TTAC Consumer Clinic: Minivans And The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

In keeping with my current life stage, a bunch of my friends own minivans. Three of my four siblings have each owned multiple minivans. I own a minivan.

And this week, the test vehicle at GCBC Towers is this FCA Canada-supplied 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Limited, with a not-at-all limited array of options. As-tested, U.S. market pricing for this Pacifica climbs just beyond the $50K marker to $50,270.

Honda Odysseys top out below $46,000; Toyota Siennas below $49,000. FCA, however, wants the new Pacifica — which adopts the name of a failed crossover that died eight years ago — to be perceived as the automaker’s premium player. Buyers who want a value-oriented FCA van continue to have the Dodge Grand Caravan as an option, at least for the time being.

But we wonder if it’s a tenable position in the long-term; if, when FCA’s Windsor, Ontario assembly plant finishes its Grand Caravan run, the Chrysler brand can maintain the automaker’s longstanding dominance in the minivan sector.

Rather than simply formulate a cohesive opinion in TTAC’s hyperactive Slack chat, we took questions to the people. We didn’t want to do a Pacifica consumer clinic with this van — we know that a few minutes inside this luxuriously equipped example would produce a handful of Wows and Oohs and Aahs. Rather, we decided to find a minivan baseline.

With five questions in hand, I approached eight individuals: two Toyota Sienna drivers, one driver of a Honda Odyssey with which the TTAC faithful will be familiar, four Dodge Grand Caravan owners, and the current owner of a three-row Kia Sorento whose four previous vehicles were minivans from Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler.

Income levels vary. Six of the eight respondents own other vehicles. They live in different parts of the continent. There are 24 children and five dogs represented by the parental participants.

This is not a scientific survey, but more than the strict yes/no answers to TTAC’s questions, the details provided by our eight minivan owners are useful and insightful.

What Was The Leading Factor In The Purchasing Decision Of Your Current Van?


Three of the four current Grand Caravan owners said affordability was the leading factor. Another Grand Caravan owner used the word “value”, while the Kia Sorento driver who traded in her 2012 Grand Caravan said the Grand Caravan purchase was motivated by affordability.

Not surprisingly, Marcus, a Toyota Sienna-driving father of four, said, “Having two friends with older Siennas, I was impressed with the reliability,” and labelled longevity as the leading factor in his purchase. Another Sienna owner said the van’s broad three-seat second row was the big reason for purchase, while Steffani, the primary Odyssey driver, said the cost/quality combination topped the list of reasons.

If You Had No Personal Financial Limitations, What Is The Maximum Price You Would Pay For A Minivan?


With this specific 2017 Pacifica priced above $50,000 in the U.S., only one of our eight respondents would be willing to reach that high on a minivan. The average of responses to this question was $36,400.

Don, the father of two (almost three) and owner of two Schnauzers, said that if price were no object, he wouldn’t be in a minivan at all but rather, “We would probably be in an Navigator or Suburban.” On the other side of the equation, Matthew, very pro-minivan a father of four, would simply buy the most expensive version of the best van available if he could. “Why not get the best one?” Other vehicular styles don’t enter into the running.

Do You See A Difference In Terms Of Prestige Between Dodge And Chrysler?


This Grand Caravan-heavy group is, theoretically, the ideal target market for the new Chrysler Pacifica, but only two of eight respondents — one current Grand Caravan owner and one former Grand Caravan owner — consider Chrysler to be more upscale than Dodge.

Another criticized the Chrysler as the cheaper option and said when she and her husband purchased their Grand Caravan the Town & Country didn’t even earn a second glance. The other five respondents all answered this question with a no. A Chrysler is a Dodge is a Dodge is a Chrysler.

Word Association: What’s The First Thing That Comes To Mind When These Four Vehicles Are Mentioned?


We asked all eight respondents for their one-word views on four minivans: Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Chrysler Pacifica, and Kia Sedona. One-word answers were few and far between.

First, the Odyssey. The Odyssey owner said, “Longevity.” Of the Odyssey, the Kia Sorento driver said, “love.” One Grand Caravan owner considered the Odyssey’s camera setup to be appealing, another called the Odyssey high-class, and another gave credit to the Odyssey’s alleged “good looks.”

As for the Sienna, the Odyssey driver thought first of Toyota’s “good advertising,” crediting the old Swagger Wagon campaign. Durability, quality, reliability, and boring were the four one-word responses.

Aside from the “poor quality” label linked to the Pacifica by its Chrysler marque, most respondents had no opinion on the Pacifica because they had heard absolutely nothing about it. One Grand Caravan owner said, “It looks small.”

News for the Kia Sedona wasn’t so great, either. Unproven, fear, and auto shop visits were answers from three of our minivan owners. One Grand Caravan owner slapped the Sedona with a backhanded compliment, calling it “workable.”

The loyalty inspired by the Toyota Sienna with one of our two Sienna owners was noteworthy. He had nothing to say regarding the three competitors, but of his own van, he said, “Buy.”

Will Second Row Stow’N’Go Seating Be A Major Factor In The Purchasing Decision Of Your Next Minivan?


Every one of our minivan owners have third row seats that fold into the floor, but second row seats that collapse into the floor are another thing altogether. Steffani, the Odyssey driver, says, “They are tempting, but currently having second row seats that do not Stow’N’Go has not proved to be a trial.” Stow’N’Go second row seats are, “Not a major factor,” says Jonathan, the Sienna-driving father of three. “The sliding mid-row chairs slide quite far.”

Andrew, the father of three with full Stow’N’Go seating in his current van, says, second row Stow’N’Go, “will be a significant factor but price will dictate in the end.” Rachel, our former Grand Caravan owner and mother of five, had Stow’N’Go but never used it and considers it useless. And Janna, another current Grand Caravan owner, says, “Who needs a truck when you have Stow’N’Go?”

[Images: © Timothy Cain/The Truth About Cars and FCA]

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.

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  • Akatsuki Akatsuki on Sep 14, 2016

    Oh, and the T&C we had before it was a piece of crap. Really not well put together at all.

  • Gearhead77 Gearhead77 on Sep 17, 2016

    I like to buy(or lease) vehicles with a lot of equipment. But I agree that around 40k is the top for most family folks. Our '14 Oddy EXL had a 36k window sticker and has everything we want. I've never found myself really wanting Touring or Touring Elite trim. This time, we might just upgrade to the rear seat entertainment system on whatever van we go with, but that's it. And it will only be used for long journeys, not around the town. We have a portable system, but the wife hates dealing with the wires. 90% certain it will be another lease, so I'm not concerned with longevity or long term repair costs. Our Odyssey will need brakes and tires when it's turned in, but that's for Honda to deal with. Our Odyssey has only needed scheduled maintenance, the early issue with the doors being the only big time WTF issue we didn't expect. If people can afford 50k minivans and there's obviously a market, why wouldn't the manufacturers cash in? I love the whole "if I can't afford it, then no one can" argument. Yes, people do get in over their heads on cars, houses,etc. But that's no reason the folks who are wise with their money shouldn't be able to spend it on whatever they want.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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