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The Pacifica answered those naysayers who buy foreign cars just because they are "safer."
My 04 Pacifica has negliglible brake dust, and this is clearly a driving style issue, and you could try a different braking style, as in are you a left foot braker ? Left foot brakers are mentally deranged...........
The Pacifica brakes are outstanding and there have been nary a complaint from owners or car reviewers alike on brakes.........I think the driver braking style comes into play here.............
Yes all the cars have rusty brake rotors. My other car's rotors (Honda) look like hell because of the salt they put on Canadian roads.
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So far we have about 8500 miles on the car and I have had no problem with this belt since the repair. The initial squeal started around 250 miles.
Hope this helps.
"owwwwww" continuously ?
It would be lower sound level than the wind noise, but I can hear it. Do your Pacs have that noise or it's just mine ? Or perhaps I am too picky ?
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So if I decently accelerate (car stays in 4th gear, torque converter locked, so lowest RPM possible for that speed, NO downshifting) from 50 MPH to 80 MPH, I will hear some resonance noise (weak) only in the 65 MPH to 70 MPH range (approximately).
Does somebody get that ?
But I guess this solution won't work for those PAC owners who got the static hissing radios....
For the record, my barely audible Pacifica noise bothers me a lot less than my Honda Accord's vibration when I brake at high speed ! At 50,000 Kms (30,000 miles) that's not acceptable FOR A HONDA, THE GREATEST CAR ON THE PLANET !!!
Lincoln Town Car is my current ride, I avg. 22 MPG Hwy driving..
Thank you all again. As an aside, if you think PAC owners are mad, go look at the Murano forums...One word, ALTERNATOR....
Many people blame Nissan lately ...
My advice is to NOT buy a 2003 made one. A one year lease would probably be manufactured in 2003, so not good.
2004 would be better, summer of 2004 or later should be perfect.
Anything 2005 should also be fine. They started building the 2005 Touring model pretty early in 2004 (much before the base and Limited models) so you may be able to find one of those.
One other question though, how are the towing characteristics of this vehicle. I have a 19 ft powerboat (very light). Does anyone have or reccommend a transmission radiator installed? My Concord had numerous transmission issues without towing anything.
Thanks again for all your help.
Pacifica is a lot more stable than the Explorer. On my first test drives I tried to roll it over by steering abruptly left-right-left-right at 40 MPH. It's a lot more stable than the Explorer. I expected the salesperson to be mad at me because of that, but actually he was happy. He "smelled" I was interested in the car.
Towing wise, I just installed the Mopar (Chrysler) hitch on my Pac.
With weight distribution trailer, the hitch it's rated:
350 lbs tongue weight, 3,500 lbs trailer weight.
Without weight distribution doesn't matter, because I understood from other Pacifica web sites that you can buy the weight distribution bars if you don't have them.
What kind of transmission troubles you had with your 1998 Concord, and how much was to fix them? Did you ever got stuck somewhere with your Concord because of any reasons ? I'm just curious because now it doesn't matter for me. Probably I'll keep my Pac for 15 years. My Volvo 240 wagon is 17 yrs old ! I still drive it ... sometimes ...
Amen to the stable comment. I have driven numerous SUV's and yes the Pac is very stable. Like any car or truck though you have to give up something to get the functionality you need in return. The Explorer is not as stable as the Pac, but it has a little more off road moxie. I won't mind dipping the back wheels in the Taunton River as I unload and load the boat as much as with the fancier Pac! Like anything else know what your driving. Any fool who thinks they are invincible because they're in a AWD or 4X4 ought to be driving nails not trucks! We had one of the worst winters in New England this year, my rear wheel drive Town Car with Trac Control did just fine, very slow but fine. I even passed a Pac on the Hwy ditched in a snow drift during the big January Storm...LOL.
About my beloved Concord, (I'm serious). I bought the car Used from a dealer(41,000 miles) and purchased the best extended warranty plan they offered. The tranny never left me stranded, however it did kick into safety mode 3 times during my ownership and had very spotty shifting prior to these incidents. Twice I was told it was torn down and rebuilt at the AAMCO, to their credit the dealership gave me a rental gratis! The third time though I was told it was some kind of Module and was repaired in less than an hour. More troublesome than the tranny though, was the AC system. The compressor was replaced twice along with other AC components. The real funny part of the Tranny though was the AAMCO tech said, "Concord/Interpid, makes up 40% of my business." I believed him! I will say I have never owned a more comfortable car than my Concord! Those Chrysler engineers must be big guys, I'm 6'3 260. The Pac fit like a glove switches and controls were perfect. In case you wondering...I tow with the Lincoln and get many looks and laughs at the ramp!
So you still loved it. Nice !
About the city mileage, New York downtown traffic jam is one thing, here in the forest city is another thing. I certainly get better mileage than the Chrysler posted city mileage.
9.4 liters/100Km
25 mpg (US units)
30 mpg (British units).
This is what I get in IDEAL conditions: Car heated (driven for some time), drive on highway at 50 mph, reset the EVIC mileage counter, keep driving for 10 miles, and read the displayed EVIC mileage.
Obviously "real world consumption" is different. Everyone of us will get a different reading function of speed, number of stops, temperature, etc etc etc.
Even if it's not relevant for anybody, our real world EVIC displayed mileage (60% city, 40% out) is:
12 liters/100Km
19.6 mpg (US)
23.5 (British)
By measuring manually at the gas pump I get 12.5 liters/100Km (19 mpg US), which is reasonably close to the EVIC displayed mileage. My racing wife being the primary driver ... I am happy with it.
I don't know if Sirius will eventually update their software to work with cars similar to the RDS system to display song info in the event that a radio doesn't support that option. Also, to be honest.. my friend has the XM radio and I like it MUCH better than Sirius. I wish there were a way to swap from Sirius to XM and use the existing antenna and radio tuner.
Good Luck!
My car didn't have the horrific problems reported on this site, but my point is that the service is disastrous. There is no doubt in my mind that WE WILL have problems sooner or later, and at that time we will deeply regret we bought this car. Probably the SERVICE makes the difference between respectable makes (Lexus, BMW, Volvo) and low end makes like Chrysler. To update the MENTALITY of their huge service network people will take 10 years at least (IF IT WILL EVER HAPPEN, which I started to doubt).
Recent experience: Got the "headlamp wiring harness" recall letter. Went 1st time at the dealer to have it done. When doing it the smart guy bent the small reflector inside the headlamp. Complained and got 2nd appointment. This time they had the car in for two days (48 hours for that and a noise). Got a phone call from the service manager saying that it was fixed. Picked up the car today, forgot to check it on the spot, went home, and guess what ? IT'S STILL BENT !!! So I have to go again, at least once, right ? For the record, there are 35Km between my house and the dealership, I go there with Pac (1st trip), I come back (2nd trip), I go again to pick it up (3rd), and I come home with Pac (4th trip). So 35Km X 4 = 140Km (90 miles) per appointment. So for this recall (IF they fix it next time, which is not obvious) my mileage is 140 X 3 = 420 Km (260 miles) !!!
Man ... Chrysler had no business in building luxury cars ... I don't know why they started it. They are a cheap van company, with cheap van people. Actually I heard that they build the Pacifica on the same assembly line where they build the vans (priced at half the Pacifica's price). So same tools, same technology, same people. Don't know if it's true though. If it's true I feel really stupid. Every trip to that dealer makes me feel more stupid ...
The service guys who handle my car are top-notch. I've been blessed with a great Pacifica, a June 2003 build of a 2004 model. No problems other than a defective piece of leather on the driver's seat which my service manager took 2 minutes to decide it was definitely a warranty issue and covered it without question.
This 5-star is why I currently own 2 Chrysler vehicles, my Pacifica and my husband's 2000 LHS, and will certainly consider them again when its time to replace the LHS.
This is 100%, the truth.
But maybe you should just turn up that stereo really loud while you are driving back and forth to the dealership.
Did somebody change their dealers ? I heard that another dealer wouldn't be interested in servicing a Pac they didn't sell, because they make profit when they sell the car and not when they service it. Is that true, or not ? Actually I would go to a dealer closer to us.
So I was not answering to you. You know I don't do that.
I certainly can understand Laurie's feelings (laurheis) for Pacifica, especially because I am tempted to overreact for the smallest problem. The only thing they did to me was to damage my headlight, and I almost exploded because of that. I am not sure I would have survived the kind of problems Laurie had.
What bothers me is that you have no reasons to hate Pacifica because you never owned one, so obviously you had no problems with it. Why those hateful posts ?! If you really are a nice guy (which looks like a shocking statement to me, after reading your hateful posts), I think you should try to understand your reasons. You could have a personality problem, and it's always good to understand yourself, because you could compensate your personality problems using simple logic. For instance I know I overreact, so I try to remember that before doing anything. Or if I did it, I am fast to apologize. Generally people understood me, and I didn't end up alone. Just a friendly advice ...
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Actually, I went through the exact same thing b4 I received my PAC. You're correct, there are no other labels or tags that indicate that you have the optional Infinity sound system. It just so turned out that I had test driven several PACs before making a final decision and there is quite a notable difference between the radio units. The Intermezzo does a LOT better with the highs and it has a subwoofer in the back that does not come on the standard system.
Just for kicks, the next time you are visiting your local dealer, ask them to give you the keys for a PAC with the std system, you'd be glad that you spent the extra for the nicer sound!
Last but not least, there are NO special controls on the radio head unit to help enhance the sound besides your std. BASS/TREMBLE controls. My 2003 Envoy XL had the upgraded BOSE system and it had several different modes to enhance sound in addition to the standard BASS, MIDRANGE & TREMBLE settings.
Oh well... It's still a very nice sounding system, but the true quality shines when you hook up an external MP3 player or pop in a DVD!
Thanks!
IngeniousGuy
Scott
Explorer (14,266) and Grand Cherokee (7,454) were not considered "Luxury", so they were in the "Intermediate Sport-Utility" segment. Durango (6,394) and Expedition (2,992) were "Large Sport-Utility".
In Canada you can rarely see Pacifica in commercials. You can see all the others though. It's the only explanation I can find. I'd like to see it more in TV commercials ...