Bought a new minivan

[2QuickZ's]

2018 Chrysler Pacifica Touring L Plus

And I am super excited about it. It almost makes me sad that it is my wife's vehicle.  For the life of me I have no idea why these things have such a bad reputation amongst the general public.  They do everything a CUV does but better, with the possible exception of towing and that even depends on which CUV you are comparing it to.  I personally think this thing is kick ass.  I just wish GM would rejoin the market and make a stylish minivan.  A Buick minivan would be good.  Maybe make a little more stylish version of the GL8 they sell in China?

 

[ocnblu]

Love the S package.  Nice one there!

[Drew Dowdell]

You know what, these drive so nice.... and they finally made a mini-van that actually looks good. This is really the best crossover alternative out there that can still do all the hauling a crossover can do and more.  I know @ocnblu would make fun of me for it, but I'd get the plug-in version... if only because it adds a bunch more scoot to the pentastar. 

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

You know what, these drive so nice.... and they finally made a mini-van that actually looks good. This is really the best crossover alternative out there that can still do all the hauling a crossover can do and more.  I know @ocnblu would make fun of me for it, but I'd get the plug-in version... if only because it adds a bunch more scoot to the pentastar. 

Me Too, I would if I could up Vote this +1000!  

[A Horse With No Name]

Sweet looking ride, and congrats!

 

[ccap41]

I'm sorry..

Edited May 9, 2018 by ccap41

[G. David Felt]

22 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I'm sorry..

Um....... Why?

[ccap41]

Because minivan. 

[Drew Dowdell]

56 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Because minivan. 

He got the best one on the market and he likes it. 

[2QuickZ's]

19 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

You know what, these drive so nice.... and they finally made a mini-van that actually looks good. This is really the best crossover alternative out there that can still do all the hauling a crossover can do and more.  I know @ocnblu would make fun of me for it, but I'd get the plug-in version... if only because it adds a bunch more scoot to the pentastar. 

It's funny you say that about the hybrid.  My wife is the primary driver of this and she only has a 5 mile commute to work.  We STRONGLY considered the hybrid.  There are no deals to be had, though.  Yes, the $7500 back from the government but dealers are giving hardly any extra markdown and there are no rebates.  The lease deals are horrible.  We were originally going to wait until fall to see if they would blow out the MY18 hybrids that they didn't try too hard to sell/lease during the model year but got a good enough deal on this gas powered one to pull the trigger now.

One thing they need to fix if they want to sell/lease the hybrid to your average Joe, the dealerships need to keep one charged up for test drives.  We didn't try too many dealerships but none of the ones we did try kept one charged.  It would be nice to know how they drive on pure electricity if that is how you are going to be driving it 95% of the time.

7 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I'm sorry..

No need to be sorry!  These things are awesome.  You are the one missing out. ?

[ccap41]

15 hours ago, 2QuickZ's said:

No need to be sorry!  These things are awesome.  You are the one missing out. ?

They really are, assuming that is. I've been in modern Odysseys and Siennas and they're incredibly nice with boat loads of room. When I worked in a shop we actually had a tougher time lifting modern vans than anything else just because they're so damn wide now.  

[ocnblu]

Is it sad that I would drive it with all the seats folded into the floor and use it as a really fancy cargo hauler?

[2QuickZ's]

13 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Is it sad that I would drive it with all the seats folded into the floor and use it as a really fancy cargo hauler?

Not at all.  They are basically an enclosed pickup truck but without the towing capacity.

[Drew Dowdell]

1 hour ago, 2QuickZ's said:

Not at all.  They are basically an enclosed pickup truck but without the towing capacity.

and much better ride

[Robert Hall]

1 minute ago, Drew Dowdell said:

and much better ride

And a much lower lift over into the cargo area.  

[ocnblu]

Why I have an affinity for the Promaster City and Transit Connect. 

[regfootball]

On 5/9/2018 at 4:43 PM, 2QuickZ's said:

It's funny you say that about the hybrid.  My wife is the primary driver of this and she only has a 5 mile commute to work.  We STRONGLY considered the hybrid.  There are no deals to be had, though.  Yes, the $7500 back from the government but dealers are giving hardly any extra markdown and there are no rebates.  The lease deals are horrible.  We were originally going to wait until fall to see if they would blow out the MY18 hybrids that they didn't try too hard to sell/lease during the model year but got a good enough deal on this gas powered one to pull the trigger now.

One thing they need to fix if they want to sell/lease the hybrid to your average Joe, the dealerships need to keep one charged up for test drives.  We didn't try too many dealerships but none of the ones we did try kept one charged.  It would be nice to know how they drive on pure electricity if that is how you are going to be driving it 95% of the time.

No need to be sorry!  These things are awesome.  You are the one missing out. ?

Give Sergio 2-3 years to sort out the hybrid powertrain glitches and maybe then they will offer lease deals on them.

 

LOVE YOUR S PACKAGE BY THE WAY!

I am going to get my six month review of our Pacifica up soon.  I am even wondering if we shouldn't get a second Pacfica, and I would get an S package too.  I think they should offer S package with cloth.  They should do a special console with the S  package too.

 

Now if they would just turbo that pentastar too!

Edited June 8, 2018 by regfootball

[2QuickZ's]

On 6/8/2018 at 7:45 PM, regfootball said:

Give Sergio 2-3 years to sort out the hybrid powertrain glitches and maybe then they will offer lease deals on them.

 

LOVE YOUR S PACKAGE BY THE WAY!

I am going to get my six month review of our Pacifica up soon.  I am even wondering if we shouldn't get a second Pacfica, and I would get an S package too.  I think they should offer S package with cloth.  They should do a special console with the S  package too.

 

Now if they would just turbo that pentastar too!

The T&C was purchased for me to drive because the wife refused to drive a minivan.  We only had that for a week or so before she took it over and it became hers.  She sadly is still stuck on the minivan stigma so she seriously considered an SUV instead this time around.  We were looking at GMC Acadias and Chevy Traverses but at the end of the day, we just got way more for our money with the Pacifica.  And she does love the convenience of the minivan.  All that being said, I would say there is a 99% chance that when we replace it in a few years the kids will be old enough she will switch to an SUV.   Our shot at the hybrid has come and gone.

The S package is nice!  It looks pretty good on all colors I have seen with it too.  I saw a dark blue S-package yesterday and it probably looked better than our red one.  I also saw an orange S-package and even that looked good!

I personally think the Pacifica looks great in pretty much any color or trim save for maybe the base no chrome models.  Weirdly enough I am very drawn to that Cordovan brown color.  If we had not found this S-package, that is probably what we would have bought.

Edited June 16, 2018 by 2QuickZ's
clarified a comment

[2QuickZ's]

Hey Reg, I forgot but did you buy or lease your T&C?

The reason I ask is because I was shocked what I was able to get for ours when we sold it.  We had bought our 2013 used off lease and we got a pretty good deal on it but not spectacular.  There were others around in the price range.  After 2.5 years of ownership I was able to sell it for only $3.5k less than what I paid for it!  And at that the guy that bought it was very happy with the price.  Most of the comparable ones in my area were listed for at least $1500 more than I listed mine for and I live in metro Detroit so there is no shortage of them around.

[2QuickZ's]

We took this on a 2200 mile family vacation road trip in early July.  Here are my comments:

• The seats are supremely comfortable!  Way better than the old T&C and better than my 200S as well.  I have neck and back issues and usually take ibuprofen before hitting the road but it was not necessary in this at all.  No complaints from the kids in the back seats either!
• Turns out you can play a different movie on each screen off the same USB stick.  The kids were quite pleased with this!
• The built-in WiFi worked like...... well, WiFi.  As expected I guess you would say.  The downside is that it is a 5G system so it was useless with my kids 2.4G Kindle Fire's
• The factory Nav worked well on the whole but checking it against Google maps there were a couple of instances where Google maps had a more time efficient route
• I did not try Android Auto on the trip but I did use it last weekend for a 2 hour road trip and it connected easily and worked flawlessly with Google maps navigation
• I have the gas receipts and did calculate each tank.  Most the time the VIC was optimistic by 1 - 1.5 MPG over actual but I did have one tank that calculated out a little higher than VIC predicted.  I did not calculate overall trip MPG but I would guess it was around 26 MPG including a lot of remote starts (it was smoking hot weather) and a fair amount of in town driving at each stop including in the mountains in Tennessee
• Rain-X is awesome!  We hit rainstorms in the Kentucky and Tennessee that had people pulling over with their flashers on and we never even had to turn the wipers on!  I'm a long time but occasional Rain-X user and what I applied came out of a 10-15 year old bottle and still worked flawlessly.

Overall I rate this van very, very highly.  If it doesn't have any reliability issues, it's going to be an awesome vehicle!

[Drew Dowdell]

On ‎6‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 8:45 AM, 2QuickZ's said:

Hey Reg, I forgot but did you buy or lease your T&C?

The reason I ask is because I was shocked what I was able to get for ours when we sold it.  We had bought our 2013 used off lease and we got a pretty good deal on it but not spectacular.  There were others around in the price range.  After 2.5 years of ownership I was able to sell it for only $3.5k less than what I paid for it!  And at that the guy that bought it was very happy with the price.  Most of the comparable ones in my area were listed for at least $1500 more than I listed mine for and I live in metro Detroit so there is no shortage of them around.

@regfootball

[regfootball]

On 6/16/2018 at 7:45 AM, 2QuickZ's said:

Hey Reg, I forgot but did you buy or lease your T&C?

The reason I ask is because I was shocked what I was able to get for ours when we sold it.  We had bought our 2013 used off lease and we got a pretty good deal on it but not spectacular.  There were others around in the price range.  After 2.5 years of ownership I was able to sell it for only $3.5k less than what I paid for it!  And at that the guy that bought it was very happy with the price.  Most of the comparable ones in my area were listed for at least $1500 more than I listed mine for and I live in metro Detroit so there is no shortage of them around.

The town and country was a lease.  My buyout was pretty high but i was surprised to see the market values on the Chrysler vans seemed to be up there.  Not in trade perhaps, but buying used.  Good to see you got to use yours for minimal $$$.

I wasn't gonna buy my three year old.  Payments would have been pretty high and it made sense to just lease again.  If vans and Chryslers held their value more on trade maybe buying would work for me but i don't want to hang onto a minivan for a long time. Like you mentioned, despite the utility and all the good packaging, the next time around we may go back to the SUV.  The value per dollar with the van now is huge.

On 8/2/2018 at 7:42 PM, 2QuickZ's said:

We took this on a 2200 mile family vacation road trip in early July.  Here are my comments:

• The seats are supremely comfortable!  Way better than the old T&C and better than my 200S as well.  I have neck and back issues and usually take ibuprofen before hitting the road but it was not necessary in this at all.  No complaints from the kids in the back seats either!
• Turns out you can play a different movie on each screen off the same USB stick.  The kids were quite pleased with this!
• The built-in WiFi worked like...... well, WiFi.  As expected I guess you would say.  The downside is that it is a 5G system so it was useless with my kids 2.4G Kindle Fire's
• The factory Nav worked well on the whole but checking it against Google maps there were a couple of instances where Google maps had a more time efficient route
• I did not try Android Auto on the trip but I did use it last weekend for a 2 hour road trip and it connected easily and worked flawlessly with Google maps navigation
• I have the gas receipts and did calculate each tank.  Most the time the VIC was optimistic by 1 - 1.5 MPG over actual but I did have one tank that calculated out a little higher than VIC predicted.  I did not calculate overall trip MPG but I would guess it was around 26 MPG including a lot of remote starts (it was smoking hot weather) and a fair amount of in town driving at each stop including in the mountains in Tennessee
• Rain-X is awesome!  We hit rainstorms in the Kentucky and Tennessee that had people pulling over with their flashers on and we never even had to turn the wipers on!  I'm a long time but occasional Rain-X user and what I applied came out of a 10-15 year old bottle and still worked flawlessly.

Overall I rate this van very, very highly.  If it doesn't have any reliability issues, it's going to be an awesome vehicle!

Yes, tremendous trip vehicle.  the front seats are great.  Your mpg is close to what we get. in fact it gets better with age.  LAst trip return leg we got 31+ with four on board.  CRAZY.   BUt i agree the DIC is optimistic by about the same amount you say.

[2QuickZ's]

I guess since reg gave an update, I should as well. ?

I still love this thing.  I don't get the hate for minivans.  I now understand why my Dad was so infatuated with them when I was younger.  They are just an all around great vehicle.  It essentially does everything an SUV/CUV can do but it does it better with the exception of towing.  Both of my kids love it and think it is the best vehicle ever.  I'd blame that on the entertainment system but we don't let them use it unless we are going to be in the car for more than 30 minutes and even on short trips they would rather take the van than my CTS.  That's no knock on the CTS.  More of a testament to the van.

It now has close to 12,000 miles on it.  No issues to speak of.  One oil change and other than that, no trips to the dealer.  It gets pretty good gas mileage for such a big vehicle.  See the attached pic.  Note that this is not typical but it can do this in the correct conditions.  Having calculated other tanks, I'd say you can knock 1 MPG off what the VIC is showing but still impressive none the less.

 

[A Horse With No Name]

I have had a bunch of town and country and also Pacificas as rentals. Absolutely cannot say enough good about either one.

[regfootball]

Yes, the mpg is doable.  With it being winter and shitty winter blend gas, we aren't getting that sweet mpg right now, but 23-25 in general driving is easy in good season and the 30 is doable with the right conditions on trips.  I really sort of would love to see a typical non minivan console with floor shifter made available and full armrest.  I know that won't happen but i can dream.  I honestly would consider next PAc we get to just be simple cloth seats, no moonroof, still have power doors etc. but I would probably try the 8 passenger too.  It's just that even though its nimble and car like for a minivan, the size does tend to be a bit much at times.

Its pretty crazy that practicality and user friendliness tends to account for a lot in what we want to drive these days.

Edited January 28, 2019 by regfootball

[A Horse With No Name]

I am in love with these. And yes I have knocked down almost 30 on road trips.

[2QuickZ's]

A few updates on the van.  We have had it almost 18 months and it is about to roll 24k miles.  We still love the thing.  Last spring we drove it from metro Detroit to Orlando, Fl and back with a 2 night stop in Atlanta on the way down and 2 nights in Pigeon Forge, TN on the way back.  Even with Atlanta, Orlando and Pigeon Forge traffic I think we still averaged around 26.5 mpg for the trip IIRC.

Unfortunately the stop/start battery died in the mountains of Tennessee on the way back.  This was right at the 12 month mark of ownership.  The funny part is the dealership tried to tell me that the reason the battery died is because we don't drive it enough.  I asked him how 18k miles in 12 months isn't enough?  ? Obviously he had no reply.

The most recent trip was metro Detroit to St. Louis.  Great city to vacation in with kids!  Tons of stuff to do there.  It was around an 1100 mile trip.  First tank was calculated as 26.7 mpg - 80 mph and 3 adults and 2 kids in the car.  The second tank was 24.7 mpg calculated with 4 days of short, local trips around St. Louis included.  Not too bad.

The only other issue we have had with the van is the battery covers breaking on both wireless headphones.  This is a known issue that unfortunately is not covered by Chrysler's B2B warranty but is covered directly through Delphi (now Aptiv).  They were on back order for like 6 weeks but we did eventually receive a set of new replacements in the mail.

It is also starting to make a groaning noise from the front end when you first start moving.  That is the only time you hear it.  I'm guessing something simply needs lubricated and I will have it checked out next time it is at the dealership.

Last thing for you Pacifica owners: be careful what windshield washer solvent you put in it.  At the very least, run it through a filtered funnel when putting it in.  I got a bad gallon of the green Rain-X type (don't think it was Rain-X brand) and it clogged the filter and burned up the pump.  My wallet was $300 lighter after that one.  I don't know if the stuff was bad or it went bad because I left it in the garage over the winter and it isn't rated to a very low temperature.  It was like it separated and left cloudy slime in there I didn't notice until it was too late.   Dealership said stick the the standard low temp blue stuff.

 

 

[2QuickZ's]

Been a while since I gave an update.  Unfortunately this is not the greatest update.

The wife was visiting a friend and was parked on a residential street and somebody driving a new Ram truck and not paying attention ran into the van.  It is about the widest residential street you will ever see as it is a legit 4 lanes wide so you can easily have cars parked on either side and still comfortably have two cars pass each other going opposite ways.  Thankfully (or not, I guess, since it wasn't totalled), there was no structural damage.  Unfortunately it wasn't fixed before the state shut down so that added a bit of extra time to the repair.  Wound up taking almost seven weeks but we have it back and they did a nice job on it.  For the most part it looks as good as new.

Other than that, we still love this thing.  It had close to 28k miles on it when it get hit and between the length of the repair and the fact we aren't really allowed to go anywhere that is pretty much where it has stayed for the past 2 plus months.  The GPS failed a couple days before it got hit and they did check that out while it was in being fixed.  They ordered a new radio to fix that issue but it still hasn't come in yet.

Edited April 11, 2020 by 2QuickZ's
Fixed spelling

[G. David Felt]

WOW, So sorry to have this happen, It sucks when people do not pay attention to their only job, driving.

WOW, So the front Ram tire broke off after it hit your van? ? @2QuickZ's

[2QuickZ's]

10 hours ago, dfelt said:

WOW, So sorry to have this happen, It sucks when people do not pay attention to their only job, driving.

WOW, So the front Ram tire broke off after it hit your van? ? @2QuickZ's

Yep, ripped it right off.  The person actually hit two vehicles on either side of a driveway and ours was the second one hit.  The first car hit had less damage as it was more of a glancing blow but it is possible that busted the suspension on the Ram and our van finished it off.

[G. David Felt]

On 4/12/2020 at 6:44 AM, 2QuickZ's said:

Yep, ripped it right off.  The person actually hit two vehicles on either side of a driveway and ours was the second one hit.  The first car hit had less damage as it was more of a glancing blow but it is possible that busted the suspension on the Ram and our van finished it off.

Crazy, still sorry to hear ya had to deal with this. Was the person drunk as playing pinball auto usually means medical or drunk / high unless they truly were too much into their phone and not driving. Hopefully ticketed for this too.

[2QuickZ's]

One of the folks at the scene thought they smelled marijuana.  There is an active court case against the person but it is for things like too fast for conditions and improper lane use, not DUI.  I'm assuming they were either texting or talking to their passenger and not paying attention.

[2QuickZ's]

On 6/18/2020 at 2:40 AM, turnback said:

I feel like drivers who do this things are selfish. They are not thinking of the safety of others . Hoping you now have fully recovered van. 

The van is in good shape now.  The replacement radio still hasn't come in due to the COVID shutdowns putting them behind but the only thing that doesn't work is the nav and since it has Android Auto, we just use that when necessary.

Only possible after effect of the crash is it seems to make a lot of tire noise now.  It had the winter tires on it when it was hit and they replaced both driver side as well as the passenger front since the van was pushed up a curb when hit.  The factory tires are the ones that are loud and I don't recall them being loud when we removed them in the fall.  Either there is a bad wheel bearing or two or the noisy tires were on the rear of the car and not as noticeable until I rotate them to the front.  Too much tread left to replace them, though.  I'll have the dealership check the wheel bearings whenever I get to take it back in for the Radio swap.

After several COVID induced reschedules, the court case is finally being heard next week via teleconference.

[daves87rs]

Ouch, glad the Van was able to get fixed...

My sis-in-law has an 2018 and they love theirs too. Fits the big family in there! Got a chance to drive it a bit down I-75 and the handles the best I have seen in a van... (helps I grew up with them I guess)

Still has me thinking about one......

[A Horse With No Name]

So sorry that happened to your van. 

[regfootball]

On 5/8/2018 at 9:05 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

You know what, these drive so nice.... and they finally made a mini-van that actually looks good. This is really the best crossover alternative out there that can still do all the hauling a crossover can do and more.  I know @ocnblu would make fun of me for it, but I'd get the plug-in version... if only because it adds a bunch more scoot to the pentastar. 

i think there's some big incentives on the hybrid ones right now......

[Gregory Lynn]

Congrats on the minivan it looks super nice.

[2QuickZ's]

We've put another 5k or so miles on it since we got it back from the repair.  Everything has been good.  The tire noise is a couple of tires that need to be replaced due to Michigan's heavily potholed roads.  The radio was replaced and it did fix the navigation so that is all good as well.  That is the only warranty repair issue we have had with it that I can think of.  The front suspension does make a creaking/groaning noise upon initial acceleration so I will probably get that checked out before the warranty is up.

Covid was an incentive to buy a pop up camper this year as well.  This has proven to be an excellent tow vehicle for our approx. 2000 lb pop up.  It pulls it effortlessly and stops well.  It even gets halfway decent gas mileage pulling it so I can't complain.

On 9/14/2020 at 2:29 AM, Gregory Lynn said:

Congrats on the minivan it looks super nice.

Thank you!

Edited October 21, 2020 by 2QuickZ's

[daves87rs]

Bonus with the camper..... ? 

[2QuickZ's]

More updates:

Little more warranty work.  I wanted to address the creaking/groaning noise in the front suspension before the warranty was out.  They wound up replacing the lower control arms.

Poor thing also got rear ended again.  Not sure how people can't see a big red van.  Thankfully it was a minor accident and just the rear hatch and fascia needed to be replaced.  Ironically neither accident has resulted in any damage to the trailer hitch.  Minor accident or not, Carfax is still going to show two accidents so I can't wait to see how that affects the value when we sell it in a year or so. ?

Still pulls the pop-up camper like a champ!  And it gets 20+ mpg while doing it.  After putting 32k miles on it in the first 22 months we owned it, due to COVID and subsequently working from home, it has only had around 4k miles put on it in the last 15 months or so.  My lease is almost up on my Cadillac so as soon as the COVID shutdown started, that became the primary family vehicle to try and get as many miles on it as we can before turning it back in.  Still a possibility I will buy it instead of turning it in but if we can get a decent lease on a Canyon Denali, that may wind up replacing it.

Edited June 26, 2021 by 2QuickZ's
spelling

[2QuickZ's]

Wow.  It's been a year since I have updated this.  We still have the van and it is still going strong.  No real issues since the last update.  The suspension creaking is back but you only hear it at low speeds so not that big of a deal.  The only other issue is that the start/stop battery needs replaced again.  It hasn't actually died like last time but it almost never has enough charge to work.  I'd guess for a lot of you this would be ideal but I am one of the few oddballs that actually likes stop/start.  It feels so wasteful to me to sit at a light with the engine still running.  I'll likely wind up spending the $100 for a new one soon and yes, I know I will never get my money back from the gas I save, even at current gas prices ?

Anyway, it is up to 44k miles now.  The wife and I still both work from home so it went from having 32k miles put on it in the first 22 months of ownership to having only 12k miles put on it in the next 26 months of ownership.  That includes another trip to Florida we did back in March.  I did have to buy a new set of tires.  I went with Firestone Destination LE3 tires and they are working out pretty well.  They are quiet and smooth riding tires but have a little less wet traction than I was hoping based on the reviews.  Still not bad, though.

That's about it really.  I did pull the camper with it again (200 mile round trip) a month or so ago even though I have a Canyon now.  The Canyon was busy at the time.  The trans temp is always steady and the brakes are more than adequate to stop our 2000 lb pop up.

The thought is we will likely keep this another year.  Its a bit tricky because we would like to take advantage of the ridiculous used car market, especially since it will show two accidents on a Carfax but at the same time what is the difference if we wind up just spending that extra money and then some on a new vehicle with no real discounts.

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, 2QuickZ's said:

Wow.  It's been a year since I have updated this.  We still have the van and it is still going strong.  No real issues since the last update.  The suspension creaking is back but you only hear it at low speeds so not that big of a deal.  The only other issue is that the start/stop battery needs replaced again.  It hasn't actually died like last time but it almost never has enough charge to work.  I'd guess for a lot of you this would be ideal but I am one of the few oddballs that actually likes stop/start.  It feels so wasteful to me to sit at a light with the engine still running.  I'll likely wind up spending the $100 for a new one soon and yes, I know I will never get my money back from the gas I save, even at current gas prices ?

Anyway, it is up to 44k miles now.  The wife and I still both work from home so it went from having 32k miles put on it in the first 22 months of ownership to having only 12k miles put on it in the next 26 months of ownership.  That includes another trip to Florida we did back in March.  I did have to buy a new set of tires.  I went with Firestone Destination LE3 tires and they are working out pretty well.  They are quiet and smooth riding tires but have a little less wet traction than I was hoping based on the reviews.  Still not bad, though.

That's about it really.  I did pull the camper with it again (200 mile round trip) a month or so ago even though I have a Canyon now.  The Canyon was busy at the time.  The trans temp is always steady and the brakes are more than adequate to stop our 2000 lb pop up.

The thought is we will likely keep this another year.  Its a bit tricky because we would like to take advantage of the ridiculous used car market, especially since it will show two accidents on a Carfax but at the same time what is the difference if we wind up just spending that extra money and then some on a new vehicle with no real discounts.

Have you considered instead of the OEM battery, an upgrade of a Lithium-ion auto battery that will last much longer and give a better performance response to the system? I have them in my autos and other coworkers have them and they work great.

[2QuickZ's]

On 7/2/2022 at 12:56 AM, David said:

Have you considered instead of the OEM battery, an upgrade of a Lithium-ion auto battery that will last much longer and give a better performance response to the system? I have them in my autos and other coworkers have them and they work great.

You know, a funny thing happened recently.  It magically started working again before I got a chance to replace it.  It basically did not work for a year, got charged up by the tail end of a 1000+ mile journey to Florida only to stop working again shortly after we got there.  Then it charged back up again on the way back and worked for a day or two and then nothing.  Now for no discernible reason it just randomly started working again a week or so ago.  Very strange. 

If it stops working again, I will see if there is a Lithium Ion replacement battery for it.  That is a good suggestion.

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, 2QuickZ's said:

You know, a funny thing happened recently.  It magically started working again before I got a chance to replace it.  It basically did not work for a year, got charged up by the tail end of a 1000+ mile journey to Florida only to stop working again shortly after we got there.  Then it charged back up again on the way back and worked for a day or two and then nothing.  Now for no discernible reason it just randomly started working again a week or so ago.  Very strange. 

If it stops working again, I will see if there is a Lithium Ion replacement battery for it.  That is a good suggestion.

Sounds like a short that due to summer weather has self fixed, but will come back once temps change again.

This company plenty of us in the tech industry have used, expensive, but then long life and warranty pays for itself.

Find your energy freedom, DIY off grid solar system | Renogy

This is another company competing with Renogy and some of my coworkers have used and again, higher price, long warranty, does pay for itself when you need long life with deep power.

12-Volt-Lithium-Batteries – Dakota Lithium Batteries

Best current review of the top Lithium Auto batteries right now.

10 Best Lithium Car Battery 2022 – Review & Buying Guide (antiqueautobattery.com)

[ccap41]

$600-1000 for a lithium car battery? That's certainly a hard pass. 

[G. David Felt]

47 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

$600-1000 for a lithium car battery? That's certainly a hard pass. 

How, if you look at the science, a quality battery is $300, and you get 3 years of life warranty.

Depending on the density of the battery you choose, $600 to $1000 for a battery with a 12-year warranty and usually they last much longer.

That is cheaper than traditional batteries and especially a quality lead acid battery.

My escalade would truly go through the auto batteries every 3 years due to all the electronics, then I put in a Lithium battery, and I am at year 7 or 8 and still pulling strong with no noticeable differences due to the age.

If you play the long game, investing in a quality part will always save one money in the long run over cheap parts and more often replacement.

[ccap41]

A lead-acid battery is far from $300 for my MKC. I can get a Motorcraft battery for under $200 w/ a three year warranty or an EverStart from Walmart with a four-year warranty for $180. 

There is no benefit to 99.9% of owners of a $300 battery over a $180 battery. I'll give racers a break as they're in it for the weight savings. 

[Robert Hall]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

A lead-acid battery is far from $300 for my MKC. I can get a Motorcraft battery for under $200 w/ a three year warranty or an EverStart from Walmart with a four-year warranty for $180. 

There is no benefit to 99.9% of owners of a $300 battery over a $180 battery. I'll give racers a break as they're in it for the weight savings. 

I bought a couple Wal-Mart EverStart batteries for about $85 each for the old cars..seem to function fine.

I recently discovered my Jeep still has the OEM circa 2014 battery...had it checked at the dealer last month when I went in for an oil change, it doesn't need replaced yet...can't believe a battery would last that long (it only spent about 4 months in AZ in 2017).   Still starts every time..

Edited July 25, 2022 by Robert Hall

[G. David Felt]

7 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

A lead-acid battery is far from $300 for my MKC. I can get a Motorcraft battery for under $200 w/ a three-year warranty or an EverStart from Walmart with a four-year warranty for $180. 

There is no benefit to 99.9% of owners of a $300 battery over a $180 battery. I'll give racers a break as they're in it for the weight savings. 

To each their own opinion, but I will say that when you test out the differences and see how your auto responds via the electronics, that a quality battery is worth the money. Yes, the GM Delco batteries did their job, but the ones I have in my autos are far better in the way the auto's turn over, run the electronics especially if you do not have the motor running. Cold weather is another area that is a big difference in how the better batteries respond.

I get it that you are happy with the lower cost batteries, but you also cannot ignore the longer life of quality-built batters.

[ccap41]

2 hours ago, David said:

To each their own opinion, but I will say that when you test out the differences and see how your auto responds via the electronics, that a quality battery is worth the money. Yes, the GM Delco batteries did their job, but the ones I have in my autos are far better in the way the auto's turn over, run the electronics especially if you do not have the motor running. Cold weather is another area that is a big difference in how the better batteries respond.

I get it that you are happy with the lower cost batteries, but you also cannot ignore the longer life of quality-built batters.

I have never had electrical things not respond because I don't have a $1000 battery. 

Where does one even recycle a lithium ion car battery? If it finally goes bad, do I have to mail it to where I bought it and wait for a return? Seems more inconvenient than it's worth.