Chrysler Pacifica Complaints (2020)

231 consumer complaints on file.

#11607891August 12, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
While driving our van last Saturday afternoon, an error notification made a ding sound and the error message "STOP SAFELY. VEHICLE WILL SHUT OFF SOON" appeared on our dashboard. Thankfully we were driving through a small town at the time and were able to safely pull into a parking lot, turn the vehicle off and wait a few minutes, and start it up to find the error message gone, and we could resume driving. Upon researching this issue, I learned that there is an Open Investigation, NHTSA Action #RQ24004, as of 2-27-24, that correlates exactly with our issue and explains my exact concern - should this error message come on again at a time when I cannot pull into a safe area, or at night time in the dark, with my children along, this could be extremely unsafe. I now worry to take our vehicle on longer trips, as I fear that this will happen and leave us in need of help. This leaves drivers with an extremely uneasy feeling to drive with their family, unsure of if or when this will happen again and if the vehicle will start up again after stopping or if it would need to be towed. I feel this safety issue needs to be resolved before it leaves Chrysler's vehicle occupants in what could be a very unsafe situation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11607722August 10, 2024
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I was driving in a remote region of Washington in high heat (101 F) outside of Pasco, when my car alerted me that it was going to turn off and I needed to pull the car over and stop before it shut off. I had to rapidly decelerate and dodge other vehicles to make it to the shoulder of the highway. When I pulled over and shut it off, it reported that the charging system was broken and needed to be repaired. Once off, the car would not start back up. I called for a tow through my State Farm insurance but had trouble getting a vehicle to my location. After an hour of being stranded on the highway in high heat with small children, the car finally turned back on, with the check engine light on. I took it to the Chrysler service station in Walla Walla. They said that the car showed no errors and that it was safe to drive. The check engine light turned back off. I researched this and it’s related to recall 03A, which I am now having performed. The problem is that the fix they are doing for 03A does not fix the underlying problem — it just changed the text of the error message and adds potentially a few more seconds before the car turns off and I lose control of the vehicle. I don’t understand why this “fix” was accepted if the car is still unsafe to drive. I would expect Chrysler to have to replace the faulty components in the transmission. I often have to drive in remote, unpopulated areas in bad weather, icy conditions, etc. Even with the “fix”, the car will not be safe to drive in such conditions. What if my car turns off when I’m on a mountain pass on an icy road? If I survive the crash, I’ll still be stuck on the side of the road in freezing conditions. I am extremely disappointed that the NHTSA approved this “recall fix” that leaves these vehicles unsafe to drive. Because of the problems with this car, I can’t get very much for it in trade-in, and honestly it would be unethical to sell it to an unsuspecting family. Now I’m stuck with an expensive, unsafe vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11607445August 9, 2024
ENGINE
July 21, 2024 On June 1, 2024, while driving at normal speed under normal conditions, 2020 Chrysler Pacifica (with 14,600 miles) engine seized up, serpentine belt tore, power steering lost, and all lights went on within seconds. I immediately pulled to side of busy 495 Beltway. Dealership concludes that mounting bolts holding alternator in place simply sheared off, broke off causing alternator to drop into engine, tearing belt, breaking AC hose and chain of other breakages. As it turns out, this exact incident has been reported by others on the Chrysler Pacifica Forum online with pictures. Without obvious explanation, vehicle engine shuts down resulting in a very dangerous situation with loss of all control of the vehicle, including steering. One possible explanation is that the bolts are made from a mixed alloy and are very weak or that the bolts holding alternator as well as other engine components are over-torqued resulting in sudden snap breaking of multiple bolts. It is a very dangerous as well as helpless situation. Our vehicle has been at the dealership for over 6 weeks as they negotiate with Stellantis. The warranty expired in March 2024. Estimated cost of replacing alternator (the screws sheared off in such a clean manner that they cannot be extracted from the alternator), AC hose, serpentine belt, battery and more is at $6500 now. The mini-van has 14,600 miles and is used primarily for my 100% disabled veteran husband and his medical appointments. In summary, I am alerting the NHTSA as others hopefully have. This exact same experience of an engine seizing up due to over-torqued engine mounting bolts cleaning shearing off while driving at highway speed is extremely dangerous and cannot be due to normal owner driving/vehicle wear and tear. I recommend that the NHTSA do a further inquiry to this matter to ensure that responsibility is taken with Chrysler to prevent more serious accidents in the future. I will try to enclose photos. Thank you -
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11607355August 8, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, STEERING, SERVICE BRAKES
My problem started about a year ago with the auto start/stop light coming on- said it needed serviced. They replaced my auxiliary battery. Mind you, my van was only about 2.5 years old at this point (bought it brand new). So then about a month ago, same warnings. Stop/start isn’t working. I get it inspected at the dealership, they say everything is fine. Well yesterday, my van stopped emergently in the middle of an intersection. The brake engaged, couldn’t use any pedals, steering or switch gears. I had to shut my vehicle off and restart. In the middle of a busy intersection at 4pm. The auto start/stop light keeps coming on. Take it to the dealership today and they said it’s a sensor issue with my hood switch. My hood thinks it’s open so my van freaks out and stops driving. It’s a $540 fix. This is a huge safety concern. From what I read, this van has had numerous start/stop issues and sensor problems. It’s a 2020 with 62k miles. I’m glad I wasn’t on the interstate or somewhere more dangerous.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11605924August 1, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The stop start system on my 2020 Chrysler. Pacifica has been malfunctioning since 2021, I’ve taken this car into the dealer multiple times, and replaced the batteries that should’ve been covered by Warranty but weren’t and my car recently died completely, and had to be jumped only have to replace the battery changed again. I have complained about noises in the dashboard that sounds like ticking, and dealer says that’s not covered by warranty even though my car only has 50,000 miles on it, and at 13,000 miles, when I told them about it, they didn’t do anything about it. The electrical system will completely shut off, lights and warnings will turn on, and after pulling fuses, the system will start The vintage seats on the driver side have not worked for three years, I have informed the dealer about that and was at 15,000 miles and they still did not fix it after complaining every time I went in they finally said “it wasn’t covered under warranty anymore” even though I had complained about it and all the above when we were covered by the warranty. We even purchased an extended warranty when purchasing the car and it’s like jumping through hoops for them to actually look up what is actually covered and every a fight every time for them to not charge me what we already paid for!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11605467July 30, 2024
SEATS
Both 2nd row quad seats have failed. The lever for leaning the seat forward pulls a cable that has a large spring in a plastic housing that fails. It failed on both seats within the same day in a hot weather environment. After failure, the seats both slide and tilt without the ability to lock into position. This is a HUGE safety concern as it provides no restraint to the occupant. There are hundreds of accounts of this same issue on forums and reddit posts and highly documented the part that is failed. I have taken to a dealer for repair but fear it will happen again if the part has not been redesigned by Stellantis. There is no warning to this failure so it can happen at any time. Thankfully we were at home when it failed and not stranded somewhere else. With the hundreds of instances I have read accounted online, it is SHOCKING that this is not a recall yet.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11605157July 29, 2024
STEERING
While driving, received "service power steering" warning, followed by intermittent outage of the power steering. The power steering cuts in and out at uncertain times, so I will be taking a corner using a lot of force on the steering wheel because the power steering isn't working, when it will suddenly start working again, and cause me to oversteer. So far this hasn't caused an accident, but it most definitely could.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11603650July 21, 2024
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, ENGINE
We were traveling 70 mph down a steep incline and suddenly the vehicle, a Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, displayed the warning "Pull Over - Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon" and immediately the vehicle lost all motive power. I was able to pull over to the side of the road safely. This is the second time this has occurred. The first time a Chrysler dealership did not fix the problem. The code pulled was P0A43 related to the 03A recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11602889July 17, 2024
POWER TRAIN
Power steering has failed on 2 occasions while driving. Fault code was set and dealer confirmed fault codes using scan tool. Power steering returned after a few seconds of driving. This vehicle has an electric power steering pump. Fault code listed a communication failure between the power steering controller and body ecu. Dealer service department could not duplicate the problem and returned the vehicle to us saying there was nothing further they could accomplish. It is a dangerous situation losing power steering while driving. Warning icon did appear on our on screen driver display.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11602417July 15, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
We were driving and the vehicle displayed "Pull Over, Vehicle will Shut off Soon" along with a check engine light. Fortunately we were almost home and the vehicle made it to our house before shutting off. We took it to the dealer and the dealer claimed they were not able to reproduce the issue or see any problems with the vehicle, despite it losing motive power.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11601265July 11, 2024
VISIBILITY/WIPER
The windshield fogs up when it is raining. I will drive for about 30 minutes before it fogs up. Usually the cabin air is blowing through the vents and when the windshield begins to fog I turn on the defroster. It will only work if the heat is turned way up, and the blower is set at the highest setting. When I stop at a traffic light the defroster sounds like it is still blowing but the windows fog up until I cannot see out. I have used my hand to clear a spot in front of my face and I have had to pull over to the side of the road and wait for the windshield to clear. yesterday all of the windows fogged up front and the sides. also. I took it to the dealership yesterday and after a quick look was told that I just had to turn the heat up. That is not a solution in the Summer. I have read about other Pacifica's having this same problem. It is terrifying and I don't want to drive when there is a chance of rain anymore. I did have this happen in the Winter when it was snowing a few years ago once or twice.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11600092July 8, 2024
STEERING, POWER TRAIN
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while making a sharp left turn at slow speeds, the vehicle shuddered. There was no warning light illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle jerked forward upon releasing the brake pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact called JT’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM of Lexington (4838 Sunset Blvd, Lexington, SC 29072) and JT’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Columbia (190 Greystone Blvd, Columbia, SC 29210) and was informed that there were no recalls on the VIN for the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11600205July 8, 2024
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
While driving, the vehicle spontaneously goes into limp mode and warns the driver to pull over immediately because it is about to shut down. This has happened at least 10 times in my ownership of this vehicle since 10/04/2023 and the first time on 10/09/2024 and most recently occurred 07/06/2024. The first time it occurred on a narrow mountain road at night but I was safely able to drive slowly for about a mile before finding a parking lot to pull over. Several times were significantly more dangerous and occurred while traveling 70mph on a busy interstate and forcing us to navigate across several lanes of traffic into the emergency lane in a vehicle that is no longer able to keep up with traffic due to significant power loss when limp mode. Once pulled over, the vehicle must be turned off for several seconds before restarting and driven again. Occupants are at significant risk of being involved in a collision during the entire process from unexpected power loss, navigating traffic with said power loss, parking and restarting the vehicle on the side of a busy road, and attempting to safely merge back into traffic which is often traveling 70+mph. This entire issue is due to a faulty wiring harness in the transmission of 2017-2023 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid that can short circuit and requires immediate shutdown of the vehicle when it occurs. Thus far the only remedy from Chrysler is a software update which installs a driver warning to pull over and restart the vehicle before it shuts down instead of immediately shutting off. This is marginally better than complete power loss but still poses significant increased safety risk for passengers and surrounding vehicles and a remedy that stops the failure from occurring in the first place needs to be implemented immediately. This has been known to effect 70,000 vehicles from 2017-2023 year models and the fact that a remedy to the actual problem has not yet been made is appalling and dangerous.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11597847June 30, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
Rear passenger sliding door power lock failed. The door does not lock, leaving the door accessible even with the vehicle alarm armed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11596509June 25, 2024
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the wiring harness that controlled the flaps for the coolant and the radiator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure was a known issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11596467June 25, 2024
VISIBILITY
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and attempting to reverse, the rear-view camera image display screen was not working as intended, increasing the risk of crashing into an object behind the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or local dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11596232June 24, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
Got the stop safely Vehicle will shut off soon warning. My wife was upset and not sure what to do. Was able to start again but now we don't trust the van
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11593850June 12, 2024
STEERING
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering functionality intermittently. The power steering warning light and the power steering malfunction message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 47,690.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11590319May 23, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
While driving my kids to school I experienced my first loss of power on my vehicle, where an error message appeared in the instrument cluster stating "shift to P to start" with the P indicator on the shifter flashing. No check engine light was produced. I was on surface streets driving at 20mph, this could have been worse of I was on the freeway, especially with my kids in the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11590142May 22, 2024
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:CONTROL MODULE (TCM/PCM/TECM)
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while stopped at a stop light, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power; however, the vehicle was able to be restarted. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact also stated that later, while driving at 40 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle briefly hesitated and jerked before returning to normal operation. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired, and the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission control module and performed a software update as per Technical Service Bulletin: 21-043-20. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 70,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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