We rented a refreshed Pacifica non-hybrid during out trip to Denver couple weeks ago, we had a great time in that car, and i'm sure the plugged-in hybrid version will be even more enticing. the ride was very comfortable even in the mid-tier trim, and the power was way better than the hybrid Sienna. the whole van just felt composed, not to mention the stow and go feature for the rear seats. we came away very impressed with the van to the point we are considering it to fill the void in our family fleet: a fuel efficient long distance family hauler. however, the reliability of a Chrysler product scares me, not to mention the horrible service and resale value. PHEV Pacifica's msrp is higher than the Sienna but with the dealer markups on the Sienna, both vans can be had for the similar price. anyone here owns a PHEV Pacifica what to chime in on the ownership experience?

 

Steve (SW17LS) has a new Pacifica in his family that is only a year or two old. If he does not reply publically here, you may want to PM and ask him.

You also mentioned that you are concerned (with some reason) about the reliability of a Chrysler product. Despite Toyota's stellar reputation in that field, the Sienna's reliability may also be overrated. One of my friends has had two of them...both with warranty-issues that he was not satisfied the way Toyota handled. He said he may not purchase another Toyota product.

 

I would love to test one of these. I've only had the regular gas version as rentals.

I think the hybrid version gives up the stow n go seats, and has a reduction in power (260 hp) from the gas Pacifica (287 hp), so with the reduction in output and the added battery weight, I wouldn't expect it to feel as sprightly as the gas version, though I'm sure it's still pretty good.

 

yeah, just found out the hybrids don't have stow n go, that definitely play a role in our buying decision because with the stow and go basically you can use the pacifica as a short bed pick up truck.

 

That makes sense.....the large battery-pack probably takes up the space needed for the seats to fold.

 

My neighbor has had two, seems like they suffer from the usual average reliability status that ChryCo products are known for. Neither of his have been particularly problematic but 2021 has a battery coolant heater MIL that comes and goes occasionally but always resolves itself. It's been otherwise problem free for the 18k mi he's traveled in it. The 2018 he had was all sorts of charging, stalling, and UConnect issues.

 

We're coming up on 6000 miles on our '21 Pacifica Pinnacle PHEV. It is my daily driver. The vehicle has, so far, well exceeded my fondest hopes. The additional weight of the battery pack keeps the vehicle better planted and likely helps the smoothness of the ride. It is quiet (unlike the other 5 minivans we've had, all of which had a tin can feeling). It has more gizmos than I'll ever use. The absence of stow-n-go seats in the second row is a non-issue. The electric range in mild to hot weather is in the low to mid 30s and drops by at least one-third in cold weather when using the heater.

There's no question that reliability is a legitimate concern although ours has been without an issue in that regard. Suggest the OP read some of the posts on pacificaforums.com to review comments from a variety of owners. Going in, I balanced the reliability concern against the cost (in April 2021 before the market went crazy). On a sticker of $52,720, our net cost after Chrysler rebates ($8000 plus $1000 for installation of a mobility device), dealer discount ($3000), and the Federal tax credit ($7500) was less than $34,000. Then and (especially) now, it was a bargain IMHO.

Would I pay high 40s net for a Pinnacle PHEV now? Hmmm...probably would go with a lower trim for less money.

 

We also loved our Pacifica Hybrids, we had a 2020 as well as the updated 2021. Similar to TriC we got amazing deals on both units. Pricing has gone sky high, along with lack of tons of factory incentives.

We charged our Pacifica religiously. More than 90% of our day to day driving was done via electric mode.

Hybrid Pacifica loses stow and go, but at least you can still tug the 2nd row seats out if needed (not really feasible for the Sienna with the side airbags built in).

Sienna's 34-36 MPG is nothing to sneeze at though, especially with available all-wheel drive (Pacifica PHEV is FWD only, but maybe not a concern for Southern California where OP is).

New Pacifica also has wireless CarPlay, which is a pretty nice feature. Once you have it I think it's hard to go back to wired, although there are some aftermarket dongles that can enable wireless carplay in cars as well.

Overall felt the Pacifica also has a more premium interior (available pano roof, interior fam cam, front passenger lumbar) that the Sienna just didn't offer.