Minivan life here we come!

[Hardwrkr13]

How pitcher Daniel Norris lives a Volkswagen #vanlife every offseason

Professional baseball pitcher Daniel Norris says music inspired him to live on the road. Growing up in Johnson City, Tenn., Norris was captivated by singer Jack Johnson’s songs about quirky campi

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To Johnson City, Tennessee! (If you're country you'll get it). Spent a night there in 2018 on a bike trip. Good times at Yeehaw Brewery. Only place on that 10-state tour we thought our bikes would be stolen from the hotel though.

 

[SunnY S]

Rented a Toyota Sienna once, it was pretty nice. Also rented a Grand Caravan, what a joke.

I wouldn't go near a Chrysler product, especially if you are considering keeping it long term. Although they are great when they are "new", they are still plauged with quality issues (MT for example.. "Our long-termer's quality has been less-than-stellar" https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chrysler/pacifica/


The Honda is the "drivers" minivan, if thats important to you (it is to me). You already know about its quality and reliability and long term resale value.

Its an easy choice.

 

[GreyGhost]

If you want a van but your ricer days are not behind you. ?

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[Joe Bass]

Not sure why, but I like the sliding back doors.
Maybe because easier to get the kids in plus when they are big enough to open their own doors, no chance of hitting the car next to you.
So for me, the Pacifica is a pass.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[Baggsy]

Rented a Toyota Sienna once, it was pretty nice. Also rented a Grand Caravan, what a joke.

I wouldn't go near a Chrysler product, especially if you are considering keeping it long term. Although they are great when they are "new", they are still plauged with quality issues (MT for example.. "Our long-termer's quality has been less-than-stellar" 2020 Chrysler Pacifica Buyer's Guide: Reviews, Specs, Comparisons


The Honda is the "drivers" minivan, if thats important to you (it is to me). You already know about its quality and reliability and long term resale value.

Its an easy choice.

It's in the eye of the beholder.
Part time work had a Caravan, that I'm told everybody but me likes.
They used to have a Honda, that they hated.

 

[crankcall]

a honda is a "drivers" minivan. Sunny you type some funny stuff. Its a minivan.
Maybe an Alfa Stelvio SUV is a drivers vehicle (actually an amazing SUV) , but there are thousands of Chrysler minvans, its the salesman car of choice because its cheap and cheerful, lots of them with 200k on the clock and regular service doesnt blow your brains out. Its the most practical family transit around, thats why the sell thousands of them

 

[SunnY S]

a honda is a "drivers" minivan. Sunny you type some funny stuff. Its a minivan.
Maybe an Alfa Stelvio SUV is a drivers vehicle (actually an amazing SUV) , but there are thousands of Chrysler minvans, its the salesman car of choice because its cheap and cheerful, lots of them with 200k on the clock and regular service doesnt blow your brains out. Its the most practical family transit around, thats why the sell thousands of them

yes, its a minivan not a Stelvio, but one built for people who enjoy driving. hence a drivers minivan.

"The Odyssey changes direction crisply, and from behind the wheel it's easy to forget you're piloting a three-row van. The steering is direct and the effort is light, . Driving enthusiasts won't rave—it's still a minivan, after all—but the Odyssey is the best-driving minivan, and its nimbleness makes it competent in corners and easy to drive"

 

[mimico_polak]

If you want a van but your ricer days are not behind you. ?

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That would be hilarious to own....hmmm.

@SunnY S As for the Odyssey being 'light' in corners...it is very far from that. It doesn't like cornering, and I don't like being in it in a sharp corner. It's good for highway cruising, loading the kids and a bunch of stuff into it, but cornering is NOT it's strong suit. Maybe if we replace the suspension with time possibly firm it up a tad...but it's the one thing I don't like about it. And the gobs of torque steer in the rain.

 

[killvino]

That would be hilarious to own....hmmm.

@SunnY S As for the Odyssey being 'light' in corners...it is very far from that. It doesn't like cornering, and I don't like being in it in a sharp corner. It's good for highway cruising, loading the kids and a bunch of stuff into it, but cornering is NOT it's strong suit. Maybe if we replace the suspension with time possibly firm it up a tad...but it's the one thing I don't like about it. And the gobs of torque steer in the rain.

I agree. have driven odyssey and I would not classify it as a driver's car. The sienna I drove actually took corners better IMO, could be the AWD but felt more like a suspension/balance thing. Also the rental odyssey I had, understeered EVERYWHERE with slightly cold or damp road conditions. I could barely get around the roundabouts near me without slowing way the hell down or having TC kick in.

 

[mimico_polak]

I agree. have driven odyssey and I would not classify it as a driver's car. The sienna I drove actually took corners better IMO, could be the AWD but felt more like a suspension/balance thing. Also the rental odyssey I had, understeered EVERYWHERE with slightly cold or damp road conditions. I could barely get around the roundabouts near me without slowing way the hell down or having TC kick in.

Well said. Yes it understeers like hell. It's a very happy van driving straight, on the highway, with minimal traffic. I still love, and use more often, the adaptive cruise control. I'm not used to such quiet cars so going 115-120-125-135-140kph just happens. ACC gets rid of that problem.

 

[killvino]

The ford edge was on my list of next cars. The 3.5eco probably flies.
But same problem. My wife hates the look

 

[Brian P]

Friend of mine has personal experience with the 3.5 Ecoboost in an Explorer. It's thirsty ... like 14 litres per 100 km when not towing anything and not driving it all that hard. He doesn't want another Ecoboost until Ford sorts this out. (He has since returned the lease, and bought an Edge with the plain ordinary non-turbo V6, which is more than adequate for that vehicle anyhow.)

My full size van with the Chrysler 3.6 Pentastar (non turbo) only uses that much fuel when the van itself is full and it's towing an enclosed trailer full of more bikes ... or in pure city driving. His uses 20-something L/100 km if there is anything touching the trailer hitch.

 

[Hardwrkr13]

Not sure why, but I like the sliding back doors.
Maybe because easier to get the kids in plus when they are big enough to open their own doors, no chance of hitting the car next to you.
So for me, the Pacifica is a pass.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

I'm not quite following you here. The Pacifica of 15yrs ago had swing doors but the recent version has sliding back doors.

Anywho, we test drove (actually wife drove as this is her choice but I was shotgun) the Odyssey, Pacifica, Grand Caravan Premium and my wife ranked them in that order. Odyssey has more actual room for people but lacks stow'n'go seats and the storage under floor when they're not used. Odyssey looks the best. Wife didn't like the interior design on the Pacifica and felt the Odyssey/Caravan both had equally nice interiors. Odyssey and Pacifica both equal in terms of ride/cornering (Caravan acceptable but noticeably rougher). Wife said Pacifica felt heavier when driving (not underpowered, just heavier).
Honda Dealer: salesman in his 60's, had both Odyssey and Pilot at the front with keys waiting at the scheduled time and knew the features of both well. Took $1300 off the Odyssey right away without being asked just because we know a few of the same people.
Dodge Dealer: salesman arrived to work at the time of Appt 10:30. Pacifica not ready, only had a used model available, huge crack in windshield and a filthy interior. Pulled a Caravan around for us, we got in and it was 15km to empty on gas. We had to wait while he went to gas station. Didn't know features/differences well. Gave employee pricing and said they wouldn't budge any more.
Pricepoint the Pacifica is $6000 more than a similar spec Odyssey to get what we want of cruise and heated front seats and Airplay (nav from phone onto screen as adding nav to vehicle adds a lot).
Caravan has no Airplay so you have to add Nav which adds a whole bunch of things to get it which puts it same price as Odyssey but with that adds power doors and a couple other nice things.
We're going to go with the Odyssey as it was both my favourite and more importantly my wifes. Either the LX or EX depending where the final numbers come back at.

 

[GreyGhost]

I'm not quite following you here. The Pacifica of 15yrs ago had swing doors but the recent version has sliding back doors.

Anywho, we test drove (actually wife drove as this is her choice but I was shotgun) the Odyssey, Pacifica, Grand Caravan Premium and my wife ranked them in that order. Odyssey has more actual room for people but lacks stow'n'go seats and the storage under floor when they're not used. Odyssey looks the best. Wife didn't like the interior design on the Pacifica and felt the Odyssey/Caravan both had equally nice interiors. Odyssey and Pacifica both equal in terms of ride/cornering (Caravan acceptable but noticeably rougher). Wife said Pacifica felt heavier when driving (not underpowered, just heavier).
Honda Dealer: salesman in his 60's, had both Odyssey and Pilot at the front with keys waiting at the scheduled time and knew the features of both well. Took $1300 off the Odyssey right away without being asked just because we know a few of the same people.
Dodge Dealer: salesman arrived to work at the time of Appt 10:30. Pacifica not ready, only had a used model available, huge crack in windshield and a filthy interior. Pulled a Caravan around for us, we got in and it was 15km to empty on gas. We had to wait while he went to gas station. Didn't know features/differences well. Gave employee pricing and said they wouldn't budge any more.
Pricepoint the Pacifica is $6000 more than a similar spec Odyssey to get what we want of cruise and heated front seats and Airplay (nav from phone onto screen as adding nav to vehicle adds a lot).
Caravan has no Airplay so you have to add Nav which adds a whole bunch of things to get it which puts it same price as Odyssey but with that adds power doors and a couple other nice things.
We're going to go with the Odyssey as it was both my favourite and more importantly my wifes. Either the LX or EX depending where the final numbers come back at.

Pacifica is more than an Odyssey? Well that is an easy decision. How do they ever sell any pacificas?

 

[mimico_polak]

I'm not quite following you here. The Pacifica of 15yrs ago had swing doors but the recent version has sliding back doors.

Anywho, we test drove (actually wife drove as this is her choice but I was shotgun) the Odyssey, Pacifica, Grand Caravan Premium and my wife ranked them in that order. Odyssey has more actual room for people but lacks stow'n'go seats and the storage under floor when they're not used. Odyssey looks the best. Wife didn't like the interior design on the Pacifica and felt the Odyssey/Caravan both had equally nice interiors. Odyssey and Pacifica both equal in terms of ride/cornering (Caravan acceptable but noticeably rougher). Wife said Pacifica felt heavier when driving (not underpowered, just heavier).
Honda Dealer: salesman in his 60's, had both Odyssey and Pilot at the front with keys waiting at the scheduled time and knew the features of both well. Took $1300 off the Odyssey right away without being asked just because we know a few of the same people.
Dodge Dealer: salesman arrived to work at the time of Appt 10:30. Pacifica not ready, only had a used model available, huge crack in windshield and a filthy interior. Pulled a Caravan around for us, we got in and it was 15km to empty on gas. We had to wait while he went to gas station. Didn't know features/differences well. Gave employee pricing and said they wouldn't budge any more.
Pricepoint the Pacifica is $6000 more than a similar spec Odyssey to get what we want of cruise and heated front seats and Airplay (nav from phone onto screen as adding nav to vehicle adds a lot).
Caravan has no Airplay so you have to add Nav which adds a whole bunch of things to get it which puts it same price as Odyssey but with that adds power doors and a couple other nice things.
We're going to go with the Odyssey as it was both my favourite and more importantly my wifes. Either the LX or EX depending where the final numbers come back at.

Sounds similar to my experience. The Dodge guy didn't have a car, wasn't ready, car was empty, and the experience sucked when we went there. I would buy an older Caravan simply as a beater.

I personally recommend the EX as I'm always partial against bottom spec of any model, plus additional features are nice. If you have kids, or are planning on them, then I highly recommend going with the EX-L for the leather interior. Easier to keep clean.

 

[SunnY S]

Sounds similar to my experience. The Dodge guy didn't have a car, wasn't ready, car was empty, and the experience sucked when we went there.

I'm not quite following you here. The Pacifica of 15yrs ago had swing doors but the recent version has sliding back doors.

Anywho, we test drove (actually wife drove as this is her choice but I was shotgun) the Odyssey, Pacifica, Grand Caravan Premium and my wife ranked them in that order. Odyssey has more actual room for people but lacks stow'n'go seats and the storage under floor when they're not used. Odyssey looks the best. Wife didn't like the interior design on the Pacifica and felt the Odyssey/Caravan both had equally nice interiors. Odyssey and Pacifica both equal in terms of ride/cornering (Caravan acceptable but noticeably rougher). Wife said Pacifica felt heavier when driving (not underpowered, just heavier).
Honda Dealer: salesman in his 60's, had both Odyssey and Pilot at the front with keys waiting at the scheduled time and knew the features of both well. Took $1300 off the Odyssey right away without being asked just because we know a few of the same people.
Dodge Dealer: salesman arrived to work at the time of Appt 10:30. Pacifica not ready, only had a used model available, huge crack in windshield and a filthy interior. Pulled a Caravan around for us, we got in and it was 15km to empty on gas. We had to wait while he went to gas station. Didn't know features/differences well. Gave employee pricing and said they wouldn't budge any more.
Pricepoint the Pacifica is $6000 more than a similar spec Odyssey to get what we want of cruise and heated front seats and Airplay (nav from phone onto screen as adding nav to vehicle adds a lot).
Caravan has no Airplay so you have to add Nav which adds a whole bunch of things to get it which puts it same price as Odyssey but with that adds power doors and a couple other nice things.
We're going to go with the Odyssey as it was both my favourite and more importantly my wifes. Either the LX or EX depending where the final numbers come back at.

If I was a Chrysler salesman, I'd be depressed too selling lackluster low quality 13 year old products (caravan).

The Honda guy didn't have to worry, thats why he was ready, the vehicles sell themselves...

 

[mimico_polak]

If I was a Chrysler salesman, I'd be depressed too selling lackluster low quality 13 year old products (caravan).

The Honda guy didn't have to worry, thats why he was ready, the vehicles sell themselves...

Don't get me wrong I really like the look of the Pacifica. But everything I read long term is not positive. And I would go for the PHEV version which is way more than I'm willing to spend. For us a used Odyssey was the best in terms of value.

 

[killvino]

Don't get me wrong I really like the look of the Pacifica. But everything I read long term is not positive. And I would go for the PHEV version which is way more than I'm willing to spend. For us a used Odyssey was the best in terms of value.

Same here, Pacifica looks better IMO. All the reviews online and features made it sound like a great van. Especially the PHEV, I could use zero gas commuting to work and back but hearing all the reliability issues and dealer shops not knowing how to repair the hybrid system turned me off.

 

[GreyGhost]

Same here, Pacifica looks better IMO. All the reviews online and features made it sound like a great van. Especially the PHEV, I could use zero gas commuting to work and back but hearing all the reliability issues and dealer shops not knowing how to repair the hybrid system turned me off.

The limited EV range of the Pacifica always disappointed me (50 km tops). It seems like a ton of money and complication for minimal return other than a fancy badge and some wank. For me, very very few days could be completed on electric only.

 

[mimico_polak]

The limited EV range of the Pacifica always disappointed me (50 km tops). It seems like a ton of money and complication for minimal return other than a fancy badge and some wank. For me, very very few days could be completed on electric only.

Ya that's a big one as well. 80% of our driving could be done on EV only. But for the additional cost...it would require a LONG time to make up the difference.