I cannot believe it has been three years already since my last attempt on leasing a family vehicle. Back then I went for the Volvo XC90 for aesthetics and we only had a single child. Also did not want to go for a minivan since it is usually a soccer mom car lol
Well fast forward three years, my lease is about to end and I am on the market for a decent family vehicle supposedly offering more space/functionality due to family expansion (due to covid-19, we had to have more babies : ).
I really enjoyed Volvo. Apart from touch-screen issues, ride quality was excellent and air suspension really helped on terrible Michigan roads, also had no issues with squeaking or rattling.
Long story short, I have been eyeing Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle trim since coming from XC90 Inscription, wanted to have something nicer. I wished Hybrid had AWD, it would have been a greater choice with plug in but being in midwest, I’d want to have an AWD system. Looked at other minivans Toyota and Honda but they look so bleh and Kia Carnival is lacking AWD.
So I have reached out to several local dealers (10 +) and am shocked. I have been offered well over $1K + tons of cash due signing for a minivan. I think the cheapest was like 970 or something with 4K cash lol. Anyone of you had a good experience with a particular Chrysler/Jeep dealer that is not trying to screw people? I mean I have been seeing Jeep Wagooners going for much less per month which is a 75K+ MSRP car.
I have started to contact out of state dealers in hope to get better deals but not have much hope.
Worst case scenario, I will have to get a 2022 XC90 from brokers here but for now will try to find me a Pacifica deal.
You can likely find a local dealer that will do invoice and save yourself the shipping cost.
If you ask dealers what the price is, the price is always high. You need to inform them what you want and let them take it or leave it. It would need to be an order however.
True with the shipping costs in the $1.5-2K range but the problem is local dealers stock is a problem and they don’t budge on any discount. Not sure if I can wait for an order since I need a car until middle of October.
I don’t know where you live or where these minivans are but should one assume the car is in FL and you could take a cheap flight out of Detroit (lots of assuming) your gas and hotels for the drive up would cost well under the shipping fees
I ordered a Pacifica Pinnacle with 9% off through one of the brokers. I live in New England and went with the Hybrid. Between the fed $ and the cost per mile with my frequent short trips it makes sense for me. I’ll get an extra set of OEM wheels from a junkyard and put snows on them and swap them myself. The AWD only gets you going and doesn’t help with stopping or turning. In my experience 2wd with quality snow tires is fine for 99% of the time in winter. If it is nuking snow I either won’t go out or will take our small AWD vehicle with snows if it is really important I get to the ski mountain.
You are probably right but most of the driving will be done by the wife so I want her to feel safe with an AWD. I wished the hybrid came with AWD or at least what Toyota does like a electric motors in rear rather than a mechanical drive shaft but $7500 tax credit sounds so intriguing. Most of the prices I am being quoted right now is in the $900 range with almost no due at sign (like only first month) but still it is ridiculous to pay 900/month for a minivan
The interest rate is in the 7% range for it on the lease so it is about $6-7k in just interest alone.
It would make sense to lease to get the 7.5k upfront also also probably worthwhile to mark up the MF in exchange for no first month payment then to purchase it after a few months to save on all that interest.
AWD doesn’t help you stop; if anything the extra mass just makes your braking distances longer.
If you want your wife and family to be actually safer and not just a false perception of greater safety, you should get winter or at least all-weather (not to be confused with all-season) tires. That’s much more important than which wheels are being powered.
Also: CJDR is the only company I know of that (1) had airbags fail to deploy during a crash test on one of its vehicles, and (2) had one of its product flunk a safety test pretty badly but never submit it again for a better grade. If there’s one OEM in America that doesn’t GAF about gaining a reputation for safety, it’s CJDR/Stellantis.
You may be right but I would pick AWD if/when I can anyday of the week since it definitely helps with traction (very important for starting, turning etc.) also wife drives very slowly. Regarding CJDR/Stellantis, believe me I am very hesitant to purchase a Pacifica because of the reliability issues so only interested in leasing if I can get much much better deal. I looked at other minivans but not a fan of Honda (no AWD) or Toyota although they probably offer good functionality. I also drive the car sometime so I’d also prefer some style. Currently leasing a Volvo XC90 so I am used to luxury, quietness and no rattling or plastic noise.
If anyone has some experience with Pacifica on these (rattling, drive behaviour etc.), will definitely appreciate it.
Thanks.
So far only 2017-2018 modals. Chrysler Pacifica Minivan Recall for Fire Risk | NHTSA
Some also reported that the car might stop working on freeway, here’s the YouTube link: 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid breaks down for the 6th time on freeway - YouTube
I’ve been eyeballing on Pacifica too since it’s the only plug-in hybrid minivan on the market.
Rented a couple times this year for road trip and they all work very well, but all of them are V6 version.
Wish Toyota will come out with a plug-in version of their Sienna with AWD in the future…
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