I find the most interesting car magazine long-term tests are the ones where the vehicles experience major problems. I was majorly bummed out to read
Car and Driver’s 40,000 mile summary of their experience with the Pacifica Hybrid minivan. I was seriously considering getting one of these as my next vehicle. Honestly, based on this report and some other sources, I think I’m going to skip this generation and see what happens the next time around.
Quoting the article about problems with this Pacifica:
While our Pacifica hybrid completed the final 10,000 miles without any major expenses, it wasn’t completely drama-free. We had to replace both front anti-roll-bar end links under warranty to fix a persistent rattle from the front end. The dealership also had to replace the whole center console, due to a seized cupholder bin on the lower back side that was permanently stuck open. Luckily, this was covered under warranty, or it would’ve cost us $1590. These recent issues were preceded by regular logbook entries over the first 30,000 miles about disconcerting engine noises (something the dealership said was normal) and an unsettling incident where the hybrid’s 16.0-kWh battery pack had to be replaced. Similarly, we experienced two instances where the battery coolant was low, but the dealer was unable to diagnose the cause either time. All of these problems were covered under warranty, which is great, but it certainly made editors think twice about taking what is otherwise a great road-trip car on road trips, not to mention gave us doubts about the minivan’s long-term reliability.