Is it good or bad for Chrysler when the Pacifica Hybrid wins awards?
Is it good or bad for Chrysler when the Pacifica Hybrid wins awards?
The latest accolade for the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid is from the AAA, or American Automobile Association, a mildly influential group which named the Hybrid its topic SUV-and-minivan; it was also one of the top three cars picked by AAA overall.
What’s wrong with that, you may ask? For that, just take a peek at the most recent J.D. Power survey results. Dodge came in at #1, the first domestic brand ever to do so. Chrysler, which has just two vehicles—Pacifica/Voyager and 300—came in far closer to the bottom. The word on the street is that the problem is certainly not the 300, since the nearly-identical Charger fared well, but the Pacifica—to be specific, the Pacifica Hybrid.
The Hybrid is a terrific minivan, by all means, and a fine vehicle by nearly any standard. It’s fast, well-mannered, quiet, comfortable, and docile, and handles very well for such a large vehicle; indeed, despite added weight from the batteries, the Pacifica Hybrid handles better than the only-gasoline version. However, it seems prone to failures under warranty, and, worse, most dealers don’t seem to know what to do when they get a Pacifica Hybrid in their service bays.
Chrysler often finds that their most troublesome cars are their biggest hits with people who normally don’t buy Chryslers; in recent history, we have the 1976 Volare and Aspen, 1989-92 UltraDrive-equipped minivans and cars, 1995 Neon and Neon, the first Austrian-topped Chrysler Sebrings, 2014-18 Ram ProMasters, and the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator. These all attracted people from other brands, and poisoned their views of Chrysler quality.
Maybe it’s not so good that the Pacifica Hybrid keeps winning awards.
Clark Westfield grew up fixing up and driving past-their-prime American cars, including various GM and Mopar V8s. He has ghostwritten auto news for the last few years, lives in Farmingdale, New York, and can be reached at +1.516-531-4021.