I am a self professed PTA, soccer mom that drives the minivan. Really I am living up to the stereotypical mom in a suburban neighborhood. I am not the biggest fan of minivans, mostly the way they look, but their function way outshines their looks. I mean when you have kids, those sliding doors are a life and door ding saver!! The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica is taking the minivan to a whole new level with advances in technology and function. It makes me almost want to get another minivan….almost
What first struck me about the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica is the interior. It screams sophistication, growing up, comfort, and style. The smooth lines and textures of the surfaces shows that it has evolved from a clunky, unrefined interior. I am a big fan of the lighter leather interiors. See when you live in Texas, black leather and the heat just don’t get along. The lighter color interior in the Pacifica would get warm, but not blazing hot in the sun. And even if it did get a bit warm, there was the option of ventilated seats to quickly cool it off.
Storage in the Chrysler Pacifica is abundant. Seriously as I would look around I kept finding little compartments here and there to store cables, phones, hide valuables, cup holders and more. The best part was discovering the stow-and-go compartments. With just one hand, I was able to move the driver seat forward, pull up the floor mats, and stow the second row captain’s chair. This would come in really handy when you have a little one in tow and need to buckle them into the back seat. Or say you have a large cake box that you need more space for in the floorboard, you can pop the seat down and be able to have the cake box positioned for travel in under a minute.
Technology is abundant in the new 217 Chrysler Pacifica. The one I was driving was the Limited so it had many of the available features with just a few that I didn’t see when I was introduced to it at NAIAS. The advanced SafetyTec Group package that is offered can come with front and rear park assist, 360 degree camera, parking assist, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, rain sensing wipers, auto high beams, and advanced brake assist. But don’t think that is all of the tech that is on this newly reimagine minivan. The list of even things are are standard now is mind blowing considering what comes on my old van.
We took the Pacifica on a road trip with 4 of my other mom friends for a PTA conference and they were all impressed with the look, feel, and ride. One of the girls gets carsick so she was wary about riding in the second row, but wound up having no issues. The acceleration was smooth and seamless. No jerking when the vehicle shifted through the gears. It comfortably fit all of us with our luggage and everyone had plenty of legroom and space around them.
I think the only part I had a problem with is the KeySense™. So KeySense™ is a feature where you can set certain parameters and functions of the vehicle based on the KeyFob. I am not sure who originally set ours up, but they had to where the lane keep assist couldn’t be turned off, we couldn’t go over 85 mph, and the music couldn’t go louder than 12. No I wasn’t trying to speed but you have to test out the vehicles that are sent to you. The not being able to easily turn off the Lane Keep Assist was by far the most annoying. I get the purpose of the feature, but a lot of times with roads that are around us, to drive the car I was fighting the steering wheel to stay where I wanted the van to be, not necessarily where the computer thought I should be. KeySense had its place and purpose, especially if you have a teen driver that you can limit what they are allowed to do while driving, but when you can’t turn some features off easily, it was a bit frustrating.
The newly redesigned 201 Chrysler Pacifica is taking the minivan to a whole new level. When I got my first one 7 years ago I couldn’t have imagined the seats being able to fold into the floors, a vacuum in the back to clean up messes, more technology than you can every imagine using, and all of it being packaged in a well thought out design.
Here are just some of the features that can come in the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica: Base Price $42,495 with options $50,445
- 3.6L V6, 9 speed automatic
- Rear back up cameras
- Blind spot and cross path detection
- Keyless entry
- Hill start assist
- Capless fuel filter
- Active grill shutters
- Hands free sliding door and liftgate
- Stow ‘n Van integrated vacuum
- 2ndd and 3rd row stow and go seats
- Ventilated and heated front seats
- Heated second row seats
- Uconnect Theater and Sound Group $2795
- Tire and Wheel Group $996
- Trailer Tow Group $995
- Advanced Safety Tec Group $1995
- KeySense $175
Good review!