Because three years have gone by since we bought it, we thought it might be time to give you an update and review of our Chrysler Pacifica. After all, we’ve had plenty of time (and about 70,000 miles) to experience all it has to offer.
Review of Chrysler Pacifica’s usefulness
I have to say, we absolutely love this vehicle! We never saw ourselves as “minivan” people, but our Chrysler Pacifica has changed our minds because it’s just so useful. Seriously, we have been surprised at how many ways we’ve been able to use this vehicle.
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We’ve used our minivan mostly for trips for just the two of us. We’ve taken it on day trips, shopping hauls, and multi-day exploration trips halfway across the country.
In all situations, our van has been marvelous. It’s comfortable, easy to drive, and fuel efficient. We can get up to 30 mpg with a tailwind. Plus, even with Ann’s arthritic joints, she can get in and out of the vehicle easily. Most importantly, at least when we bought it three years ago, the price was right.
Our Chrysler Pacifica is great for groups
But we’ve also used our Pacifica for road trips with other people. Indeed, there is plenty of room for luggage as well as up to seven passengers.
With entertainment systems set up for the second row of seats, our passengers can be entertained, as well. Ann and our adult daughter Meghan once watched a movie as we rolled down countless miles of highway.
The vehicle also offers a standard 110v plug-in which has been useful for charging a computer on the road. But as great as this vehicle is for travel, it offers so much more.
The Pacifica’s cargo capability
The Chrysler Pacifica features Stow ‘n Go® seating, so in just a couple of minutes, we can store the second and third rows of seating under the floor of the van in order to carry lots (and lots) of cargo. With the seats tucked away, we’ve carried countless bins and boxes back and forth from our home in Nebraska to our Airbnb called Postcard Place in Pawhuska, Okla. We also have been helping Steve’s parents downsize and took van loads of items to local second-hand stores.
And because the seats stow in the van, they go with us. This means that once we get to our destination we can convert the van from no seats to seating for seven in about two minutes. This is pretty handy when you’re excited to go out with friends after you’ve arrived at your destination.
But boxes and bins aren’t all we’ve carried. The other day, we put a tarp in the van and carried a bunch of branches to our city’s yard waste pile. We have carried furniture. We have carried a snowblower. Yes, this van can take about anything–honestly, we use it like a pickup truck.
And with its cargo space enclosed, it’s actually better than a truck if you need to haul things on rainy days.
Review of Chrysler Pacifica’s usefulness
But cargo capacity isn’t where the review of usefulness of our Chrysler Pacifica ends. During the pandemic, we used our minivan often for grocery store pickups. It was great to just raise the door in the back and have grocery workers load our groceries from a distance.
We also found ourselves wanting to get takeout from our favorite restaurants in Lincoln, Neb. during the pandemic. We often hesitated, because it took about 40 minutes to get home and the food didn’t taste warm or fresh by the time we got there. That’s when Ann conceived of another use for our minivan.
Instead of bringing food home to eat, we just brought a table with us and ate in our minivan. And you know what? It was actually pretty nice. We could even play mood music on the surround sound stereo. Click HERE to read more about our date nights in our Chrysler Pacifica.
Another surprising use for our Pacifica
The pandemic also showed us another use for our Pacifica. Before being vaccinated, we didn’t want to take the risk of going into rest areas while on road trips–which was tough on a six-hour trip. But our minivan came to the rescue again.
We bought a Luggable-Loo (which is a fancy name for a 5 gallon bucket with a toilet seat for a lid). This camping accessory provided us with much needed relief while on the road, and the van gave us all the privacy we needed to complete our, um, business. Read all most of the details HERE.
Review of Chrysler Pacifica and its durabiity
As I type this, I’m knocking on wood, but our review of our Chrysler Pacifica wouldn’t be complete without a discussion on the durability of the vehicle. I have to say that so far (again, knocking on wood) we have not had any real maintenance issues with the vehicle. Of course we’ve had the oil changed on schedule and did have to buy a new set of tires (no surprise after 60,000+ miles), but that’s it.
A few areas for improvement
Know that we had to think long and hard before coming up with a few areas of improvement for our Chrysler Pacifica. We recognize these are definitely First World issues.
- We wish our Pacifica had air conditioned front seats. Those were not available unless we chose a van with a sun roof, which we did not want.
- Our other vehicle has a way to set your seat position for up to three people. Our Pacifica doesn’t have that feature so you have to manually adjust the seat each time you have a new driver.
- When we have a van full of people, a couple more cup holders would be great.
Overall review of our Chrysler Pacifica
We seriously love our minivan and would buy it again in a heartbeat! I can’t believe that as empty nesters in our 50s we’re saying that – but it’s true.
While we hesitated to purchase a minivan instead of an SUV, now that we own one and have seen all the advantages, there is no going back. And I don’t care if people think of me as uncool — because I know how cool it is to have a vehicle that proves itself comfortable and useful over and over again. Oh, and with the price of gas these days, and SO GLAD we didn’t purchase a gas guzzling SUV.
If you’re curious as to our decision process to purchase the minivan in the first place, you can read all about it in THIS POST we published in 2019. For more for food, travel, and healthy living inspiration, join us on on social media @postcardjar on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
