Pacifica

You still didn't answer the question as to what price would tempt you to buy...

DAS

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They are advertising $6k off some of the loaded models. I think that is a reasonable deal. What is holding me up is deciding what to do with my 2001 Avalon..... whether to try selling it privately or take a bigger hit and trade it in.

check

In the past couple of weeks I've seen a fair number of these on the road. From a distance it looks like a regular Chrysler min-van. Up close it looks like a mini-van that someone chopped down 6 inches or so.

----------------- Alex __O _-\

Egads....250hp and almost a thousand pounds HEAVIER than the 300M (which isn't that quick either). Low power is an understatement. The only real saving grace here (in terms of desirable features) is the AWD, though there are other cars in this price range with AWD and better performance/handling. I don't get it. What am I missing?

Too bad they can't just put that AWD drivetrain in the 300M. THEN they'd have something. How a lineup of underpowered, overpriced and (in my opinon) ugly vehicles in their premium lineup is supposed to improve profitability leaves me scratching my head. I'll be hanging on to my crusty old 300M for a while it seems.

Cheers,

Art - Did you misspell "Butt"? (just kidding - one of those funny typos) 8^) Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Its a station wagon. So is the Murano and its Infinity equivalent.

Fine by me, I like them a lot better than minivans (although the Murano's stying makes it among the ugliest cars I've ever seen).

The Pacifica is really growing on me, at least styling-wise. I'd love to see this class of car drive the minivan out of the market.

I may be dense, but as far as I can tell, the Pacifica is a mini van - just squished down a little bit and with conventional doors instead of sliding doors (like the older Mazada MPVs).

The only way a Pacifica would "grown on me" if it cost a whole lot less and had a lot better performance.

Regards,

Ed White

Agreed.

I still like this car and am wondering if I should of purchased one. I'm glad I didn't only because I would've paid top dollar for it. Art has already found that there are offering up to 6K off the sticker.

Ken

They'd have a pile of s*it. You've got to be kidding. AWD in a sedan is useless. The extra mechanicals does not pay for itself in terms of performance when you count the extra space, weight, up-front cost, and down-the-road maintenance costs.

Acceleration from a standing start will not benefit from AWD (not enough to suit me anyways). AWD is a marketing gimmick that is designed to lighten your walled by a few thousand up front and a few more down the road. I had great snows on my 300 this past winter, and we had a BITCH of a winter, and I had no trouble getting around.

I'll take a winter performance hit with RWD for the handfull of days when I get on the road before the snow plows get to them if it means better acceleration for the other 300-odd days of the year.

Give me the current 300M in RWD. They you'll see 0-60 numbers be much better. I dare anyone to find a set of tires that hold the road during a pedal-stomping start. There's simply too much weight transfer to the back to see good 0-60 times with FWD.

For what it's worth, the Murano has a CVT...

I'll take the next one (300C) with Hemi V-8, RWD and better styling.

If you had a choice between the pending LX-based 300C and the 2-door RWD concept shown at the 2000 Detroit Auto show, which would you choose?

If you are speaking of the 300 Hemi C convertible, I would choose that if it was just between those two, but if you also gave me the choice of the Chronos I would choose that model. I have always liked the 1953 d'Elegance, the 1952 C-200 and the 1951 K-310. As those designs inspired the Chronos and the pending

Well, most buyers of SUVs would be better served by minivans (better fuel economy, safer, better ride and handling, more passenger and cargo space), but don't want to be seen in them. So a "minivan" that looks like an SUV seems the perfect vehicle.

Generally awd in a passenger car is sold on the basis of safety and winter ability, not performance. See Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, ...

That doesn't help its ugliness any, though. What it needs is styling- especially on the front end (at least I think that's supposed to be the front, but people might be driving 'em in reverse so they look better.)

:-)

My favorite was actually the 4-door (the two rear doors were almost invisible) Charger concept car. THAT was a beautiful design.

The Murano does look like it's missing a front bumper.

The $6k off is for loaded models.