2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Review - The Best Minivan you Can Buy?

[@johnlarkin1594]

Purchased this last Dec. Have about 4500 miles on it now. Love the ride. Like he said - it is fun to drive. This is the wife's car, but I try to drive it when I can. We got this because of the electric mileage for around town (use almost no gas for around town) , and for long distance driving. For long trips the ride is great with almost no fatigue. We do not have any kids living with us anymore, but we like being up high, the comfort of the ride, being able to take 6 adults when needed, the cargo space, and the electric range and ride. Highly recommended.

[@slandshark]

Hey, do you still have it? I'd love to hear an update on how many miles you have and what your MPG has been. How often do you use the gas engine vs the 33 miles of pure electric? Any negative points after owning it so far? My Wife and I just discovered this van a few days ago, got to test drive one yesterday and we were really impressed. It was very unusual for both of us to actually like a minivan. We are considering trading in our 2015 Nissan Pathfinder for the Pacifica Hybrid. We have 3 kids, all in car seats, so this is very enticing! It's just hard to find one with the added features/color we want that's nearby. :) Thanks!

[@MegaNiQ]

Aaaand it already broke down

[@talltom0690]

2nd row seats are removable. I remove the one on the driver side and with the stowable 3rd row I can put in an air mattress for camping.

[@mauriceetal1426]

I bought mosquito net to turn mine into a camper with full view of the stars

[@arunrai8006]

Really great review. You mentioned things I have not seen on other reviews for this van. Keep up the good work.

[@maxlandireviews]

Much appreciated!

[@LouAntonioGiordano]

A brilliant car from FCA? Whaaaa

[@mowcowbell]

Looks like the ultimate road trip vehicle. Plenty of storage space and great efficiency. If there was one feature I wish it had an option to turn off the EV mode so you could save it for a later. Something similar to the Chevy Volt and Honda Clarity PHEV.

[@BanBiofuels]

Great review. I like the design of the steering wheel. Chrysler does make good looking vehicles.

[@m.s.1715]

DON'T BUY A PACIFICA! If I can save one person from getting stuck with one of these my time is worth it. A warning to prospective buyers: I bought a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica with only 11,500 MI back in May. Since I purchased it the start-stop feature stopped working and the whole car just died at a stop. Got that battery replaced and automatic start stop still didn't work. Then a couple of months later I was driving on the freeway and the car started to stall and I couldn't control it as well. It had a warning alarm going off to service the power steering. I had the car fixed for that and then 2 weeks later I had the SAME problem plus like five other error codes such as service shifter, break not available, service electronic stability control etc. It won't drive. All Kia dealerships in my area are always backed up at least a week for service appointments (because they have so many problems) Most people don't have rental coverage and if they do they will not give you a rental until your appointment date so you do not have a car for over a week unless you are going to come out of pocket to rent one. I went on Chrysler Pacifica forums and saw all these problems people have with them such as not being able to turn off cruise control AT ALL when they are on the freeway and it even accelerating on its own or the car doing automatic emergency braking on it's own without cause on the freeway jeopardizing people's lives. So many complaints to the NHTSA. I'm considering selling the car now to CarMax and buying a different brand van. What's a shame is someone else is going to be stuck with this potentially unsafe and DEFINITELY unreliable car. I'm outside the California lemon law limits of 18 months or 18,000 miles so I can't go that route. This is just a huge headache! Save yourselves.

[@DaisyJane]

I'm sold. I bought one just on Sept. 11. Just 2 days in.. I'm developing emotional attachment to it ! Please do a in-depth video for the Uconnect!

[@JDMatthias]

Daisy, I was a Chrysler salesman for 8 months, is there anything specific you need to know?

[@ryobiredux2912]

Had 3 Chevy Volts before buying this hybrid van so well schooled on hybrid ins and outs. Got tired of waiting for GM and other more reliable manufacturers to get such a vehicle in dealerships as we needed more room and comfort from a hybrid vehicle plus needed the $7,500 tax credit and end of year pricing. Had it almost 1 year now and confirm some of the things mentioned in video. The noises didn't bother me as you get spoiled with the lack of engine noise from these hybrid vehicles most of the time and when the gas engine does run sometimes it may seem more pronounced as you are used to not hearing the noise of the engine running. The light colored leather interior is hard to keep from staining but can be somewhat mitigated with proper cleaners and leather care products. The electric mileage is great for such a big vehicle just slightly less than the cramped Volt. The almost 600 miles per tank is great also. I have to add gas maybe once a month or less. Comfort, room and utility are great but no towing capacity. The stupid award goes to their use of some software tied to the radio that you must use to set the charge schedule. The charge schedule must be reset every month or it will not charge on schedule which you need for off peak electric charge rates ( costs about $ 35 to charge per month ). No fix yet from Chrysler but they have known about this problem for years ( WTH Chrysler that is one of the main reasons you buy a hybrid or electric so you can use it mostly on electric, not where you want to have a glaring problem inconveniencing customers from doing such duh ). Never owned a Chrysler before because of quality and reliablity issues so bought the extended warranty something tells me that was a good move. Bottom line this vehicle is not for everyone, but if you need a quiet comfortable ride with good utility, great electric and gas mileage, the tax credit, end of year pricing and gas savings then go for it but try and get darker interior if you can, we couldn't find one at the time. If you are buying and have doubts about quality and reliablity get the extended warranty at a discount and if you don't need the tax credit just lease.

[@maxlandireviews]

Electric Motor Economy: 2.6/3.0/ 2.8 V6 Fuel Economy: 7.3/7.2/7.3 Non-Hybrid Pacifica Fuel Economy: 12.9/8.9/10.9

[@mikeybthepilot]

Not a CVT. An electric motor drives the wheels through a reduction gear. There are no gears that need to change therefore there's not CVT or conventional transmission.

[@directorjustin]

Thank you! This is a common mistake people make when reviewing plug-in vehicles.

[@slandshark]

I wish there was more in-depth info on this during reviews, not just this one, but any of them. Is there anywhere else I could learn more about how this transmission works? Thanks!

[@mikeybthepilot]

slandshark oh yes! If you want to nerd out about the transaxle here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHWzqISbm75lgbs

[@christopherdouglas8471]

A confident, knowledgeable, well delivered review. Well done, sir! As for simple, individual controls, it looks like we are stuck with screen-interface on just about everything these days, and I do not see it as progress at all. My 2014 Cooper may be the last car I own without a forced screen game.

[@maxlandireviews]

Thanks!!

[@Accurize2]

Which minivan competitors soft plastics look better?

[@maxlandireviews]

I'd say Honda's soft plastics are the best

[@BeHealthyBeHappywithDrJim]

Totally awesome. Now 3 months into ownership. Flawless performance, Can't wait to drive again tomorrow. Check out the U.S News & World report on hybrid electric vehicles.

[@ned8249]

I don’t have any kids but it is pretty awesome.

[@mortezamoryhajiha4452]

On the highway (401) I got 76 km doing 89 to 110, but that took all my 5 years of Prius training and was only possible at night since I wouldn't annoy anyone behind me going from 110 to 90 suddenly. At 110 to 130, I can only get 60 max though. I got the Prius because I wanted to not be bored when driving, and this takes it to another level. My main complaint is the break (which is unreliable compared to the Prius). Other than that, when I am regenerating wall charged power, or when I am using power I generated after my wall power has already hit zero, the system says 2L/100km, where logically it should say zero when I am no longer using electricity I paid for. They are only hurting themselves and having their estimate final result off by at least 1 to 1.5 L/100km bellow a more accurate estimate. But that is a very anal complaint.

[@jacobreed47]

Good review, btw all trims include privacy window screens. Sadly I did not buy the limited trim I wish I did because there is alot more features my model is missing. But I did get a wonderful deal that took 2 days of negotiating. I bought an all black S model with the L trim. All black interior as well. Looks cool, but it needs more bells and whistles.

[@Origen17]

One big negative you didn't cover is the fact that in the hybrid, the 2nd row seats do NOT fold into the floor, which is a brilliant feature in the regular Pacifica. The battery takes up that space.

[@maxlandireviews]

13:25

[@davidp2707]

Not a big negative for most people. And the seats are more comfy

[@Accurize2]

Origen17 He specifically talks about exactly that at 13:20. Pay attention!

[@MikeStoddart]

How does the PHEV drivetrain compare to the Outlander?

[@maxlandireviews]

Mitsubishi won't let me try their cars so I honestly don't know

[@MarcG7424]

So Chrysler put a Crossover name (Pacifica) on a minivan (Town & Country) and I'm supposed to be excited.?

[@davidp2707]

If the name is your major hangup?

[@Accurize2]

Marc G After you test drive one you’ll get over the naming convention really quick.

[@RedRider1600]

What country are you in? You have a British accent and your speedometer is in kilometers. Are you in the UK?

[@maxlandireviews]

A Brit living in Alberta, Canada!

[@nukestrom5719]

I don't know the hybrid models but the gas models have so many issues with the transmission. I would still stick with Odessey or Sienna.

[@davidp2707]

I'm literally trading in an Odyssey for this because of the transmission on the Honda is awful.

[@jamesmoore9008]

The Odyssey and Regular Pacifica have the same ZF sourced 9 speed transmission so they are both equally unreliable.

[@Accurize2]

Alex on Autos specifically talks about how the hybrid transmission is a good way of getting over the fear of unreliability with it in his review. Definitely worth a look...I think he does two reviews on the Pacifica hybrid actually.

[@ridingismusic]

Towing capacity?

[@maxlandireviews]

3600lbs

[@ridingismusic]

@@maxlandireviews, I don't know how are taking on yourself to make a review without knowing the subject!? I had checked this subject already, (you did not answer on time) - Hybrid does not have towing capacity because its transmission type... Ashame!

[@maxlandireviews]

True @@ridingismusic

[@TerryMasenko]

The hybrid version prohibits towing. Only the conventional gas version supports towing

[@mowcowbell]

Who tows a trailer with a minivan anyway? If towing is what you need, FCA will gladly sell you a Ram 1500.

[@minniesaab7255]

❤❤❤🚘🚘🚘🚘