Eric's Autos: 2024 Chrysler Pacifica

Remember when practically every car company was selling minivans? Today, that's all Chrysler still sells.

What It Is

The Pacifica is a 7-8 passenger minivan (depending on the configuration) that's available with or without a plug-in hybrid drivetrain and with or without all-wheel drive -- unless you want the hybrid, which is front-wheel drive only.

Prices start at $38,425 for the base Touring trim, which comes with a third-row bench, a standard 3.6-liter V6 and FWD.

From there, there are three additional nonhybrid trims, including Touring L ($42,085 to start), Limited ($49,355) and the Pinnacle ($55,015 to start).

There are also five plug-in hybrid trims, starting with the base Select ($52,495) and going up from there to the Pinnacle plug-in, which stickers for $61,225. This one comes standard with quilted Nappa leather upholstery and a suede headliner, a 19-speaker Harman Kardon premium audio system, lumbar pillows for the second-row captains' chairs and individual LCD display rear-seat entertainment system.

What's New For 2024

The '24 Pacifica carries over unchanged.

What's Good

Still comes standard with a V6 (rivals such as the Toyota Sienna no longer offer one).

The only minivan available in plug-in hybrid configuration.

Slightly higher maximum tow rating (3,600 pounds) than other minivans.

What's Not So Good

Expensive relative to rivals such as the Kia Carnival (which stickers for just $33,600 to start).

If you want the hybrid, you lose the Stow 'n Go second row -- as well as the ability to tow anything.

If Chrysler closes shop, the Pacifica will be orphaned.

Under The Hood

The Pacifica comes standard with a 3.6-liter V6 that makes 287 horsepower. It's paired up with a nine-speed automatic transmission and FWD.

AWD is available optionally.

Rival vans such as the Kia Carnival and Honda Odyssey also come standard with V6 engines (3.5 liters and 290 and 280 horsepower, respectively).

This is fascinating -- as Mr. Spock might put it -- because minivans are the last big-engined (relatively speaking) family vehicles still on the market. The majority of crossovers in this price range come standard with turbocharged fours now, as is also true of family sedans such as the just-updated Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord, neither of which are even available with the V6 engines they both used to offer.

Interestingly, the hybrid Sienna's mileage -- 36 mpg in both city and highway driving -- isn't spectacularly higher than the V6 Pacifica's 19 mpg city, 28 mpg highway, which works out to just shy of 24 mpg on average. Yes, that's still a 12-mpg difference. But it comes at the cost of power (the hybrid Sienna's combo drivetrain only produces a total of 245 horsepower), and the potential cost down the road of having to replace the hybrid battery when it gets tired.

If you'd like higher mileage, the Pacifica hybrid offers it.

And it offers something else the hybrid Sienna doesn't.

That being the capability to plug this Chrysler hybrid in -- and drive for about 32 miles on battery power alone. That opens up the possibility of burning no gas at all if your trip there and back is less than about 32 miles -- and you start your trip with a fully charged battery.

On the downside, the plug-in hybrid Pacifica only averages 30 mpg -- 6 mpg less than the hybrid Sienna -- and its starting price ($52,495) renders absurd any discussion of "saving money."

On The Road

Minivans have changed in that they are now focused more on empty nesters who want a roomy, comfortable vehicle to road trip in. This is reflected in the pushing $40,000 cost (to start) prices of minivans such as the Pacifica and its main rivals as well as the luxury vehicle amenities these vans now offer, such as the Pacifica's available quilted Nappa leather seats.

These are not meant for Cheeto-eating, juice box-spilling kids.

The ride reflects this new ethos, too. The Pacifica's is just that -- Pacific. Calm, quiet, luxurious. Minivans were once basic family haulers (reflected in the price) that had basic (read: primitive) suspensions that were adequate for the task of carrying a bunch of kids around. But the experience wasn't exactly posh, let alone luxurious.

It is now.

Even more so, arguably, because of the standard V6, which has gone from being something ho-hum ordinary five or so years ago to something almost exotic, as V12 were when V8s were once pretty commonplace.

At The Curb

It's still a minivan, but the Pacifica tries hard to not look like minivans used to. It's sleek rather than boxy, without compromising the functionality that makes a minivan what it is.

At just over 203 inches long, the Pacifica has about the same footprint as a full-size sedan but is vastly more practical, because it can carry up to eight people in three rows of seats and because even with all three of its rows occupied, it still can carry about twice as much cargo behind its third row, where there is 32.3 cubic feet of space available versus the typical 15-16 cubic feet of cargo capacity in a full-size sedan's trunk.

The space available is also configurable to accommodate passengers or more cargo. By folding the second row into the floor, you have 140.5 cubic feet of flat and open space to work with, which is space enough to carry things that most crossovers can't -- assuming you could manage to load them. This is much more difficult with crossovers because they're higher off the ground.

The Rest

The '24 Pacifica hasn't changed much since 2017, which was the model year when the current version came out. That was seven years ago, which is a long time for any model to remain on the market without a major makeover. If there is a '25 Pacifica, expect major changes, including the likely replacement of the currently standard V6 with a standard hybrid-electric setup of some kind, probably with a small four-cylinder engine in lieu of the current V6.

The Bottom Line

This may not only be your last chance to get a Pacifica with a V6. It may be your last chance to get a Chrysler.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.