Man love for Van Love - 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Limited AWD

[regfootball]

Lease ended on 2018 Pacifica. Apart from looking at the Traverse and Enclave, made the seriously easy decision to re-up on a 2021 Pacifica Limited all wheel drive.  Ridiculous incentives made it possible for a great deal, and we totally loved our 2018. Sorry GM but your GM Card top off was not much extra incentive. 20 INCH wheels on a van?  Thank you STELLANTIS.  

Edited February 26, 2021 by regfootball

[ykX]

Looks great! Congratulations!

[ocnblu]

Daggone, that is one heckuva good looking vehicle!

[regfootball]

41 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Daggone, that is one heckuva good looking vehicle!

Thanks ! I agree....And payment didn’t go up much; up one trim level. Lots of incentives. 

Edited February 27, 2021 by regfootball

[Robert Hall]

Sharp van...the Pacifica looks like a comfy place for road trips. 

[G. David Felt]

Awesome, so happy for you. Sharp looking van!

[regfootball]

New Connect 5.0 with 10 inch screen is quite impressive and amazing.

Took delivery Friday wife had it all yesterday...I haven't even driven it yet.  grrrr

[ocnblu]

I keep mistaking that water bottle for a stickshift.

[regfootball]

5 hours ago, ocnblu said:

I keep mistaking that water bottle for a stickshift.

Imagine if it were a diesel, manual, with the all wheel drive. 
 

i agree it sort of looks like a stick shift in the picture. LOL

[Robert Hall]

8 hours ago, regfootball said:

Imagine if it were a diesel, manual, with the all wheel drive.  

And brown. 

[regfootball]

https://jalopnik.com/the-holy-grail-of-gm-minivans-was-never-sold-in-the-u-s-1841977990

"We all know what Chrysler’s coolest minivan is: the turbo, manual first-gen Dodge Caravan. We all know Ford’s coolest minivan: the rear-wheel drive, manual transmission Ford Aerostar. And we all know that GM’s most interesting people-movers were the “Dustbuster” minivans. Except the Holy Grail variant of those was never sold stateside."

Edited March 4, 2021 by regfootball

[regfootball]

if i could just figure out how to make this brown, and put a diesel hybrid AWD powertrain in it with manual transmission, add some cladding, jack it up, add some arbitrary swoopy windows and fender flares, and then we'd have the ultimate category killer, AWD diesel hybrid manual crossover coupe minivan.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by regfootball

[Robert Hall]

Too bad the Renault Avantime was never sold here—talk about in a category of its own—2dr hardtop coupe luxury minivan...

 

 

[balthazar]

^ Your undying fascination with that turd is indefensible. 

[Robert Hall]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

^ Your undying fascination with that turd is indefensible. 

Sometimes I let my freak flag fly, somethings just can’t be explained.  The fwd and transverse engine goes against my beliefs, but I dig the styling and that it’s a 2dr Ht.  Very unique.  

[balthazar]

So; this : 

[G. David Felt]

Interesting that the 2021 Kia Minivan reminds me of the Pontiac. ?

I do wonder how well this would sell here if they brought it from China, built in America and sold the Buick Luxury Minivan.

Seems to be a very popular executive transport auto in China.

Interior is very Nice I have to say.

First Buick Avenir model is a China-only minivan (motorauthority.com)

[ocnblu]

2021 Kia Sedona US version ~

 

[ccap41]

Buick show vehicles... 

 

[Robert Hall]

The 2022 Kia Sedona looks pretty sharp.

[ocnblu]

2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

looks pretty sharp

And I think they'll call it Carnival here too, according to reports.

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, ccap41 said:

Buick show vehicles... 

 

Got it, yes the lighting and weird way that it reflects on the gas door is bizarre. Interesting that they have 3 different models for sale in China.

【GL8 ES陆尊】别克GL8 ES陆尊 别克新GL8 ES陆尊 报价及图片 别克汽车官网 (buick.com.cn)

Talk about a while since I had looked at the Buick web site for China. WOW do they have a big variety of Autos.

别克汽车官网_心静 思远 智行千里 (buick.com.cn)

3 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

And I think they'll call it Carnival here too, according to reports.

I can see it now, Kia is making the Ultimate Clown Car!  Check out the all new 2022 Carnival! ?

[regfootball]

10 hours ago, ocnblu said:

2021 Kia Sedona US version ~

 

 

 

now it's KIA ----CARNIVAL------......CARNIVAL   that looks like a pulled previous Ford Explorer.

whoops, others beat me to the punch.  I do not like the CARNIVAL name, and of course, I don't think it looks anything fetching.  In fact, it looks slightly weird.  to me anyways.

[Robert Hall]

The proportions of the new Carnaval look more CUVish than van..

[surreal1272]

2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

The proportions of the new Carnaval look more CUVish than van..

Yet no AWD while the Pacifica and Toyota Sienna offer it. Seems odd to not have that as an option since it really is just a taller FWD based CUV.

[regfootball]

10 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

The proportions of the new Carnaval look more CUVish than van..

its like the Flex and previous Explorer mated.

these two pics are from the costco trip we took with it right after we picked it up.  I still haven't driven it yet.

Kia CARNIVAL can suck it.  LOL

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by regfootball

[regfootball]

what is needed;

CROSSOVER COUPE VAN

[2QuickZ's]

Congrats on the new Pacifica!  That is a beautiful vehicle.  I think Chrysler (Stellantis?) did a fantastic job on the refresh.

I still love our Pacifica.  We will probably keep it one more year.  After that, the wife said she wants a pickup or an SUV. ? I don't get the SUV thing.  I'd much rather have this new Pacifica than any SUV.  That said, she does at least have good reasoning.  She wants to upgrade the camper to something bigger than the Pacifica can tow.  The only thing an SUV does better than a minivan in my opinion.

The crazy thing is how much more you get for your money in a minivan  An SUV with the same level of equipment as our Pacifica would be at least $10k more than ours stickered, and the actual transaction price was much lower than sticker.

[regfootball]

33 minutes ago, 2QuickZ's said:

Congrats on the new Pacifica!  That is a beautiful vehicle.  I think Chrysler (Stellantis?) did a fantastic job on the refresh.

I still love our Pacifica.  We will probably keep it one more year.  After that, the wife said she wants a pickup or an SUV. ? I don't get the SUV thing.  I'd much rather have this new Pacifica than any SUV.  That said, she does at least have good reasoning.  She wants to upgrade the camper to something bigger than the Pacifica can tow.  The only thing an SUV does better than a minivan in my opinion.

The crazy thing is how much more you get for your money in a minivan  An SUV with the same level of equipment as our Pacifica would be at least $10k more than ours stickered, and the actual transaction price was much lower than sticker.

absolutely correct about how much more $$$$ for the same 'stuff' if it were an SUV.  (and in particular GM).

Now, partially due to being a returning lessee, Chrysler had EXTRA 3,250 incentives for us, beyond all the regular incentives everyone gets.  We know GM does incentives big but I'm sorry, a little measly 1,000 dollar GM card top off incentive towards what GM has as a 45-50-60k MSRP vehicle is almost a big freaking joke.  I used our GM card first time back for our 99 Chevy Prizm, and those dollars meant something.  Really the big difference in my case here was this time around I was able to get memory seats, surround view monitor, 2 rows heated seats, heated steering wheel, full safety package, front row cooled seats, the very latest touchscreen and operating system with wireless charging, USB-C ports, wireless Apple CarPlay, power folding third row, vacuum cleaner....for less.  So part of that is because on the market, people pay less for the van compared to SUV, and some of that is due to GM poorly building trims and packages to exclude and extort.  For example, on an Enclave Essence it is near impossible to have access to a unit with surround view monitor.  Even many with premium trim do not have it.  

So we were lucky due to our situation as returning lessee to get a 53k+ sticker vehicle, written on the lease order with a purchase price of 38k and change.  And actually too the residual is low, normally you don't want that but it may actually be a good enough value at the end of the lease to purchase.  15 grand in incentives and discounts.  crazy.  

The hybrids are extremely cheap to lease now, extra incentives for hybrids. I would have except we still wanted sto n go.  Hybrid doesn't allow that.

The all wheel drive does hit the fuel economy.  So far i guess its a 12-15% drop but that is in line with the lesser epa numbers on the window sticker, AWD vs FWD.  Wife thinks it drives faster, I think it takes more gas to get it going.  Reviews say its about a 1/2 second hit on 0-60 time.  I would say that is about right.  I think the front drive or all wheel drive is good in bad weather, more dependent on the tires.  I just wanted the added traction of all wheel this time around.  I bet Chrysler will get a greater than 50% take rate on the all wheel drive across the Pacifica line this year.

the 20 inch wheels are sick looking, but what is funny.....with the added sound isolation materials on the premium trim...it's quieter but also with the 20  inchers and low profile Falken tires..and I think they've done some steering tuning....this thing is kind of fun to drive for a large rig.  the roll stiffness is definitely more compared to the 2018, and the steering is sort of quick feeling.  And the ride isn't worse...it still is sorta cushy.  There's a little less front end weight bias due to the AWD drivetrain, it feels a bit more balanced in handling, and for a boat this size, actually seems kind of fun.  The Pacifica drives nicer than many sedans out there these days.

[G. David Felt]

@2QuickZ's @regfootball And you have limited towing hauling capacity other than kids and basic stuff. Minivan cannot go off road like an SUV. Minivan cannot tow like an SUV and still haul.

10K difference if that is true is a bargain for all the added stuff the SUV can do. 

For the pinched leg room for driver / front passenger I would never get one, hard pass for me. But I do get what families love about them and respect you both. 

Remember they both have their use cases and a Minivan CANNOT do what the SUV can do.

[regfootball]

11 minutes ago, David said:

@2QuickZ's @regfootball And you have limited towing hauling capacity other than kids and basic stuff. Minivan cannot go off road like an SUV. Minivan cannot tow like an SUV and still haul.

10K difference if that is true is a bargain for all the added stuff the SUV can do. 

For the pinched leg room for driver / front passenger I would never get one, hard pass for me. But I do get what families love about them and respect you both. 

Remember they both have their use cases and a Minivan CANNOT do what the SUV can do.

Your talking body and frame ‘truck’  like a Tahoe. I’m talking the unibody competition which still is , as an SUV Of similar size and space, going to command more because it’s an SUV.

the large unibody SUVs don’t have much advantage in towing over  a minivan.

very few people cross shop Tahoe’s and suburban and expedition etc vs a minivan. If you’re getting a body on frame truck it’s because you want the full frame and a more usuable towing capacity.  I’ve never known anyone who’s cross shopped a truck vs a minivan. 
 

Also, no one takes a minivan or unibody suv off road. The AWD is simply a traction enhancer for these people in bad climates. True off-roaders take pickups / trucks and Jeep’s off-road. And Broncos now too. 

Edited March 13, 2021 by regfootball

[2QuickZ's]

43 minutes ago, David said:

@2QuickZ's @regfootball And you have limited towing hauling capacity other than kids and basic stuff. Minivan cannot go off road like an SUV. Minivan cannot tow like an SUV and still haul.

10K difference if that is true is a bargain for all the added stuff the SUV can do. 

For the pinched leg room for driver / front passenger I would never get one, hard pass for me. But I do get what families love about them and respect you both. 

Remember they both have their use cases and a Minivan CANNOT do what the SUV can do.

 

34 minutes ago, regfootball said:

Your talking body and frame ‘truck’  like a Tahoe. I’m talking the unibody competition which still is , as an SUV Of similar size and space, going to command more because it’s an SUV.

the large unibody SUVs don’t have much advantage in towing over  a minivan.

very few people cross shop Tahoe’s and suburban and expedition etc vs a minivan. If you’re getting a body on frame truck it’s because you want the full frame and a more usuable towing capacity.  I’ve never known anyone who’s cross shopped a truck vs a minivan. 
 

Also, no one takes a minivan or unibody suv off road. The AWD is simply a traction enhancer for these people in bad climates. True off-roaders take pickups / trucks and Jeep’s off-road. And Broncos now too. 

This exactly.  A Pacifica with towing package is rated for 3500 lbs.  The GMC Acadia is good for 4000 lbs.  The Traverse or Enclave go to 5000 lbs.  The Durango is the three row unibody towing champ.  It will pull 6200 lbs with the V6 and up to 8700 lbs with a V8 but it is an outlier.

As far as off roading, sure a Pacifica doesn't have the ground clearance to tackle some of the terrain an SUV can but lets be honest, how many people are actually taking their SUV off road someplace a Pacifica can't go?  I would bet it is pretty rare.  On road where it will be used 99% of the time the Pacifica (or most minivans for that matter) do everything an SUV does but better.  Just my opinion.

[regfootball]

I wouldn’t risk towing 5000# with a Traverse and it’s small v6 on anything more than an incidental time or two. Anyone that plans to tow -frequently- just go for the full frame model. With a v8. That will be the most durable over time. 
 

we had friends with a Honda Pilot that wanted the Honda so bad and then it was not the best for towing their boat to all the fishing tournaments. I couldn’t imagine buying that used Passport and all the strain on it. If you’re shopping used CUV’s and you see a hitch on it and in particular if you can if that person frequently towed with it often, run. Since then he’s had a ram and Nissan Titan pickup.  
 

I maybe could consider a Durango but keep in mind it’s got a Hemi available. 
 

 

Edited March 13, 2021 by regfootball

[regfootball]

Ah, some more recent pics.  Really glad we got this when we did and we missed the big price spikes that are going on in the market now.

On a trip a couple weeks ago, we pulled 27 mpg on a couple of legs at mostly interstate 75-80 mph.  Some of it hilly and windy.  This is not bad as our fwd 18 Pacifica would occasionally get 30 or more on same trip routes.

Makes sense, the AWD of this new one of course drops the mpg about 15 percent in the sticker, and in real world its about that much as well.   Whereby the FWD would turn super low rpms sometimes on the highway, it seems the AWD required that the rpms be 300-400 rpm or more higher much of the time when driving.

I am ok with that tradeoff for being in snow country and this being the main family ride.  If I ever had this van for myself as a secondary vehicle, I may choose the FWD and lose the weight and drag......would not be easy to decide.

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by regfootball

[regfootball]

One year VANNIVERSARY!

The odometer is less than 9,000 miles.  Boy we'll be way under on our lease....less driving in the covid era.  Actually the spouse is full home remote work now.  So our vehicles may turn out to be keepers over the long haul this time.  In one of the above posts I mentioned that the sales paper for the lease was wrote at 15 thousand under sticker, and when there was a decent supply.  If we had seriously had been two months later we would have gotten screwed.  Some of the options we have on our limited look like supply issues in the 22 models (kind of like GM, some features with limited availability).  We have the tan seats and at least when I last checked, the Limited for 22 was black seats only.  I am sure that stuff changes frequently these days.

I love this vehicle.  The v6 is so relaxed and quiet compared to the turbo four in our TourX.  And even with the MPG drop for AWD vs the previous FWD Pacifica we had, the MPG is still very good.  With gas prices on the rise, if we take trips we won't get crushed on the gas money.

Getting in and out, easy ingress and egress, for an aging human becomes more and more loved all the time.  The TourX is super low to get into, and I still love it.  But the seat comfort on the Pacifica, higher driving height, more relaxed position, the cabin width and such is appealing for those weekly errands and longer trips.  Heated seats in the first two rows and vented seats in the front, are great. This is my first vehicle with vented seats and like the power folding side mirrors, are features I never felt I needed before and now I won't want another vehicle without.  First world issues.  LOL

We've used the van to haul mulch and bricks and furniture, and we've used the Sto N Go very often so far again this time.  It's unfortunate that Sto N Go does compromise that second row seating for adults....the seats could be wider, more comfortable, and have a lower footwell to stretch the feet would be nice.  But its a perfect example of a worthwhile compromise in my book.

The harmon kardon stereo in this van is not bad.  Wayyyyyy better than the Bose 'top of the line' garbage in the TourX.  The TourX stereo is simply embarrassing.  The one in this van is pretty good.  In general the U connect system is quite good also.  Chrysler IMO has the touchscreen down better than many of the manufacturers these days.

Reliability, no issues to date except some testiness on the power rear hatch and one of the side doors occasionally.  We had I think one or two recalls on something insignificant...in fact one of those may have been on the rear hatch actually.  Must me why its worked just fine for awhile now.  Our 2018 Pacfica didn't have any issues really except towards the end of the lease it was getting hard to get gas into it.  According to Pacifica forums, that might be an issue that occurs a bit.  So far on this 21, no issues pumping gas at all.

The all wheel drive has been nice. And it is an enhancement in winter over the standard FWD but whether its nice to have vs a need is up to the opinion of each buyer.  What I will say is the van doesn't drive too much differently in the AWD vs the FWD with the extra weight and such.  If you drove them back to back, some folks may notice a difference in feel and some won't.  It really just means they did a good job making the AWD version feel consistent with the FWD version.  We did not get snow tires for it this year; with the low winter miles we may not at least for the least term depending on the wear of the factory rubber over time.

With all the fuss about the crossover market, I tend to think this vehicle that looks like a van is one of the best 3 row crossovers on the market today.  Quiet, spacious, comfortable, smooth and relaxed v6 engine.....compared with some of the crazy prices on the market today this is a good vehicle to compare to a lot of crossovers...you may find more for your money.

Edited February 28, 2022 by regfootball

[regfootball]

in two days, THREE year VANIVERSARY!

New cars, buy or lease, are pretty unobtainable nowadays.  Sales wanted me to reup the lease for 300 more bucks /mo.  MSRP's through the roof, for the same thing.

And weirdly, there is not much for color availability for a replacement, in other than black and white these days.  No can do.  Took advantage of the really cheap buyout price and now are owners.

Sitting about 29,000 miles.  Using as a daily driver 2 days a week now, and the Regal 3 days a week.

Still enjoying this ride and its been knock on wood, no issues.

Last fall I bought OEM wheels for cheap for winter rubber... but never did get the tires this year as winter has been so mild and without snow.  But next winter I'll be able to get some X-Ice or Blizzaks.

Love the comfortable seats.  And the higher ride height is a nice welcome contrast vs the Regal.  The Harmon Kardon sound is really good.  Far better than the junk Bose (redundant term, I know) in the Regal.

Pacifica sales were really good last year, and this vehicle will remain in the Chrysler lineup for the foreseeable future.  In fact, there is a major refresh now coming out in 2025 or 2026.  I can't wait to see what it may be.  Some rumor renderings look good, some others don't.  

Part of the reason for the buyout was GM hasn't gotten their new Acadia and Traverse out yet.  Painfully slow getting them to market!  And the Enclave too!  3 times now and technically this is the 4th time we could have looked to get into the GM three row products.  The Pacific is just easy to drive and own.  Rides great, quiet.  May look to replace the TourX one of these days when GM finally gets those new 3 rows to the market.

Our last three vacations, we've rented Pacificas also.  The front drivers pull amazing highway mpg when your doing interstate driving.

Have still had interest in the plug in version.....I think they still have teething issues with them, but also..they are heavy due to the battery and you lose stow n Go as well as all wheel drive.  I was interested in test driving a Sienna hybrid, but you can never find one on a lot.  Plus, the Sienna interior is ghastly.

 

[regfootball]

these are some images out there on the net with predictions for the pending Pacifica heavy refresh in 25 or 26.  I sort of dig the red with black roof look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26 by regfootball

[G. David Felt]

14 hours ago, regfootball said:

these are some images out there on the net with predictions for the pending Pacifica heavy refresh in 25 or 26.  I sort of dig the red with black roof look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very interesting. I do wonder while the images tend to go more airstream sloped, SUVs tend to be the calling card. I have seen writeups with some indicating the Pacifica could take a more SUV look.

Be interesting to see what does actually come. Figure late this year or early next year we should see it revealed before going into production.