r/pacificahybrid

I am enjoying my Pacifica PHEV and how much money I save. I was curious how much the total cost would be for the famous and popular Sienna vs the Pacifica PHEV. I bought my 2023 Pacifica PHEV for $20k plus tax with the EV incentive with 50k miles. Equivalent 2023 Sienna with 50k miles would be around $36k plus tax.

I manage to drive 97% on EV only. For the sake of the analysis, I rounded down to 95%. I'm assuming $0.08 super off peak charging, but it varies from state to state. I think most states will be between 5 to 12 cents. I'm assuming $4.50 gas prices. It's actually $6 at the pump where I am, so again I'm giving the Sienna the benefit of the doubt. And I'm assuming 15k miles driven per year. The gas and electric rates will depend on your state, so I'm just going with a ballpark national average.

I haven't included maintenance and repairs, because it gets complicated. Sienna requires more frequent oils changes. My PHEV only needs to change oil once a year because of all the EV driving. But Sienna is a lot more reliable and will save on frequent repairs. Although I haven't actually spent a penny repairing my Pacifica yet, I'm just assuming.

Here it is:

Efficiency & Annual Energy Breakdown

The underlying fuel economies dictate the daily operational costs for both minivans:

https://preview.redd.it/tm14kcm99huh1.png?width=84&format=png&auto=webp&s=2724eb6fd8e92f10744464c9062b925f5772fdb6

Toyota Sienna Hybrid:

• Uses a traditional hybrid setup.
• Achieves 36 MPG combined.
• Requires 416.67 gallons of gas annually.
• Total annual cost: $1,875.00.

https://preview.redd.it/szyy4bm99huh1.png?width=84&format=png&auto=webp&s=a0f5e7052f43b28fb4b3d35b6ff85fa99f54291d

Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid:

• Uses a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) setup.
• Electric consumption: 41 kWh per 100 miles.
• Gas consumption: 30 MPG combined in hybrid mode.
• EV portion (14,250 miles): 5,842.5 kWh ($467.40).
• Gas portion (750 miles): 25 gallons ($112.50).
• Total annual cost: $579.90

Cost Component	Toyota Sienna Hybrid	Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid	Cost Difference (Savings)
Initial Price	$36,000.00	$20,000.00	$16,000.00 (Pacifica)
Annual Energy Cost	$1,875.00	$579.90	$1,295.10 / year (Pacifica)
5-Year Total Cost	$45,375.00	$22,899.50	$22,475.50 (Pacifica)
10-Year Total Cost	$54,750.00	$25,799.00	$28,951.00 (Pacifica)
15-Year Total Cost	$64,125.00	$28,698.50	$35,426.50 (Pacifica)

I came out to the car and the car was completely dead, no light of any kind. It's a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. I had it jumped and brought it to the dealership and asked them to run a diagnostic. They called to tell me 'it was the battery' plus two recalls and it will be $900.

I understand that dealerships are more expensive. That's the cost of the diagnostics, labor, battery. Are they also charging labor for the recalls?

However, my main question is, how do I know they ran a full diagnostic like I asked? It seems odd for it to only be the main battery. Did they misunderstand and only diagnose the one issue? I don't think I've ever walked into a mechanic and been told there was one simple answer.

History, it is my father's car. He is getting up there in years and wasn't ready to give up the idea of driving so it sat for a long while as he tried to recover from heart surgery. I've been borrowing it for a bit to help him get around and such. I just want to make sure I'm keeping it on good shape for him. I suspect there are other things wrong with it. Should I push for another diagnostic? Or will that just cost me more money?

Why is car making this noise after parking and turned off?