Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Congrats! I recall a few months ago everyone joking you'd end up with one of these since you've had FCA in the past. I much prefer the Pacifica exterior design to the Sedona's. With the exception of the Stinger, Kia grilles look like giant Braun razor's to me lol.

SW17LS

Drove it around a good bit today, the kids loved it. One annoying thing is with the second row being stationary, and not being able to slide back the kids can kick the seats in front, which is annoying. Would have been able to in the Odyssey also. Tried out the self parking feature, which is a cool parlor trick but is fairly ridiculous lol, you'd never use it to actually park.

I actually enjoy driving it, which I never did the Kia. Interesting, I wonder if my apathy for the Sedona was because it was a minivan, or because it was a Kia?!

mmarshall

That's where I differ with a lot of the stereotypes. I don't think it's a joke at all for a family-man to get a minivan. Like it or not, they are simply the ideal vehicle for some families....and the smart person will get what is best for his loved ones. In fact, one of my colleagues, at my church, a single guy about my age (never married), living alone, who is maybe an inch or two taller than me (about 6' 4" or so) drove a Dodge Caravan back in the late 1990s. He said, that, at the time, it was the only vehicle he looked at that could actually fit in comfortably, with adequate head room. Hard to believe, but I have to take him at his word. (He now has an older RAV-4, also without any ergonomic problems for him, which, of course, has been far more reliable than the Caravan).


In Kia market-speak, those are known as the "Tiger" grilles.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

just saying "because it was a kia" doesn't make sense to me... writing off a whole brand based on experience with one model. i'm sure the new kia stinger or k900 drives a bit different than the sedona.

i believe i read the sedona's ride quality is considered stiff and when i test drove one i felt it was kinda 'average' fairly firm and fairly but not really quiet. the highlander for example was WAY nicer to drive.

mmarshall

If there's enough room, try putting a pillow or cushion in the area where they are likely to kick the back of the seat. That might help.

I'm surprised the 2Row is stationary...especially in the usually-creative Chrysler minivans. One minivan feature that a lot of moms like (especially if Mom is riding Shotgun, in the right front seat) is to be able, while the car is moving, to turn around, pull Junior forward in the seat a little, attend to his or her needs (such as wiping off faces)....then push him or her back.


Agreed....probably more of a gimmick than an actual day-to-day useful driving aid. Besides, most of us, today, actually do more space/nose-in parking than of the parallel-type.

Maybe I can help you answer your own question. Given your generally high opinion of the new Genesis sedans, and your previous (generally good) comments of several of both Kia and Hyundai products, I don't think you have any innate or built-in hostility towards the corporation. If you remember, last year, I did the G90 review at least partly based on your glowing recommendation of it (I pretty much knew what to expect with the G80, since I had sampled the Hyundai Genesis version of it earlier). When I did the Sedona SXL (Limited) review, you seemed seriously impressed with it (not simply on my word, of course.....like most of us on Car Chat, you went and checked it out for yourself before leasing). One thing was funny on the Sedona review I did (and you'll probably remember it). I mentioned that I didn't remember seeing a spare tire in the Sedona anywhere (perhaps I just forgot to look....that sometimes happens), and a bunch of us here in Car Chat spent several whole thread-pages posting back and forth about where it could be, whether it was standard equipment or not, or whether only certain trim-versions had it. I ended up at least partly-exonerated.....the Kia web-site managers (yes, it occasionally happens with vehicle manufacturers) had overlooked that part when they listed the Sedona-specs. That had happened not only for the Sedona, but for several other Kia products that year on the web-site as well. Other Kia products had the info listed there, clear as a bell. It was a simple editing problem...and was fixed a few days later, after I pointed it out to a rep on the phone.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

You're taking the word 'joke' too seriously. There's a thread or two from months ago where the OP commented about the then new Pacifica, and mentioning that his Sedona lease was coming up. He'd had the Jeep Grand Cherokee before that which served as a basis for being familiar with FCA, which is why we figured he'd take a serious look when the lease was up. Sure enough.

mmarshall

Yes, I know that Steve had two JGCs before, and, from his earlier comments, was apparently quite happy with both of them, despite the fact that the first one was apparently not quite bulletproof. Even if it has an issue here or there, though, the JGC drives so well that it's difficult not to be happy with one, if it's a nice midsize SUV that you want. Bitkahuna, of course, also found that out. I generally like Buicks, but I found the JGC to be as nice, or nicer, to drive than the mid-size Buick Envision SUV. In some ways, I even liked it more than the mid-sized Cadillac XT5.....but not more than the Lincoln MKX.

SW17LS

Yeah for me the utility of the minivan really can't be beat right now.However, although I do like this Pacifica a lot more than the Sedona, and more than I thought I would, I still wouldn't choose a minivan unless I had to have one.

Yeah I don't have any issue with Kia, I don't think. I would buy another Kia product for sure. Just not sure why I find this so much more appealing. The Sedona was very much like my wife's Prius for me, I really didn't ever want to drive it or care for it...however I seem to be more interested in this Pacifica, more how I normally am with cars.

Lets see how that works out when the kids start destroying it LOL

The reason is the Stow n Go seats. The way the mechanism works (which is slick) makes the second row sliding front or back impossible. If you get the Pacifica Hybrid there is no Stow n Go, and the second row does slide.

It will back into a perpendicular space too.

mmarshall

Well, the built-in vacuum, alone (something the Sedona lacks), is a NICE feature. if I were minivan shopping, that would be one of the features that just might sway me.

Well, maybe that nice vacuum will help keep the horse before the cart, by sweeping up all the crumbs they drop on the floor. Then, all you got to do is empty the bag (if applicable).



Good point....I had not considered that. Those Stow/Go seats are also the main reason you can't get the AWD Chrysler minivans any more....gotta go down the street to the Toyota shop (and the Sienna) for that. The lower-body-wells for the Stow/Go system apparently take up some of the space that the AWD hardware and drive-shafts would go.



Top-line Lacrosses also have that automated perpendicular-space feature, but I passed on it....just one more electronic gizmo I didn't need and probably would never use. Your wife, though, might (?) find it useful if she does a lot of mall/parking-lot shopping....particularly with the Christmas season starting later this month.

pbm317

Congrats! My dad loves the Pacifica I bought him last year about this time. We got him a lower trim, but still has blind spot monitor, power doors, push button, nav, etc. I agree that Chrysler did a great job with the Pacifica. After nearly 30 years of only considering mostly/only Japanese import products, my dad has been pleasantly surprised with the Chrysler.

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

Wow you made the move! We still have 10 months left on our Kia so I’m still in research stage on my wife's Next ride. Surprised you leased the Kia 6 months before me, since I thought it was more like 3 months lol. Wonder how much I would lose if I do it now, with 10 months lease left... Well, my wife just hit a drive-through pole and dented the driver side quarter panel. So we have to fix that first which I don’t have time :/
I still trying to convince my wife about the Odyssey since I think van is just so much more useful, but she had her heart dead set on a full size SUV.

Btw, I don’t understand why lot of people just assume a Chrysler product is horrible in liability. And especially for us people that lease, we don’t really care about long term liability since anything it’s covered during the 3 years of time. So unless you get a lemon, there isn’t anything to worry about lol. Feature rich and nice drive is all that matters

Johnhav430

Minivans have great utility. Let's say you have to go out to JFK airport at 2:30 AM to pick-up inlaws who were flight delayed by 4 hours and have just flown back from Vancouver, which would they appreciate you showing up in, a minivan, or one of them fancy Range Rover autobiography's with 67 cu. ft. of cargo? I get that minivans have a stigma, but there is as many here have mentioned, a reason why they're so popular.

If you're single, are you going to meet smokeshows cruising around in one? Doubtful. As a father with kids, is it going to present great utility? Absolutely. There are different tools for every job, having the right one makes life more pleasant.

p.s. I just started using that word from following Guillame Duclair's hockey goalie smarts so excuse my French

mmarshall

No offense, John, but if they are going through the hassles of customs, immigration, baggage-checks, paperwork, passports, and all the other hassles and delays involved in an arrival from overseas (or, in some cases, even in the country), they are probably so glad to get past all of that (and successfully get all of their baggage back without any of it being lost) that they probably don't care much what kind of vehicle is waiting for them in the parking lot...as long as it quickly gets them out of there LOL.

They have a stigma only among the ignorant, and among those who think that everything should drive like a Porsche 911 (and, of course, I am not including you in that group)

Johnhav430

This really did happen Sunday AM @ 2:30 AM! What I was driving at was the luggage would easily fit in one vehicle, and likely be a struggle in the prestige vehicle (those Range Rovers have less usable cargo than a CR-V, but they sure look dang good!). So the former is gonna be able to get in and out fast.

My wife used to be able to bypass customs as an A1, this would always throw us off when picking her up, if the flight were on time, we pretty much needed to be at arrivals curb, at that time. I always used to tell her, I'm not joking, if anyone, even a relative, asks to puts stuff in your luggage, tell them no. Doesn't matter if "everyone else is doing it." There was one-time in PA at a Staples where I told the guy yeah we don't need to do the sales tax thing, omg that was a mistake. What they know in DC, NYC, and LA, it seems the rest of the country does not know. I wanted to pull that immunity thing once when I got caught speeding...but chickened out...

Stroock639

chrysler is constantly screwing me over lol, people believe we can discount a sienna as much as a pacifica or a highlander as much as a grand cherokee because chrysler gives a higher msrp and then discounts it more, even though there's genuinely only about a 3-7% markup in a toyota, depending on the model. there's a reason why literally every single chrysler product is at the bottom of basically every build quality, reliability, dependability survey lol... everyone who's had a dodge ram and then drives a tundra is like wow it just feels much higher quality, but the ram is so much cheaper