Anyone born after the 1900s is usually completely against anything the elders of Gen X and Gen Y (or Millennials, whatever) are in favor of. The minivan, however, is the one thing that seems to be a multigenerational pariah, even though it tends to check the boxes under the “need” column for car buyers. You know, things like comfort, cargo room, number of seats, charging ports, etc. Dillon Gabriel, a 24-year-old NFL rookie, is looking to change that image as the new ambassador of an oldie but goodie, the Chrysler Pacifica.Â
Not gonna lie, I chuckled while typing that last sentence. It just hits different. A standout quarterback, Gabriel broke NCAA football records and is second in all-time passing yards. He wrapped up his college career by finishing third in voting for the prestigious Heisman Trophy, then heard his name called during this year’s NFL Draft.Â
Okay, so it was the Cleveland Browns who rang, but Gabriel was drafted nonetheless. With his sporting credentials, you’d think he’d have his pick of partnerships, especially in automotive. Yet Gabriel walked past the performance cars, beefy trucks, and shiny SUVs. He also didn’t linger on the bougie luxury marques.Â
Instead, he chose the most sensible family vehicle out there and signed a deal to rep the Pacifica. Last playing for the Oregon Ducks, Gabriel actually drove around town in, you guessed it, a Chrysler. As reported by Browns fansite, Dawg Pound Daily:
Although generally made for families with children, Gabriel drove a Chrysler Pacifica minivan in Eugene, Oregon, instead of a flashy sports car. He would use this car to deliver things to practice or to get a whole batch of teammates together so they could spend time during long commutes.
Prioritizing camaraderie and experiences over material goods? Okay, now he’s sounding like a Gen Zer. But it’s a smart move as minivans are having a banner sales year so far. During the second quarter, the Toyota Sienna enjoyed an eye-opening 61% year-over-year increase, with the Kia Carnival right behind with a 57% jump. The Honda Odyssey also enjoyed a YOY bump of 28%.
The Pacifica, however, was the only one in the segment to experience a sales slide. But that’s okay. Although not as recently refreshed as its competitors, the Pacifica was the 2024 sales champ as the only minivan to sell in six figures. Perhaps there’ll be a comeback in the second half?
During a guest appearance on the Keep It Aloha podcast, Gabriel said his college ride was a leased Pacifica hybrid, which he would fuel up about every three weeks. Despite the fact that “people will clown you,” to Gabriel, the soccer mom status symbol passed his vibe check:
“The minivan was fire. People don’t understand, the minivan’s legit. Space. It’s efficient…it’s a great decision.”
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Not as great as having to play pro football in Cleveland. But, hey, at least Gabriel’s new minivan can comfortably fit all the QBs currently on the Browns’ roster (which is five for those of you who don’t follow the handegg league). Hmm, since the Pacifica can seat up to eight, there might even be room for Deshaun Watson’s notoriously bloated contract!
Jokes aside, though, as a fellow member of Team Minivan, I wholeheartedly agree with Gabriel. Perhaps he can normalize the term “minivan enthusiast” and make it an appealing car choice to everyone. Now that would be fire.
Top graphic images: Stellantis; ESPN
I got one of these as a rental once. It’s honestly good. Good visibilty, comfortable seating, good power and lots of bells and whistles. I liked to drive it, but would not own one because of all the reliability issues Chrysler has.
Minivan isn’t always the answer, but if your life is strollers or more than two kids, or a ton of luggage AND people, it’s the right answer. Let’s face it, even though we don’t have kids, our Fit is basically a minivan for two.
As someone who started with a Fit, then went minivan after kid #2, I endorse this message.
As a former unusually tall child (and current unusually tall adult), I liked vans even when they weren’t cool. Where do I turn in my massive hipster cred for a new Pacifica? 😉
It’s the price, stupid. In 2014 they were selling the Grand Caravan SXT (full fold flat seats) in the Toronto area for just over $21,000 in lowly Canadian dollars. Now the Pacifica starts at C$55,000, or the Grand Caravan for C$48,995. Neither inflation nor feature additions justify that price increase. Don’t expect a showroom line-up any time soon.
Just re-read. To be sure: that “stupid” is directed at Chrysler, not Beverly!
Voyager LX to the rescue. Starts around $42K. And before you complain the Kia Carnival Starts at $38K so if you think there is a viable option for any 7 passenger, buy it.
The new Voyagers are Grand Caravans in Canada.
This is Mazda’s cue to bring back the Mazda5 with the new Inline 6.
Shockingly fun car to drive especially with the manual, but have to admit it had the worst sounding engine I’ve ever experienced. I wish I could have convinced my friend to do at least something like add a cold air intake that would likely cost him power just to make it sound less annoying.
Two words:
SRT Minivan
Idk why nobody has done this. Minivans already out perform SUVs on pavement, most of the time. Just throw in nice suspension, better exhaust, and fluff up the engine a bit. Could even throw in some electronics like ‘drift mode’ with software that only lets it step out so far.
The world needs performance minivans already.
Time to go find a MB R-series 63 AMG
… or 3, you’ll need the spare parts. Damn are they cheap though, I’ve thought of buying one before just to pull the drivetrain.
There was an R/T version of the Dodge Grand Caravan. It’s my wife’s daily driver. Gets the hell out of its own way and can surprise the cr@p out of annoying “I’m not going to let a minivan in front of me” drivers. And to cope with the acceleration, plus the safety factor for a vehicle more likely to be loaded with people or stuff, has brakes pulled from the Viper’s parts bin that will stand it on its nose. (Do not leave loose objects unsecured in the van…)
It is called a Durango SRT. It just lacks the sliding rear doors and fold flat seats, but otherwise, it smacks the bells of a minivan inside.
He’s 100% correct, minivans are the best all-around vehicles! No, I will not be taking questions.
I think maybe the main issue I have is so few have AWD options.
“bougie luxury marques” aka bourgeois. Has historically been used in reference to the middle and upper-middle class. Collectively, this class of people has been referred to as the “bourgeoisie,” becoming particularly popular with the rise of Marxist theory, which essentially uses the term bourgeoisie as an alternative to “capitalists.”
This minivan falls into “bougie” category, no working class family can afford to buy one new.
Typically, “cool” has been defined mainly as people who don’t care much about what people think of how they deviate from current norms or standards. Given the fact that SUV/CUVs are THE representation of current norms and standards, minivans are absolutely cooler than SUV/CUVs.
Similar to how the fact that John Cena drives a Civic-R and Christian Bale drives a 2003 Tacoma is infinitely cooler than an NFL rookie driving a new Porsche or Bentley.
I’ve been cool since high school. Want to go skiing? I can drive! Want to go to a Brewers game? I can drive! You need help moving something? Sorry, the seats are too hard to get out…No, I did that too. Now the seat situation is much easier, just fold them into the floor.
My 2018 Pacifica Hybrid has everything I need including adaptive cruise control, heated and vented seats. Whenever we drive somewhere, we take everything we want to even if we might not need it.
Same, this article confirms that I also was cool back in high school and college with my Chevy Astro van. The removable bench seats served as extra seating in my apartment.
We made love in my Chevy Van
And that’s all right with me
do you really need adaptive Cruise Control? Seems like a thing we all lived without before. same with the fancy seats. Those are wants, not needs.
I have a Honda Odyssey and it’s kind of ruining me as a car enthusiast. It’s just so good at what it’s designed for that I walk past my E39 and drive the minivan.
My wife and I share the Odyssey and while it can be a little burly to drive everywhere, for every errand, it spoils you quickly.
I’m looking deeply into a MINI Countryman and, while it’s definitely big for a MINI (or a compact crossover in general), I can’t get over being able to bring everything I need on every trip — no thinking about cupholder sizes or storage space. It’s all just there when you need it, and we use it A LOT.
If there’s any downside, it’s that cleaning is a pain. Especially the interior. So much room.
I don’t understand how the Mini is so HUGE when parked next to a 2007 outback yet has less room inside than a miata. (Seriously, you need to see the two parked side by side to see the hilarity in size discrepancies) At least it’ll be less cleaning.
oops, I was thinking of the Clubman, not the Countryman. Have to admit I have no idea how these two compare.
Allegedly, when Lee Iacocca first drove the early Plymouth Voyager prototype, he just kept doing lap after lap on the test track with a big smile on his face and they had to persuade him to come back in, way beyond the original schedule
During a trip overseas I spent a lot of time being ferried around in the second row of a Toyota Alphard, my god that was absolute excellence. So I’m all for this minivan resurgence, even beyond its primary role as a family hauler. Give me a reliable swagger van any day I will take it and beg for more.
Just looked it up, goodness that’s an ugly maw. But I’m sure it’s a heck of a machine regardless.
No dispute there, it’s not a looker. But riding in it you get the feel that this vehicle was specifically made for the second row passenger, everything else is secondary.
The Alphard is the best and I wish we had them here, solely so I could ride around in them any time I call an Uber.
I am waiting for the bull dog faced, mid engine Vans to come around again. Just saying.
Minivans are the sweet spot in used vehicles. Being generally unwanted keeps the prices down. So you get a practical do everything vehicle at a decent price. I hope they don’t become cool.
I hope new ones become cool so I have more used inventory to shop. Not in a place for a new one at the moment but absolutely want one.
I hope they become so cool that a 90% sized one like the Mazda MPV comes back.
Well, unless you start with “Hond-” or “Toyot-” because then you have to wait 2-3 years before it makes economic sense NOT to buy new.
This was true 10 years ago when we bought ours, and it’s probably even more accurate today with high financing rates (pro tip: Credit Unions are especially generous on their new car financing and will often go up to 3-4 years old and still call the vehicle “new”)
The resale on the Sienna is downright ridiculous. Even a two generations old Sienna around here with 130k miles tends to go for close to 20k. There’s very little value to extract out of those sorts of prices.
The Odyssey isn’t quite as bad for deals, but you have to hunt for certain sweet spots on the depreciation curve for that one too.
The Browns can’t get anything right at QB, they have a 40 year old father of 5 on their roster but the 24 year old rookie is the one with a minivan?
I’ve done some egregious speeding in a Town and Country and found out the governed top speed, let’s get Shedeur into one as well. That will generate way more attention.
My last job forced me to serve 4 months in Cleveland, I’d rather live in that minivan than spend any more time in Cleveland.
I have close friends that left the Asheville area for Cleveland and love it there.
Wow! How?
At least they aren’t Detroit.
(Still not Detroit!)
I heard that constantly while I was up there. After the first few weeks I started grumbling and complaining and everyone kept telling me about this mythical place called “Detroit” that was somehow worse than the Land o’Cleves. I say mythical because I can’t imagine any place being worse than Cleveland so I refuse to believe it exists.
Bumper stick I spotted:
Dayton, well you have to live somewhere!
I like Gabriel a lot and see him being the next Drew Breeze with the right coach, scheme, and teammates. But that’s not Cleveland. He’ll be buried on the depth chart behind less talented QBs, so he’d better hang on to that Pacifica as he’s likely to be living in it, soon.
Chris Farley always made me feel like living in a van down by the river was for Chicago QBs, but Cleveland’s track record with QBs definitely has higher probability of the Matt Foley trajectory.
1990: All my Brownie friends are comin’ over tonight!
2025: Hank forced to clarify that he’s referring to Cleveland and not Girl Scouts.
When it comes to playing football, it would be understandable to confuse the Browns with Brownies.
“Will Cleveland ever have a good team again?”
Nevermore, quoth The Ravens.
There is no product I won’t buy as long as it’s endorsed by someone who can throw a ball good. Honestly I’m lucky it’s not also the official minivan of the NFL or I’d drop a day of PTO and run to my nearest CJDR dealer as fast as I could.
Well, they’re famous, and on their way to being rich. So if course they know more about everything than you do.
I mean, rich people are just better people than you and I are; they’re obviously smarter, prettier, and more valuable.
You should be grateful that they deign to offer even a shared of their wisdom to us lesser folk; while letting you pay for the privilege.
(Not really directed at Dillon. Superficially he seems like a nice enough guy. Just a general rant about society these days.)
I have a 2019 Odyssey and I love it. The other day I pulled up to a red light at the bottom of a hill. I lined up between but behind a Corolla and a Tacoma (not fast cars, but newer than mine) and let the car’s start /stop system turn it off. I gave it some gas to wake it up just before the light turned green. When I hit the gas (not even that hard) I did a burn-out and could feel when the tires grabbed pavement and sent the huge van careening up to 70 in short order. I giggled and laughed as my daughter wondered what I was up to on the way to daycare.
That van can dust most cars on the road, it rides like a giant couch, and it’s so quiet that you forget it’s on when it’s idling. It also handles like it doesn’t have a huge ass.
I love Rhonda
I looked it up and a 6.6 second 0-60 is nothing to sneeze at.
Been a while since I’ve been behind the wheel of one but every minivan I’ve driven has chirped tires from a stop. Not on purpose but when you give it some gas from a stop especially if trying to make a quick left turn it makes the tires squeal.
He’s 100% spot on about minivan excellence, but I just don’t know why Chrysler would be trying to target Gen Z in general. They widely can’t afford new cars, are not having kids yet (not to mention a full third of Gen Z are still children) and how much longer is Chrysler really going to be dragging out it’s sad current existence anyways?
He isn’t advertising to Gen Z though – he is advertising minivans to a guy with 2-4 kids in his mid-30s who still thinks they are close to having the athletic ability to be a 3rd string QB for a 3rd tier NFL team and they are definitely still cool and stylish so maybe having a minivan wouldn’t mean all their dreams are dead.
Toyota gave Kylie Kelce (Jason Kelce’s wife, who for whatever reason seems to be someone millennial girlies are obsessed with) a loaded Sienna. And guess what? It’s working. My wife, who was staunchly anti-minivan, now wants to look at a Sienna for her next car. My sister in law was talking about how she saw the same thing and now thinks the Sienna is cool, AND one of our friends was talking about Kylie’s van when we went to the USWNT game against Canada last week.
I’m not sure how much Dillon Gabriel is going to do for the Pacifica…as he’s trapped in the factory of sadness now and demographically speaking the average NFL fan probably drives a lifted truck they can’t afford, but I still admire the attempt by Chrysler. Vans ARE cool and they’re making a comeback.
Please be sure to show her the Swagger Wagon videos so she fully understands what she’s getting into 🙂
Srsly, though that was the first major car campaign I remember being targeted almost entirely to people re-watching them on YouTube.
And both of those actors are pretty hilarious and accomplished in their own right. I loved the ads for their time and place. Just self-aware enough to make it work.
I’m still surprised that a manufacturer hasn’t made an artful ad that targets one of the underappreciated uses for a minivan, the 1 DD for a group of 8 ratio. I get that maybe the buyer doesn’t want to end up being perpetual DD, but we as a group alternate when it comes down to it.
The handed down minivan was the ultimate car to have in high school/college, and I think that people forget that there’s nothing better for social use-cases.
Everyone laughed at the hand me down minivan guy until it was time for 6-8 people to go to a concert, then he was the coolest dude in the dorm. Or if a bunch of people need to go on a booze run because someone’s 22 year old sibling is visiting or whatever, you just pile on in. The van also has plenty of space for…interior activities as well if you’re young and don’t have a place to go.
When your high school sweetheart finally says she’ll let you get to third base the back of the van a better option than trying to find an empty movie theater. Wait…what are we talking about again?
Lol. So much space for activities!
And I get that the average new car buyer is probably not at the stage in their life where they’re looking for a mobile bedroom (again, probably not) but there’s just so many things you can do with a van, not all of them involving schlepping around 5 cheerio-vomiting lunatics. In today’s totally outdoor obsessed culture, you’d think the vehicle that carries the most people and gear would be a winner. Hell, Toyota will even give their van AWD and a slight lift if you pay for it.
…who 16 years later are the dorm people going on booze runs and doing…activities.
The circle of life.
<music swells>
<but it’s the death metal version of baby shark>
The Sienna is also the only one that’s both hybrid and all wheel drive
For now yes. I’ve got to imagine Chrysler will eventually combine AWD with the PHEV? Maybe that’s on tap for the redesign that’s about 2-3 years too late.
I love the idea of something like the Woodland Edition, AWD hybrid van with a slight lift so it could at least make it to some of the trailheads we have around here that a regular minivan would have trouble with. But I also like having FWD vans around so that hopefully they don’t all balloon in price like 3-row SUVs have. Vans are already expensive enough.
A big part of choosing an RX8 vs a 350Z, MRS, WRX, Evo, and GTI for me in 2003 was it sits exactly 3 people very comfortably but can do 4 with two people annoyed or carry a ridiculous amount of cargo in, quickly. Just big enough to go to lunch with your friends, but not big enough that it becomes the default road trip vehicle. Having an SVX at the end of college and beginning of adulting was very annoying as it was cool, very comfortable for 4, fun, and you could easily have a conversation with all the windows open. 9 times out of 10 I got outvoted and we used my car to go places as a group.
I have been happy since we got one. My wife does still mention getting a SUV next, but the amenities and sliding doors have made life so much easier.
He lived in Eugene, Oregon for four years and didn’t buy something from the ’80s? Is that even allowed? Isn’t it wall-to-wall old Subarus that rusted so fast in New England they’d spend their 10th birthday being driven to the crusher after a Fred Flintstone start, and were made so far back nobody in the Midwest or Deep South bought one in the first place?
Old Subaru or old Volvo, Saab, Mercedes would be expected.
Environmental bumper stickers, but the rear of the wagon is caked in black oily soot from the exhaust?
He only played his senior year at Oregon
The article said he drove the Hybrid Pacifica, which means its really a Plug-in Hybrid with ~40mi of electric range. He claims he filled up his tank every 3 weeks, I think inferring that a decent amount was driven on electric power alone.
That would make this type of vehicle quite apropos to where he lived and operated it. (Electric utility costs are low there, at least residentially, with the abundance of hydro power)
Fam, I lowkey love that my man was like “minivan got that W sigma rizz!” frfr before Chrysler hit him up IRL!
Sorry what I just blacked out for a second.
Oh yeah, I just thinking that his existing minivan fandom prior to the licensing money will definitely lend a bit more legitimacy to his pitch.
ong Chrysler reliability pmo sm finna crashout but at least the interior is easy to clean bc i like my cheese drippy bruh and the sound system slaps playing the latest ksi and talk tuah episodes (I’m Gen-Z and this was excruciating to type out, hopefully the spam filter has received it’s latest internet brainrot vocabulary update)
minivans are so Ohio.
Cleveland, Ohio specifically.
How did I miss that one? 🙂 Solid.
It’s so pervasive, I have a Millenial neighbor with a faux-fundamentalist bumper sticker that says “Do you know where you’re going?” with the split graphic “Heaven or Ohio” just below it.
I can’t say I truly get it, but I’ll go with it. And it’s topical.
You speak the tongue of the cursed generation…
The Gen Alphas.
The endorsement is even funnier after Shedeur Sanders, his competition for the job in Cleveland, just got a ticket for doing 101 in a 60. I assume not in a Chrysler Pacifica.
So maybe the Pacifica is a solid choice for simply getting the job done, and staying under the radar (lol). And you know, for receiving what I assume is 70% of Chrysler’s marketing budget.
I’ve gone considerably faster in a Town and Country, and did get a ticket luckily was clocked during a “slow” stretch
ANYthing is better than one of those though. Especially the hybrid, just nonstop recalls
Meh, we’ve been very happy with Pacifica Hybrid despite the recalls. Teething pains of new tech, and other than a glitchy rotary shift knob that had to be replaced, we’re at 135k miles now on ours and it’s still a great van. Still on the original brake pads, too! We’ll go months without having to buy gas and then drive across the country without breaking a sweat. Just pure utility and comfort.
Going months without buying gas sounds so nice…
Gets kinda stressful sometimes making sure your gas doesn’t sit for too long
It has a mode where it will force the engine to run after a while, you don’t really need to monitor it yourself
Do all PHEV have that?
Yes thats a fairly standard and solved PHEV issue at this point. Even the old Volt circa 2011 had that gas-cycling algorithm enabled.
I’m going to make an anecdotal and totally not data driven argument for the Chrysler:
I have one. And it’s been solid. And it was 10k cheaper than an equivalent Honda, and basically infinitely cheaper than an equivalent Toyota. YMMV, but supposedly if you keep an eye on the coolant, and make sure nobody over-torques the oil filter, they’re fine.