— Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid problems have caused a class action lawsuit that alleges a recall doesn't offer customers a true fix for the minivan problems.
The Chrysler Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid electric vehicle lawsuit was filed weeks after Fiat Chrysler (FCA) announced a recall of more than 67,000 minivans following reports of engines that shut down.
The 315-page class action lawsuit includes:
"All persons or entities who purchased or leased one or more model year 2017-2023 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans (the 'Shutdown Risk Vehicles')."
When FCA notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the minivan recall, Chrysler said it knew of “six customer assistance records, 242 warranty claims, and 59 field reports" related to the 2017-2023 Pacifica Hybrid problems.
However, the automaker said no crashes or injuries had been reported.
Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Problems
Chrysler said the Pacifica Hybrid recall was necessary because of problems with the internal transmission wiring connectors that could short-circuit and cause the minivan engines to shut down and lose motive power.
FCA says dealers will update the power inverter module software and instrument panel cluster software on 2017-2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrids. Model year 2019-2023 minivans will receive power inverter module software updates.
The software updates will allegedly provide "messaging to the customer and sufficient drive time to exit traffic."
The plaintiffs who sued allege Chrysler concealed the engine shutdown risk before and after the Pacifica Hybrid minivans were sold.
The automaker also allegedly concealed the "consequences, including the serious safety hazards and monetary harm caused by the Spontaneous Shutdown Risk—e.g., accidents and injury or death to persons in and around the Shutdown Risk Vehicle should it lose all motive power while the vehicle is traveling on a public street or highway."
According to the class action lawsuit, FCA isn't offering minivan customers any real remedy for the vehicle shutdown risk because the transmission wire harnesses won't be repaired or replaced.
"What FCA should, but is refusing to, do is simply replace the faulty wiring harness with a non-faulty part so that owners of Shutdown Risk vehicles do not have to play Russian Roulette with the lives of their vehicle occupants (and the lives of others on the roadways) every time they enter traffic." — Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid class action lawsuit
The plaintiffs assert Chrysler should offer every customer a buyback of their minivan at the Blue Book value on the day before the recall was announced.
The class action also says FCA should at least "offer to provide a comparable loaner or rental minivan while safely storing the dangerous Shutdown Risk Vehicles until such time as it is able to genuinely repair them...."
The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid class action lawsuit was filed by these customers. However, none of the plaintiffs claim their minivans suddenly shut down from the problem that caused the recall.
- James and Alicia Kappes (Arizona) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Scott Carney (California) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Sean Clancy (California) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Alexander Shusta (California) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Andrew Berzanskis and Margaret Wilensky (Colorado) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Kelsey and Peter Keefe (Connecticut) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- John Latacki (Florida) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- John Spruance (Georgia) 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Michael Keeth (Idaho) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Devlin Su (Illinois) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Spence Voss (Illinois) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Tim Banas (Iowa) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Salyi Vu (Kansas) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Christopher Dorn (Kentucky) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Ruth Hoffman (Maryland) 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Alicia Maltz and David Maltz (Massachusetts) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Lauren Huntington (Michigan/Ohio) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Elizabeth Niemioja (Minnesota) 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- R. Scott Perry (Missouri) 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Matthew Bergantino (New Hampshire) 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Nicole and Stephen Costa (New Hampshire) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Chad Fong (North Carolina) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Jared Gadomski Littleton (Ohio) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Michael Christie (Oregon) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Joseph Ohodnicki (Pennsylvania) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Helen Bartek (Rhode Island) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Michael Carbajales-Dale (South Carolina) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Shawn Sheehan (Texas) 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Richard Golland (Virginia) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Andrew Ventura (Virginia) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
- Ami Benzur (Washington) 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Southern Division): Kappes, et al., v. FCA US, LLC.
The plaintiffs are represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, and The Miller Law Firm.