/ an FR-S, one in college w/ a Compass), I assume they will get something else eventually. 

Speaking of minivans, I wonder if they will eventually drop the Caravan or rebadge the Voyager for Dodge dealers.   It's still selling...

Are you sure that Chrysler and Dodge dealers are still separate?  Eleven years ago about 1000 dealers went bankrupt.  Virtually all of them were GM, Ford and FCA dealerships.  I suspect there was a lot of consolidation of those dealers too.

[Robert Hall]

14 hours ago, riviera74 said:

Are you sure that Chrysler and Dodge dealers are still separate?  Eleven years ago about 1000 dealers went bankrupt.  Virtually all of them were GM, Ford and FCA dealerships.  I suspect there was a lot of consolidation of those dealers too.

Ah, good point... many do seem to be CJRD dealers nowadays (that's all I've seen in NE Ohio and the Phoenix area)...so they probably they don't need a Dodge version.  Maybe Voyager is the strategy to replace the current Caravan...  Dodge if it's around in 5 years will probably just be the Charger and Challenger, since the Durango will probably be replaced by the 3 row Jeep. 

Edited July 10, 2019 by Robert Hall

[regfootball]

there is a dealer near here that is Chrysler Jeep only and then a separately owned Dodge dealer like 2 miles away.  

[riviera74]

12 hours ago, regfootball said:

there is a dealer near here that is Chrysler Jeep only and then a separately owned Dodge dealer like 2 miles away.  

That may be true where you live.  But down here in SW FL, all the FCA dealerships are under one roof.  It has been that way for at least a decade.

[ocnblu]

21 hours ago, regfootball said:

there is a dealer near here that is Chrysler Jeep only and then a separately owned Dodge dealer like 2 miles away.  

That is the arrangement in my town as well.

[caddycruiser]

These are great...and as always, the "regular 3.6L Pentastar" is a better performer with better real world mileage even in big vehicles, than so many new turbo, etc. iterations.

Great vehicle.

[regfootball]

On 7/10/2019 at 6:56 PM, ocnblu said:

That is the arrangement in my town as well.

the dealer a couple miles from my house though is all mopar.  dodge chrysler, jeep and ram.  and they have some GLADIATORS!  I've been digging those lately and i am neither a Jeep guy or a pickup guy.  But a bright red GLADIATOR would be cool.

[balthazar]

I've seen a few Gladiators- would have been better as a 'Wrangler SUV' because the bed is literally pointless.

[regfootball]

19 hours ago, balthazar said:

I've seen a few Gladiators- would have been better as a 'Wrangler SUV' because the bed is literally pointless.

For some Jeep types I think all they may really want is to carry an SUV, i don't know if it does that.

 

It carries larger and longer items under the tonneau also.

Edited July 13, 2019 by regfootball

[ocnblu]

45 minutes ago, regfootball said:

carry an SUV

Do you mean an ATV?

[regfootball]

6 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Do you mean an ATV?

LOL yes

[balthazar]

My God- you can't even put a bicycle in the back of a Gladiator with a front wheel OFF and close the tailgate! Every googleimage pic of a dirt bike or ATV has the tailgate open. 1 more foot and it would be a lot more useful/secure. Or perhaps the concept is not fully baked. 

[regfootball]

4 minutes ago, balthazar said:

My God- you can't even put a bicycle in the back of a Gladiator with a front wheel OFF and close the tailgate! Every googleimage pic of a dirt bike or ATV has the tailgate open. 1 more foot and it would be a lot more useful/secure. Or perhaps the concept is not fully baked. 

i wonder if someone will develop one of those rear of cargo box gate type things that extend out the back of the bed when the tailgate is down.  People who had explorer sporttracs and chevy avalanches had them a lot of the time.

since you can change the tops over the seating area, i wonder if someone will develop a system to put a matching style top over the bed.

 

Edited July 13, 2019 by regfootball