2017 Chrysler Pacifica Limited new car reviews

First, watch yourself on that "3,600 pound towing capacity" that Chrysler loves to claim.  It realistically appears to be nothing more than a marketing lie, to one-up all the other vans with 'only' 3,500 pound towing capacities.  Per Chrysler, this is what is included with the "Trailer Tow Group":

The Class II receiver hitch available on the Chrysler Pacifica models is a weight-carrying hitch rated up to 3,500 pounds of Gross Trailer Weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight of 300 pounds.

Edit: The source for this info is wrong on the tongue weight...The current online owners manual does in fact state the expected 360 pounds.

Also, if you can sacrifice the towing capacity and stow-and-go 2nd row, the Hybrid has noticeably more comfortable and well bolstered 2nd row seats, gets appreciably better fuel economy (potentially using almost no gasoline for many people), ditches the ZF 9-speed that has generally been problematic for FCA and Honda, adds a 100k (150k in some states) mile drivetrain (including engine, motors, transmission, and batteries) warranty, and would ultimately cost thousands less (after tax incentives) than a comparably equipped gas powered model.

I don't care if Chrysler lies 100 lbs in either direction. I'm not going to weigh my load before towing anyway and i wouldn't be able to feel 100 lbs difference either way. 

In reply to Vigo :

Yeah, but then there's that whole tongue weight thing.  So now your advertised 3600 pounds, which is actually 3500 pounds, is realistically only 3000 pounds or less.  But hey, for people who are going to ignore such manufacturer recommendations (liabilities) anyways, what's 500 or more pounds between 'friends'?

500 lbs is 2 fat guys in the back row of a Pacifica. So let's say you put 300 lbs tongue weight on the hitch of a Pacifica. Now you add the 500 lbs of fat guys in the rear seat. Is the rear suspension overloaded? We probably don't know because we don't know what's in the cargo area or the rest of the seats etc. There isn't enough resolution or specificity in tow ratings to account for the huge number of variables. That's why tow ratings are basically watered down to the abilities/liabilities of the weakest link in the system, which isn't a vehicle component but the stupidest imaginable yahoo driver who could walk back into the dealer and manage to cost FCA tons of money on warranty claims because he filled the back of his pacifica with bags of concrete AND put 300 lbs tongue weight on the hitch. And carried 7 passengers and towed a 3500 lb trailer. Through an off-road park, etc etc. CYA policy designed for worst-case scenarios, not reasonably intelligent people doing reasonable things.  

The issue is that a 300 pound tongue weight limit on a 3600 pound tow rating would indicate that a vehicle component (namely the unibody at the hitch interface) very well might be the weakest link in the system.  Shockingly (not really) though, it would also appear that there is some bad data out there on the internet as well.  In actually looking at the current online owners manual, it contradicts the previous information I had found, and does state 360 pound max tongue weight.  So if overlooking the extra 100 pound sack of dishonesty in their "best-in-class" claim, the potential safety concern does appear to be invalidated.

I think there is a Pacifica in my family's future. It seems to hit all the marks. I won't be towing anything major just a bike hitch. I did a quick test drive and found it a nice improvement over my Kia Sedona. We will have to relearn how to store our stuff in the different configuration of a van. Interesting how you get so fixed in a habit of where you store things in various cubbies. 

The only issue is I wanted the Hybrid but darn Michigan government actually negates the tax benefits with special hybrid fees. That plus the cost quoted for the garage mounted charging station. Ugh! 

Advan046 said:

That plus the cost quoted for the garage mounted charging station. 

You don't have a 120V outlet in your garage?

Driven5 said:

Advan046 said:

That plus the cost quoted for the garage mounted charging station. 

You don't have a 120V outlet in your garage?

Just the layout of the property and thus where I might park it actually makes it more viable to have an exterior pedestal installed and if doing that might as well go 220. Maybe that is going to far into the perfect wants versus sticking with the minimum needed setup.

I haven't fully dropped it off the list. Just had my initial interest dampened down. 

We looked at them, but honestly, I have NO faith in their build quality. Never met a Chrysler minivan in the ~35 years of their production, that had reasonable build quality.

I'm trying to think what my parents had to do to their last Caravan in the 250k before they traded it on Cash 4 Clunkers.. 

I'm thinking a belt tensioner, a belt... uhhh never an alternator, never a starter. Maybe a water pump? Oh i had to do a radiator.  

I rebuilt the trans (myself) with seals+clutches at ~205k because it was starting to get 'morning sickness'. Spent about $500 in parts and fluid etc and it was still working fine at 250k.  A lot of transmissions start acting funny due to rubber aging. Heck, my dad's original mitsubishi auto trans in his Diamante has been 'failing' for about 90k of the last 275k but i've been too lazy to fix it. But i mean what's the point replacing any of the original parts on a 275k-mile Mitsubishi. It was junk to begin with!  When i'm putting the THIRD timing belt on it i'm drawing the line! Too maintenance intensive!