Our Long-Term 2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz vs. the Chrysler Pacifica: Minivan Engineers Compare the Two

We’ve had a lot of fun road-tripping and camping in our 2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz, and talking to the passersby it attracts, but how well does it work as a minivan? In his previous career, your faithful scribe helped develop Chrysler’s NS minivan, working in the advanced vehicle packaging group. As luck would have it, most of my chain of command on the engineering org chart—the real decision makers on that program—are still willing to take my calls and agreed to come assess the Buzz’s relative strengths and weaknesses as a minivan.

As a frame of reference, we brought along our NS’ great-grandson—which is still the segment sales leader after 10 years with a minor face-lift or two—a 2027 Chrysler Pacifica.

Meet Our Experts

Camille White: Then manager, Vehicle Packaging, Minivan Platform. My former direct manager, who helped institute the then novel concept of presenting the design office with science-based reach and vision curves depicting where best to position controls and displays, thereby directing the design of the clay models they were then creating.

Herm Greif: Then executive engineer, Vehicle Development, Minivan Platform. Two rungs above White, Herm was instrumental in steering the first-gen T-115 minivan program away from a strictly K-car-based platform by proving the chassis and suspension could not be sufficiently reinforced to bear the added weight.

Chris Theodore: Then vice president of engineering, our whole team’s big boss, Chris was instrumental in steering the program away from an independent rear suspension, after several design proposals—all of which rode and handled great with two people onboard—suffered handling woes like toe-steer-induced tail-wagging when fully loaded.

L to R: Herm Greif, Camille White, Frank Markus, Chris Theodore

This plebe engineer’s claim to minivan demi-fame? I helped develop a drivable prototype to demonstrate to management the deleterious effect of lowering hip point to sedan height and fitting a “dustbuster-style” oversized windshield (it worked).

As Cargo Schleppers

We started by comparing versatility. Our panel was unimpressed by our Volkswagen ID Buzz’s second-row bench seat, which features fold-down seat backs only. Removing it takes specialized hand tools (an M10 triple-square-spline bit) and requires disconnecting wiring for seat heaters and passenger sensors, which risks illuminating warning lamps. (The same is true for the Buzz’s captain’s-chairs seating option.)

Our Pacifica Pinnacle model on hand for comparison features luxury second-row buckets too fluffy to fold into the floor for spur-of-the-moment furniture purchases, but at least they release with ease and are removable to allow premeditated cargo hauling. (Our panel stepped out to the parking lot to experience how easily the Stow ‘n Go seats disappear on Herm’s personal Pacifica Limited.)

The Buzz’s third-row seats are removable, though. We start by removing the Flexboard, which attaches to the floor via two hand knobs. (It bridges the gap from the folded seat backs to the tailgate, giving the Buzz a tiered cargo area.) Then fold the seat backs (by pulling on the short strap near the hinge) and release the seat mounts by pulling on their straps (turning the latch indicators from black to red). Once released, each half of the seat rolls to the back where it can be lifted out relatively easily (they weigh about 60 pounds—slightly less than each Pacifica middle-row seat). They reinstall easily, “finding” and clicking into their mounts easily without needing to climb in.

Of course, all Pacifica third-row seats Stow ‘n Go—they happen to do so electrically in our Pinnacle. Our experts were somewhat disappointed to discover that power Stow ‘n Go eliminates the backward-facing tailgating feature, which this generation of Chrysler van has not offered.

Note that 4x8 sheet goods fit in both, you just have to lift it up 34 inches above the ground to slide it onto the Flexboard and folded seat backs in the Buzz—that’s about 9 inches above the Pacifica’s lift-in height.

In terms of pure space, the ID Buzz boasts 145.5 cubic feet with the middle-row seat in place but folded—5.0 more than the Pacifica with all seats stowed or removed. The Buzz is that much taller, leading White to note, “It looks like a tiny home on wheels.”

As Passenger Buses

It’s a climb to enter the Buzz, front or back. We measured front-seat hip points at 27 inches off the ground in the Pacifica and 32 inches in the Buzz (differing by roughly the height of a battery pack). Theodore noted, “In a good car, you just you sit down on the seat and rotate your legs around.” The Pacifica is vastly more accessible, especially to folks shorter in stature, though the team lamented how its faster windshield was forcing heads to duck under a lower opening than in the van we’d designed years ago.

Height isn’t the VW’s only issue. The ID Buzz’s MEB-platform hardpoints are the likely culprits consigning the front seats to a location much farther inboard than is optimal in a minivan. The seat sits about 13 inches inboard from the lower doorsill opening on the Buzz, versus 10 inches on the Pacifica. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Buzz is 5.2 inches wider overall than an ID4—2.6 inches per side. This also puts the door armrest out of reach (so a seat-mounted one folds down), and it forces a narrower, less useful center console in the ID Buzz (the top offers only cupholders—its primary stowage is a narrow drawer that opens to the rear).

The ID Buzz also lacks the Pacifica’s passenger A-pillar-mounted grab handle. The handle it offers is centered above the opening and recessed out of sight, such that once the passenger learns it’s there, the hand grasping it becomes an obstacle for their head to clear. Retro vinyl assist straps on the B-pillars were deemed more helpful than the overhead one in front but inferior to the Pacifica’s molded A- and B-pillar handles.

The Buzz seats are all comfortable once you get in them. The same is largely true of the Pacifica, though Theodore points out the true Stow ‘n Go middle-row buckets tend toward a less comfortable lower-hip-point, higher-knee-point seating position.

Other Packaging Observations

Chrysler is rightly proud of the minivan surprise/delight features it’s innovated over the years, and the team noted the Buzz lacks many such items—like bag hooks on seat backs and in the cargo hold, umbrella holders molded into the front sill plates, and roll-down second-row windows.

Theodore called out Volkswagen’s small window-within-a-window for causing a booming noise on the highway and providing insufficient airflow when open. When asked if he saw any reason the window couldn’t drop into the door, he posited, “They could have done it, but they didn't want the extra cut lines and to put an applique on each side.” Sadly, the third-row windows don’t pop open to vent, either.

All praised the ID Buzz’s panoramic visibility, though they worried about potential blind spots from the twin A-pillars. And it seems nobody likes capacitive sliders for volume control any more than they like repurposing front window switches to operate the rears.

White championed the Stellantis practice of always placing the liftgate closing button on the D-pillar where shorter folks can still reach it, while others noted that most automakers put it on the liftgate near the latch, as VW does. The Buzz’s upholstered phone-holder pockets atop each front seat back drew praise, as well.

The NS packaging brain trust found a few nits to pick with the Pacifica, from front seats that have thickened to the point of crowding the middle-row package to cost-cuts that eliminated the tailgate lamps that illuminate the loading area (which the ID Buzz has, as did the 2001–2016 Chryslers).

Which Has the Better Package?

Bonus guest and former Chrysler PR head Jason Vines (Chris Theodore’s brother-in-law) chimed in with this non-packaging-related pitch for the ID Buzz: “If they were in the same showroom, I think you’d go to [the VW] first because it looks so fun. Every hippie who’s made it is gonna want one.”

As for our experts, Theodore declared, “This [Chrysler] is the minivan I would buy.” Greif: “Right” (he already owns one), “the true competitor for the VW ID Buzz is a B-series Ram Van.” White: “If I need to move things, it’s easier in the Chrysler. If I need to move people, it’s the one that’s easier to get in and out of. And luggage-wise, there’s more choice. I think I’d pay a premium for it, and you don’t even have to.”

More on Our Long-Term 2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz Pro S Plus:

• Arrival: Weighing Charm Against Range​
• Setting Up the 2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz Was Surprisingly Painless.​
• 2,000-Plus Mile Road-Trip Learnings​
• Camping in a Peace Vans Modern ID Buzz Pop-Top​
• Has VW Created Another Automotive Icon?​