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Chrysler’s New Voyager Minivan, A Better Value?

redriderbob

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Chrysler’s New Voyager Minivan, A Better Value?
Undercutting The Dodge Grand Caravan...


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Chrysler's New Voyager Minivan, A Better Value? - Mopar Insiders
 

UN4GTBL

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IMO, taking away full Stow N Go from retail customers has killed this before it could get started. That's the most common complaint I hear on the minivan forums about the new Voyager.

Perhaps when the DGC is gone, they will put the full Stow N Go into the LX at least.

And MSRP is good, but we need to consider the rebates on DGC vs Voyager
 

GasAxe

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The Voyager keeps being reported as a change in plans, but I don’t necessarily think that’s the case. The Pacifica likely hasn’t sold as well as expected, but it has done well and established itself as a premium model. The drag has mostly come from the Grand Caravan and it’s extremely good value for the customer. Now we all know the GC would go away at some point simply aging out of compliance. So once the GC and its low priced sales were gone, did people really expect or want the new premium positioned Pacifica to start offering a bargain priced trim, immediately nullifying the premium position it hoped to gain? I’d like to believe the Voyager model was in the plans all along to keep the dual minivan model flowing past the GCs expiration date. Now FCA can continue to have a budget and premium model on an amortized platform. I just wish the Pacifica was given a refresh to better differentiate the two thought the T&C, GC and V of the past all looked very similar at times.

I also don’t thing the lack of SnG on all trims is an immediate issue. The GC does not offer SnG across the board and if low cost is the primary issue with the buyer, then they will need to do without or take the relative small step up to get it. I don’t see this as insurmountable and if it is, the trims can be shuffled some in a year or two.
 

UN4GTBL

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The Voyager keeps being reported as a change in plans, but I don’t necessarily think that’s the case. The Pacifica likely hasn’t sold as well as expected, but it has done well and established itself as a premium model. The drag has mostly come from the Grand Caravan and it’s extremely good value for the customer. Now we all know the GC would go away at some point simply aging out of compliance. So once the GC and its low priced sales were gone, did people really expect or want the new premium positioned Pacifica to start offering a bargain priced trim, immediately nullifying the premium position it hoped to gain? I’d like to believe the Voyager model was in the plans all along to keep the dual minivan model flowing past the GCs expiration date. Now FCA can continue to have a budget and premium model on an amortized platform. I just wish the Pacifica was given a refresh to better differentiate the two thought the T&C, GC and V of the past all looked very similar at times.

I also don’t thing the lack of SnG on all trims is an immediate issue. The GC does not offer SnG across the board and if low cost is the primary issue with the buyer, then they will need to do without or take the relative small step up to get it. I don’t see this as insurmountable and if it is, the trims can be shuffled some in a year or two.

This is a classic catch 22 position for Chrysler. They introduce an awesome new premium minivan, but it doesn't sell in large numbers, so people blame the price. They start offering lower priced trims, but then people complain that there's too much spread (although look at the price/feature spread on Rams/F-150s/etc). I'm good with the Voyager/Pacifica split, even if I think that perhaps they should have just kept the T&C name because of the name recognition it had, but let's not go down that black hole.

Prior DGC/T&C/Voyagers did look similar as they were just simple exterior differences between them, so I agree that differentiation is good, especially for the "premium" Pacifica vs the "budget" Voyager.

It's only the base level Caravan CVP that doesn't offer full Stow & Go currently, which is fine IMO. I believe that at some point, you could get an AVP with full Stow N Go if you paid the up-charge for the middle seats (or did the swap yourself). The Caravan SE has optional full Stow N Go, which is how the Voyager L & LX should be too IMO.

Stow N Go is Chrysler's thing when it comes to minivan, so to not have it optional at least to retail customers on the entry level Voyager is a weird decision IMO. Maybe after the DGC goes away it will be optional on the retail Voyagers then?
 

GasAxe

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Stow N Go is Chrysler's thing when it comes to minivan, so to not have it optional at least to retail customers on the entry level Voyager is a weird decision IMO. Maybe after the DGC goes away it will be optional on the retail Voyagers then?
Well, SnG is a highly desirable feature that should command a premium. It certainly is Chrysler’s star feature so to give it away for nothing on the lowest priced model doesn’t make much sense to me. Complaints over the price of the lowest priced, and likely low margin vehicles, is mostly unreasonable wanting something for nothing, IMO. I’ve never understood why someone would buy the lowest priced brand new model when for the same money you can get a much better equipped used model, commercial sales excluded.
 
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UN4GTBL

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Well, SnG is a highly desirable feature that should command a premium. It certainly is Chrysler’s star feature so to give it away for nothing on the lowest priced model doesn’t make much sense to me. Complaints over the price of the lowest priced, and likely low margin vehicles, is mostly unreasonable wanting something for nothing, IMO. I’ve never understood why someone would buy the lowest priced brand new model when for the same money you can get a much better equipped used model, commercial sales excluded.

I get that, and I'm a big Stow N Go fan!

But to not have a retail Voyager (at this point) without optional Stow N Go to get people into the showroom seems silly to me, but I haven't done any research, other than see reactions to the Voyager announcement.

Looking in Canada right now, here's the pricing including rebates and destination:

2019 Dodge Grand Caravan CVP = $27,440 + sales tax
2019 Kia Sedona LX = $33,929 + sales tax
2019 Chrysler Pacifica L = $34,240 + sales tax
2019 Honda Odyssey LX = $37,416 + sales tax
2019 Toyota Sienna CE = $37,492 + sales tax
2019 Chrysler Pacifica Touring Plus = $37,990 + sales tax

Actually looking at how the rebates hit the different Pacifica models shows some funny things (all prices include destination, but do not include taxes)
Pacifica L (3rd row Stow N Go only) = $34,240 ($4,750 rebate)
Pacifica LX (full Stow N Go) = $36,240 ($4,750 rebate)
Pacifica Touring (full Stow N Go, power sliding doors/tailgate/driver seat)= $35,990 ($7,000 rebate)
Pacifica Touring Plus = $37,990 ($7,000 rebate)
Pacifica Touring-L = $39,990 ($7,000 rebate)
Pacifica Touring-L Plus = $42,990 ($7,000 rebate)
Pacifica Limited = $48,990 ($7,000 rebate)
 

BobbiBigWheels

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IMO, taking away full Stow N Go from retail customers has killed this before it could get started. That's the most common complaint I hear on the minivan forums about the new Voyager.

Perhaps when the DGC is gone, they will put the full Stow N Go into the LX at least.

And MSRP is good, but we need to consider the rebates on DGC vs Voyager
I felt the same way until I looked into it a bit further.

Stow n' Go is an option, not standard equipment on the Voyager. It is standard only on the Fleet trim. Jared and I chatted about the exact same thought as you.
 

UN4GTBL

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I felt the same way until I looked into it a bit further.

Stow n' Go is an option, not standard equipment on the Voyager. It is standard only on the Fleet trim. Jared and I chatted about the exact same thought as you.

From what I can tell, the full Stow N Go is not even available as an option to retail customers on the Voyager, or have I missed something? That means that someone looking for Stow N Go, has to either downgrade to a Caravan or move up to a Pacifica.

For the record, I'm good with the Voyager L not having full Stow N Go, but I think that it should at least be optional on the Voyager LX. The fleet trim LXi is a great value I think, and could do really well if offered to retail customers as well.
 

vipergg

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IMO, taking away full Stow N Go from retail customers has killed this before it could get started. That's the most common complaint I hear on the minivan forums about the new Voyager.

Perhaps when the DGC is gone, they will put the full Stow N Go into the LX at least.

And MSRP is good, but we need to consider the rebates on DGC vs Voyager
Stupid idea not having Stow and go available , for Pete's sake I have Stow and Go on my 2014 grand Caravan AVP model I paid $22000 for .
 

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