Another Vehicle Dilemma Thread - Family Hauler Edition

[ExtraSlow]

I personally wouldn't cross-shop a pickup, or a body-on-frame SUV with a minivan. Or rather, not for long, very different ways to skin this particular cat.

Its my contention minivan is better for kids than either. Low floor and sliding doors are both key features.

[brucebanner]

Pacifica we had rented was nice for the trim, my hesitation is how it'll hold up as we are planning to have that long term, like 10 years kind of thing.

I know we could do without awd but it's the one thing my wife wants. I'm good with having it too, it's a plus.

We currently have a truck, I mostly drive it. Wife likes it but not as her primary.

[Gman.45]

I bought my father a Pacifica about a year after it came out, they didn't have AWD available but they did have the PHEV (where the fuck do you get plug in EV from PHEV FFS anyway), so we got him that. It only has about 40,000km on it (2018, I think), but it's been really good regarding the reliability and typical Chrysler shit breaking type deal. It had an overhead light that stopped working, and that's been it so far. The EV thing works really well, even in winter he can get about 40 km with all the heat/lights/stereo/etc running, and in summer it's over 50km. No ICE firing up, just EV, so long as he keeps it in the city, which he mostly does.

He has a mobility scooter and ramps to load it in the rear, the angle of entry was better than the Toyota or any other van for this one specific purpose, which is how we landed on the Pacifica in the first place. Plus it had a huge factory discount at the time of purchase, plus 0% for the $25,000 that was financed after down payment and factory/company discounts/etc.

Rage2's advice is probably the best, as I know he's rented the Pacifica and a couple occasions and posted about it, as well as being a Sienna owner. I think his next van will be a Sienna or maybe even the Honda, as he's had a hip replacement and can get around better now (ie no ramps/scooter loading required).

If you plan on keeping it 10 years, obviously the depreciation will be a lot more with the Pacifica, but looking online at those for sale, it hasn't been THAT bad.

[jwslam]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

where the fuck do you get plug in EV from PHEV FFS anyway

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Interesting to see Lol-vo is joining a segment that most manufacturers backed out of, doesn't look like it'll come to Canada though
https://www.motor1.com/news/691525/2...sign-revealed/

Vans are just not popular around here with everyone wanting SUVs

[jutes]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Low floor and sliding doors are both key features.

Low floor for the kids or parents?

[G-ZUS]

Are you going to be selling the edge? Might be interested in it if you are

[pheoxs]

Ford Flex since it has all the space of a minivan without sliding doors so it's not a minivan. You can also get it in AWD (for safety for the wifey) with the 3.5L Ecoboost and 365hp.

[mr2mike]

Suicide doors Ford Flex.
Basically old version of the sliding door.

[4WARNED]

Ah, the joys of a minivan. i'm not gonna lie - as a car guy, it absolutely made me sick that we sold a three row SUV (2003 Durango R/T) for a van. But we had three littles at the time (2 yr old and a pair of twins) and as somebody mentioned above, i had to view the purchase of a van just like an appliance. It was gonna get destroyed, used, consumed and disposed of eventually. But there was no comparison to the utility of that van at that stage of our lives. Sliding power doors and rear dvd. Leather seats that were easy to wipe up. We ended up with a new Kia Sedona (2007) at the time. With good winter tires, it was incredible in the snow. ( I too at the time would've loved an AWD van, but the added expense ruled it out).

Ironically, i still see our van everyday as someone down the block bought it from us and it's still going. They bought it from us as i was always cleaning it, trying to stave off the "life of a minivan" patina (interior and exterior) that most suffer.
but i'll admit the first time my kids could climb into a Jeep wrangler, and do up their own seatbelts, the van was gone.

Now i don't even let them into our trackhawk. but they are 19/16/16 now.

[rage2]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Ford Flex since it has all the space of a minivan without sliding doors so it's not a minivan. You can also get it in AWD (for safety for the wifey) with the 3.5L Ecoboost and 365hp.

I liked the Flex, it was peppy. Rented it a few times. We actually looked at the Flex as well, but I can't remember why we didn't go that route.

Pacifica and Sienna both handle decent, rented both over the years. Destroys the pre Pacifica Chrysler vans, those things can only corner at 70% of the speed of a Camry. Just brutal handling with zero grip. Honestly, I'd drive the Sienna more if I could lower it but it was vetoed. It'd be pretty decent lowered, better tires, and a bump in power. Hopefully the PHEV Sienna comes out with similar output as the RAV4 Prime. Def moving to that. We also looked at the Pacifica PHEV but we passed based on lack of AWD. There's also a "potential problem" with the PHEV battery and fire risk, I don't think Chrysler has addressed the issue other than telling owners not to park it indoors.

Sienna also has a lift kit with additional lower body panels specifically designed for mobility access.

[lasimmon]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Are you going to be selling the edge? Might be interested in it if you are

I’ll be selling my 15 edge sport in the next week or 2 as an FYi. 150 ish km.

[Cagare]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Pacifica we had rented was nice for the trim, my hesitation is how it'll hold up as we are planning to have that long term, like 10 years kind of thing.

I know we could do without awd but it's the one thing my wife wants. I'm good with having it too, it's a plus.

We currently have a truck, I mostly drive it. Wife likes it but not as her primary.

We bought a brand new 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan, currently at 130k km. The issues we had was a transmission pan leak, transmission cooler hose leak and the rear AC evaporator coil went. Aside from that we are actually on the original set of brakes. The shocks need replacing but they are not leaking by any means. It's actually been a great vehicle, and our plan is to keep it until it rusts out further than we like.

Also, from a value standpoint, I got employee pricing due to friends that work at Chrysler, I got fully loaded out the door taxes in at $35k, mind you in 2015. It's still worth 10-15k 8 years later.

I full support the idea of a van, they have only recently started to jump in value due to obvious reasons but our generation is starting to get back into them, it's still not as bad as what we are seeing for similarly sized SUV pricing.

[ExtraSlow]

Ford Flex was cool, liked it a lot, but second row doors were massive and swung super wide. Opposite of van sliding doors.

[Cagare]

Ford Flex is a good solution, my sister had one. Lots of room, I just think resale could be worse than a van. If you buy used maybe that's not a problem.

[HiSpec]

[QUOTE=rage2;5149454]

Hopefully the PHEV Sienna comes out with similar output as the RAV4 Prime. /QUOTE]

Is the PHEV Sienna in Toyota's product timeline or just a rumour?

[rage2]

Rumors and hope.

[you&me]

I've had a Flex rental a few times years ago... It did the job fine and seems like a reasonable alternative to a minivan if you only need 5 seats.

On the topic of rumours, how about a Hellcat Pacifica?

[rage2]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I've had a Flex rental a few times years ago... It did the job fine and seems like a reasonable alternative to a minivan if you only need 5 seats.

On the topic of rumours, how about a Hellcat Pacifica?

I swear Flex was 6 or 7 seats? or am I on crack?

Hellcat Pacifica would be fun. But that was purely a napkin pipe dream.

[pheoxs]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I swear Flex was 6 or 7 seats? or am I on crack?

Hellcat Pacifica would be fun. But that was purely a napkin pipe dream.

Yeah it has 3rd row seating, maybe only on certain trims

[you&me]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I swear Flex was 6 or 7 seats? or am I on crack?

Hellcat Pacifica would be fun. But that was purely a napkin pipe dream.

You're probably right... It was 10+ years ago when we last rented a Flex and mostly chose it because a) we only needed the second row; b) needed to haul a bunch of baby gear and food, and; c) was cheaper than renting an SUV and it wasn't a minivan

That said, I would run into the same issue with the Flex as I would with a minivan... Great if you need to haul a bunch of stuff OR 6 people, but not if you need to haul 6 people AND their stuff.