Chrysler Pacifica Complaints (2021)

362 consumer complaints on file.

#11575041March 2, 2024
POWER TRAIN, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
January 2023 the car was at the dealer for two months for the battery heater. The car was losing coolant as the battery heater was malfunctioning. The car was at the dealers for 2 months for the repairs to be completed. December of 2023 the car had “Stop Safely — Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon”. We pulled off the freeway in a confused state and the car shut off. We called Chrysler who said to have the vehicle towed or driven at our own risk to a dealer. But had no input if the vehicle was actually having a problem or just a sensor. The vehicle was towed and now has been at the dealer for 3 months with no remedy. They say a new transmission is on backorder but not approved by Chrysler.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11574905March 1, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
As I was leaving my son's school parking lot - moments away from an on-ramp to a major freeway - an error message flashed on the dash saying "Service Charging System" followed by a message about the vehicle's speed being limited and a red turtle icon. The van instantly was driving strangely. Since I was in a parking lot, I turned everything off and waited for the van to shut down completely. I restarted the van and the warning messages were gone, but the check engine light remained. The van showed more than 15 miles of battery mileage remaining. The week prior, we had taken it into the dealership for the open recalls to be repaired, so we took it back for this issue. The dealership just messaged me saying the van is ready to be picked up and that the charging system was just low. But it still had nearly 1/2 the battery left when this happened! The dealership went on to say, "So here is the deal, we could not verify the concern at this time. There are no codes in the system, nothing to really test for. I can have someone drive it and see if anything happens, but without being able to duplicate your concern, we cannot diagnose it." My sister-in-law had the exact same issue on her own Chrysler pacific Hybrid just a few months ago, while she was on the freeway and her speed was instantly throttled. They replaced the entire electrical hybrid transmission. This is a known issue with this vehicle and it is going to put my life and my kid's life at risk since the dealership cannot reproduce the error. I even sent a picture of the error message, and they say there's nothing they can do.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570314February 6, 2024
POWER TRAIN
While traveling down the interstate on a family road trip, our Pacifica PHEV alerted us to stop safely because our vehicle would lose power. We almost didn't make it to the shoulder before we completely lost power on the van. The vehicle was not drivable while on the side of the road. The transmission had to be replaced.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570099February 5, 2024
POWER TRAIN, ENGINE, SERVICE BRAKES
The vehicle stalled on the freeway while traveling 75 mph in the HOV lane. After the engine shut off, I recalled an error message on the dash that stated, "Motive power will stop and pull over quickly.” I needed to take evasive action to bring the vehicle to the side of the 5 freeway. I could not restart the engine in Neutral while the car was in motion. The car showed a charging error on the first and second attempted restart on the side of the road with the transmission in Park. After letting the vehicle sit for a few minutes, I successfully restarted the engine, but the dash continued showing an illuminated malfunction indicator lamp (MIL). We were traveling at 75 mph in the HOV lane (lane #1) when the vehicle engine cut off without warning. Once the engine was off, I saw a warning on the instrument cluster that the vehicle would lose all motive power (it's a hybrid) and that I should immediately stop it. I needed to take emergency action, cross over 5 lanes of freeway traffic, and then stop on the side of the road. The vehicle did not allow an engine to restart while in Neutral, with the car moving. The vehicle was brought in for the recall of 03A/NHTSA 23V-010. From what I understand, this recall did not fix the problem (reported to be a faulty wiring harness in the transmission). I installed a software update to display the error message that instructed me that all motive power would be lost and that I should stop the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11568923January 30, 2024
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
Vehicle shut down unexpectedly multiple times even AFTER recall update was applied. Allows for minimal time to pull to safe location. Potential for serious incident if safe shoulder is not immediately available such as on a bridge.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11567751January 25, 2024
VISIBILITY/WIPER
The windshield wipers are not synced together causing them to contact each other to the point that the stuck together. As a result, the wipers are no longer functional, and the drivers vision is impaired which increases the likelihood of an accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11566526January 19, 2024
POWER TRAIN, ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Without any prior warning or predisposing symptoms, my vehicle lost all power when I was driving in the carpool lane at 70 miles per hour. I had to "coast" across 5 lanes of freeway and come to stop in the emergency lane. When I applied the brakes I had no power to brakes which made the car skid violently. I could have lost control because I was not expecting that secondary issue. The traction conrtol may have been triggered causing the car to overreact. The dashboard lights and "d" on my gear shifter were all flashing. I turned the car off and allowed it to sit for a few moments. I turned the car on again and nothing happened. I turned it off a second time and it turned on, went into drive and I was able to drive the remaining 5 miles home without incicent. I have already completed the recall notice for this very issue back in Jan 2023. However, even though the dealer states they completed my recall work the upbove described incident happened on 1/14/24 nearly a year after their recall completion.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11565429January 14, 2024
POWER TRAIN
While driving on the highway at 70mph, the dashboard flashed a message saying "Please stop vehicle. Car will automatically stop."
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11562171December 27, 2023
STEERING, WHEELS
Car would make a grinding noise over 5mph. We looked under the vehicle to find a loose bolt to the left of the left tire.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11561344December 21, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
Front park sensor will intermittently go off like it is detecting an object when vehicle is at stopped, but there's no object, went to Chrysler Dealership for warranty 7 Times, Last time dealer service confirm and recreate the problem but can not replace because NO FAIL CODE as me open case with Chrysler. When park sensor fault read when I was at stop I need to get out of the car to inspect to make sure no object is in the front, this is very UNSAFE sometime I have get out of the car in the middle on the road.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11561038December 20, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
While driving early in morning on local highway (70mph speed limit), car flashed "Service Charging System" shut off the engine and power to the vehicle including acceleration, and check engline light illuminated. Thankfully early hours made it possible to drift to side of road to put car in park. Engine light illuminated dash and dash flashed "shift to P to start." Car would not shut off after pressing the start button nor depressing the break either (hazards were engaged at this point). Hazards had to be shut off in order to completely shut off the vehicle to restart it. Dangerous on major highway with no lights or hazards on side of road. 25 degrees outside. This is the Second time this has occurred to this vehicle. The last time occurred on 1/20/2023 the exact same way shutting off power and engine of the car on the same local highway with similar cold temperature (always issues with this car in the cold, hybrid battery system fails in cold below 40 or temperatures higher than 90). Last time a grounding issue was found in the transmission and was replaced. I will be contacting the dealership for repair today will update if it is still grounding issues or something new causing same problem. As i made in my last nhtsa report in january on this vehicle, the fact this car shuts down while in motion and you have no control over the car is dangerous and can cost people their lives. As a hybrid system, the van should automatically switch to gas only and bypass the hybrid charging system to continue functioning as any car would. By shutting down the engine and everything you are jeopardizing the lives of everyone on the roads. Both incidents of mine occurred on a highway at high speeds. I am just thankful I was not on a bridge at the time it failed as it would have caused an accident. I heard nothing about or from my last nhtsa report. Please for the safety of everyone look into these hybrids. Look into this car history and you'll see the constant repairs it has had.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11557475November 29, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
My new 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Minivan was repaired under the 03a recall on 3/2023. It had another loss of motive power, the same issue that was supposed to be fixed under the 03a recall. The car warned me that it would shutoff soon in the visual display and to move to a safe area. It did shut down immediately. I attempted to restart it several times. After many times it did start and the transmission light remained illuminated. I was driving on the highway at the time and blocking traffic. It's unsafe for the car to shut off randomly. This is unacceptable and unsafe. I paid for a brand new, safe, functioning car. This is a serious problem and is dangerous for my family. I feel unsafe driving a car that will shut off at random times. This has already been repaired once and remains a problem. I need a solution.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11556914November 27, 2023
ENGINE
Chrysler calls for the oil filter housing to be tightened to 18 ft/lbs. Google shows many people online claiming that this is too much; that hand tight or 11-12 ft/lbs is sufficient, and that the oil filter housing is likely to break if tightened to the factory specs. I figure the manufacturer knows best, and tightened the oil filter housing to 18 ft/lbs. The housing is under the intake manifold, and the trough in the V of the engine plus the shields under the car hid the resulting leak until I was on the highway. When I got on the highway, I found I was laying down a smokescreen that obscured every lane of eastbound I-44. The generator light came on as oil caused the belts to slip; I am very lucky that the car did not catch fire. I left a solid line of oil on the road to the nearest repair shop. The resulting repairs cost me $1,198.37. ***** Clearly Chrysler needs to develop a metal oil filter housing which will last the life of the engine. The plastic one they have now endangers the public through the risk of fires, and pollutes the environment through the loss of oil. Here's 3rd party confirmation of the problem affecting all Chrysler Pentastar engines: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11556742November 25, 2023
ENGINE
My vehicle stopped while driving. I was able to pull of the road and get towed to the dealer 11/1/23. They performed the recall, I left the dealer 11/21/23 and while driving my van back to the house, I had the same thing happen. The error message lit up and the car slowed down til it would no longer move. I do not feel safe in this vehicle, as this is the second time it has happened in a month, and the recall was taken care of the day I picked it up.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11555774November 18, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
While driving 70 mph on the highway with my three children in the car, my engine suddenly and without warning, shut off. I had to coast over to the shoulder and wait for help. The dash displayed the warning "service charging system" and would not let me put the car in drive. I was VERY lucky that there weren't any cars around me when my acceleration suddenly stopped so I was able to get over on the highway. The car stalled in an unsafe place and left my children and me at risk of being hit from behind while waiting for help. I got the car to the dealer and they have informed me that this was caused by total transmission failure. This was a HIGHLY unsafe situation and it could have ended much worse for my family, and those in vehicles around us!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11552684October 30, 2023
SEATS
The headrest worked when I got the car and the headrest stopped working it won’t stay open it went down to fold into the floor and it won’t lock in position so the seat is unusable because the headrest is locked/ broken in the down position that has it hit right at the middle of neck for some that 5’2 and it would mostly break someone’s neck if an accident occurred
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11550359October 17, 2023
POWER TRAIN
This car is the PHEV Pacifica. Apparantly when you push on both pedals the brakes do not take precedence. I was in a median turning and car unexpectedly moved forward 6 to 9 or so inches. 2nd time, I was suspicious at what was happening. 3rd time was sure. None for last year. I'm at 2 yrs and 33,000 miles now. Yes, I drive with two feet, for last 56 years. After getting use to the amount of free play in the pedals, it isn't happening anymore. Right foot for forward, left foot for stopping. Makes sense to me. And I actually drive straight shift also but only a little bit now.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11550356October 17, 2023
SEATS
Head restraints in back seat prevent tall child car seats from being installed without removal of head restraint. My daughter took 2 car seats to Seattle airport and rented a Pacifica. An online you tube video showed how to take off the back panel, release some cable to remove head restraint which they thought was a bad idea in a rented car. In my 2021 Pacifica, the front seat head restraint is so far forward (yes i know about the ratchet release) that the physical therapy posture lectures for a rounded shoulder head forward older person, that you can not move your head to the proper position without hitting the head rest. So I turned mine around so it faces backwards but the catch cog doesn't work. However it can't fly up and off since it hits the ceiling. I used some vinyl tubing as a spacer to set the height right See photos. My new 2022 Ford transit head restraints are vertical and work perfectly. 2 photos show mine backwards. one photo shows original profile, one photo show Ford Transit.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11550187October 16, 2023
POWER TRAIN, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
Chrysler recall 03A is installed on my pacifica hybrid. Since then, the past two times the van has been driven at highway speed, it has suddenly notified me that vehicle shutdown is imminenent and put the vehicle into limp mode. In both cases, turning the car off and on again allowed normal operation, with the check engine light locked in. The first time the code was P0A43, to be determined what the code is for this most recent event.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11550116October 16, 2023
ENGINE
My car was at the dealership for the 03A recall repair for a full month in April of 2023. Since the recall was supposedly fixed my car has shut down unexpectedly while driving 12 times. Each of those times I was driving with my two toddlers in the vehicle. I will be driving on the highway and the car will show a message that "the engine will shut off soon, pull over safely" but will immediately shut down to where I'm just coasting and have to pull over on the shoulder of the highway. Thankfully I've had access to a shoulder every time it's happened so far but it's extremely unsafe and dangerous. There doesn't seem to be a reason for it. I've stopped charging the battery and have only been using gas because of this issue but it still happens. It also occurs when the vehicle is stopped on an incline, like when I'm in the car pick up line at my children's schools. So I've blocked traffic because the car shuts down. When this happens the only way it will successfully restart is if I have the car and my emergency lights shut off. I'll wait five minutes and then try again. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts where I'm stranded for 15 minutes before I can drive again. Chrysler customer service has been abysmal as has my local dealership. I'm giving them one more chance to fix this before getting a lawyer involved. I'm amazed we haven't had a wreck yet. The recall"fix" has not taken care of the issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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