Anyone have a Chrysler Pacifica or Honda Pilot?

[chalex]

I really need to get a 'new' vehicle that can seat 7. I currently have a Pontiac Vibe which is great as I get around 30 mpg, both city/highway. Problem is it only seats 5 at a smoosh!

Daughter plays travel soccer and practices 3 times a week 30 minutes from home. Right now I have to drive her everytime which is getting expensive on gas and ruining our family life as practice is from 6pm to 8pm, so we miss dinner with my husband/son.

If I get a Pacifica or another vehicle that can seat 7 (looking at the Honda Pilot too but they are about $4000 more than the Pacifica for the same year -2006/2007)I can carpool which means I would have to drive just once every 2weeks.

I hate to give up the vibe but I've had it since new in 2004 and have put 95,000 miles on it and to be honest the legroom in the back is getting a little tight now the kids are moving into their teens.

Question is: What mpg do you get with your Pacifica?

I'm looking at the 4.0 6 speed as research leads me to believe that the gas mileage is better with this than the 3.5 or 3.8 with the 4 speed.

And what about the Pilot? Would this be a better choice than the Pacifica?

I like the styling of the Pacifica and the fact that the middle seats are captains chairs and not bench but think that the reliability of the Pilot might be better, being that it is a Honda.

So confused? I plan to keep this vehicle until I can't drive it anymore, so I want to make the right choice!

Thanks for any help.

Angie

 

[DisHokie]

we drive a honda pilot 2004 and absolutely love it! we get about 17-22 mpg in it.. when we bought it, it was the most mpg in a 7 person vehicle.

I will say, I enjoy my parents odessey MUCH better! It is much more comfortable if you are sitting in the back with more room with the bucket seats and all. The pilot is great, as we have a newborn and don't really need the third row, but the third row has very limited leg room and would likely be uncomfortable for tall children on long rides. If not using it much, the third row does fold down and give tons of room (we pretty much always have ours folded down).. With that being said, we have had NO major problems with our pilot and it has almost 100K on it. Only routine maintenance, etc. If choosing between the two, I would say being that you wouldn't need the third row but every couple of weeks, I'd pick the Honda anyday

We are big Honda people and will probably never buy another brand, but would go with bucket seats on the next go round (most likely the odessey)..

Good Luck!

 

[msmayor]

Be aware that Pacifica's with the two captain seats in the middle row do NOT seat 7....seats six. You can't get three people in that third seat.

I own a 2004 Pacifica and love mine. Bought it about 3 months after it was introduced; at that time only FWD or AWD was available; I chose the FWD because I knew the extra curb weight of the AWD would hurt gas mileage plus I knew that with the type of driving I do, AWD really wasn't necessary.

In the six years that I've had it (purchased June 2003) I've put about 81,000 miles. Its gone to Disney and back twice from NJ and did a two-week drive to the midwest for a vacation with no issues. My kids LOVE the captain chairs in the second row.

We've had no issues or problems with cargo space and have always had adequate room for all our stuff. Last year, with the second and third row seats down, we transported luggage for nine people to Disney (everyone else was taking the train, carryons only) and had plenty of room.

Mileage varies, but on high-speed distance driving we probably get about 23-24MPG. Around town I'm getting about 20MPG.

(knock wood) No major issues at all with the engine or transmission. When the Pacifica first came out, it used the same design engine and tranny in my husband's Chrysler LHS. He still drives that car (its a year-2000 car) and it has 160,000 miles with no real issues. I plan to drive the Pacifica at least as much.

One warranty issue a couple years ago....EGR valve blew on a trip back from Hersey. We had it fixed (about $250) and about two months later Chrysler notified us of a recall on it; said if we'd already paid for replacement to just send the bill and they would reimburse. We had a check in our hands within four weeks for the full amount.

When deciding on the Pacifica I did test-drive the Pilot as well. For me personally, I thought the 'ride' of the Pacifica was more comfortable which is what leaned us in that direction.

I suggest you test drive the Pacifica at night to make sure you are comfortable with the rear-blind spots in the dark. It does take some practice to get used to them but within 6 months I had no trouble.

 

[czycropper]

Pilot, Pilot & Pilot - this is an absolutely wonderful car.

It can fit 8 and that includes tall people - my college roommate came to visit with her family and we all fit in the car - she's 5'8", her DH 6', her DS 5'10" & DD 5'8" - her DS, DH & DD all sat in the 3rd row and were comfortable. My DDs wanted to sit with my roommate in the middle row and she did that because now her kids are in the late teens and she misses "younger kids" as she puts it. They were here for a week and we rode all over in the Pilot including into the City and it was great. The other wonderfull thing is that when we took the 3rd row out we actually fit everything needed to take to our beach house easily including the smaller bike & all beach stuff!

I was in an accident in it and it was totaled but I only came out of it with a couple of scratches. We then bought a Hyundai Santa Fe which I like but it just doesn't have the same room or the same ride we have now decided to go back to a Pilot and my DH is keeping the Sante Fe and I'm getting another Pilot.

I honestly say that I have never driven a Pacifica but I just don't like their looks.

 

[leahjade]

Pilot has a much better resale value - we love ours!

 

[minnie6895]

We have a 2006 Pilot and love it. We have the front wheel drive version and get around 22 miles per gallon, with many small trips. We are very pleased with it and would highly recommend one.

 

[Darsa]

We have a Pacifica, and while it looks very cool and not all boxy and square, it only holds 6 people. And, if you have 6 spaces filled, there's almost NO cargo space.

Can you tell this isn't a vehicle I chose?