2025 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle Review: Leaving Us Wanting More

Key Points in This Review

• The 2025 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle is luxurious for its price, with one of the nicest interiors in any minivan on sale in the U.S.
• The Pacifica’s aging powertrain has the same issues we experienced nearly a decade ago when the minivan was introduced, with its balky nine-speed automatic transmission constantly getting in its way.
• If Chrysler wants to make a truly luxurious minivan, the Pinnacle would be a decent starting point.

The Chrysler Pacifica soldiers on as the sole vehicle sold under the Chrysler nameplate — or perhaps one of two, if you count the Voyager as a separate model and not just a less expensive Pacifica. We recently got our hands on a top-of-the-line 2025 Pacifica Pinnacle to see if this minivan can manage all (or most) of the heavy lifting for the Chrysler brand.

Related: How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2025 Chrysler Pacifica?

For this review’s purposes, “Pacifica” refers only to the gas-powered model; the plug-in hybrid Pacifica Hybrid is listed separately on Cars.com. Given our experience with another PHEV from a Stellantis brand (we owned a 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Trailhawk), I’m a bit wary of recommending it. Our test Pacifica Pinnacle came equipped with AWD — the Pacifica is the only non-hybrid minivan with available AWD — but no options other than a $495 coat of Fathom Blue paint. That’s how loaded the Pinnacle is. The van’s as-tested price was $59,720 (all prices include destination fee).

Is the Pacifica Pinnacle a Luxury Minivan?

Takeaway:

• Yes and no. The Pinnacle’s interior isn’t just nice for a minivan, it’s nice for anything with a nearly $60,000 price. It features good, high-quality materials.
• The Pinnacle leaves a lot to be desired if you’re looking for true luxury, but it’s a solid start.

It’s weird to think of a minivan’s interior as luxurious; the No. 1 “Family Feud” answer in that category would probably be something more like “sticky.” But the Pacifica Pinnacle’s interior is a lovely place to be in all three rows, though the best seats are up front. Up there, you’ll find soft-touch materials on the doors and a Pinnacle-exclusive center console that adds handy storage and a padded armrest on the bin cover.

The seats are all comfortable and nicely upholstered, and the available lumbar pillows (read: throw pillows, emphasis on throw) are a nice touch in the second row. They match the upholstery but seem destined for storage — or the side of the road mid-drive. Alas, other materials take a dip in quality, leaving you with hard plastics on most surfaces. This makes sense from a cleanability perspective, but true luxury vehicles aren’t quite as blatant about it.

As nice as the Pacifica Pinnacle is, real fans are aware of the truly luxurious minivans we don’t get here in the U.S., including the Toyota Alphard and related Lexus LM. Those vehicles lean heavily into the comfort and space that define minivans, even offering chauffeur-oriented trims. In the U.S., meanwhile, the really roomy and luxurious family haulers are all full-size three-row SUVs, most of which have significantly higher price tags than the Pacifica Pinnacle in their top trims. The Pacifica Pinnacle doesn’t have to go as far as those global minivans, but hear me out: Chrysler has a significant amount of pricing room — tens of thousands of dollars — to upgrade the Pacifica and make it truly luxurious.

Related Video:

Does the Pacifica Pinnacle Drive Like a Luxury Vehicle?

Takeaway:

• The 2025 Pacifica’s familiar Pentastar V-6 and nine-speed automatic transmission remain unchanged from when Cars.com bought a 2017 Pacifica when it was all-new, and the powertrain still doesn’t offer the most refined experience.

The new-for-2017 Chrysler Pacifica won our Best of 2017 award, and we owned one for multiple years — first as a long-term test car for our Editorial staff and then as a gear hauler for our production staff. That van had a 3.6-liter V-6 engine producing 287 horsepower and paired to a nine-speed automatic transmission. The 2025 Pacifica Pinnacle has a 3.6-liter V-6 producing 287 hp and paired to a nine-speed automatic transmission.

Really, the only drivetrain difference between the two vans is that the 2025 Pacifica Pinnacle we tested had AWD instead of front-wheel drive. The V-6 is still smooth but strained, and it’s not very fuel-efficient. With AWD, the 2025 Pacifica earns an EPA-estimated 17/25/20 mpg city/highway/combined. Pacificas with FWD fare better, with a more competitive 19/28/22 mpg rating. While the PHEV version is nice, the Pacifica lineup could use a more traditional hybrid choice, too, to better compete with the hybrid-only Toyota Sienna without placing the onus on owners to plug in to achieve added efficiency.

Worse, though, is the nine-speed automatic transmission. While we initially praised the nine-speed when we owned the Pacifica, as time passed and the miles added up, it started behaving badly, with hard, lurching shifts at low speeds. Things weren’t so bad in the 2025 model, but the transmission often hesitates to up- or downshift, and it seemingly struggles to pick the right gear for the driving situation.

While the 2025 Pacifica’s powertrain is frustratingly familiar, the rest of the driving experience is pleasantly familiar. The ride is comfortable, and handling is sharp for a minivan. Its steering is also communicative (for a minivan) and doesn’t feel overly boosted or numb.

The Pentastar V-6 is fine for this application, but similar to my interior recommendations above, a smoother and more refined — and possibly more powerful — power plant would do wonders to bring the Pacifica to new heights.

What Else Do You Get With the Pinnacle, and What Do You Give Up?

Takeaway:

• The Pacifica Pinnacle may not have the most advanced or fanciest-looking technology, but it works well.
• A built-in vacuum system is the highlight of the Pinnacle’s features list, but buyers of this trim level give up what’s arguably the Pacifica’s best feature: Stow ‘n Go second-row seats.

The technology in the Pacifica Pinnacle may not stun at first glance, but the 10.1-inch touchscreen running Chrysler’s Uconnect 5 infotainment system is more than big enough for most driver’s needs, with an intuitive user interface and first-rate responsiveness. The physical controls for climate and audio functions aren’t upscale, but their ease of use makes them most welcome.

In the second row, the Pinnacle’s built-in entertainment system offers two screens that can operate independently — a blessing if passengers don’t have similar tastes in media. And movie buffs will appreciate that the Pacifica’s system retains a Blu-ray player; other minivans are dropping physical media players for streaming, downloads or an HDMI connection. The Pacifica’s screens also have Amazon Fire TV for Auto, which works well so long as you have an active data plan and are somewhere with the connectivity to use said data plan — another reason I’m glad for the Blu-ray player.

What the Pacifica Pinnacle doesn’t have (and in a way, they are actually pretty luxurious) is second-row Stow ‘n Go seats. In other Pacificas with this feature, the second-row seats tumble and fold into an underfloor compartment for more cargo space; in the Pinnacle, the second-row seats have to be removed to open up the hauling space, which leads to logistical questions like where to put two large captain’s chairs. This may have been an acceptable trade-off if the Pinnacle’s seats had more bells or whistles, but they’re just regular captain’s chairs. I’d welcome a greater range of movement, a la the Sienna or Honda Odyssey, or more comfort features, like the footrest you can get in the Kia Carnival, but that’s not the case.

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• How Much Is the 2026 Toyota Sienna?

Is the 2025 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle Worth It?

Takeaway:

• For a specific kind of buyer who values hauling people over things, the Pacifica Pinnacle is an excellent minivan with a high-quality, premium interior.
• For buyers who want more utility or fuel efficiency (without having to plug anything in), look at lower Pacifica trims or hybrid minivans from Kia and Toyota.

I had a great time with the 2025 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle; it hauled my family quite comfortably and in relatively high style. If car shoppers could get over their general dislike of minivans, it would be extremely competitive with the best three-row SUVs — and a great starting point for a high-end, chauffeured vehicle. But don’t expect any of that to happen anytime soon.

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